The apex body noted that the dialogue has the potential to usher in monumental changes.
Apex lgbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has opened up that Biafra agitators are ready to dialogue with the federal government.
The group made the statement on Tuesday.
Ohanaeze’s factional Deputy President General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the apex body noted that the dialogue has the potential to usher in monumental changes, including the release of all prisoners of conscience, notably Nnamdi Kanu, the reopening of the Eastern Economic Corridor, and an unequivocal end to violence disguised as agitation.
“It is our earnest hope that those misled into cycles of violence and armed struggle will choose to abandon their hostile actions, paving the way for a peaceful and prosperous Southeast.
“In a significant and historic turning point for the geopolitics of Nigeria, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex sociocultural organisation representing the Igbo people, formally acknowledges the courageous decision of the Nonviolent Pro-Biafra Agitators to extend a hand of peace towards the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“Following twelve years of relentless diplomatic pressure from the international community and numerous United Nations-affiliated peace groups, urging these advocates for self-determination to embrace peaceful negotiations, this moment is both profound and transformative.”
Ohanaeze proclaimed that the acceptance by the non-violent Pro-Biafra agitators to offer a dove of peace and a hand of friendship to the federal government was a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s historical timeline.
Isiguzoro said, “this forthcoming dialogue is anticipated to mirror the earlier discussions held at Aburi, Ghana, now reborn as the ‘Abuja Accord’.
“This initiative aims explicitly to address and resolve the long-standing grievances that have birthed the Biafra agitation since the cessation of hostilities in the Nigerian Civil War in 1970.
“The non-violent Pro-Biafra agitators have extended an olive branch to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, inviting the federal government to engage in a constructive dialogue over the nagging ‘Igbo Question’.”
He said the dialogue sought to confront the unresolved issues stemming from the unimplemented policies of reconciliation, reconstruction, and rehabilitation envisioned by General Yakubu Gowon following the war.