Chidi Samuel || The Presidency on Monday picked holes on the position of the Apex Igbo socio-political organisation that the federal government should be held responsible for the recent agitation in the South East by the Biafran Separatist group, IPOB.
The Apex Igbo group had in reaction to President Buhari’s Independent day speech which singled out some Igbo leaders for failing to call IPOB leaders to order, said that the agitation was the result of the federal government’s anti-Igbo policies.
But in a statement on Monday, Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to President Buhari on media and publicity, urged Igbo leaders to see themselves as partners in the Nigeria project and as such have a huge role to play in what happens in their communities and how the youths behave.
According to him, “President Buhari was not abdicating his responsibilities. He didn’t request any political leader to do anything seminal or out of the box. All he said is, ‘talk to your out-of-the-line-youth so that we have some peace.’
“Igbo leaders need not to be on the defensive for the misbehaviour of the IPOB which they rightly condemned.
“The President was simply saying that the regional leaders also have a role to play in keeping their hot-headed youths in check.”
The Presidential spokesman also noted that President Buhari homily also applied to leaders of every other region of the country.
“President Buhari was simply calling out the regional leaders to their responsibilities, making them aware of the crucial role they can play. This should not be seen as an attack on the Ohanaeze or on any other regional leaders,” he concluded.