REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE ON: ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA: UNMASKING THE PUPPET MASTERS
BACKGROUND
The National Prayer Altar is an interdenominational and international platform of Christians who meet daily to pray for Nigeria. The National Prayer Altar commenced daily prayers a year ago.
As a company of intercessors committed to the birth of a new Nigeria in which righteousness, justice, and peace shall reign, the National Prayer Altar is alarmed at the ethnic conflicts that have trailed the 2023 governorship election in Lagos State. Of particular concern is the tension being deliberately fermented between the Igbos and the Yorubas, the two major nationalities in the south of Nigeria.
Out of concern and apprehension at the possible disastrous consequences of such ethnic conflicts, the National Prayer Altar organized a colloquium on Saturday the 8th of April 2023, to discuss the issues and proffer solutions. The meeting was well attended by Yorubas, Igbos, and other citizens of Nigeria. Over 200 people in Nigeria and the diaspora attended the virtual meeting hosted via ZOOM.
At the end of the discussions, which featured three key speakers, from the North, the East, and West of Nigeria, the meeting resolved as follows:
*COMMUNIQUE*
WHEREAS Nigeria is a country made up of hundreds of ethnic nationalities living in peace and harmony with each other;
WHEREAS the Yorubas and the Igbos hold the global record of being the only two neighbouring tribes on earth, each with a population in excess of one million, that in all their past history of over one thousand years, never fought themselves but only traded;
WHEREAS the Igbos have been living in Yorubaland in large numbers from the colonial era without any conflict with their Yoruba hosts;
WHEREAS during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 – 1970 the Yoruba people shielded and protected the Igbo people and safeguarded their properties which they duly restored to them after the war;
WHEREAS the Yoruba people demonstrated largeness of heart by appointing an Igbo man as State Commissioner in Lagos State as well as accommodated Igbos in the Lagos State House of Assembly as State Reps;
WHEREAS the Igbos have reciprocated the good gestures by living peacefully with their hosts while engaging in their businesses and contributing significantly to the development of Lagos State;
WHEREAS Igbos have been living in peace with Yorubas in Igbo states and in other parts of Nigeria;
WHEREAS during the Presidential elections held on February 2023 both the Yorubas and Igbos in large numbers generally demonstrated an open preference for the same political party and its flag bearer;
THEREFORE, it came as a rude shock that during the governorship election of 18th March 2023, some agents of a particular political party, claiming to represent the Yoruba race, openly and aggressively profiled the Igbos and criminally denied them the opportunity to exercise their civic right to vote, thereby precipitating an ethnic conflict in which Yoruba people were accused of tribal bigotry;
The Conference therefore concluded as follows:
THAT the incident of 18th March 2023 during the governorship election, especially in Lagos State, was not a reflection of the attitude of Yoruba people to the Igbos living in their midst, because if it was a Yoruba agenda, it would have been replicated in the other Yoruba states of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, and in the Yoruba-speaking parts of Kwara and Kogi States;
THAT Afenifere, the leadership of the Yoruba race, was evidently not in support of what was done against the Igbo people by the agents of the said political party;
THAT Afenifere did not conceal its support for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi;
THAT some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are clearly to blame for covertly and overtly instigating the disenfranchisement of the Igbos in pursuit of the ambition of winning the governorship election in Lagos State by all means, fair or foul;
THAT Nigerians should not accept the intimidation by those members of the APC and its agents, because any political party that bullies any people cannot mean well for the country;
THAT the judiciary, as the last hope of the common man, must be circumspect in handling the election cases in court so as to prevent a perversion of justice and its disastrous consequences upon the country;
THAT Christian leaders should be more outspoken in promoting peaceful co-existence amongst citizens of the country;
THAT there is need for Christian leaders of Igbo and Yoruba origin to come together and address the issues publicly, in the promotion of peace and mutual goodwill;
THAT Igbo and Yoruba Christians should remember that the major actors in the civil war of 1967 – 1970 were mostly Christians who ended up decimating one another across ethnic lines under manipulation by their cleverer religio-ethnic colonialist dividers;
THAT both the Igbos and the Yorubas should remember that divide-and-rule was a major policy of the colonial powers, and has been adopted as an internal ethno-political colonialist strategy;
THAT the doctrine of hate and the supremacist ideology of one ethnic group in Nigeria have been major factors hindering the unity and progress of Nigeria, especially as the unity of the Igbos and Yorubas is integral to resisting local colonization;
THAT the Yorubas and the Igbos must do everything possible to promote peace and unity amongst themselves as a precursor to the liberation of all other indigenous ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, and ultimately, the emancipation of the African race globally;
THAT Igbos and Yorubas must understand that what occurred on 18th March 2023 was a political manipulation by mischievous politicians, and should not be ascribed to any ethnic nationality;
THAT Nigerians should be of one mind to ensure that the mandate of the people during the 2023 presidential election is proven beyond reasonable doubt as the true position of Nigerian citizens who came out enmass to vote;
THAT Nigerians should remain prayerful, peaceful, and watchful.
