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Tag: Ohanaeze

  • Ohanaeze inspects N16b international market

    The Lagos State chapter of the apex Igbo social-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has visited the proposed site of the Heartland Gateway International Market located at Mgbidi in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State.

    The visit, according to the group, was part of efforts initiated by the leadership of the organisation to encourage Ndigbo to invest at home and boost the economies of their respective states.

    Addressing the members of the organisation numbering over 200 at the residence of the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Donatus Ozoemena, the CEO of Graceland Channels Limited, Pastor Nat Omoruyi, revealed that plans are underway to acquire more parcels of land to complement the already 28,097 hectres already acquired for the market.

    Omoruyi further said that the Mgbidi community has already expressed their readiness to donate more of their lands in order to accommodate the 50,000 shops planned for construction on the site, which, he added, will cost N16 billion. The market is expected to yield a daily N500 million trade transaction.

    He also revealed that the Federal Government had already awarded the contract for the dredging of the Oguta Lake which is very close to the market from Imo State axis to Rivers State axis of the lake.

    Expressing gratitude to the people of the community for donating their lands for the project, Chairman Market Committee of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State, Chief Vitus Chukwudebem Uzoh, said the market, when completed, will afford Ndigbo the opportunity to invest in their respective states without fear of molestation.

    Uzoh described Ndigbo as industrious people who contribute to the development of any area wherever they find themselves. He cited the Tejuosho and ASPAMDA markets in Lagos as examples.

    He said: “Ndigbo are blessed in trade and business. We have contributed significantly in building all the major markets across the country and beyond. Now we are going to invest in own land, where we will not be harassed or intimidated by any other tribe.”

  • Confab: Ohanaeze youths praise Southeast delegates

    The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), the youth wing of the Southeast socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has congratulated the Igbo delegates at the National Conference under the leadership of Chief Enwo Igariwey, President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, leader of the Southeast delegates to the conference on their impressive outing. They said the delegates attained 80 per cent achievement of the Igbo Agenda at the conference.

    A statement signed by the National Leader of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro urged the delegates to complete their good work by ensuring that none of what they achieved for Ndigbo gets tampered with at the final stage of the conference.

    While commending the Southeast Governors’ Forum for its commitment to ensuring enhanced security in the Southeast geo-political zone, they said their recent decision to procure security equipment so as to enhance security within the region, proved that the forum is committed to the security of lives and property of people of the zone.

    The youth urged the governors to work assiduously towards regional economic integration in order to pool resources, thereby having a larger and more attractive market by virtue of economy of scales.

    As such, the forthcoming annual Southeast Economic Summit will be an avenue for them to formalise a legal framework for regional integration.

    The youth said: “We wish to commend, in particular, the bold initiatives of Governors Theodore A. Orji and Willy Obiano of Abia and Anambra states respectively which results in tremendous improvement in security in their states, especially in the two commercial cities of Aba and Onitsha.

    “We express the willingness of the Ohanaeze Youth Wing to partner with the Southeast Governors’ Forum to reduce insecurity in the region.

    “However, insecurity is best tackled through massive investment in job creation, youth empowerment, industrialisation and improved agriculture.

    “We urge every Southeast governor to present a score card of how many industries his government has attracted or built in his state.

    “We call on President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency; ensure the resuscitation of the Enugu coal mine, possibly before the end of the year so as to return the economy of the Southeast to what it used to be.

    “Also, we implore the Federal Government to fast-track the construction of the Enugu and Gombe coal-fired power plants as contained in the 2014 Budget, so as to enhance the industrial potential of both the Southeast and the Northeast zones.

    “We commend patriotic Igbo industrialists like Chief Innocent Maduka (Innoson), Chief Maduka Onyishi (Peace Mass Transit) and Dr. Uche Ogar (Master Energy) for investing in the Southeast, thereby empowering Igbo youths.

    “While asking all patriotic Ndigbo and corporate organisations to support the Ohanaeze Youth Wing’s Igbo Youth Development/ Skill Acquisition Centre Project, we commend individuals who are already supporting the project such as Prof. Bart Nnaji.”

