Echefu, Igbo youth leader, backs Nnamdi Kanu

Vincent Kalu

The National President of Indigenous Igbo Youth Congress (IIYC), Chief John Mayor Echefu, has said, the the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, would not have taken to peaceful struggle for the emancipation of the Igbo, if successive leadership of the country have been fair to the Igbo.

In a statement, Echefu emphasised that his group after considering the plight of the Igbo has decided to support Kanu in his peaceful approach to the realisation of the Biafra project. He said: “After the civil war, the government said there was no victor, no vanquished, but its actions and policies since the end of the war have proved to be the contrary.

“Any part of Igbo you visit, you will behold the relics of the civil war; the race is denied of what should come to them in terms of appointments, infrastructure development. Any single thing or project executed in the region is blown out of proportion, and would be seen as a favour, while jumbo projects are being carried out in other parts of the country. Is this not a way of telling the Igbo that the war is still on in another way, or telling them that the war is not over?”

The IIYC leader urged the Igbo leaders to stop denigrating Kanu, noting that if they can’t encourage or support him, they had better held their peace. If his approach is not all that right, like some people argue, then, it beholds them to advise him, and advise him on the right approach instead of castigating him.

Echefu pointed out that the IPOB leader is a child of circumstance, and he is trying to mirror the situation that his people found themselves in the country. His actions have given voice top some Igbo who have lost their voices or who watch helplessly as they were being oppressed.