God bless Nigeria.
Signed by:
1.Bosun Emmanuel, SW
2.Kontein Trinya, SS
3.Sylvester Mbamali, SE
4.Esther Ibanga, NC
5.Benjamin Aditsoma, NE
6.Hauwa Kure, NW
7.Tunji Idowu, SW
8.Maureen Uzoekwe, SE
9.Gabriel Emmanuel, NC
10.Ebiteinye Alalibo, SS
11.Linda Garba, NE
12.Joana Jatau, NW
13.Ibukun Funmi Oluwafemi, SW
14.Anyam Anastasis, SE
15.Mojirade Alabi, NC
16.Yvonne Ben-Kalio, SS
17.George Bari, NW
18.Oyekale Oyeshola, SW
19.David Adebayo Alabi, SW
20.Lydia Anna Peters, SW
21.Joy Anih, SE
22.Chiedu Issachar, SE
23.Helen Emeka Akujobi, SE
24.Ngozi Udombana, SE
25.Oladunni Angulu, NC
26.Nma Igwe, SE
27.Peter Honest Dateme, SS
28.Eravwerhe Lucky, SS
29.Nwanne Felix-Emeribe, SE
30.Oluchi Florence Ema-Etokudo, SS
31.Joyce Eravwerhe Aderibigbe, SS
32.Tayo Aderibigbe, SW
33.Lanre Awotona, SW
34.Eziwanne Orakpo, SE
35.Chijioke Maduka, SE
36.Benjamin Dike, SE
37.Michael Adedeji, SW
38.Delight George, SS
39.Abigail Nyam, NC
40.Jude Onwueme, SS
41.Moda Boma Simon-Hart, SS
42.Miranda Ifere, NC
43.Atinuke Amao Kehinde, SW
44.Emmanuel Gbanigo, SE
45.Amaka Okoro, SE
46.Adeline Olaosebikan, SW
47.Peters Ifeoluwaju, SW
48.Olukemi Oluwagbemi, SW
49.Ifeoma Edoziem, SE
50.Ikechukwu Obi, SE
51.Aduroja Delights, SW
52.Marie Orgah, NC
53.Elsie Ososanya, SW
54.Akuzuo Ofoefule, SE
55.Ronke Soyombo, SW
56.Chamberlain Osueke, SE
57.Oluwalowo Stephen, SW
58.Emily Eberechi, SS
59.Chidubem Akinyede, SW
60.Patience Chimezie Oyeneye, SE
61.Obiageli Udeh, SE
62.Chinyere Uduku, SE
63.Olufunmilayo Ewa-Jesu, SW
64.Andrew Okwudili, SE
65.Tunde Chukwujekwe, SW
66.Ebikaboere Okoro, SS
67.Joy Anih, SE
68.Mayowa Banji, SW
69.Comfort Ewang, SS
70.Philip Chima, SS
71.Vivian Pam, NC
72.Stella Ogar, SS
73.Ilanye Jumbo, SS
74.Mfon Emukowhate, SS
75.Alfred-Irabor Evelyn, SS
76.Bertha Nnadozie, SE
77.Stella Jacks, SS
78.Edith Ogbebor, SS
79.Rayme-Nwokah Ifeyinwa, SS
80.Agatha Kio, SS
81.Edith Okujagu, SE
82.Olufunmilayo Onireti, SW
83.Deborah Talatu Ante, NW
84.Celestina Adaeze Nweze, SE
85.Deborah Soyoye, SW
86.Obby Okoroafor, SE
87.Lady Ngozi Azubuike, SE
88.Esther Duru, NC