Chief Chekwas Okorie, the National Chairman of the United Progressive
Party, UPP, has declared that the ideology behind the declaration of
Republic of Biafra by the late Emeka Ojukwu was totally different from
Nnamdi Kanu led IPOB.
According to him, Ojukwu’s reason for coming up with Biafra was for the
Igbos to have equal share in Nigeria and not to break-away.
Speaking with Vanguard, Okorie said his party does not support secession
but believes in self determination and referendum among others.
“If you are looking at the Biafra that Ikemba talked about before he
died, or Biafra as an ideology, count me in because the Biafran ideology
ought to be the Nigerian ideology, a true Nigerian ideology.
“We have had a situation here where a book was written entitled, ‘We are
all Biafrans’ and that book was presented by Atiku Abubakar. Not long
ago, in May actually, the Yar’ adua foundation convened a seminar to
mark 50years of Biafra.
“The Acting President was there as a special guest and he spoke. Former
President Obasanjo was there and so many top Nigerian leaders including
my humble self. So the issue of Biafra is something that would remain
topical and it depends from the angle you see it
“If you see it from the angle that what led to that war should be
avoided, then that is positive. But if you are looking at it from the
point of view of breaking away from the country that is the negative
side for which no political party that is national in nature would be
part of. I have always talked about restructuring, self determination
and giving Nigerians the opportunity to decide their fate through
referendum.”
According to him, Nigeria would have been a better place if the people
had queried the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari in terms
of lopsidedness, equity, and fairness.
He added, “The national assembly is not bothered that there is a law
that says that if the PENCOM DG is removed, another one would come from
the same zone, they are not bothered about what the law say. They are
only concerned about the office of SGF, the office of EFCC and all that.
I am not impressed.”
