By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Directorate of State (DOS), of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has commiserated with Ndigbo, particularly the people of Okija community in Anambra State, over the death of over 22 poeple, mostly women who went to share palliative donated by a philanthropist, popularly known as Obi Jackson, in their community.

The group on a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, noted that the philanthropic action of distributing free food items to women in Okija community and beyond by Obi Jackson during Christmas has been going on for years, saying that his good gestures should not be discouraged or demonized.

The statement reads in part: "In a sane country, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that poverty is not weaponized. Nigeria, is a country that has failed her citizens, hence the reason people like Obi Jackson stepped in to provide palliative for the poverty-stricken citizens.

"Nigerian politicians have weaponized poverty, which is why more than 80 Nigerians have died so far in December 2024 in Anambra State, Abuja, and Ibadan.

"As such, Obi Jackson will not be blamed for lending support to the hungry citizens that resulted in the unfortunate deaths, however, anyone that wishes to distribute palliatives in the future should ensure that proper procedures are put in place to avoid stampede and other harms to our people. In the future, such free food distribution can be done in villages instead of one central place with an overwhelming crowd, and security must be put in place to assure orderly distribution of the food.

"Finally, there is a saying that goes like this, "teach a man how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime, but if you give a man a fish, he will only eat one meal." Therefore, we must avoid the repeat of the ugly event of December 21, 2024 by empowering and employing our people to reduce the state of engineered poverty that is ravaging Nigeria.

"To address this poverty menace, IPOB is calling on all Igbo philanthropists to stop sharing food items to the people instead, provide for them the seedlings for planting so that they can go back to the farm to produce what they will eat. Empower our people to go back to the farm by sharing natural seedlings as a means of reducing hunger in the land.

The group further urged wealthy Igbos to help struggling youths go into useful endeavors and helpful employments to address the issue of poverty.

IPOB recalled that it had earlier called on the people to bring their investments, factories, businesses, Ministries, and Agencies home to Igbo land to create employment opportunities for the teaming youths.

While noting that Ndigbo are known for their hardworking and self-sustaining way of life, IPOB hsiled the efforts of Igbo philanthropists.

It however kicked against sharing of food items, dismissing the creation of a culture of dependency like is obtainable in the northern region as a bad idea.

"IPOB once again sympathetizes with everyone who has lost a relative during the rice collection stampede in Okija, Anambra State. We hope such an ugly incident will not happen again.

"Most importantly, IPOB calls on Ndigbo and Biafrans to activate the Agricultural and Industrial Revolution in order to address the State sponsored weaponization of poverty in Nigeria, particularly in Biafra Land. We will not allow this to happen again", the group stated.

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