Chief John Nwodo, the President General, Ohaneze Ndigbo
on Thursday assured northerners resident in the south-east of their safety.
Nwodo gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi
Ganduje at the Government House, Kano. He said that every Nigerians could live
in any part of the country of his choice without discrimination or harassment.
“Every Nigerian can live in any part of the country of
his choice and no harm will ever come to a Northerner in the East. “When the
temperature is high we tend to forget what bind us together and we forget the
sweet past. “If there was any disturbance in Kano where we have 1.6 million
Igbos, the entire Igboland would have
been in mourning by now,” he said.
He commended the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar
III, and Kano state government for promoting peace and brotherhood among the
people. Nwodo said that the visit was to deliver the message of all Ndigbo and
leaders in the zone. “Nigeria should not experience war the second time as it
will not augur well for the country.
“We must remain partners in progress of our country as we
have seen how our own fathers lived to make it grow and develop,” he said. He
said that the unity and peaceful co-existence must be the responsibility of
all. The president then urged members of the group to remain law abiding,
peaceful and respect the laws of Kano State in particular and the country in
general.
Earlier, the state Acting Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar
told the delegation that the state would always be home for all Nigerians
irrespective of their religious beliefs. He said that people of Kano State
accepted the Igbos as their brothers and called on them to continue to live in
peace with one another for the socio-economic development of the country.
Abubakar then called on Nigerians to always find an
amicable and civilised way of handling issues. “I am calling on Nigerians to
always find an amicable and civilised way of settling disputes. “Our diversity
is a blessing and we as a government we are in constant dialogue with critical
stakeholders in the state to promote peace and harmony,” he said.
The acting governor then thanked them for the visit and
assured them of the administrations commitment to promote peaceful coexistence
among different groups in the state.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
No comments: