A former governor of Enugu State, Okuwesilieze Nwodo, has dismissed the claim that the insecurity in the South East is politically motivated.
Speaking on the Channels Tv’s State of the Polity on Monday morning, Nwodo said insecurity in the region was caused by the feeling of neglect by the youths in the region.
- NIGERIA DAILY: Why The Nigerian Military Is Experiencing Frequent Air Crashes
- 2023 Presidency: Gov Emmanuel not running on zoning, says Suswam
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, had said the killings in parts of the state were politically motivated as against reports in some quarters that they were the handiwork of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He made this assertion in an Easter message at the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Parish, Ozuh Omuma, Oru East Local Government Area.
But Nwodo said: “I don’t agree with him because I am a politician. If I am in Imo State and I want to undo the sitting government and I create mayhem and I am succeeding, I will take credit for it. And then, I will challenge the government to counter what I have used to convince the young people to go to violence.
“I don’t think that it is politically motivated because no politician is taking credit for whatever is happening there.”
He said youths’ agitation was responsible for the violence, adding that the youths feel instead of dialoguing with them, the governor is working with the federal government to stifle their agitation.
While saying one of the causes of insecurity in the region was the absence of sincere dialogue with the young people, he added that: “The young people, apart from having no job, also feel extremely marginalised in a country of their own. The country offers them no hope and they accuse us their leaders of having failed them.
“So, they want self-help and we have to work very hard to convince them that self-help can not take them anywhere and will only bring federal action. We need negotiation and that is where we have come repeatedly to the federal government, appealing that they negotiate with our youths.”
The former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the problems were not insurmountable, adding that the country had the capacity to address the problems being faced by the youths of the region.
He said the federal government successfully solved the problem of the South South during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration and the success story of the engagement with the Southwest after the annulment of the election when the country decided to pick the next president from the Southwest.
“I believe that if the federal government decide to dialogue with the young people in the Southeast, and the government there and entrepreneurs can create jobs for the youths, there will be peace there,” the Coordinator of The Greater Nigeria Conference said.
