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Tag: Igbo’

  • Day Igbo in Rivers elect new leadership

    Day Igbo in Rivers elect new leadership

    Igbo in Rivers State, under the aegis of United Igbo Community (UIC), last weekend, gathered at No.4c Ikwerre Street, Diobu, Port Harcourt to elect the Executive Committee to pilot their affairs.

    The peaceful election conducted by the electoral body of United Igbo Community was monitored by policemen, other security operatives and reporters.

    The election, which started with the screening of delegates, was observed by Chief Livnus Ofoegbu, the representative of the Igbo apex unifying body, Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo.

    The Electoral Committee Chairman, High Chief Nkeiruka Rita Onwunali, who is also the Adandigbo of Rivers and Bayelsa states, who was supported by Sir Peter Onu, said the UIC election was important due to the need to campaign for peace in Rivers State and Nigeria as a whole .

    She said: “We want people who will serve the interest of UIC and Ndi –Igbo as a whole because the delegates who are here today are ready to elect their leaders. God will help us with our intensions in this election. 90 delegates were screened and thirteen offices will be contested.”

    At the end of the election, a new leadership of UIC was declared by the chairman of electoral body with Mr. Arungwa Chrysoganus as the President, Okafor Chinedu as the Vice President, and Ajaiero Abraham as Secretary-General.

    Chrysoganus, while giving his acceptance speech, thanked all the delegates for giving him their mandates.

    He said: “For giving me your mandates, the new leadership will ensure that the promotion of peace will be the ultimate concern in Rivers State chapter of the organisation.

    “However, I advised UIC members in Rivers State to shun violence or any activity that will tarnish the image of the organisation. Of course, that is the only way the Igbo organisation could be respected in Rivers State.”

     

  • Their language, their pride

    Their language, their pride

    For a people with the same culture, language is believed to be a force binding them together. This seems to be the case with the Igbo-speaking people in the eastern part of the country. To make Igbo a perfect language of communication among Easterners, Chief Samuel Maduka Onyishi, the Chief Executive Officer of Peace Mass Transit, is promoting the language through a debate contest.

    The South-east Undergraduate Scholarship Igbo Debate among Igbo students in tertiary institutions, is aimed at encourating them to take pride in the language.

    The competition, which was held across Igbo-speaking states, started with five students selected from different institutions from each state. Twenty-five contestants from Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra states slugged it out to qualify for the next round.

    The Faculty of Law auditorium of the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria (UNN) was filled to the brim last Saturday when students from participating institutions gathered to witness the cultural debate. The second and final stages were held in the institution. The topic was: Odida asusu igbo osi n’aka ndi ocha, ka o si anyi n’aka, which translates to mean: “The fall of Igbo language: Is it the fault of the white men or ours?”

    The event was declared open by Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey, President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, who chaired the occasion. After the chairman’s speech, cultural troupe of the Federal College of Education in Ikwo, Ebonyi State, took the stage to entertain the participants with traditional dance.

    He explained that the contest was organised at the prompting of Southeast students, who visited him in 2010 with an agenda to prevent Igbo language from becoming irrelevant.

    He said: “Igbo people have supported me in my business and I believe in the saying that charity begins at home. I belong to the masses and they patronise my business. Before the maiden Igbo Debate scholarship in 2011, I have been assisting Igbo tribe students through scholarship.”

    The President of National Association of South East Nigerian Students (NASENS), Peter Edeh, who spoke at the event said, said: “We are overwhelmed with joy and appreciate Chief Maduka for this programme. It our wish that the scholarship scheme is maintained to send a strong message to highly-placed Igbo people that there is need to make the language a priority.”

    After the contest, the panel of judges, which was headed by Dr Ikechukwu Okodo of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka shown the results to Reuben Okoro, Vice-President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, who called out the winners.

    The best 10 students were given scholarship. Blessing Nwuizugbo, 100-Level History and International Relations of Ebonyi State University was adjudged the overall winner of the contest. She was followed by Davidson Ebere, HND 1 Office Management and Technology student of Federal Polytechnic, Nekede.

