The forced amalgamation of Nigeria by the colonial masters without the consent of the people has been blamed for the agitations for self-determination by various groups in the country, including the renewed agitation for Biafra restoration as championed by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

A group of Igbo clerics known as Concerned Igbo Ministers stated this in a statement signed by its President General/International Coordinator, Tony Uzo Anthony, and Secretary General, Apostle Tony Osuji.

The group, which blamed Britain for Nigeria’s fundamental problems as a result of the forced union, said Nigeria was created for the economic and administrative convenience of Britain.

The statement read: “The agitation for self-determination, as championed by Nnamdi Kanu through IPOB, underscores a fundamental truth: Nigeria’s creation in 1914 was not a union born of mutual consent but a colonial construct imposed by Britain for administrative and economic convenience.

“Lord Frederick Lugard’s amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates disregarded the profound ethnic, religious, and socio-cultural differences between these regions, forging an artificial nation that has struggled for cohesion ever since.”

MEANWHILE, yesterday, IPOB claimed that the Nigerian government has refused to appoint Igbo into key positions. IPOB queried why the Nigerian government refused to appoint Igbo as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Inspector General of Police (IGP), Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) and National Security Adviser (NSA), among others.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, IPOB wondered why Igbo cannot secure appointments at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Customs, and others.