I don’t support Nnamdi Kanu’s agitation for secession — Gov. Soludo
The governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, has distanced himself from separatist agitation calling for the secession of the South East from Nigeria.
Mr Soludo said the region’s development is tied to its continued unity with Nigeria.
The governor stated this during an interview on Channels TV on Sunday.
While acknowledging the right to peaceful protest, he said he does not share the same values with the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
He added that the sit-at-home directive in the South East has largely faded in Anambra, adding that residents now go about their normal businesses.
“We’ve made it very clear that if you are protesting or agitating for anything, you are holding yourself down by killing your own people under the pretext of Monday’s sit-at-home,” Mr Soludo said.
“Anybody sitting at home now is doing so out of his own preference, not because of insecurity, as it were, because everywhere is secure on Mondays.”
The governor noted that Mr Kanu and the ,IPOB, have already disowned the sit-at-home order, blaming criminal groups for exploiting it to terrorise residents.
“Even Nnamdi Kanu himself and his IPOB are on record to have said they did not support the Monday sit-at-home; it was some criminal elements doing that. And we thank them for their word,” he said.
Mr Soludo also said his administration’s focus is on governance and delivering results, not activism.
“As for those who are agitating or going to have demonstrations, they have a right to do so,” he said.
“In a democracy, everybody has freedom of expression. But mine is to govern. While social activists to their job, I will do my own.”
The governor said he had earlier urged Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other regional leaders to engage Kanu in dialogue once he is released.
He added that no one person holds a monopoly of ideas about the region’s future.
“I said, why don’t they tell Nnamdi Kanu to come and sit with everybody else, because nobody has a greater right than the other? We are all Igbos, and we are all entitled to our views,” he said.
