The former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, and hitherto strong supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, has said that Ndigbo (Igbo people) will never forget Biafra.
He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to perish the thought if that is his wish.
Ikedife, who was chairman of a forum when Buhari addressed a cross-section of Igbo businessmen during his campaign in Onitsha, told journalists in Nnewi that nothing will make Ndigbo to forget what they went through during the 30 months war in the hands of the Nigerian Government.
Ikedife, who is also deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), said that efforts to reintegrate Ndigbo into the country had since after the war been neglected by successive governments, despite the declaration of ‘no victor, no vanquished’ by the federal government.
He said: “How can we forget Biafra when the life of every Igbo man was reduced to be worth only 20 pounds, and some of us refused to collect our own till date.
“How can we forget Biafra when the Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration which was declared after the war and the first step was to go to Lagos and rebuild the third mainland bridge.
“How can we forget Biafra when uptil this day the Onitsha Bridge has not been constructed.
“How can we forget Biafra when for 30 months our territory was landlocked and we watched our children die of starvation. Tell us how we can forget Biafra? Tell President Buhari that we will never forget Biafra. Never!”
He said that even if all the people that experienced the war died, Biafra will never be forgotten as the story will always be told from generation to generation.
According to him, the comment credited to President Buhari that Igbo should forget Biafra was a rather unfortunate one.
On last Saturday’s sit-at-home ordered by the IPOB youth wing, Ikedife described it as a huge success, saying that the people of the area obeyed the order, not for fear of being molested, but to express their genuine quest and demand for self-determination.
Clearing the air on the accusations leveled against the Elders Council of IPOB as having received bribe from the Buhari administration to jettison the struggle and also abandon Nnamdi Kanu in prison, Ikedife quipped: “Bribe me with what? What can the federal government bribe me with at this age: is it money, appointment, what?”
He insisted that having personally experienced the civil war, he is determined not to witness it again, and has consistently advised the youth wing of the IPOB against preaching war or using vulgar language in addressing the president, and that is the reason he and his fellow elders have been labeled as sellouts.
Ikedife insisted that the Igbo people of Nigeria have a right to self-determination and will continue to push for it, using non-violent means for its actualization.