    Blessing, who was given scholarship to further her studies abroad, said: “I am more than happy to have won the debate. I thank God, who saw me through the journey. I also pray that the sponsor of this programme be blessed because he is really promoting our language through this medium.”

    Other students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, praised Maduka for putting up the programme to motivate them in seeing the pride in Igbo language.

  • 2015 Presidency: Fading hope of Ndigbo

    Very often we say it is unimportant where the next president comes from, what should be paramount is his ability and capacity to deliver democracy dividends. But we are compelled to tag along with the whims and caprices of self-appointed godfathers, men of means and ways, who have turned power houses by virtue of straying into corridors of power.

    Take it or leave it, issues like rotational presidency or zoning in the interest of equity and fairness, will continue to be a big part of Nigeria’s politics and election process for a long time to come.The famous Ndigbo axiom of urinating together so that the much needed foam will form has become implausible as distinguished persons of Igbo extraction have so far, failed to work together.

    Make no mistake about it, the Igbos are respected for their entrepreneurial skills but all too often derided for perceived lack of unity and inability to articulate their position in matters of collective interest. This perception is now aimed at subtly disparaging and marginalising them.

    In the light of this, news making the round that a presidential largesse have torn the Ohaneze apart, tearing the zone’s ambition to shred becomes credible. It is a cinch that the Igbo presidency has been auctioned. The cacophony of voices mouthing the ambition of the geo-political zone from the rooftop every four years is now hackneyed. It usually starts with the pronouncement that it is the turn of the Ndigbo’s by some eminent Igbo politicians , then resonated by Ohaneze and amplified with subtle threats by MASSOB – bluffing to unleash fire and brimstone if it does not come to fruition. They harp their agitation for the presidency from the rooftop but
    when it matters most they fail to do the needful – coalesce.

    The best chance the Igbos had to occupy the highest seat of democratic power was first in 1999 and four years later in 2003, when a founding member of PDP, Dr Alex Ekwueme, contested the party’s primaries with Olusegun Obasanjo. South-East governors and their delegates voted instead for the Ota farmer. It was a shame that governors from the zone could not rally behind their own.

    Only Mbadinuju (governor of Anambra state at the time) and his delegates,polled for Dr Ekwueme in 2003. Orji Uzor Kalu, protem coordinator of Njiko Igbo (a group working for the actualisation of an Igbo presidency) did not support an Igbo when he had the opportunity. Isn’t this the height of hypocrisy? On two occasions, Kalu saw Ekwueme’s name on the ballot but voted Obasanjo. Many Ndigbos still believe the Igbo presidency project died with the defeat of Dr Alex Ekwueme at the PDP national convention
    because if he had won any of the primaries, he would have gone on to win the general elections and become President!

    The Igbos can learn a lesson in unity from other zones who have ruled the country. In 2011, within the PDP, we witnessed how five northern presidential candidates surrendered their personal ambition to scrutiny by the panel set up by the Arewa Consultative Forum to decide who represents the North. Who would have thought a political heavy weight like Ibrahim Babangida would bow out for the consensus candidate of the ACF? It is wishful thinking to imagine this scenario among Igbo aspirants. However, it
    is not asking for the impossible for same from them.

    The perceived lack of ambition of governors of the South-East has not helped the cause of the region. The fear of the EFCC or the Rivers-Amaechi treatment, for them, is the beginning of wisdom. They have chosen to file behind the self acclaimed “chairman” of the NGF, Gov. Jonah Jang in absolute loyalty to President Jonathan. Compare them with their colleagues from the North – all of them thinking they have a realistic chance at the presidency. For the Igbos, what we hear is the discordant tune of the PDP governors singing President Jonathan’s ambition, forming all sort of alliance with South-South governors. Leaders of the zone, for selfish and pecuniary
    reasons, are preoccupied with canvassing and building support base for Jonathan. It is indeed, sad, that they have auctioned the collective ambition of the Ndigbos.

    The death of Odimegwu Ojukwu, the former Biafra warlord, to a large extent has hushed the voice of the Ohaneze, the foremost Ndigbo socio-political forum and direct opposite of the boisterous ACF of the north. In recent time, the agitations of the Igbos have been distant and unconvincing. The Ohaneze seem to have given up on their dreams, choosing to grope and gloat in the back and forth of the northern groups with Ijaw leaders.

