A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, Igbo did not start the civil war, which engulfed the country from 1967 to 1970.
He said rather, northern elements who felt that the Igbo in the military carried out the 1966 coup started the war, and then went on a mindless, wicked and coldblooded killing of Igbo.
Iwuanyanwu, who spoke in Aba, Abia State at an integrated economic summit organised by an Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Aka Ikenga, stated that for the fact that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dr. Michael Okpara were not killed during the coup could not translate to an Igbo coup.
Bemoaning the effect of the civil war on Igbo unity, Iwuanyanwu, who said he was a young Biafran major during the war, stated that while northerners believe in themselves, the Yorubas in Kwara and Kogi states were proud to say they were Yorubas, stressing that the Igbo outside the core Igbo states find it difficult to identify as Igbo.
He said there was no ethnic group in Nigeria that believes in the oneness of the country more than the Igbo, saying: “Igbo believe in one united Nigeria more than any other tribe. While the Igbo have investments in all parts of the country, there is no single investment owned by a non-Igbo in Igboland.”
Earlier, President General of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, said Aba was chosen for the summit because of its strategic position as the melting pot of commercial activities of the Igbo nation.
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