The Directorate of State (DOS) of the great family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu commiserat...
The Directorate of State (DOS) of the great family of the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu
commiserate with Ndigbo particularly the
people of Okija community over the sudden deaths of our people mostly the women
who went to collect the food items and PALLIATIVE distributed by a
philanthropist in their community.
The death of over 22 women when a stampeded errupted during the collection of
free food items organized by an Okija philanthropist popularly known as Obi Jackson.
It is noted that the philanthropic action of distributing free food items to women in the Okija community and beyond by Obi Jackson
during Christmas has been going on for years. His good gestures should not be
discouraged or demonized. In a sane country, it is the responsibility of the
government to ensure that poverty is not weaponized. Nigeria, as a country that
has failed her citizens, is the reason people like Obi Jackson stepped in to
provide palliative for the poverty-stricken citizens. Nigerian politicians have
weaponized poverty, which is why more than 80 Nigerians have died so far in
December 2024 in Anambra State, Abuja, and Ibadan. As such, Obi Jackson will
not be blamed for lending support to the hungry citizens that resulted in the unfortunate
deaths, however, anyone that wishes to distribute palliatives in the future
should ensure that proper procedures are put in place to avoid stampede and
other harms to our people. In the future, such free food distribution can be
done in villages instead of one central place with an overwhelming crowd, and
security must be put in place to assure orderly distribution of the food.
Finally, there is a saying that goes like this, "teach
a man how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime, but if you give a man a fish,
he will only eat one meal." Therefore, we must avoid the repeat of the
ugly event of December 21, 2924 by empowering and employing our people to
reduce the state of engineered poverty that is ravaging Nigeria. To address
this poverty manace, IPOB is calling on all Igbo philanthropists to stop
sharing food items to the people instead, provide for them the seedlings for
planting so that they can go back to the farm to produce what they will
eat. Empower our people to go back to
the farm by sharing natural seedlings as a means of reducing hunger in the
land. Also, we encourage wealthy Igbos to help struggling youths go into useful
endeavors and helpful employments to address the issue of poverty. Most
importantly, IPOB have called on our people to bring their investments,
factories, businesses, Ministries, and Agencies home to Alaigbo to create
employment opportunities for our teaming youths. Ndigbo are known for our
hardworking and self-sustaining way of life. IPOB commends the efforts of Igbo
philanthropists. However, we wish to discourage the sharing of food items. We must not create a culture
of dependency like what is obtainable in the northern region of the zoo called
Nigeria.
IPOB once again sympathetizes with everyone who has lost a
relative during the rice collection stampede in Okija, Anambra State. We hope
such an ugly incident will not happen again. Most importantly, IPOB calls on
Ndigbo and Biafrans to activate the Agricultural and Industrial Revolution in
order to address the State sponsored weaponization of poverty in Nigeria,
particularly in Biafra Land. We will not allow this to happen again
COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL, MEDIA, AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR
IPOB
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