•Galvanises S-East govs to work together to develop Ala Igbo

•Insecurity must be tackled collectively by leaders

•Urges the youths to work hard for decent livelihood, avoid crimes

•Honours past heroes at Igbo Day celebration

•Insists release of Nnamdi Kanu will douse tension in Igbo land

•Adopts Okpara’s model of development for Igbo land —Ahamba, SAN

By Anayo Okoli, Dennis Agbo, Steve Oko, Chinedu Adonu, Nwabueze Okonkwo & Emmanuel Iheaka

WORRIED by the devastation going on in Igbo land as a result of ravaging insecurity which has crippled business and social activities in the entire region, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has moved in to galvanize all relevant stakeholders to chart a new course to change the narratives for good. As a first bold step, in collaboration with the South- East governors, a South-East Security and Economic Summit which brought together notable Igbo sons and daughters to brainstorm on the way forward, was organised. This was strategically included as part of the programmes for the 2023 Igbo Day celebration with the theme: Igbo Kunie, (Igbo Rise Up). At the two celebrations, held in Owerri and Enugu, Ndigbo genuinely acknowledged the need and ability to move forward and face their challenges in unity with their God-given ingenuity.

Also as mark of honour, Ohanaeze recognised the need for past Igbo leaders who gave their best to present the Igbo worldview before the comity of nations. Those recognised in the Igbo Hall of Fame were Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and his father, Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. M. I Okpara, Akanu Ibiam, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Philip Effiong, Mbaonu Ojike, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Dennis Osadebay, Prof. Kenneth Dike, Mbazulike Amaechi, Offia Nwali, Chief C.C. Onoh, Chinua Achebe, Justice Dadi Onyeama, among others.

Kanu’s detention responsible for security crisis—Ohanaeze

Assessing the security crisis devastating the Igbo nation, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu blamed it on the continued detention by the DSS of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. He said that the apex Igbo body had carefully reviewed Kanu’s case and could not find any justifiable reason for his continued detention and therefore restated his plea for President Bola Tinubu to alleviate the problems of Ndigbo by releasing Kanu.

“I hereby once again, on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, appeal to the Federal Government to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, more so, when a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria had declared him innocent. As the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, I consider myself a father and it pains me so much when my children are killed on a daily basis. It pains me when most of them have both their lives and livelihood destroyed, I will strongly appeal to the Federal Government that in view of the fact that for over two years, the situation has persisted, we need to adopt a non-kinetic approach,” Iwuanyanwu said.

Engage FG to release Kanu— Arthur Eze

Notable  billionaire who was the Chairman of the Igbo Day cultural activities and grand finale, Prince Arthur Eze urged the leadership of Ohanaeze to positively engage the Federal Government for the release of Kanu, saying his reported health condition attracts huge sympathy.

Eze also suggested that Ndigbo should engage the Federal Government to resolve some other knotty issues that have negatively affected the Igbo people for commerce to grow, create employment opportunities; tackle erosion menace in the region and for more political appointments for Igbo sons and daughters.

“I am of the view that long-lasting results can be achieved through roundtable discussions, strong undivided leadership and an organised political structure.

“Based on this, no number of meetings with the Federal Government or political consultations on the matter will be too much. If the governors fail to do something urgent to arrest the current financial and human capital flight currently being experienced in the South- East, the trend will continue to do irreparable damage to the posterity of the people,” Eze said.

Let’s see ourselves as one entity —Peter Mbah

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State heartily expressed interest in the need for the Igbo-speaking states to genuinely see themselves as a single entity and engage in huge investments to develop the region. He also expressed the need for Igbo to unite to realise their full potentials toward developing the region for the benefit of all.

We’re not doing badly; we’ll continue to improve —Soludo

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, was rather vociferous in asking the Igbo to stop lamentations and tackle their problems head-on. He said that there was no crime-free society, noting that in the actual case, the Igbo was not doing badly and cited the 2022 report on the Ease of Doing Business which showed that the South- East was on top of some regions in Nigeria.

“Today is better than yesterday. Our future is in Nigeria, Africa and the world and an itinerant tribe such as the Igbo shouldn’t be an intolerable nation.

“We express gratitude to Ohanaeze. We all scheduled for this meeting. We have unwaveringly committed to this South-East agenda. This is a new dawn in the South-East region. We need a plan. We all have ideas. We just don’t need a two-year or one year plan; we need 100-year plan. In Anambra, we have a 50-year plan. We need a destination. We need an agenda,” Soludo said.

Nwifuru stresses unity among Igbo

Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, represented by his Deputy, Mrs. Patricia Obila, emphasized the need for Ndigbo to unite and speak with one voice to ensure the speedy release of Kanu as well as the development of Igbo land. “We have to sit together as one family. We have come of age. We need to talk to one another. We need peace.”

We must engage our youths —Otti

Abia State governor,  Alex Otti said: “For us to have a way forward, we must be willing to engage with our youths to know their problems. We must begin to know there is anger in the land. Another issue is to fight the issue of drug abuse and cut all the channels they use in supplying these drugs.”

We allowed ourselves to be divided—Uzodimma

In his contribution, Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma blamed the leaders for the problems weighing the region down, saying they allowed themselves to be divided. “We have allowed ourselves to be strangulated. 

“We have willfully allowed ourselves to be divided and the scripture says a house that is divided cannot stand. Some of our brothers even refused to be referred to as Igbo. That is how sorry and sad our story is. 

“That is why Igbo have become distant from the politics of the Igbo. So, what do we do? Do we allow ourselves to continue to drift?

“To end this we have to tell ourselves some bitter truth. Unfortunately or fortunately, the challenge of insecurity is bringing us together. We are now surrounded by dangerous criminals who want to decimate us and take over Igbo land. We are facing the worst form of insecurity where we are divided.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo should penetrate the grassroots, set up their branches everywhere, preach morality, teach our young people about culture and tradition and make life more meaningful in our land. All existing Igbo groups should dissolve into the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide”, Uzodinma said.

Okpara’s model remains best for Igbo land —Ahamba

Elder statesman and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ahamba suggested to Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the governors to adopt the development model of Dr. Michael Okpara, the late Premier of defunct Eastern region. Ahamba said that Okpara deployed a model that made the region’s economy the fastest growing in the South of the Sahara. He urged the governors and Ohanaeze to focus on developing Igbo land and avoid political gimmicks.

He stated:  “They should ensure we don’t go the wrong way. Everybody should look forward to developing Igbo land within Nigeria. We are still in Nigeria; you don’t wait until you are outside Nigeria before you begin to develop your area.

“They should adopt the attitude of M. I. Okpara who developed the Eastern region of Nigeria as the fastest growing economy South of the Sahara before the war. Make the home better and forget all these outside political gimmicks.

“It has been my position and will continue to be my position. Anybody who has opportunity to have a say about Igbo land should go ahead and do what you can do for Igbo land as it should be, not as you want it to be,” the senior lawyer said.