- The national chairman of the United
Progressives Party (UPP) Chekwas Okorie, disclosed that he was the one
who placed Nnamdi Kanu in the political limelight by appointing him as
the chairman of APGA in 2002
-
Okorie stated that unlike Kanu, he had traveled extensively around the
country numerous times and had profound knowledge of the location of
Igbos in the country; enough to know that secession is not the answer
-
Okorie revealed that in 2000, at the height of the Sharia
implementation, he was the only easterner who visited the Igbo
settlement in Gusau; and the trip had opened his eyes
Chekwas
Okorie, the national chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), has
stated that Nnamdi Kanu’s agitation for Biafra would not do any good to
the Igbo ethnic group.
According to reports,
Okorie acknowledged that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) was his political son, but he stated that he (Kanu) was not
familiar with the place of the Igbo tribe in the larger Nigerian
society; hence his blind agitation.
While speaking with journalists in Enugu, Okorie also debunked rumors of a connection between IPOB and UPP.
He stated: “First
and foremost, UPP is a political party registered with INEC in line
with the Nigerian laws to acquire power to improve the welfare of the
Nigerian people.
"And in that registration, UPP like other political parties has a constitution derived from the constitution of Nigeria.
“It also has a manifesto, but it is the manifesto that stands it out from all the other political parties.
“So,
haven said this, there is no special relationship between UPP and
Biafran agitating groups, because we are aware that the Nigerian law
does not permit a political party to have a direct relationship with any
group whatsoever.
“And for Nnamdi Kanu as a person, he is more like my political son and he does not dispute that.
"I
gave him political limelight and I exposed him politically and
appointed him the chairman of APGA in 2002, and he remained loyal to my
own chapter of APGA even during the crisis and up to 2011.
“And
the only point of departure is the new orientation he has canvassed and
continued to canvass which is, ‘we want to exit from Nigeria’, that is
where we defer.
“I do not think secession will do the Igbo man any good.
"He is a young man; he has not been
exposed to the Igbo location in Nigeria. I have had the privilege of
traveling round this country for a minimum of 15 times.
‘I
have had the privilege of meeting the Igbo settlements in Gusau, in
northern part of Nigeria in the year 2000 where they have lived for over
400 years.
"And that was the year I was invited as a special guest of honour to the Igbo Day celebration in Gusau.
“The late Odumegwu Ojukwu was also invited; Dr. Alex Ekwueme was also invited.
“But
remember that the year 2000 was the height of Sharia, so it was risky
for most people to travel to the north, because of fear.
“But I said to myself that there are people leaving there and they are human beings.
"I
was the only one from the south east that honored that invitation and I
never regretted it till tomorrow. This is because it really opened my
eyes.
“I also found out that it was the
same year that the caliphate had their bi-centenary celebration in
Nigeria. That means 200 years of entering Sokoto to establish the
caliphate by their leader, Usman Dan Fodio.
"He came all the way from Senegal through Niger Republic, then to Sokoto.”
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