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By Dirisu Yakubu

In a bid to seek an end to the insecurity challenges in the South-East, a delegation of the Ndigbo Youth Parliament, NYP, Thursday, visited the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, in Abuja.

Led by the Speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rikki Nwajiofor, the delegation was received by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Policy Development and Analysis, Hon. Ibrahim Hassan, on behalf of Boss Mustapha.

While addressing the SSA to the President on Policy Development and Analysis, Nwajiofor described NYP as a pro- Nigeria project which seeks to build bridges between youths of Igbo extraction and their counterparts from other ethnic nationalities.

Nwajiofor also noted that the main cause of the rising agitation for secession in the South East, judging from the feedback the Parliament got from the security summit is organized in July and some town hall meetings held with the Youth at the grassroots is a lack of sense of belonging.

He said, “The young people in the South-East are propelled to agitate, sequel to the fact that they feel estranged in a country that they belong to. They feel they are not given sufficient sense of belonging to a country they hold so dear.”

He called on the federal government to initiate some empowerment programs, capacity building and training, specifically for the youth of Igbo extraction even as he requested that some scholarship schemes that are ongoing in Northern Nigeria be extended to youths of Igbo speaking states.

He continued: “I beckon on the government of the day to churn out special empowerment programs, training and capacity building for the teeming youth of Igbo speaking states. I also request that scholarship programs, which are obtainable in the Northern Nigeria, be extended to youth of Igbo speaking states.

“There is also the need for the office of SGF, Vice President and even the President of the federation to have intermittent roundtable discussions with youth leaders from Igbo speaking states. These, if properly done, will give Ndigbo youths a sufficient sense of belonging and will exterminate the rising agitation for succession in the region. This will also eradicate the rising insecurity in the region, as a positively engaged mind has no room for the devil and his antics”.

On the indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nwajiofor called for dialogue as a means of resolving the tension in the land.

“I wish to plead with the SGF to initiate a roundtable discussion and dialogue with the IPOB so as to find a lasting solution in the interest of the unity of this nation. There is nothing that negates the power of dialogue. A solution can be arrived at, when the disagreeing parties engage in dialogue, because in dialogue, grievances are laid bare by aggrieved parties and solutions are proffered. Not every problem is solved via a forceful approach. Let the IPOB be invited on a roundtable discussion with the intention of granting them amnesty and preferring solutions to some of the causes of their agitation, which are not inimical to the unity of this great nation. A loving father brings an agitating child close for a proper reorientation and possible solution to the agitations,” he added.

Responding, Hon. Hassan commended lauded the Parliament for the wonderful efforts it is making in strengthening the unity of the nation and restoring peace in the South-East. He applauded the Parliament for the security summit is organized in July and urged the Speaker not to relent in his quest for better Igbo speaking states and a better Nigeria.

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