The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said this at the 2018 Igbo International Leadership and Good Governance Retreat held at Abagana, Anambra State. The retreat was organised by the World Igbo Leadership Council and the World Igbo Information and Communication Network.
Nwodo, who commended the organisers of the annual retreat, said though it is not in doubt that Igbo were facing large scale marginalisation in Nigeria, the way to overcome it was not through fighting another war but by adopting peaceful means and dialogue.
While citing the issue of states and local governments creation in Nigeria in which he said the Igbo were shortchanged, Nwodo noted that such anomalies could be corrected through dialogue and making other Nigerians to see the need for equity and justice in the Nigerian project.
He said, "The military created states and local governments and gave the North the highest numbers not because our population was the smallest but was just part of marginalisation. "But we should be patient and continue to do what we have already started, knowing that the battle is no longer the type that will be fought with guns but with intelligence.
"We have suffered so much and that is why we should apply diplomacy. One of such diplomatic moves is the planned handshake across the Niger in which Igbo leaders will be negotiating with Yoruba leaders in Enugu in the coming week" In his address, a former president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Anambra State chapter, Chief Chris Eluemunor, said as someone who fought in the Nigeria Biafra war of 1967 1970, he would not like another generation of Igbo to experience such war again.
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