By: Amarachukwu Akaigwe
Home / News : Group seeks for Referendum on Biafra
A group of Igbo organisations in the Diaspora and at home comprising Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF), Global Igbo Alliance (GIA), World Igbo Congress (WIC), and Igbo caucus of the Lower Niger Congress (LNC) have called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to organise a referendum on Biafra to determine their future in Nigeria.
In a joint statement signed by ADF president, Prof. Uzodinma Nwala; GIA president, Dr. Christian Duru; WIC chairman, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor; and the Secretary-General, LNC, Tony Nnadi and made available to the newsmen, the Igbo organisations want their demand of a referendum to be implemented by the end of December this year.
According to the group, a time comes when the people shall arise to take their destiny in their hands, adding that the new age consciousness sweeping across Alaigbo presently is a pointer that Ndigbo have had enough of the despair in Nigeria and may wish to opt out of the union.
“We strongly and unequivocally affirm that Igbo people have a right to self-determination as clearly enshrined in Article 1 (2) of the United Nations Charter (1945), as well as in Article 3, 4 and 5 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007).
“The right to self-determination is also enshrined in article 20 of the African Charter on Human & People’s Rights, which Nigeria ratified and domesticated as a law of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004 (Ratification & Enforcement Act) Cap 9 article 20 (1), which provides that ‘all peoples shall have right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination.
They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen.’
“It is the inalienable right of Ndigbo to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development; a position that confirms that the right of the Igbo to self-determination is sacrosanct and cannot be denied or taken away.
“The call for outright independence or restructuring along the line of regional autonomy has been intense in Alaigbo in the last 12 months. With no clear evidence of where the majority stands on the issue, the Global Igbo Alliance (GIA) undertook an online opinion poll to obtain some level of statistical evidence on the subject,” the group said, adding that their latest position was informed by the result of the poll.
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