  • Ohanaeze youths endorse APGA chairman for Senate

    Ohanaeze youths endorse APGA chairman for Senate

    The Anambra State chapter of the Ohanaeze Youths Council (OYC) has endorsed the National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh to represent Anambra South Senatorial zone come 2015.

    The OYC also asked the APGA chairman not to retire from politics as his retirement would do no good to the Igbo people, more so as he was still young.

    The youth, led by the chairman of the Anambra State chapter, Hon. Tony Uche Ezekwelu were at Umeh’s residence in Enugu to honour him as their grand patron.

    Ezekwelu told Umeh at the occasion that they cannot afford to have him as a retired politician now “because he has a lot to do for Ndigbo.”

    He recalled that it was Ohanaeze Ndigbo that gave birth to APGA and the Anambra State chapter of the Youth Council, adding that the youth council would continue to partner with the party for the good of the Igbo nation.

    The youth leader announced a yearly sports festival in honour of the late Biafran leader; Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu would start from November 4 to December 5 this year.

    The sports festival, he said, would be preceded by annual lecture series on the life and times of the late Ojukwu.

    Ezekwelu also announced the institution of the youth re-orientation and empowerment programme in addition to the establishment of an Igbo language newspaper known as Igbo Amaka. He presented copies of the paper to Umeh.

    Responding, Umeh said he accepted the endorsement to run for the Senate to represent Anambra Central Senatorial zone. He told the youth that the campaign or his journey to the Senate shall be done by them.

    He said: “Based on calls from several quarters for him to contest election to represent Anambra Central zone at the Senate, and the call by the youth today, I have accepted to contest and I am sure to win.

    He thanked them for the honour they have bestowed on him and particularly that of the sports festival in honour of Ojukwu.

    Umeh recalled that Ojukwu, until his death, was thinking of the future of Ndigbo in Nigeria and the world.

    “The idea of honouring Ojukwu with an annual sports festival is a great one. I will throw all my weight behind it,” he promised.

    The APGA chairman also advised the youth to give Governor Willie Obiano all the necessary support he needed to move Anambra State forward.

    Umeh used the occasion to praise the leader of the Southeast delegates to the National Conference, General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), whom he described as a dogged fighter and true son of Igbo land.

    “General Ike Nwachukwu led us well and performed extra-ordinarily in the conference. Thanks to the governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji and the people Abia State for giving us Ike Nwachukwu to lead us at the conference,” said Umeh.

    He made a donation of a Hummer bus to the youth council.

  • Call for Nigeria’s dissolution treasonable – Ohanaeze youths tell Northern counterparts

    Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has condemned the call by Arewa Youth Development Foundation for dissolution of Nigeria, describing it as a joke taken too far.

    It “is treasonable enough to warrant prosecution,” the OYC said.

    The youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo also described as “uncalled for and unconstitutional”, the call by the Arewa youths for Southerners in the North to leave within two weeks and for Northerners in the South to do the same.

    Briefing reporters in Enugu, the National President, Okechukwu Isiguzoro of OYC said it was shocking that at this time Nigeria was passing through serious security breaches, some misguided youth under sponsorship by fifth columnists could be making divisive calls inimical to their fatherland.

    Isiguzoro made it clear that Igbo youths were not under any illusion that the misguided Arewa youth were only smoke screen to the real architects of that treasonable call for secession, which the Nigerian state would resist with all its might.

    “Our concern about the shameful outing in the palace of Emir of Kano is that the youths of the region, who have been notoriously misruled for long by the same people that sent them on the dirty mission should have rather questioned their sponsors on their ignoble roles in bringing the region and Nigeria to its present situation.

    “The same people that foisted penury, deprivation and frustration on the innocent talakawas (commoners) of the North are now sending them mischievously on an errand that threatens Nigeria’s unity. Our message to the contemporary youths of the North is to resist the attempt of the fifth columnist and merchants of topsy-turvy politics to herd them into an ill-fated mission” he said.

    He observed that when some people refer to the North, they try to pull wool over the eyes of some gullible people whereas the truth is that majority of Nigerians from the Middle Belt are strong architects of a united Nigeria and have demonstrated unequivocal support to the measures presently being taken to address the insecurity problems and other problems of the nation.

