ACF, Ohanaeze ask youths to shun nationwide protest

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo have called on youths to avoid the planned nationwide protest.

Mamman Osuman, ACF’s national chairman, spoke at a meeting with Uba Sani, Kaduna governor, on Monday.

He said the proposed protest is both “poorly timed and counter-productive”.

Osuman noted that key indicators of human development such as “poverty, illiteracy, health, and security are most severe in the north”.

“We at ACF remain committed to articulating and defending the interests of the peoples of the North through our various activities. One such was the recently constituted Technical Committee that reviewed the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by the ACF,” he said.

“The report of the Technical Committee formed the basis of ACF’s submission to the joint committees of the National Assembly on Constitution review. Our input will be formally made available to the Northern Governors’ Forum.”

In his address, Sani urged northern youths to “avoid the protests and focus instead on addressing the region’s security challenges and promoting development”.

He appealed to northerners “to avoid toxic politics and work together to improve the region”.

“We must take a hard look at ourselves, tell ourselves some home truths, and move together to fashion a common strategy to address our developmental challenges and confront the criminals making life unbearable for our people,” Sani said.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a prominent Igbo socio-cultural group, also advised youths against joining the protest.

Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze’s national publicity secretary, made the call in a statement on Monday.

The group said economic hardships are temporary, asserting that “tough times never last, but tough people do”.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo seizes this opportunity to reiterate our position with respect to the widely publicised nationwide protest scheduled for the days of August 2024,” the statement reads.

“On February 20, 2024, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, directed the Igbo not to join in the protest against President Bola Tinubu.

“It is clear to us that when youths from other tribes of the country are involved, they are reprimanded and forgiven; but when the Igbo youths are involved, they are arrested, incarcerated and even charged for serious offences.

“For example, the arrest and detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu generated a lot of problems for the Igbos among others. Emphatically, the current hardship in Nigeria is the comeuppance of Igbophobia.

“It is an unavoidable outcome of an orchestrated injustice, marginalisation, callous conspiracies, corporate shenanigans and ethnic bigotry against the Igbo.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo believes that there can never be peace, progress and national development when there is a deliberate government policy of injustice, tantrums and brimstones against a vibrant, capacious, resourceful, resilient and populous ethnic group such as the Igbo.”

The group criticised remarks from Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, which they described as “hateful and misleading”. 

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo views Onanuga’s dispositions towards anything Igbo as unthoughtful, loathsome, cantankerous, uncouth, repugnant, inflammable, and full of deep-seated hate,” the statement added.