    But then, some argue that there is a dearth of Igbo leaders who are sellable on a national platform. A visit to some of states in the east will convince you why none of the state governors is being muted as a potential presidential aspirant. Underperformance and mediocrity has been taken to a whole new level. Physical infrastructure is decrepit and social amenities are frebile. Only Enugu and Imo bear a semblance of states with governors.

    Juxtapose them with their colleagues in the South-West where you have the likes of Governor Fashola who has transformed Lagos. Even the SouthSouth can boast of an Oshiomhole who is making giant strides after 10 years of comatose PDP leadership in the state. Some governors in the north have turned the economy of their states around in spite of the meagre allocation
    from the federal government.

    Furthermore, South-East governors do not share the same vision on the 2015 Igbo presidency project like the northerners do. Gov Peter Obi is more interested in who controls the APGA machinery. He is at loggerheads with
    Rochas Okorocha. The latter leads a faction into the opposition coalition, APC, believing the Igbos can mount a serious bid for the presidency, or at least a VP ticket. Sullivan Chime has never shown any kind of support for the Igbo presidency project. Same with Abia state governor, Theodore Orji, apart from his occasional rhetorics about an Igbo president, has shown little commitment.

    For a region that has not benefited from the largesse the government doles out to quell violence from youths in other parts of the country, they truly deserve the highest office in the land. Anytime MASSOB speak in hash tone, they are quickly hushed with threats of treason by security agents.

    Terrorists in the north have crippled the economy of some states, yet government is begging them and other dreaded sect in the north to accept amnesty. Militants in the Niger Delta plundered the economy of the nation with sustained attacks on oil installation until they were granted amnesty.

    Till date, same region is safe haven for oil bunkering, like never before in the country’s history.  If for nothing at all, the Ndigbo must be commended for the manner their youths have conducted themselves over the years.

    MASSOB and other groups have remained law abiding even in the face of provocation that would have triggered reprisals like the recent killing of Igbo traders in the north by suspected members of Boko Haram. All of the restiveness in the Niger-Delta and northern Nigeria have not resonated in the East. That the region have not produced the president of the country is enough reason to resort to violence, afterall, the orgy of blood shed that morphed into terrorism sprang up after the 2011 elections, when some politicians of northern extraction threatened to unleash mayhem if the results of the elections did not go their way. Same northerners who have
    produced the leaders of this country for over 30 years since independence!

    The usual reframe that has left the Ndigbo where they are today has been, the South-East should support other zones, this time the South-South for Jonathan, and in another four years time, it will be their turn.

    Regardless of whether Ndigbo present a consensus candidate for the general elections barely two years away, Nigerians hold the ace, as they are to decide, through the ballot, who becomes the next president.

    The writer can be reached via; theophilus@ilevbare.com

  • Igbo presidency’ll not be easy, says Udenwa

    Former Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa has advised Ndigbo to gear up for “war” as the “presidency will not come on a platter of gold”.

    The ex-governor said the agitation for a president of Igbo extraction would amount to nothing, if it is not backed with commensurate political struggle.

    “No one gives you power, you must demand for it and fight for it.”

    Udenwa, who spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital, said: “We can no longer afford to fold our arms and expect other parts of the country to say, it is your turn to produce the president we leave it to you.

    “This is not possible. We should demand for it either in 2015 or at any other time.”

    He said the zone, which has been continually denied the presidency, should mount a concerted and coordinated effort by galvanising the people under a viable platform, devoid of tribal chauvinism.

    “It is based on this that I am calling on Ndigbo to wholly embrace the All Progressive Congress (APC) as a very viable platform from where our age-long ambition will be vigorously pursued and eventually realised.

    “It is the only party that affords all the ethnic groups equal opportunity.

    “The APC does not hold any tribe higher than the other but gives everyone equal opportunity to pursue and realise their collective political aspirations unlike what obtains in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where Ndigbo were stampeded into playing a second fiddle, despite their contribution to the growth of the party,” Udenwa added.

