Igbo business owners and enterprises operating in parts of northern Nigeria have commenced gradual tuning-down of existing investments, while shunning fresh, long term business engagements, following the unresolved October 1, 2017, quit notice, the ultimatum issued by the Coalition of Arewa Youths to Igbo citizens residing in the region.
Orient Daily investigations in states like Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Bauchi, Katsina, Adamawa and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reveal that Igbo business owners, including entrepreneurs, are no longer eager to really plough back the proceeds of their businesses, and are engaging in new investment portfolios very, very cautiously.
This development is coming on the heels of the seeming collapse of the talks between the Ohaneze Youth Council and the Coalition of Arewa Youths. Although both youth groups raised a working committee last Saturday when they met in Abuja and agreed to meet again on a future date in the South East, less than 48 hours after, both groups found themselves in the press with disclaimers as to what transpired and the agreements reached.
Speaking to the press on Sunday, leader of the Coalition of Northern Youths, Mallam Yerima Shetima, said that notwithstanding the current discussions with the Ohaneze Youth Council, the northern youths are not backing down on their quit notice demand, and have decided to internationalize their own case by inviting the United Nations into the matter.
Shetima narrated that while the northern youths insist that “the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu be punished for damage done to the psyche of some Nigerians,” the Ohanaeze youths had dissociated themselves from the Biafra’s secessionist agitations. “Leaving Nnamdi Kanu to go unpunished is totally unacceptable to us because he has so far done much damage to our psyche and our nation. So, for us, we think the best we can do is to internationalize this struggle.”
On the October 1 quit notice to the Igbos in the north, over which Governor El Rufai issued an arrest order on the Arewa Youths, Shetima said, “We have not officially withdrawn the quit notice given to the Igbos in the North but we said it a few days ago that we will review our position and part of that steps is what we are taking now.” He commended Ohaneze Youth Council for their assurances. He quoted a spokesman of the Ohaneze Youth Council, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, as saying ‘Nnamdi Kanu is just looking for self-recognition,’ adding that the Council had actually distanced themselves from the Biafra agitation.
However, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, the Ohaneze Youth Council (OYC) Secretary General, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, he described Shetima account of the meeting as “embarrassing and mischievous.”
“The Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Council wishes to state clearly that it was misquoted to the effect that, “the President Of Ohanaeze Youths said that Nnamdi Kanu is seeking self-recognition. The issue of Nnamdi Kanu never came up, we will never condemn the self-determination clamoured by the IPOB and the MASSOB.
“Rather, our meeting with Northern youths under the auspices of Arewa youths was to find a middle ground on how to resolve issues of the quit notice; we had a fruitful discussion and we urge our people and the press not to derail this peace process between Ohanaeze Youths and Arewa Youths”, Okwu stated.
While the Northern Youth decided to take their case to the United Nations, the Ohaneze Youths have petitioned the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo. In a memo titled: “People of the World/Africans/Nigerians; How many needless heroes’ after death, martyrs and saints will die before you take a stand on war against our collective humanity especially levied on Ndi Igbo?” the OYC traced the history of the pogrom against the Igbos in the north, before, during and after the Nigerian civil war, and concluded that the current quit notice from the Arewa youths has nothing to do with the self-determination and quest for a Biafra state by armless Igbo youths
At the popular Wuse Zone 3, GSM market in Abuja, the traders said the attitude of government at all levels over the October 1 Quit Notice and the seemingly broken talks among negotiating parties across the regional divide are not giving anyone confidence to commit serious funds into business. They also said they consider the quick support given to the Coalition of Arewa Youths by their parents’ body, the Arewa Consultative Forum.
Daniel Onuwa, who deals with laptops, handsets, and accessories at the Abuja Shopping Mall (Beside FRSC headquarters) said he initially planned to build counters in his shop and employ a sales girl. “But I can’t do that again until after this their deadline (October 1). No one is sure of what is going to happen. Abuja is still part of the North, so there is a reason to be apprehensive,” he said. Daniel’s position was corroborated by a number of his colleagues at the plaza
Kalus Properties and Investments Ltd is an Utako based property company specializing in the construction of estates and private properties. The managing director, Mr. Rex Uchenna, who is also the president of Property Companies Associations of Nigeria (PCAN), Abuja chapter told Orient Daily that most of their clients are people from southern Nigeria. “We build estates and we sell them. But since the quit notice issue came, the demand for land or finished houses inside our sites has drastically decreased. Our members are complaining,” he said
He said that although he cannot say if the people involved are mostly Igbo, he confirmed that the number of home owners wanting to sell or lease has increased in the FCT. “We don’t know what is going on. People, not just Igbo people, are not just keen on putting down huge sums in long term investments. It is affecting our business because we sometimes work with time bound bank loans,” Uchendu said
Dozztephan Industries Limited is an Onitsha based manufacturing company that produces wide range of flavoured fruit drinks. Over 60 per cent of the company’s market is in the north. One of the marketing officers in the North who craved anonymity said most of the marketers of products sourced from the South East are currently having difficulties in the North. “Many of them (Hausas) are now skeptical. They claim the products have been compromised to change them from who they are; whatever that means,” the marketer said
He explained further that whereas most of the bulk breakers and middle men for the products coming in from outside the North are Igbo business men, the complaints are that general volume of business in the region is dwindling because the Igbo business concerns are not operating at full scale. “We have bulk breakers in Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Katsina – in short in every state capital. Before this their problem, we used to send at least three trucks to every state. Today, in some states, two or three bulk breakers combine to buy one truck in a week. They say they have had experiences in the past when crises broke out and they lost everything. They are hoping that the crises will be resolved on time so that things will become normal.”
Our source said the business men said they would rather have their monies as cash in the bank than as goods in the warehouse when problems start
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