United States favours Nigeria’s unity

The United States has warned against the division of Nigeria and promised it would continue to work for the promotion of the unity of the most populous black nation.

The country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington, said U.S recognised the strength of Nigeria.

The envoy led top officials of the embassy on a working visit to the office of the Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, in Ibadan, on Monday.

He said that the visit was in furtherance of his country’s vision and mission to explore new frontiers of partnership for development with African countries.

Meanwhile, the coalition of Northern youth groups have formally written a letter o Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, asking him to allow the Igbo’s Biafra dream to materialise.

They insisted on Monday that Igbo residing in Northern states should leave the region on October 1, 2017.

The groups on the platform of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) wrote the letter to Osinbajo.

The National President of AYCF, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, said that the open letter was signed by five of the leaders of the groups.

They are Amb. Shettima Yerima (AYCF); Joshua Viashman (Northern Youth Vanguard); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network) and Nastura Ashir Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change).

They asked Osinbajo to facilitate an easy exit for the Igbo to be allowed to have their dream country, Biafra in line with the principle of self-determination as an integral part of contemporary customary international law.

“The Biafrans have confessed to arming themselves for a violent breakup, we feel that it is risky for the rest of the country particularly the north to go on pretending that it is safe for us to co-habit with the Igbo given how deeply they are entrenched in our societies.” The northern youths added that it was better for the Igbo to go without bloodletting.”

They argued that as the Igbo agitations persisted and assumed threatening dimensions, “we submit that there is need to ensure that they are given the opportunity to exercise the right to self-determination as entrenched under the aforementioned international statutes to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

“We therefore demand that the only enduring solution to this scourge that is being visited on the nation is complete separation of the states presently agitating for Biafra from the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a peaceful political process by taking steps to facilitate the actualisation of the Biafran nation.

“The principle of self-determination has, since World War II become a part of the United Nations Charter which states in Article 1(2), that one of the purposes of the UN is ‘to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.’

“We submit that this protocol envisages that people of any nation have the right to self-determination, and although the charter did not categorically impose direct legal obligations on member states, it implies that member states allow agitating or minority groups to self-govern as much as possible.”

The groups noted that the recent times, the agitation for the Igbo to have the Republic of Biafra heightened with the activities of Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPoB) and were never opposed by the majority of the Igbo.

“Kanu and IPOB have declared full allegiance to a Republic of Biafra and continued to preach hatred and war virtually every day, not for once did any Igbo leader call them to order.

“Instead, many of the leaders, including Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, the most senior elected Igbo, pays Kanu courtesy calls to prove that he is speaking for the entire Igbo.

“Even the latest statement by the South-East Governors Forum signed by Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State in a response to the Northern reaction, did not condemn Kanu.”

They gave the assurance that no Igbo would be harmed in the North but they should be allowed to have their Biafra Republic without a drop of blood.