Why Igbo youths won’t join hunger protest

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing has explained the reason why Igbo youths will not participate in the upcoming nationwide protests which have been scheduled from August 1 to 10, 2024.

Addressing journalists in Enugu on Monday after an Emergency Convention of Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders 2024, titled “State of the Nation,” Ohanaeze said the South East region has ample reasons to protest, including widespread economic hardship, massive youth unemployment, and poor representation in governance.

Reading their resolutions, the acting National President, Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, said Ohanaeze youths aligns with the decision of their fathers that Igbo should not join the protests rather they will engage the government in a constructive dialogue to address their peculiar challenges.

However, after consulting with youths across the region, the group has opted to engage in dialogue with the Federal Government and South East governors to address the region’s unique challenges and work towards finding lasting solutions.

This approach, according to them, seeks to foster constructive collaboration rather than confrontation, aiming to yield more effective and sustainable results for the region’s youth.

Okpalaezeukwu maintained that while the hunger protest is within the constitutional rights of the people and also justifiable owing to the current state of affairs of the country, it is feared that the protest could result in the loss of lives and property of Igbo citizens that characterised the Endsars protest of 2020.

He said, “We need one more state to balance the South East with other zones. We have many of our young people, including Nnamdi Kanu who are held across different detention centres unjustly.

“But we don’t want a repeat of the destruction of our investments across the country because we will become the targets anywhere the protest holds.”

“We will engage in meaningful dialogue to ensure that our voice is heard, moving forward and that equity, fairness and a sense of belonging is guaranteed.”

He regretted that the protest had not started yet, adding, “Igbo businessmen and their businesses both in Abuja, Lagos, and other major cities are being threatened. We don’t want the killing and destruction of our people’s property across the country.

“We demand that Igbo youths be appointed into political positions in the country to be part and parcel of the government.

“We hope that since the government has ended the civil war in the South East, with continued constructive dialogue all the things that are agitating the South Easterners would be addressed.”