Abia – Former Abia State Governor and current Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has called on separatist groups in the Southeast to halt violent activities, emphasizing that the late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, never endorsed a second armed struggle.
Speaking on Arise Television, Kalu said his interactions with Ojukwu in his final years revealed that while the first struggle for Biafra was a historical necessity, any attempt to revive it through violence is unjustifiable.
“It wasn’t the same struggle as the civil war, the one General Odumegwu Ojukwu, General Effiong, Christopher Ukibo, and many other Igbo leaders fought. I am full-blooded Igbo, and I was with Ojukwu in his later years. Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu can testify that he told me the first struggle was necessary, but a second one is no longer necessary,” Kalu stated.
The senator lamented that the Southeast has been economically crippled by years of enforced sit-at-home orders, violent reprisals, and internal conflicts among separatist factions. He stressed that continued disruption of commerce and intimidation of civilians betrays Ojukwu’s vision of education, enterprise, and peaceful negotiation.
“Look, there is no more commerce in the entire Igbo land. How are we going to live? These boys must think about the families who have lost loved ones, lost businesses, and lost their sense of security. Enough is enough. Let us stop destroying ourselves,” Kalu said.
Responding to IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful, who accused him of sponsoring violent factions, Kalu dismissed the allegations as “childish,” asserting that his concerns are rooted in the welfare of the Igbo people, not malice.
“You cannot claim to fight for Igbo liberation while shutting down markets, burning vehicles, and hunting down your own people on Mondays. It is not rational,” he said.
Kalu also urged structured dialogue with the Federal Government as the proper path to resolving the Nnamdi Kanu issue and broader agitation in the region, rather than continued aggression.
“I thought that after what happened to Nnamdi Kanu, these boys would come together and ask: how do we negotiate? How do we secure a political resolution? Instead, we cannot continue with this old-fashioned approach of intimidation and bloodshed,” he added.
Highlighting his loyalty to Ojukwu, Kalu noted that even the late leader’s wife, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, shares his view on the futility of a second armed conflict.
“The Southeast must find peace, rebuild commerce, and stop killing its own people. That is the only way forward,” he concluded.
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