Former presidential adviser Senator Florence Ita-Giwa has maintained that the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable.
She made this known while speaking on Sunday at an event organised by the Nigerian Women for Peaceful Co-existence and Unity, to commemorate Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary.
Speaking on the demands of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ita-Giwa recalled the consequences of the 1967-70 civil war and called on the separatist group to sheathe their sword.
She said: ”Many of us here are living witnesses to the horrors of the Nigerian Civil war between 1967 and 1970. Two million innocent souls were lost in that war.
”We lost spouses, fathers, and siblings and loved ones. Many of us lost three years of our lives and our parents had to start life afresh at the end of the war.”
Ita-Giwa said the Nigerian Women for Peaceful Co-existence and Unity aims to ensure that peace reigns in the country again.
”We most passionately call on all such persons to stop forthwith. No nation on earth has ever survived two civil wars. As mothers and grandmothers, we stand resolutely for the unity of Nigeria.
”The federal government needs to review past reports on the subject of restructuring. Having been a refugee during the war, another civil war should not be encouraged.
”Our advocacy is coming at a time when the unity of the country is on the tenterhooks. The rising call for Biafra in the South-east and the yet-to-be-defeated insurgency of Boko-Haram in the North-east have been a daily threat to the lives of many Nigerians,” the lawmaker said.
