Nothing wrong with indigenisation bill – Ohanaeze youths back Deputy Speaker, Kalu

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, has condemned opposition to the indigenisation bill being proposed under the constitution review process of the House of Representatives.

Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, is heading the Constitution Review Committee.

The bill seeks to indigenise individuals who have stayed in a state for 10 years or are married to a nation.

It has been generating 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 heart land 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 lame excuses 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 Nigeria to move forward should stop dissipating energy on things that polarize the country.

“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?

“We firmly stand behind the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Benjamin Kanu and urge those opposed to the bill to look at it on merit and not with ethnic lens.

“The biggest problem that has held Nigeria down for decades is ethnicity and time has come to let it go,” he further stated.

Nothing wrong with indigenisation bill – Ohanaeze youths back Deputy Speaker, Kalu