Okowa kicks against war, sues for peace

Group seeks UN-supervised referendum on self-determination
Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has kicked against anything that will cause war in the country.

Speaking yesterday at the second anniversary thanksgiving service of the Sixth Assembly of the Delta State House of Assembly held at the Living Faith Church, Asaba, Okowa said that after the bitter experience of the Nigerian Civil War which lasted from 1967 to 1970, the country does not need another war.

He said that it was time for Nigerians to think and reflect on the past and build a greater, more united country.

The governor said: “Nigeria needs God to survive; by the grace of God, Nigeria is one and will remain as one. We don’t want to see war.”

The governor, who said people should re-examine themselves, their homes and think of their existence, stressed that people needed to reflect on things they do as parents and inculcate into their children which they ought to build in the knowledge of God for a better society.

The thanksgiving service was also graced by the Deputy Governor, Kingsley Otuaro; traditional rulers, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, among others.

Meanwhile, a group, the Igbo Ekunie Initiative (IEI), comprising professionals in Nigeria and the Diaspora, have called for a United Nations (UN)-supervised referendum on self-determination in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by its President, Tochukwu Ezeoke, the group, which bemoaned northern security operatives’ inability to arrest those behind the Kaduna declaration despite announcing their intent to do so, urged all self-determination groups within the southern territories to unite and work for a collective referendum within all the regions willing to restructure in the first instance.

It noted that the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu and other agitators were swiftly arrested and prosecuted, while some were killed merely for demanding self-determination, whereas the northern youths are out to cause massive civil unrest in the country.