. Urges other S’East to follow suit

. Restructures leadership, to build int’l market in Igbo land

By Steve Oko

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has commended Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo State for offering amnesty to unknown gunmen behind the festering insecurity in the state.

Ohanaeze, therefore, called on other Governors in the zone to follow suit while urging youths involved in the activities of unknown gunmen to grab the window of the opportunity and turn a new leaf.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, and signed by its National Publicity Secretary Dr Alex Ogbonnia.

It read in part:”Ohanaeze noted with satisfaction that the Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Sen. Hope Uzodimma has offered Amnesty to all the unknown gunmen who are hiding in the bush. 

“To this end, Governor Uzodimma has promised to offer full employment to as many youths that denounce nefarious activities in Imo State. It is hoped that since Governor Uzodimma is the Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, all the other South East Governors will key into the Amnesty programme.

“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges the young men to take advantage of the amnesty programme for peace to reign in Igbo land.”

The statement further said that a meeting of a select leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Northern Zone was held on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at the residence of the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, Dr Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, for the global Restructuring of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

It said  that “Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been restructured into three zones for Nigeria and six zones for the Diaspora chapters.”

According to the statement, with the new structure, the 19 states and Abuja will have their headquarters in Abuja; the South West, with the headquarters in Lagos; and the East with the headquarters at Enugu. 

It further read:”Ohanaeze Diaspora structure has the continent of Europe with the headquarters in London; others include the continent of North America and Canada with headquarters in Washington, DC; the continent of South America and the Caribbean with headquarters in Brazil; the continent of Asia with headquarters in China; continent of Africa with Headquarters in South Africa; continent of Australia and New Zealand and all the surrounding Islands with headquarters in Australia.”

It hinted of plans to build an International Market in Igboland, adding that “with the completion of the project, all the Igbo traders will be expected to own a market store in Igboland.”

” This will create job opportunities, enhance goods and services and ultimately increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country”, it added.

It further said:” As a corollary to the above, the Igbo Leader will hold a Summit of Igbo Traders Associations in Nigeria and some parts of Africa. The meeting is scheduled to hold in Jan. 2024.”

According to the statement, other decisions reached at the meeting include:”A new date for the Ohanaeze Northern Convention which will hold on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 of November 2023.”

The statement quoted Ohanaeze PG as calling  for the harmonization of the officers of the various factions of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Abuja in order to produce united peaceful executive.

Ohanaeze, again,  expressed very deep concern over the insecurity in the South East and felt sad over the continued incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. 

It therefore, mandated the PG “to immediately seek appointment for leaders to meet with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, amongst other security issues in the South East.”

Ohanaeze announced the establishment of a Special Committee, known as the “Committee for Reconciliation and Peace Building in Nigeria” with Dr. Dominic Okechukwu as the Chairman while Dr. Joseph Ibekwe is the Secretary. The other members of the Committee will be announced later.

It also inaugurated the Elders Council for Abuja and the Northern States of Nigeria. 

The Council is Chaired by a former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, and Chief SN Okeke as the Deputy while Prof. Charles Nwekeaku is the Secretary.

According to the statement, “Members expressed immense delight that with the Iwuanyanwu vision, intellect and invaluable diverse contacts, a lot of lost grounds will be recovered.

 Some of the participants at the meeting were Dr  Ezeife, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Sen. Chris Ngige; Sen.Joy Emordi, Ambassador Eddy Onuoha, Ken Emechebe, Chief Sam Obaji, among others.