  • Pupil thrills audience with Igbo News

    Little Mesoma Nwankwo stunned guests at the graduation of the Notre Dame Nursery and Primary School, Enugu with her fluent delivery of “The news in Igbo language.”

    The school featured the ‘broadcast’ during the 2013 graduation to encourage parents and guardians to speak their local languages to their wards.

    Mesoma and her peers were dressed in the traditional Igbo attire for the part, and they did not exhibit any childish behaviour.

    The six-year old primary one pupil was splendid to watch as she fluently read the two-page type written news items with accurate pronunciations of the Igbo words.

    Although Mesoma was the lead newscaster, the other three were no pushovers as they also read fluently in Igbo.

    Mesoma was outstanding, however, and the ovation she received from her audience was deafening. Parents and guests could not hold back from spraying her with naira notes. They were impressed by her confidence and the way she used proverbs to drive home the message to all.

    Many of the parents were ashamed of themselves as they could not read what Mesoma and her team read.

    Even the school’s headmistress, Sister Martina Akhibi was impressed.

    The chairman of the occasion could not hide his elation as he embraced the kids one after the other and made a cash donation to each of them.

    Appreciating the kids later, the headmistress, Rev. Sister Martina Akhibi thanked the parents for making “us a choice and entrusting us with your children.”

    Akhibi congratulated the pupils for their respective performance and thanked them for embracing the inner qualities of Notre Dame School.

    She congratulated the graduands of primary 6 and nursery 3 upon achieving the success and told the other pupils to copy the good works of others and set the pace.

    “Your predecessors lifted high the name of Notre Dame School and over 90 per cent of them are in reputable schools,” she said.

    While recalling the achievement of the school in winning for the second time, this year’s Children’s Day match past, the headmistress admonished the pupils to always maintain good discipline, demonstrate hard work and use their time in on academic work well.

     

  • Igbo presidency feasible under APC, says Okorocha

    It was cheering news from Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday when he announced to the supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the age-long agitation for an Igbo presidency would soon come to fruition.

    Okorocha, who spoke during the inauguration of the APC Southeast Ward Mobilisers and Supporters Club, at the weekend, said the new party has become a rallying point for Ndigbo.

    He insisted that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has relegated the zone, despite its contribution to the growth and success of the party.

    “I am happy that our people are responding to this clarion call that has to do with our collective destiny and aspiration. It is a clear fact that Igbo have been relegated to sixth position in the political equation of our nation; not minding the fact that we form one of the tripods upon which the nation stands.

    “In a situation where no Igbo man is president, vice president, Senate president, Speaker and chairman of the ruling party gives credence to the fact that we have been relegated by the PDP.

    “But my assurance today is that our tears would be wiped away in APC as we have started well and will definitely finish well.

    “Let me state categorically that Igbo presidency which appeared impossible in PDP would be actualised under the APC. Therefore, I make bold to say that APC is truly an Igbo party and should be embraced by Ndigbo.”

    The governor added that APC has metamorphosed into a rallying point for the Ndigbo, adding that the party has rekindled the hope for the much-desired Igbo unity.

    Okorocha posited that with the successful inauguration of the club, “the party is now prepared to demonstrate its winning strategy in the November 6 Anambra governorship election”.

    The governor said he plans to meet with Senator Chris Ngige and Senator Annie Okonkwo to ensure a smooth and peaceful emergence of the party’s governorship candidate in Anambra State.

  • ‘Why Igbo presidency is impossible in 2015’

    ‘Why Igbo presidency is impossible in 2015’

    Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe, is a member of the House of Representatives for Ideato North/South constituency, Imo State. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the nagging APGA crisis and the Igbo presidency project, among others.

     

    As the leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the House, how do you feel about the current crisis in the party?

    I am worried about the crisis because APGA by philosophy is a progressive party. The crisis is very bad for our party and our people but I believe that with time, may be this crisis will be resolved. People shouldn’t believe that they are right all the time. They need to make concession at times because at the end of the day, the society is bigger than any of us. We should be thinking of what is best for our community and our people but we are not doing that at the moment.

