Every part of Nigeria is home to all, says Rochas Okorocha

Rochas Okorocha

• Atiku warns against break-up
• Monarch seeks urgent restructuring

The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has said that every Nigerian should consider anywhere he or she resides as his or her home, not minding the quit notice given to Igbo to vacate the North.

Okorocha stated this on Monday night at the Government House, Owerri, while breaking the fast with Muslim faithful, stressing that Nigerians had overgrown such ‘petty sentiments.’

The governor, who admitted that Igbo and Arewa people inter-marry based on his belief, said, among others: “We are here as a tradition to break the fast with our Muslim brothers who have been fasting for so many weeks now. We are here to dramatise unity and love for one another. We Nigerians must learn to respect each other’s religion because religion has a lot to do with every individual or society.

“We should also be our brothers’ keeper as preached by every religion. I want to assure all Muslims in Imo State that you are safe in the state. Let no one leave the state for any reason at all. This is Nigeria and Nigeria is one nation, indivisible and indissoluble.’’

“When we heard about the call by the Arewa youths asking the Igbo to go back home, I said to them which home? Nigeria is our country, Nigeria is our home and as such we must love one another. I tell all of you here that Imo State is your home irrespective of your religion. Feel free and keep the laws of the land because we are one and shall remain one in God’s name.”

Leader of the Muslim community in the state, Alhaji Yusuf Nwaoha and his Abia State counterpart, Alhaji Usman Mohammadu, thanked the governor for sustaining the breaking of fast with Muslim faithful in the state in the past six years and enjoined him to handover the legacy to his successor come 2019. They also commended the government and people of the state for the peaceful co-existence among Christians and Muslims, calling for its sustenance.

In a similar vein, former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, has warned against the break-up of Nigeria. He said the consequences would be catastrophic for all Nigerians.

Atiku, in his Twitter handle entitled “None of us is as great as all of us” monitored yesterday, remarked that Nigerians would be in good stead to fix the multifaceted problems facing Nigeria if the nation remains one indivisible country.

He enjoined those agitating for the break-up of the country to go down history lane to learn the lesson of tolerance and brotherliness.

Meanwhile, former National Chairman of the Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON) and paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom, Delta State, His Majesty Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu, yesterday said Nigeria was inching towards self-destruction by the various divisive agitations within the country.

The monarch, who is expected to host a fact-finding team to the Niger Delta from the United States Embassy led by the Consular-General today in his palace, said the time has come to redefine the destiny of Nigeria since majority of Nigerians in the North, South, East and West have unanimously decided for the restructuring or implementation of true fiscal federalism.

Ayemi-Botu said said the timing of the ultimatum given by the northern clique at a time when all patriotic Nigerians are trooping to churches and mosques praying for President Muhammadu Buhari’s quick recovery and safe return to the country was worrisome and unpardonable.