The apex Igbo youth body, Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), has said it would collaborate with the Middle-Belt youths to combat the clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the two regions.
OYC made this known in a statement by its President-General and Secretary-General, Mr Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Mr Okwu Nnabuike respectively, which was obtained by DAILY POST on Sunday morning.
The group also revealed that it had agreed with the Middle-Belt youths to establish a joint council of Middle-Belt governors and South-East governors on the issues of insecurity and the continuous clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the two regions.
“If there is collaboration between the Middle-belt and the southeast governors, the herdsmen/farmers clashes will cease to exist,” it added.
The Pan-Igbo Youth organization passed a vote of confidence on the South-East governors, adding that they had shown courage and strength to pilot the affairs of the region.
On clamor for Nigeria President of Igbo extraction in 2023, Ohaneze Youth Council declared that it had joined forces with the Middle-Belt Youth Council to realise the aspiration of an Igbo president in the 2023 election.
It said critical stakeholders across the country would be engaged to ensure that the rotational agreement between the South and the North was not jettisoned in 2023.
Parts of the statement read, “The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council has entered into a partnership with Middle-Belt Youth Council, led by Emma Zompal, on issues concerning 2023 presidency. We have vowed to put the interests of the two regions ahead on any other issues.
“We would insist that the leadership of the two leading political parties, All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, respect the gentleman’s agreement on rotational presidency between the North and the South is obeyed.
“The agreement has stabilised the unity and deepened our democracy since 1999. Through moral and persuasive channels, we will engage critical stakeholders. It is unpatriotic to insist that power will remain in the North after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari by 2023”.
