Okorocha: Govs haven’t done enough
The chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) and Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, said yesterday that governors and other leaders in various strata have not done enough in ensuring that Nigeria remains one.
Okorocha ssaid this when he hosted five northern governors at the government house in Owerri, led by their chairman, Kashim Shettima of Borno State, who had earlier in the day visited Rivers and Abia States to calm frayed nerves amidst high tension over secession threat by the Nnamdi Kanu led IPOB.
Other governors from the North that visited the South included Aminu Masari (Katsina), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi).
He described their visit as “impressive outing,” which he said would restore hope in millions of people living in fear in various parts of the country.
“Nigeria’s problem remained largely due to lack of communication, the ability to socialize with each other. Even within the family, when there is no communication between husband and wife, breakup is inevitable. Therefore, it is very important that we do not only communicate amongst ourselves as governors; we should also communicate with the ordinary citizen on the streets.
“If you may recall, your excellences, few weeks ago, at a very high level security meeting, I rose to speak, and I said to all of us, that we are talking about IPOB and challenges of insecurity in our place, what effort have we the leaders made to assure the Igbos, or the Yorubas or the Hausas that we are one?,” Okorocha asked.
“The southern governors remain… in fact Rivers remains separate; South South remains separate, South East remains separate; South West remains separate. Once the South West governors got to Lagos, then Nigeria is completed; once the northern governors got to Kaduna, then Nigeria is completed; and once the Igbos got to Enugu. In fact, we are tired of the whole world. For how long can we continue this way? So, it is incumbent on us like you have done today to reach out and visit these places and have a sense of belonging. I want to thank you for this very bold step,” he said.
He said new agitations in the South East had its roots in recent political events.
Earlier, Governor Shettima said Nigeria could not afford to break or be thrown into another civil war because no country in the world could accommodate its people.