Former Nigeria Ambassador to Spain and widow of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, on Saturday advised Nigerian youths to shun vices and other anti-social conducts now threatening the peace and development of the country.
Mrs Ojukwu gave the advice during the 11th edition of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Lecture held by the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra and Independence Biafra Movement (MASSOB-BIM) in Owerri.
She said that the current criminalities such as killings, kidnapping and what have you in the country were worrisome.
Though she attributed the problem to a lack of job opportunities, Ojukwu said it was wrong for the youth to resort to the use of hard drugs leading to crime.
She advised them to keep hope alive and seize the opportunity of the 2023 elections to vote for the right people for good governance in the nation.
She argued that if the right leaders were entrusted to be in charge, many opportunities would be created for the majority of the people to be gainfully employed thereby reducing crime.
The ex-Nigeria’s most beautiful girl commended the Igbo people for keeping faith with the tenets of nationhood for which his late husband fought.
She thanked the convener of the event, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike for regularly organizing the memorial ceremony from 2012 to date.
Ojukwu used the medium to call on the Federal Government to release the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to her, doing so will help restore peace in the South-East geo-political zone, adding that “no nation that holds its people hostage can ever have peace”.
Earlier in an address, Chairman of the occasion and former Green Eagles coach, Mr Fanny Amun, thanked Uwazuruike for peaceful agitation.
He called for continued peace and national cohesion adding that in due course, the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians would be met.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Igbo people from the five states of Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra and Imo attended the event and displayed various types of masquerades and other cultural dances