Chief Orji Kalu, the former Governor of Abia state who recently decamped to the All Peoples Congress, APC, on Tuesday said that the agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra is adversely affecting the economic development of the of the South-Eastern states.
The controversial politician made the comment at a joint press conference with members of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), after a closed meeting with the group.
The CNG, it will be recalled gave the Igbo three months to vacate the North earlier in the year.
Kalu stated that he was persuaded to engage the northern group, as a result, of recent developments which if allowed unchecked may lead to the disintegration of the country.
He said that Biafra was not about Nnamdi Kanu alone as so many other people are involved in the agitation, adding that he had access to all of them and would continue to dialogue with them.
Kalu said, “It is an issue of great concern to the region; the young people on the street do not know the damage the Biafra agitation does to the GDP of the region.
“ The GDP of the area has gone down grossly; I am an entrepreneur and I know it.
“Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and others used to buy goods from Aba, now how many of them still go there?
“We resolved this issue when I was the governor of Abia; I resolved it with Ralph Uwazulike and he listened; we will speak with Nnamdi Kanu and he will listen.’’
Kalu urged the group to support the call for restructuring as it did not mean breaking up the country.
“Nigeria needs to restructure economically and other wise. Many states cannot pay salaries.
“We need to put more money on capital projects, I recommend 25 per cent for recurrent and 75 per cent for capital.
“If the federal and state governments had invested in agriculture, the North should be making about 150 billion dollars from agriculture yearly.
“This is the only country that traverses from the Atlantic Ocean to Sahara desert; some people are asking God to give them just one; we have to keep the country united,’’ he said.
Kalu assured southerners living in the North that they were safe and Nigeria was also safe.
Yerima, who is also the Chairman of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, he has been engaged in telephone conversation with Kalu and that the former Governor had shown a lot of concern and was worried that the unity of Nigeria was being threatened.
“We have had series of meetings with a lot of prominent Nigerians and we want the unity of Nigeria.
“We identify with Kalu because he believes in the unity of Nigeria, going by his antecedents; we have assured him of our commitment to one Nigeria and our meeting was fruitful.
“We strongly believe that Nigeria is one and it is for us.
“We held meeting with Northern governors and we promised to make a statement and this is part of the process.
“Be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm; we assure everybody who believes in Nigeria of their safety,’’ he said.
Yerima said that the coalition would engage in further consultations before taking a final position.
With NAN Report