    Isiguzoro noted that it was only few elements with rabid inordinate ambition that are hiding under the cloak of the North to cause confusion and chaos in the country, saying “we know these few elements that pretend to be the conscience of the North and we also know the true conscience of the North.”

    OYC also made it clear to the Arewa Consultative Forum that there was no threat to any Northerner in the South-East or Igboland.

    “Our attention has been drawn to a provocative warning against Ndigbo by the Arewa Consultative Forum, threatening to interfere with Igbo businesses in the North. This is also on the heels of the call by the Arewa Youth Development Foundation for Southerners to quit the North within two weeks.

    “This is a similar approach to the event that culminated to the unfortunate crisis of the middle of late 60’s when undue sentiment, emotional outburst and propaganda was allowed to take the better part of reasoning of some people in the North. Later, millions of innocent Igbos and Easterners were to pay the supreme sacrifice.

    “The truth is that there is no single threat to any Northerner in the South East or Igboland. They are here doing their normal businesses and unmolested by anybody. The Governors of the zone as the Chief security officers of their various states only took constitutional measures to safeguard their states against insecurity, especially in view of the recent discoveries and arrests of Boko Haram suspects in the zone. Do the Arewa people want the South-East Governors and people to keep quiet in the face of Boko Haram threat to the zone” OYC stated.

    But in another development, another group, the World Igbo Youth Congress welcomed the call by Arewa Youth for the dissolution of Nigeria in 2015.

    In a statement yesterday by its General Coordinator, Dick Izuora the congress while saluting the Arewa youth for their stand, suggested that the dissolution should even be done before 2015.

  • Ohanaeze youth council backs Fayemi’s re-election

    Ohanaeze youth council backs Fayemi’s re-election

    OHANAEZE Youth Council (OYC), a socialcultural Igbo youth group has pledged to support Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State to seek a second term in office. The group in a statement signed by the President and Secretary, Board of Trustees, BoT, Prince Francis Oji and Mazi Okwu Okwu, respectively, said the incumbent governor deserves a second term in order to continue the developmental programmes he has started in the state. “We are moved to support Governor Kayode Fayemi’s reelection because of the good work that he has started in the state. The state has witnessed massive development since he became the governor. He is one of the few governors in the country that run government with human face. He does not discriminate between the rich and the poor. The welfare environment he created for the aged people in the state tells it all that the state is blessed with a man that has human feeling.

  • Alleged atrocities: Ohanaeze asks Fed Govt for N24tr reparation

    Alleged atrocities: Ohanaeze asks Fed Govt for N24tr reparation

    Ohanaeze Ndigbo is demanding N24 trillion from the Federal Government as compensation for Ndigbo, who lost their loved ones, belongings and those still suffering dislocation and seizure of property.

    The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation is also demanding an apology from the Federal Government for the “wrongs the government and people of Nigeria have done to Ndigbo and Igboland.”

    The Chairman of the Reparation Committee set up by Ohanaeze, Chief Mbazuluike Amechi, told a news conference in Enugu yesterday that each state in the Southeast should receive N400 billion.

    The same amount, he said, should be paid to the Delta State government for the benefit of Anioma area.

    Amechi, a First Republic minister, noted that it was incalculable to put a price on the death of millions of Igbo, in the civil war and on other occasions, warning that if the government failed to pay, Igbo would take a drastic decision.

    He said: “These atrocities and deprivation against Ndigbo are not the making of the present government. However, there are indications that the present administration has neglected Ndigbo. There is injustice.

    “For the last four or five years, the main roads in Igboland, the Onitsha-Enugu Road and the Enugu-Umuahia-Aba-Port Harcourt Road have become death traps. Government has turned deaf ears to the cry of the Igbo.”

    Amechi also referred to the 2nd Niger Bridge, saying it had been a subject of pleasant theories and promises.

    The First Republic minister, who was with a former National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftain, Chief Ralph Obioha; Prof. Uche Azikiwe, wife of the late former President Nnamdi Azikiwe; Col. Ben Gbulie (rtd) and others, said Imeobi Ohanaeze, the supreme executive organ of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, had resolved that Ndigbo should demand reparation.

    Said he: “My committee documented the atrocities, injustices and deprivation visited on Ndigbo before arriving at the figure.”