    I came from England to run for this election. I would have joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but I believe that PDP cannot move this country forward because there is no philosophy. It is like a cabal who want to see what they can get for themselves. This is not what politics is all about.

    Politics is about service to the society buy PDP is a party where people are only after what they can get from the system. That is why I support the merger of some of the opposition parties into All Progressives Congress (APC). I am not saying that they are different human beings; they are the same Nigerians but let’s have some different philosophies that define where we are going.

    PDP doesn’t know where they are going, but APC will give more stability to this country. There are too many political parties in Nigeria to have any meaningful opposition; the other parties have to merge in order to have a more formidable platform to go for power. The way they are fragmented at the moment, they can never get power, so the merger is good for the country.

    But your party announced it is not involved in the merger, so which APGA do you belong to?

    There are factions in APGA at the moment. There is the Governor Peter Obi’s APGA, which does not believe in the merger. I think that the national chairman made a statement that APGA will not surrender its certificate which means that they are not ready to merge. There is Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State who believes in APC and held a rally recently to say that APGA Imo or APGA Rochas is now APC. I am with my governor. If Ojukwu had not died, there wouldn’t have been this split in APGA. The major cause of the split was the fact that Ojukwu, who had been the rallying point, is dead. If Ojukwu had not died, I am sure APGA in the next election would have got about four states and that will give us a leverage to grow, but as the party is at the moment, if I tell you that APGA will win Anambra election, I am not being realistic because you must unite first to be able to win. So, the crisis is very bad for our people.

    How do you assess APGA government in Imo State?

    The government is doing very well. I travelled home some weeks ago and the road infrastructure being put in place is wonderful but the government needs to publicise what it is doing.

    What is your view on local government autonomy and internal democracy among political parties?

    There is no internal democracy in all the political parties in the country; it is a major problem which must be addressed. Local government election in Nigeria is a charade. Each governor wins all the seats. Is that possible? It is not possible, and that is why I am appealing to the National Assembly to have the courage to domicile all the elections in INEC.

    The state electoral commissions should be scrapped because it is a waste of time and resources. All they are doing is what the governors ask them to do. They should be completely dissolved. We cannot grow as a country if people have no confidence in the electoral process.

    We need to muster courage to address this fundamental issue by scrapping all the State Electoral Commissions and put all elections under INEC. I am not saying that INEC is an angel but their performance in the last election was more credible than it used to be. It is getting better and I believe it I’ll be better in future elections.

    Will you vote for local government autonomy?

    For me, I will vote for autonomy of the local governments. But it has both merit and demerits. Grating autonomy to the local governments may make the federal government too strong and may defeat the federal structure we have. The federal government may use the local government to subvert the state; it is an issue that has to be looked into critically, but there is need for the local governments to have direct allocation. In some states, the governors seize the money and give them what they feel like giving them. It requires a lot of courage; we need to do those things that are in the interest of the people.

    How do you react to the ongoing constitutional amendment process by the National Assembly?

    There are quite some issues that need urgent attention; like the local government autonomy, dissolution of state electoral commissions and state creation. Anybody that takes a critical look at this country will know that we don’t need more states though there is inequality at the moment. The south east is the only zone with five states, the rest of the zones have six states. If people want to be true and objective, the southeast should have one more state to balance the spread. Apart from the southeast, there should no more states because they are not bringing any progress. We only have increased number of sirens and convoys and this is the money we can put into education. But the South East needs to agree in principle.

    Why is the amended budget yet to be signed?

    I wish I know the cause of the delay in signing the budget. I am worried because we are already in June and this is a budget that is supposed to start operating in January. All the speed we used in passing the budget and the gains have been lost. There is so much suffering in the land and I think we have a duty to look at the budget again and pass the final budget so that the nation can move forward.

    How realistic is the Igbo presidency project?

    You don’t become President by wishing it, nobody gives you power; you have to take it. The Igbo have to organise themselves and come out with one voice. When election starts, you will have between 50-60 Igbos running. In that kind of scenario, who is going to be president? The other groups will exploit the situation. Let us first of all organise ourselves, unite and talk to other Nigerians, make friends with them. It is not a matter of saying it is our turn, such things don’t happen in politics. You have to get it by negotiations and persuasion. You have to convince other groups that other zones have had it, we have not had it, we should get it. You have to look at structures to know which party is more likely to produce the president and you ask within that structure. In fact, that is one of the reasons I didn’t join the PDP.

