In response to the ongoing hardship in the nation, the Pan-Igbo apex socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndi’Igbo, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to put the suggestions and resolutions from the 2014 conference into action.

This was said even as it praised South East residents for staying away from the nationwide demonstration opposing President Tinubu’s led administration.

The Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndi’Igbo, Ichie. Okechukwu Isiguzoro, praised South Easterners for their composure in refraining from participating in the rallies against the President due to the financial struggles that the populace is undergoing.

He claimed that since the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the South-East had consistently been neglected by the government.

Given the difficulties the nation is facing, he thus asked Tinubu to put the recommendations of the 2014 constitutional conference into action.

Ohaneze in her statement made in Owerri on Tuesday, said, “In the wake of nationwide uproar and agitation sparked by escalating living costs, economic distress and famine, a resolute calmness emanates from the old Eastern Nigeria comprising the South-East and South-South regions.

“The striking serenity and resolute silence amidst the prevalent anger and upheaval in the North and South-West have left many, including the Presidency and the North, astounded.”

“The prominent Igbo socio-cultural organization and unwavering advocate for the Igbo people commend the citizens of the old Eastern region, particularly the South-East, for their exceptional acumen and sagacity in abstaining from spearheading protest against President Tinubu and the Federal Government amidst economic hardship.

“Since the inception of the Buhari regime in 2015 to the current Tinubu administration, the South-East has borne the brunt of government neglect and discrimination.

“Whether it be the centre’s exclusions, the wanton demolition of Igbo properties in Lagos without federal intervention, the systematic burning of Igbo markets in the South-West, minimal federal appointments, or the unjust incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, juxtaposed with the favoured treatment of figures like Sowore and Igboho, the injustices meted out to the South-East are glaring.

“As protests surge in Niger, Kano, Lagos, Osun and Abuja, the absence of causalities or protester killing resulting from security intervention is stark contrast to the haunting memories of South-Westerner lives lost during past protests against Kanu’s detainment and the tragic Obigbo (Oyibo) massacre in Rivers State.

“Ohaneze stands in awe of the South-East populace for their undaunted bravery and rare upright in weathering the storm; we stand in solidarity with the suffering Igbos and Nigerians, urging the Federal Government to overhaul Tinubu’s floundering economic team with competent hands to salvage the crumbling economy before it collapses completely.”

Recall that Nigerian women and youths in Oyo State and a few other states reportedly staged protests in the streets against the nation’s escalating cost of living.

When Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy upon taking office on May 29, 2023, the nation’s economic crisis had reached an intolerable level.