Barrister Njoku Outlines Remote Causes Of Self Determination By South-easterners In Nigeria

An Owerri based legal practitioner, Barrister Chisom Goodluck Njoku has outlined the key factors attributing them to the remote causes of self determination by the indigenous people of the South East geo –political zone of Nigeria.

The legal practitioner spoke to newsmen in Owerri at the weekend making a disclosure that insecurity, nepotism, ethnicity and corruption are the major reasons behind the agitations for self determination by the south easterners of Nigeria.

Barrister Chisom Njoku stated that such factors have given rise to the emergence of such agitating groups from the South-East of Nigeria among which include Biafran People National Council (BPNC); Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Movement of Biafra in Nigeria (MOBIN), Eastern People Congress (EPC), Joint Revolutionary Council of Biafra (JRCOB) Customary Government of Biafra (CGOB) and others.

Barrister Njoku made references to the relevant sections of the constitution to hammer his points saying that by section 15(5) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended) that the state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power which is one of the political objectives of the Nigerian state and that by section 14(3) of the same constitution which  postulates that the composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character in Nigeria and the need to promote mutual loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no dominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or any of its agencies.

Barr. Chisom Njoku

Barrister Njoku went further saying that the south-easterners of Nigeria have continued to face marginalization of all kinds reminding the newsmen that under the eight years  Buhari administration that the south – easterners were treated as strangers  in their own state where they are reported to contribute over 70%  to the socio-cultural and economic developments  of Nigeria.

Barrister Njoku condemned the ugly situation such that the youth and the elderly have become fed up with the abnormalies in Nigeria where according to him the government of the day uses her instrument of power to chastise and persecute the Igbos more than any other group from other regions in Nigeria.

Barrister Chisom Njoku made another reference to the present case where the IPOB leader, Nnamdi kanu, after  being granted bail by the court of competent jurisdiction and yet the Federal government would refuse to obey the court orders which has been generally speculated that being of Igbo origin from the south east was the reason behind that.

Barrister Njoku narrated that government would use her executive power to persecute the people of south east, without minding the subscription of Nigeria to the protection of human rights under the chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution and the African charter on human rights of the people which the Nigerian state subscribed in article 2.

‘’The civil and the political rights recognized in the charter include the right to freedom from discrimination, an area that has been reported to have so much affected the south easterners in Nigeria. Igbos are allowed by law to seek their freedom when discriminated against, going by the both the Nigerian  constitution and the African charter’’, He stated.