    The PDP has no regard for the Igbos. The highest Igbo man in PDP currently is the National Publicity Secretary, what is that in terms of party structure? The presidency will come naturally but it may not come in 2015 but it will come.

    Can rotational presidency get Ndigbo the slot?

    Rotational presidency is a recipe for disaster. What you will enthrone by that is mediocrity. I believe the president should be produced on the basis of excellence. Let the best person run this country. You must be well-equipped to be able to run a country like Nigeria. If you put a mediocre just because you are rotating, we will continue to slide. Let’s elect presidents based on what the person has to offer and not on the basis of where they come from.

    What is your score card in the House?

    I was very actively involved in the election of the current Speaker of the House of Representatives and I think we made the right decision because Tambuwal has shown that the trust we placed in him is not misplaced.

    The very first thing I did in the House was to sponsor a motion to censor and punish GSM providers for poor quality of service. The next motion I sponsored was an amendment of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act to make education compulsory up to SS3 because the major problem we have in this country is illiteracy. That bill has gone through the second reading and public hearing and will soon become law. If we have it as law and government ensures the enforcement of this law, we will have a different country in the next 15years. People will understand themselves better and the issue of Boko Haram will be a thing of the past because nobody will say that western education is sin. I have awarded over 15 university scholarships and will award more this year.

    We have been able to get jobs for at least 10 graduates, empowered some youths to make them self-reliant by giving them tricycles. We built community centres, dug boreholes and also got a major road which links Okigwe-Nnewi rehabilitated.

     

     

  • 2015: Igbo must unite to be President, says activist

    2015: Igbo must unite to be President, says activist

    THE national convener of the Igbo Nationality Rights Assembly (INRA),

    Chief Okey Nwosu, has said that, without unity, there cannot be a

    President of Igbo extraction in 2015. Speaking in Lagos in a telephone interview, Nwosu said that the quest for power shift to the region will not materialise, except the Igbo elite sacrifice their personal interest for the interest of the race.

    According to him, the Igbo suffer marginalisation because of lack of unity.

    He said: “If you ask me about the possibility of an Igbo President in 2015, I will say let us talk of unity among the Igbo first. The talk of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction shall remain a mere talk unless the Igbo elite come together to define the interest of Indigbo in the Nigeria project. A situation where some of the elite are interested in personal gains, against the collective interests of all Igbo as a people, will never take us anywhere. Look at what is happening in the polity, because of selfish interest; the Igbo elite cannot condemn actions and injustices against the average Igbo man. Is that the way we want to rule Nigeria?

    Nwosu added: “As an Igboman, and an elite for that matter, I want to confess that we are unlike the Yoruba, the Ijaw or the Hausa and, perhaps, even other smaller ethnic nationalities. I say we have failed to chart the path of greatness for our people in this project called Nigeria. While others, like the Yoruba, Hausa elite will be at the fore front for their groups by sacrificing their personal interests for their tribes, the Igbo elite trade their race for personal gains. We all know how many Igbo people were killed in the North and yet not a word of protest from our so called elite and Ohanaeze.

    “If this had happened the Yoruba, Hausa or Ijaw, they would have mounted a strong campaign in the media and put pressure on the Federal Government, until the families of the victims would be recognised and adequately compensated. Why can’t we emulate these people? Why haven’t we mounted pressure on the government at the centre and call for compensation for the thousands of Igbo that have been consumed by the Boko Haram insurgency?”

    He said the recent pronouncement by the Supreme Court another opportunity for the Igbo to show that they cannot be the object for ridicule.

