A socio-cultural organisation, Kwararafa Peoples Assembly (KPA), has come out boldly to proclaim that it will not allow divisive forces threatening to tear Nigeria apart to succeed as majority of potential victims of such unfortunate occurrence would be indigenous peoples of Kwararafa origins scattered all over the country.
The group, which made the call Wednesday at a world press conference in Abuja, also articulated that despite constituting the majority of the Nigerian population and determining the dynamics of who occupies the ultimate political authority in Nigeria, people of Kwararafa origin are marginalised and still face serious existential realities in contemporary Nigeria.
The text of the press conference, read by Prof Emmanuel Oloja Ejeikwu, which also traced a brief history of Kwararafa Empire and its peoples, posited that Kwararafa people are the Israelites of Nigeria with a wide range of social, economic and political challenges as well as existential threats in the political economy of Nigeria.
According to Prof Ejeikwu, rather than the manipulation, neglect, oppression and suppression suffered in all facets of politics across Nigeria, Kwararafa peoples presence in Nigeria demands due recognition in the context of the roles they have played in the socio-economic and political history of Nigeria.
“The truth is that the presence of the Kwararafa people in this land space called Nigeria needs to be given the due recognition and place in the political space, socio-economic and political history of Nigeria, rather than the program of manipulative neglect, oppression and suppression.
“Can you imagine that the so-called three major tribes are even planning to share our ancestral land under the guise of “Nigeria should divide”? We will not allow anybody to divide our land, our ancestral heritage under any guise of secession.
“We cannot be compelled to obtain international passports to travel within our land. We must remain as “One indivisible Nigeria”. All the struggles that our fore, fore-fathers went through to occupy this territory, Nigeria, cannot, should not, and will not be in vain,” Prof Ejeikwu said.
Stressing the existential challenges being faced by Kwararafa people in the country by a consistent evocation of the strong and gruesome metaphor of “knee on our neck”, Prof Ejeikwu said people of Kwararafa descent remain the pivot that has sustained Nigeria in the face of persistent centrifugal forces threatening its existence.
Citing as a core example of the ‘knee on our neck’, Prof Ejeikwu said the ongoing pollution of several rivers in Okpokwu LGA of Benue State by Dangote Industries Limited through its occupation of vast lands for the purposes of coal exploitation has not only denied the people in the area potable water but also caused disunity amongst people.
“As we speak, Dangote Coal Mines Ltd is busy mining coal in Effa, Ugbokolo, Okpokwu LGA, Benue State, polluting the only natural river waters [Rivers Ohimini and Okpokwu] available to the local communities as their only source of portable water for drinking and other domestic engagements,” he said, adding that the mining operation has set many of the host communities against one another.
“The people in the communities have been divided against each other while the coal mining goes on.”
The academic said KPA is a movement and not a tribal organisation, aimed at pulling people of the Kwararafa Empire together to share a common ideology and heritage in order to redefine their destiny in a new and ideal Nigeria that is possible.
“The essence of the movement, KPA, is to pull the people of the Kwararafa Empire together ideologically, so that we can tell the world that we are no longer a willing tool, neither are we a conquered territory, and that we are the majority, not minorities as we are referred to in Nigeria.
“We intend to overcome this battle peacefully using our PVCs through our electoral strength. We shall go to all our communities and villages, talking to the elders, women groups, youth groups and the market women, through our Kwararafa Peoples’ Assembly [KPA] State, Local Government, ward and community Coordinators to mobilize and sensitize our people nationwide in preparation for the nearest future,” Prof Ejeikwu stated.
