Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu has declared that he is not ready to lead his people into another war as been agitated by the Nnamdi Kanu-led outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Nevertheless, Governor Ikpeazu noted that he has no grudges against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a regular citizen of the state.
Governor Ikpeazu while reacting to the activities of the IPOB members, who were accused of attacking security operatives in the state, said violence would not bring the expected change.
According to him, “I am not going to engage Nnamdi on the grounds of IPOB, but I can speak to citizen Nnamdi who happens to be an Abian but not on the basis or affiliation with IPOB. I’m going to speak to Nnamdi on the basis of the fact that I am the governor of Abia State and he is a citizen of Abia State.
“If you’re taking up arms against the Nigerian nation, what capacity do you have to conclude it? Because I’m not a suicide candidate and I saw a bit of the civil war and I don’t want to get people on a boat that is sailing to nowhere. He is entitled to his opinion, views and approach, but I’m also saying to him, that as a young boy who went to Maiduguri at the age of 16, the boundaries of the South East and Northern Nigeria is not in Umuahia or Ubakala Police Station, neither is it in Bende or Ohafia.
“If you have a perceived enemy and you embark on such a voyage and your son kills you, your enemy will just attend your funeral and save his gunpowder for another enemy. I think there is a need for a good reason to prevail. Let’s sit down and talk about it.
“For me, I think we need to change a few things in this country and I think we need to be smart about the way we change it. There is somebody who said that those who resort to violence have exhausted the capacity of their intelligence to resolve the matter. I don’t think we have exhausted the capacity of our intelligence to resolve the matter. Violence cannot be the first option”.