    Nwosu stressed: “Look at the ridicule that the Igbo have been made to face. Yet nobody is talking. It is very painful to note that at political meetings, when others are scheming to project the greater good of their people, the Igbo are usually treated as people with a price tag. See the case of MASSOB and its leaders. While other violent and destructive groups were given amnesty, MASSOB leaders, who have been preaching non-violence, are to be tried for treason. Now I ask you, have you heard any Igbo leader speak out in defence of MASSOB? When recently Dokubo-Asari made some statements considered inflammatory, did you not see how the Ijaw elite rallied around him? Why is that same spirit glaringly missing among the Igbo?”

    He lamented that, in the face of gruesome murder of Igbo in the North by Boko Haram insurgents, nobody called for compensation for the victims, who were mainly unarmed traders at town hall meetings or church goers. He challenged the elite and Igbo leaders to live up to their expectation.

    “How can Igbo elite, Ohaneze and political leaders keep quite after their kinsmen have been murdered in cold blood by the terrorist group without raising a finger in protest”.

    Nwosu urged the Federal Government to compensate all victims of the Boko Haram insurgents in the Northern part of the country as a matter of urgency in the name of equity, fairness and justice. Nwosu also called on all Igbo, both at home and in abroad, to press for compensation for the victims of Boko Haram.

     

  • Group seeks promotion of Igbo language

    Worried by the seeming disappearance of Igbo language among the youths, a non-governmental group, the Pinacle Organisation, led by Mrs. Charity Edochie Okoli, has initiated a two-day event to revitalise the dying culture. Tagged Igbo Asoka (Igbo is sweet), will hold on September 7 at Ekwueme Square, Awka, Anambra State capital.

    The organisers said the event will feature talk shops, traditional dances, masquerade displays, beauty pageants, and a gala nite with participants turning out in Igbo traditional attires.

    Okoli said: “Globalisation has dealt a heavy blow on our culture. Events around us show that our youth are imbibing western culture faster than our indigenous culture and traditional values. They are ashamed to speak our unique dialect. To stem this negative tide and to halt the decline in Igbo language especially amongst our youths, Pinnacle Organisation has come up with this programme,” she added.

    According to her, the aim of the event is among others to halt the decline of Igbo language amongst youth, revitalise cultural values and correct the impression that speaking the Igbo language reduces one’s status in the society. She stressed that instead, it reinforces one’s cultural identity. “We want to help restore the usual attributes of a typical Igbo man, such as wisdom, craftsmanship, integrity, zeal, determination, focus, boldness and industry. These should be etched in the minds of our youths,” she said.

    Continuing, she said:

    “We hope the event will facilitate the bonding of Igbo nation since all the Igbo states will be in attendance, and there will be a display of our rich cultural heritage; in other words, to express the ‘Igboness’ of our culture. The aim is to reawaken the traditional consciousness in our youth and getting them well informed. Igbo Asoka is a multi-million naira project that will see many corporate organisations working and pulling their resources together to make it a huge success.”

     

  • Group to empower Igbo victims

    The Movement for the Survival of Igbo People (MOSIP) has announced plans to empower relatives and widows of Igbo killed in the North by Boko Haram insurgents.

    The group, in collaboration with the Imo State Government, is to organise the ‘Igbo Day of Tribute’ in memory of the hundreds of innocent Igbo businessmen, who died in various crises.

    The National Chairman of MOSIP, Maxwell Nwokeji, said the intervention of the body became imperative to cushion the suffering of women and children who have lost their bread winners.

    “As a first step towards our vision to reposition ‘ala-Igbo’ we have concluded plans with the Imo State government to organise Igbo Day of Tribute.

    “This is in memory of all Igbo sons and daughters unjustly but brutally killed.

    “The event will serve as an opportunity to mourn our brothers and sisters and to send a strong message that enough is enough,” he said.

    He said the continued killing of Ndigbo, especially in Kano and other troubled states in the North, is unfair and condemnable.

    Nwokeji said the group will not back the call for the Igbo to evacuate the North .

    He said every Nigerian has the right to live in any part of the country and enjoy security of live and property, irrespective of his religious or ethnic background.

    “The Igbo Day of Tribute was conceived to ameliorate the sufferings of Ndigbo, who lost their means of livelihood to the Boko Haram crises.

    “There will be a night of vigil and prayer which will precede the day of the event and on the day proper widows and children of the victims will be empowered.”