The National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, has condemned the needless opposition to the Indigenisation Bill being proposed under the constitution review process of the House of Representatives.
NewsBits reports that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu is heading the Constitution Review Committee.
Also, the sense of the Bill currently under consideration in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, aims to standardize the criteria for determining who qualifies as an indigene in any given community. Under its provisions, an individual born in a locality, residing there for a decade or more, or married to a local, would be entitled to the same rights as those with ancestral ties to the land.
But critics of the Bill express the fear that, on the surface, this may seem as a progressive move toward breaking down ethnic barriers in a country historically divided along tribal lines. However, a critical look at the proposed Bill would reveal the profound implications it holds for indigenous groups like the Yoruba, Igbo, and other indigenous people whose identity and survival are deeply rooted in their land and traditions within Nigeria.
The development has been causing controversy, with some labelling it a means to make Ndigbo possess Lagos. However, in a statement issued on Sunday by the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, he described as unfortunate the swiftness by some persons to “attack Ndigbo at every material time.”
Okwu wondered how a bill that would benefit every citizen of the country could be termed to be favourable to Ndigbo. He reminded those making anti-Igbo sentiments that “a Fulani man from Sifawa in Sokoto Caliphate – Mallam Umaru Altine, had in 1952 become elected as the first Mayor of the City of Enugu, the heartland and heartbeat of the Igbo Nation.”
“Following from above, it is strange when people struggle to present Ndigbo as a people that are not accommodating other tribes, even when they know deep down in their hearts that such postulation is a fallacy.
“The fact that Ndigbo live and cohabit with other Nigerians freely is a testament to the fact that they have open and large hearts. Unfortunately, certain persons have also continued to make baseless claims that they cannot buy landed property because they were not from the South-East. What could be far from the truth.
“I make bold to say that no person selling property in Igbo land bothers about the state of origin of the buyer, the central point is readiness to pay the price tag for the property. The South-East remains open for investment, for all Nigerians and beyond.
“To therefore use this as a lame excuse to oppose the bill are clear indications that one Nigeria remains a mirage, only practicable when it is convenient for some people.”
Okwu stressed that those who wish for Nigeria to move forward should stop dissipating energy on things that polarize the country. He said, “We should make an effort to unite and not disunite the country.
“If people can be counted during a census in their places of residency, why then can’t they be regarded as citizens of such places after staying for over 10 years?”
Restating their resolve to throw their weight behind the lawmaker, Okwu said: “We firmly stand behind the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu and urge those opposed to the bill to look at it on merit and not with the ethnic lens. “The biggest problem that has held Nigeria down for decades is ethnicity, and time has come to let it go.”
