Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Benjamin Kalu, has called on Igbos to make efforts to end insecurity in the South East, stating that Yorubas are not the problem of Igbos.
The lawmaker lamented the loss suffered by the region from Mondays’ sit-at-home directive of a non-state actor like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying a special study carried out in the South-east has revealed that in the last two years, the region has lost about N4 trillion to insecurity.
“In the last two years, we have lost N4 trillion due to the unrest in Southeast. This rising development has caused us a lot as we keep losing business investment to the constant sit at home.
“We will tour Igboland to bring calmness to the region. Insecurity remains a major problem in the East; the Yorubas are not our problem.
“We are our problem in the East,” he said at the annual all-markets conference in Lagos organised by Ndigboamaka Progressive Markets Association.
He said that insecurity in the South-east is discouraging investment in the region, expressing worry at this continuing trend and pleaded with the Igbos not to lay blame on any other region or other Nigerians.
Mr Kalu said the activities of criminal elements in the region were collapsing their economic growth due to a quest that “will not benefit the people both in the short term and in the long term.”
The federal lawmaker also said called for cooperation between Igbos and Yorubas, noting that they should work together to buoy the nation’s economy by working together to ensure peace and harmony between the two tribes.
“When you build 100 houses in Lagos, build at least 50 in your home. No one said migration could not be reversed. Migration can be reversed and people from Lagos can go to Igboland to buy goods.
“The constant killing, and kidnapping, among others happening in the southeast, are not helping us. We need to readjust and arrange our home. This is not our identity. Igbos are not known for violence.
“We must rise with one voice and denounce this ugly situation in our land. I’m pained that we are no longer safe in the land that our forefathers gave us.
“We now sojourn in diaspora, giving our children out in marriage in a foreign land,” Mr Kalu added.