    He listed some of the atrocities as the 1953 massacre of Ndigbo in Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, following a motion moved by the late Tony Enahoro in the House of Representatives, asking for independence.

    He mentioned the ARABA test riots of May 1966, which followed the January 1966 coup and the July 29 counter coup a.k.a “Counter Revolution and Ethnic cleansing”, where Major-Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi and over 300 military officers and men of Igbo origin were killed.

    Also, the ex-minister listed the Nigeria-Biafra war, which claimed close to three million Igbo, the Asaba massacre of over eight thousand harmless civilians and others.

    Amechi said there were 19 cases of atrocities against the Igbo, including the present Boko Haram insurgency.

  • Yuguda blasts ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze

    Yuguda blasts ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze

    . . . Alleges divisive comments by groups on confab, 2015 poll

    Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, has taken a swipe at the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other ethnic nationality groups in the country for what he described as their divisive tendencies.

    Yuguda accused the regional socio-cultural cum political interest groups of fanning the embers of disunity among the Nigerian people with their inflammatory statements about the polity and the nation’s leaders.

    The governor is particular miffed by the apparently combative posture of the groups on the upcoming National Conference and their parochial views on the Presidency in the run up to the 2015 general elections.

    Speaking with reporters in Bauchi at the weekend, Governor Yuguda cautioned the groups against setting the stage for political violence that could arise from their unguarded utterances.

    He said, “Some of these people who are old men of about 90 years appear to have lost focus. They are busy abusing one another and abusing leaders from different sections of the country.

    “Most of them were privileged individuals during their prime, but they have now turned around sowing divisions among the various groups in the country. It is high time they stopped instigating the peace loving people of the country against one another.”

    The governor called on the youth population to shun the divisive tendencies of the groups and challenged them to work towards bridging the gaping developmental gap in all facets of the economy.

    The youths, he said, must strive hard to harness the nation’s abundant human and material resources and to forge unity among the diverse groups for the progress of the country.

    Yuguda blamed what he termed the mercantile approach to power by some members of the political class, saying their actions were responsible for some of the woes besetting the country.

    According to him, “these politicians are busy competing for power just for the oil money. They see politics as an enterprise, with the sole purpose of making profit.

    “Instead of focusing on how best to serve their people and develop the economy, they see political power as a means of making money for their children, their grandchildren and their generation unborn.

    “It is high time they changed their perception if we want our country to grow and the media have a vital role to play in this self discovery campaign.”

     

  • As Igbo become a minority in Nigeria

    SIR: The Igbo today are groping in a labyrinth of confusion; a labyrinth that they have knitted together out of humongous morsels of selfishness, avarice and ignorance. And as they waltz in the ball of anodyne confusion their status or place in the Nigerian entity magnanimously tapers off.

    It is indubitable to aver that the place of the Igbo in Nigeria is the abominable and thrashed quarters of irrelevance. The Igbo take the wizened, bottom space after the Hausa, Yoruba and Ijaw. In fact, other peoples that are considered ethnic minorities in Nigeria may go up the political ladder before the Igbo as it is today. To say the least, the Igbo have become side-kicks to dominant Hausa-Yoruba-Ijaw power heroes in the Marvel comic of Nigeria.

    As always, the unthinking Igbo horde will allude the present condition of the Igbo to the Biafra-Nigeria civil war. And for this horde there is no way out of the asphyxiating cul-de-sac because the war has already done irredeemable damage. Playing the victim has become the lazy default configuration of some Igbo.

    Is the war the reason greedy Igbo leaders in a perfidious clique known as Ohanaeze barter the political future of the Igbo for billions of naira which they swallow, and defecate pennies for their coterie of unthinking followers? Is the war the reason states in the South-east are sprawling igloos in spite of all the huge monetary allocations to the various South-east governments? Is the war the reason the Igbo lack direction, and orphaned of an agenda? Is war the cause of the gully erosion gormandizing parts of Anambra State with belligerence? Is the war the reason the Igbo are ball boys at the Maracana of Nigerian politics? Is the war the reason for the ossified, steal-abroad-and-take-chieftaincy-title -at-home culture in Igboland? Is the war the reason for the baby factories mushrooming in Igboland? Is the war the reason for preponderance of Igbo criminal regiments at home and abroad? There are many more imposing posers, but these are for cerebral crunching.

