Nigerian Hypocrisy: Igbo Group Slams Tinubu’s UN Support for Palestine Amidst Agitator Crackdown

A prominent Igbo socio-political organisation, the Igbo National Union-Worldwide (INU-W), has sharply criticised the Nigerian government for supporting the recognition of a Palestinian State at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA’80), labelling the move as deeply hypocritical given Nigeria’s stance on self-determination at home.

Dependable NG reports that the group took issue with the speech delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu in New York, arguing that his call for Palestinian statehood was inappropriate and “belittling” when Nigerian citizens agitating for similar civil rights are being detained.

In a press release signed by its Admin Secretary, Mazi Austin-Mary Ndukwu, the INU-W highlighted a glaring contradiction in the Federal Government’s foreign policy. Ndukwu pointed out that while the Nigerian constitution, like the UN charter, supposedly supports the clause for self-determination, the government actively suppresses groups agitating for self-independence within its own borders.

“Among issues raised were for Africa to have a slot as a permanent member of the Security Council and also the recognition of Palestine as an independent States. It is on these two vexing issues that Igbo National Union World-wide is worried about,” the release stated. The group expressed particular concern that Nigeria, besieged by high rates of insecurity, war, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and widespread corruption across all 36 states and the FCT, lacks the moral justification and capacity to advocate for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Ndukwu further asserted that “Charity they say, begins at home.” He insisted that Nigeria must first fix its pervasive internal security challenges, which have led to the deaths of a large portion of its population and the widespread destruction of property and public infrastructure.

The core of the group’s protest centred on the tacit recognition of Palestine. The INU-W questioned the motivation behind the government’s decision: “Did Nigeria take such a step on the basis that it saw other countries doing it or that it suddenly recognized the importance of freedom for indigenous peoples?” The Admin Secretary suggested that the Vice President’s call might be a personal decision taken merely in solidarity with his Muslim brethren.

The group concluded by describing it as a “game of double standard” for Nigeria to champion the freedom of indigenous peoples outside Africa while allowing numerous self-determination agitators to languish in correctional facilities and police cells nationwide. The INU-W strongly advised the Tinubu administration to purge itself of this described hypocrisy by immediately releasing all prisoners of conscience.