STATEMENT BY SOUTH EAST PATRIOTS (SEP) ON THE NIKE LAKE RESORT COMMUNIQUÉ OF NDI IGBO
The South East Patriots (SEP) wish to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the historic Nike Lake Resort Communiqué of November 14, 2018, issued by prominent Igbo leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, women groups, and eminent statesmen across Igbo land.
At that landmark meeting, our revered leaders – among them Prof. Ben Nwabueze SAN, Chief Nnia Nwodo, Amb. George Obiozor, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, Prof. ABC Nwosu, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Igwe Alfred Achebe (Obi of Onitsha), and many others – unanimously endorsed the Atiku Abubakar/Peter Obi presidential ticket as the most realistic and visible path to Igbo political survival within the Nigerian federation.
Prof. Ben Nwabueze, a titan of constitutional law and conscience of the nation, described the Atiku/Obi project as his last political wish before joining his ancestors. He and the other leaders emphasised that the restructuring agenda contained in that ticket was not just about elections, but about the very survival, equity, and inclusion of Ndigbo in Nigeria.
Today, as SEP, we categorically state: Nothing has changed since that Nike Lake Resort declaration.
The marginalisation of Ndigbo has not abated.
Nigeria remains dangerously divided.
The demand for restructuring remains urgent and unresolved.
The joint vision of equity, fairness, and national unity, championed at Nike Lake, is still the most realistic route for Ndigbo and Nigeria’s survival.
We are not against any individual or group. We stand, as our fathers and leaders stood at Nike Lake, for justice, fairness, restructuring, and the political survival of our people.
The communique was clear then, and it remains valid today.
SEP therefore calls on all Igbo sons and daughters, political leaders, traditional institutions, religious authorities, and youth movements to rally around the spirit and letter of the Nike Lake Resort Communiqué, for in it lies the continuity of our struggle for equity and the actualisation of our rightful place in Nigeria.
Since the Nike Lake Resort Communiqué, Ndi Igbo have not gathered again to collectively deliberate or negotiate on the shortest route to the Presidency of Nigeria of South East extraction. The Nike Lake Resort Communiqué therefore remains the standing position of Ndi Igbo.
We in SEP firmly believe that nothing has changed since that communiqué. A people must be trusted, and their word must be their bond.
Accordingly, SEP calls on Ndi Igbo in particular, and Nigerians in general, to ensure that the intents and purposes of the Nike Lake resolution are fully honoured. The tears of our elders shall never be in vain.
SEP remains committed to working tirelessly to ensure that the last wish of Prof. Ben Nwabueze and the collective resolve of Ndi Igbo at Nike Lake Resort are realised.
We cannot forget the powerful moment, broadcast live on national television and emblazoned on the front pages of newspapers, when the late Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) embraced Atiku Abubakar upon his arrival at Nike Lake Resort, shedding tears of hope for the survival of his people. Those tears of our elders shall never be in vain.
SEP shall work tirelessly, with faith and unity, to ensure that the last wish of Prof. Nwabueze and the collective resolve of Ndi Igbo at Nike Lake Resort are actualised. Some of us attended the meeting with our elders and still believe in the contents and spirits of the communique.
We stand where our fathers stood.
We echo what our leaders echoed.
The Nike Lake position remains our position.
Signed:
Bar. Obunike Ohaegbu (Anambra State) – Convener
Bar. Ambrose Ugbaja (Imo State) – Secretary