    Perhaps, the war is the reason why “Kpomo” is more expensive in Anambra than in Kano.

    For the thinking Igbo, it is wholesomely clear that the trash position of the Igbo in Nigeria today is as a result of a concatenation of ill-forces mustered by the Igbo themselves. The vilest ill force militating against Igbo ascendancy to affluence, influence and power is Igbo penny leaders. The fact is a scrum of Igbo penny leaders feed fat on the emaciated condition of the Igbo in Nigeria. They claim to represent the Igbo, but what they do is to gulp down mouth watering sums of valuable paper in exchange for Igbo’s rights farting stained coins of greed. The alleged handout of 1.2 billion given to Ohanaeze by President Goodluck Jonathan is a knocking affirmation of this point. Even if Ohanaeze disputes the allegation, the truth remains it cannot be tooting Jonathan’s horns and running his errands for free. Ohanaeze, we all know is not for charity. So it must have been duly raking in “solid quid” into its bloating coffers from its consort with the President.

    The vacuity of Igbo leadership heralds itself as the national conference dawns. The Igbo seem to be the obfuscated people without an agenda. The Yoruba agenda is regional autonomy. The Hausa-Fulani agenda according to Arewa Consultative Forum is unitary Nigeria (even though they are euphemistic about it), but the Igbo sadly, tout conflicting ideological noises as agenda. At best, what the Igbo do is to sandwich themselves between Ijaw agenda of resource control and self-determination. One Igbo leader from the North Pole cries, “self-determination” another one from the South Pole screams “con-federalism”. Disjointed schema! Playing the “fourth fiddle” has become the genius of the Igbo.

     

    • Fredrick Nwabufo,

    Abuja.

     

  • Ohanaeze: we’ve not endorsed anybody for 2015

    Ohanaeze: we’ve not endorsed anybody for 2015

    OHANAEZE Ndigbo , the apex-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, has denied speculations that it has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 election.

    Since the visit of leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where it was alleged that some of its members were given money, the Ndigbo leadership has been in disarray.

    National Treasurer of the group Chief Damian Okeke Ogene told The Nation in Awka that the Igbo group was still battling credibility problem.

    Although National Secretary Chief Joe Nwaorgu denied there was controversy over the money allegedly got from the Presidency, Ogene said Ohanaeze Ndigbo was too big for anybody to undermine.

    He said the Ben Obi committee set up by the Southeast governors after its election in February, to investigate what happened, had not submitted its report.

    Ogene urged Ndigbo to take a position, adding: “We should not wait for power to be given to us. It’s an insult for anybody to say we are neglected.”

  • Ohanaeze, stakeholders urge INEC to ensure fair poll

    Ohanaeze, stakeholders urge INEC to ensure fair poll

    The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo and other stakeholders have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to ensure a free, fair and credible poll.

    The advice was given yesterday at the Women Development Centre, Awka, at a workshop, tagged: “Anambra Governorship Election.”

    It was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben Ndi Obi.

    The event was chaired by Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, former military administrator of the old Imo State. In attendance were national chairmen of parties.

    Ohanaeze President- General (worldwide), Chief Gary Igariwey, said INEC should announce results, with the assistance of security agencies.

    He said: “All we want is an election the world will recognise. We do not want rigging or bloodletting.”

    To resource persons; Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the United States Dr. George Obiozor and Dr. Udenta Udenta said the political and electoral processes should be institution-driven as in advanced democratic societies.

    “We must improve the legitimacy of the leadership through free and fair elections or risk leadership with power without authority or authority without legitimacy.

    “This situation is rampant in Africa where power, authority and legitimacy of the leadership are under constant contest and threats, resulting in national drift towards violence, national unrest and civil wars.”

    Senator Ben Ndi Obi said for an election to be fair, honest balloting and counting must be administered.

    Said he: “There must be prompt and just resolution of election-related disputes and grievances, before and after election. Fairness, therefore, also requires a level-playing field.

    “Of course, this cannot be achieved without the cooperation of stakeholders. I enjoin parties to cooperate and create a climate of freedom, security, equity, justice and stability.”