The National Council of Igbos in Belgium, a federation of Igbo organisations based in different regions of Belgium, is leading a global peaceful march on Tuesday 26 September to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Brussels, the seat of European powers.
The Peaceful March, which already received Belgian government approval and police officers detailed to oversee orderly passage of events is expected to draw sympathizers from a broad range of nationalities predominantly Nigerians of different ethnicities, Africans and their European supporters. High point of the March is expected to be the handover of an official letter to President Muhammadu Buhari through Her Excellency, Ambassador Nonye Udo with a list of the demands of Ndigbo in Belgium.
In his address to the diverse supporters of the Protest March prior to official handover of the Letter of Demands to the Ambassador, the President General of National Council of Igbos in Belgium, Honourable Lucky Onyeador is expected to clarify that ‘irrespective of social, organizational affiliation and social status, friends and well-wishers of Nigeria, particularly Ndigbo, have deemed it imperative to gather peacefully to signal to the Government of Nigeria that it owes Ndigbo an obligation to ensure and guarantee sustainable peace and social stability in Igboland. In line with that, we call on the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately withdraw all military presence in Igboland and deploy the Nigeria Police to move in and keep the peace’
Honourable Onyeador is also expected to highlight the following:
- The principal demand of Ndigbo in Belgium, the Nigerian Diaspora, friends of Nigeria and numerous members of the international community is for an immediate end of the ongoing occupation and killing of Igbos in the South-East region of Nigeria as this is not only unwarranted but unlawful. Thereafter, Government must initiate immediate dialogue with all parties to the conflict for a negotiated settlement of this conflict that now threatens, more than ever before, to destabilize the unity of the Nigerian nation.
- It has also become apparent that ignoring youth restiveness in Igboland as a consequence of age-long marginalization, weather perceived or real is no longer tenable. Ndigbo in Belgium calls on The Federal Government to come up within a reasonable timeframe actionable plan to structurally address this menace. We warn that not doing so simply plays into the hands of groups with tendency for extremism, again threatening the unity of the federation.
- Ndigbo in Belgium notes that a growing number of persons and organisations in Nigeria and in the international community are seeing sense in the call for restructuring of Nigeria as permanent solution to the long-drawn political problem and power imbalance and herewith join in the call for steps to be taken without delay to restructure the country. From the look of things, we do not see how the current boiled up state of the nation cannot degenerate into national disintegration without restructuring of current federal arrangement.
- The Federal government should facilitate without delay a platform for dialogue with Ndigbo to consider the agitations of a significant number of people for a referendum for self-determination.
Finally there are conflicting reports of court classification of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation. While Ndigbo in Belgium is not affiliated to any separatist group, we are curious to know if this report is correct and the detailed basis for such classification as we are completely at a lost as to what may have warranted Government to so classify and proscribe a resurgent group.
Signed:
Mazi Lucky Onyeador: President General, National Council of Igbo in Belgium.
