ByCletus Ukpong,Ebuka The activities of the pro-Biafra group, IPOB, appeared to have been a difficult issue for the governorship cand...
ByCletus Ukpong,Ebuka
The activities of the pro-Biafra group, IPOB, appeared to
have been a difficult issue for the governorship candidates in Anambra State to
deal with during the just concluded political debate.
Andy Uba of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chukwuma Soludo
of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Valentine Ozigbo of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the only three candidates who participated
in the Arise News-organised debate, out of the 18 that have been cleared for
the November 6 election.
IPOB agitation in Anambra and other South-east states has
led to several killings and destruction, with the attendant militarisation of
the region.
All the three candidates showed reluctance at the debate to
condemn the activities of IPOB which has been proscribed by the Nigerian
government. The three said it was necessary for the government to dialogue with
IPOB.
“In life, I have seen good men do wrong thing, and I have
seen wrong men do good things. So, it’s always good to get to the activities of
any group or any person, and support what is good and condemn what’s bad,” said
the PDP candidate, Mr Ozigbo.
“There are certain things IPOB does, through agitation and
on things that happened, that I support. But when they get to some extreme,
then I condemn,” he added.
Mr Ozigbo said insecurity in Anambra was caused by the way
the APC-led government at the centre and the APGA-led government in Anambra
were doing things.
He said those who “created” the insecurity cannot be the
ones to mediate in any dialogue with IPOB.
“That’s why you need a Valentine (Ozigbo), a useful person
to deal with the issue of IPOB,” he said.
The APGA candidate, Mr Soludo, who described himself as a
“pan-Nigerian”, said he does not support the agitation for an independent
republic.
Just like the other two candidates, Mr Soludo said IPOB
“deserves to be heard”.
“The agitation cannot be shut down with a gun. We need to
have a dialogue, bring everyone to the table and discus specific issues that
are their agitations,” he said.
The candidates’ reluctance to condemn IPOB at the debate is
perhaps to avoid a backlash at the poll which is just a few days away. It also
underscores the complexities of the security challenges in the state and the
South-east region.
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