Jos – The Igbo Community in Plateau state ,said they consider themselves as part and parcel of Plateau State in all ramification and declared that they would remain in the state come what may.

In press released signed by Senior Special Assistant to governor Simon Lalong .

Prof JEC Obilong, the Ochi NdIgbo of Jos, made this known in Government House, Jos, when he led a delegation of the Igbo Community, who came to pay a courtesy and solidarity visit to Governor Simon Lalong in his office.

It would be recalled that a group of Northern Youths at a Press Conference in Kaduna recently had asked all the Igbo resident in the Northern part of the country to quit the North by October 1 following the agitation for a Biafra Republic out of Nigeria by a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, led by a secessionist, Nnamdi Kanu.

“We’re not Igbo in the diaspora but Igbo of Plateau and sons of the soil.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’ve been planted here, having been born and bred here.

“We’ve done everything every indigenous Plateau man or woman does, so, Your Excellency, anytime you are doing anything for communities in Plateau, always include the Igbo Community to carry us along,” Prof Obilong stated.

The Igbo also expressed their solidarity with the Governor for what they described as his “able, exemplary and inclusive leadership,” which has brought about peace and security in the state.

This, they said, has created the enabling environment for business to thrive in the state ever since the Governor assumed office over two years ago.

“We are also grateful to His Excellency for appointing some Igbo sons into his government.

“Therefore, anybody talking of us leaving Plateau has not done his calculation well,” Obilong added.

Corroborating the words of the Ochi Ndigbo, Mr Innocent Asogwa, the President of Igbo Community Association, (ICA), who was accompanied by other Igbo leaders representing all the Igbo States in the country, said the( ICA )abhorred hate speech, adding that they were interested in “one united, indivisible Nigeria.”

Asogwa stressed that the Igbo have set aside a date in November to declare their faith in a United Nigeria on the occasion of the Annual Igbo Day in Jos.

According to him, Governor Lalong is the “Messiah” of Plateau State and the Igbo have resolved to support him for a second term in office come 2919.

Responding, Governor Lalong thanked the Igbo Community for the solidarity visit and explained that his decision to run an all-inclusive government was deliberate and strategic.

This, according to him, is to ensure peaceful co-existence among the ethnic communities in Plateau State.

“I respect the Igbo a lot; I think, apart from the indigenous ethnic groups in Plateau State, the Igbo are the ones that I meet with more often, almost everyday, more than any other non-indigenous ethnic group resident in the state,” Lalong said.

The Governor disclosed that over 70% of the new Certificates of Occupancy which he had signed since he assumed office were those of the Igbo Community.

“I had to call the Commissioner for Lands to ask him why it was so, and also to find out if the indigenous population had quit the state for the Igbo,”

Governor Lalong expressed delight that the Igbo have helped in boosting the state’s economy and stabilizing the state.

And informed them his administration readiness to create embly environment for them to do their legitimate businesses.

The Governor however use the opportunity to intimate them the efforts his government is putting to ensure the burnt down JOS Main Market bounce back for business.

“I am happy to inform you that the effort to renovate the burnt down JOS Main Market has pass second phase”.

He also assured the Igbo of his commitment to ensure that no Igbo or any ethnic group in the state is molested or marginalized under his watch.

This, he stressed, was what informed his swift press statement condemning the Arewa Youth group when it issued the quit notice to lgbo in the North.

“If you recalled, I was amongst the first group of people to condemn the statement of quite notice issued by Arewa youth to the lgbo leaving in the Northern parts of the country”