The hunger protests across some regions of Nigeria did not get momentum in the Southeast region because Ndigbo have always been protesting in Nigeria.
The National President of the Eastern Union, Hon Charles Anike, stated this during an interview with our correspondent in Enugu on Thursday.
According to him, “The Southeast has somehow been on protest for many years: protest against former President Buhari’s high handedness and outright hatred for the zone; and also protest against the continued illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader.
“The Nigerian government under Buhari illegally detained Kanu for baseless charges against him. The Buhari government undermined the court order and kept Kanu in custody.
“Tinubu too is toeing the same line. Do you know the hardship that the Southeast people have suffered and still suffer as a result of the sit-at-home order? Do you know how many lives that have been lost as a result of that order?
“Do you know that the Southeast was ignored and left to suffer alone? Also when Prof Mahmood’s INEC staged a civilian coup against an Igbo son, Mr Peter Obi, during the 2023 presidential election, southwesterners felt the pains.
“So now that everything is backfiring, why would you want Southeast to protest?”
He added that the passing on of three illustrious , Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, president general of Ohaneze Ndigbo; Sen Ifeanyi Ubah, a serving senator, and Onyeka Onwenu, a music icon, put the mood in the region depressed.”
He also said that the self-independent posture of youths in Southeast made them avoid the protests, adding that, “They don’t really depend on government patronage like the northern youths who are used to federal and state government patronage.”