Mbanefo slams IPOB, Kanu

Mbanefo who spoke to journalists at the weekend in his Onitsha country home during the burial of his brother-in-law and pioneer general manager of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Odinigwe Onuora Nzekwu, also threw his weight of support behind the current call by many prominent Nigerians for restructuring of the country.

Describing those agitating for Nigeria’s disintegration like the IPOB and  its leader, Kanu, as riffraffs who should not be taken seriously, Mbanefor however, stated that  restructuring of the country is the only alternative to all the agitations in the country.

Describing the biafra agitators as a bunch of ignorant people, Mbanefo warned that careless talks cost life, even as he accused the IPOB and its leader of endangering the lives of Igbos living in the Northern part of Nigeria

He said, “It is only two persons today that are still alive that served in Biafran government under Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu: myself and Dr. Sylvanus Kuki from Okpobo land who fought the war and know the intrigues behind it.

“This country belongs to all of us. We are talking about restructuring based on the confab report but out of 180 million people in the country, how many people have seen the report? Why is it that the media doesn’t want to publish the report so that everybody should know the details in that report?  If you want to do something, sit down let people know what you are doing. Leadership is not by talking, it is by action. It is not a secret document, it is not a classified document. Why didn’t they publish it in the media, even the executive summary of the report?”

Mbanefo also added that ignorance and money are 99 per cent of Igbo man’s problem. “The Northerners had just made a simple statement and all the Igbo lands are shaking because we are interested in wealth. Anything that affects our wealth, we get worried. They said that on October 1, Igbos should go and people are shouting. Is any thing wrong with that? People say careless talk costs life. We should be careful on how we talk because war is not an easy thing”, he stated.

The former Nigerian envoy continued: “They said they are going to United Nations that, they want referendum. Do they know what referendum is all about? will it come just like that? Who is going to finance it? Referendum costs money. If you go for referendum tomorrow, all these boys that are making nose, nobody will side you.

“90 per cent of Lagos is owned by Igbos. All the investment there, how many of them are going to leave all these things and come back to the East?”