I still don't know IPOB's real agenda till date - Okorocha

- Senator Okorocha said he does not know what the proscribed group, IPOB, really wants to achieve

- The former governor said he would consider joining the group he could be convinced on why he must join IPOB and where the taking the Igbos to

- Okorocha added that IPOB is a mere distraction which cannot help the Igbos' political development, saying the group needed reorientation

Senator Rochas Okorocha has questioned the establishment of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and what the group is agitating for.

Okorocha who is the immediate past governor of Imo state said he did not know what the IPOB is advocating for till date.

The former governor in an interview published by The Sun said he would only consider joining the group if he could be convinced on why he must join IPOB and where the taking the Igbos to.

His words: “To be honest with you, I don’t know what IPOB is looking for till date. I don’t know what the agenda of IPOB are and where they are planning to take Ndigbo to.

“I don’t know what we plan to achieve by isolating ourselves from the rest of the country. And until IPOB answers the question, the leaders might not know how to handle it.

“When you say IPOB, are they trying to call for another sovereign nation? If they want to use this as a way of correcting certain injustices meted to the Igbo, then they should change the name to start with.

“When Oduduwa, Arewa or Niger Delta youths talk, they don’t call for a sovereign nation. For Igbo to become a country of their own, they have to think about the consequences.

“Personally, I don’t think it is good for the Igbo to become isolated from other nations and tribes in this country."

Okorocha who is currently representing Imo North in the Senate, however, said the group should package itself properly if it wants the world to understand its aggrievances and what it is fighting.

He said: “In the first place, IPOB is not different from other similar groups from other parts of the country, but it is just the packaging and name that have always been the problem."

“Although the young men may have grievances, they should package them properly for the world to understand what they are fighting for."

Okorocha further stated that the proscribed group is a mere distraction which cannot help the Igbos' political development. He, however, also blamed Igbo leaders for the actions of the group.

He continued: “I don’t think the Igbo need IPOB at this point; it is rather a distraction that is not good for our political future. It might be the reason we are not doing well politically, yet we are adding more danger to it.

“They are our children; we love them and need to bring them closer. So, it is the failure of leadership in Igboland that should be blamed. We are not showing good leadership to these boys.

“They are children and look at how they attacked Ekweremadu, but how have the attack or threat to other political leaders solved the problem of Igbo in Nigeria?

“How has it corrected the problem of marginalisation of Igbo in Nigeria? They are beating up people in the name of IPOB in Owerri, Aba and other towns, but how has that solved the problem?"

Okorocha said that he would want to meet the IPOB members to find common ground.

He continued: “I think IPOB is rather waging war against ourselves which should not be. I am looking forward to meeting with them anytime to address this issue and if they convince me, I will follow them and if I convince them, they should follow me.

“I cannot lay claim that I don’t know them because they are Igbo and it is my duty to have a chat with them as a father. They must convince me on why I must join IPOB and where it is taking us to."

Okorocha added that he had told the IPOB members to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the southeast can achieve its presidential ambition through the ruling party.

He charged the proscribed group to explain where it wants to take the Igbos if it has a view contrary to his own.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Abia state command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) denied invading the Isiama Afra-Ukwu Ibeku home of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

The spokesperson of the command, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, on Sunday, September 15, said security agents never besieged Kanu’s home.

Ogbonna insisted that doing so would have amounted to a waste of time and energy.

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Source: Legit.ng