PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan and public office holders from the south-east have been blamed for the deplorable state of infrastructure in the area. Speaking yesterday at a public lecture organized by Ohanaeze Ndigbo to herald its 2014 Igbo Day celebration slated for next Monday at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, the group said the president’s transformation agenda has not benefited the states in the south-east, saying their roads are in deplorable states. Speaking on the topic ‘Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan – The Effect on Ndigbo’ the guest speaker, Barrister Barnabas Okoro said: “… this is not the only area that President Jonathan’s transformation agenda has not impacted on the southeast positively. The state of federal roads in the south east can best be described as deplorable. “It has been so before Goodluck Jonathan came to power and it has not improved under the transformation agenda. The President enjoyed and still enjoys overwhelming support of the south east for his political ambition. He has no moral reason to deny the south-east of any rights or projects that are beneficial to the people of the zone.” Commenting on the second Niger bridge, he said: “It is a project that is of very high benefit to the zone and we shall hold the President accountable for the failure to complete the project within the time he promised. “The South-east has not benefitted much from his agenda not because Mr. President hates the Igbo but because those that represent us have failed or neglected to do that which they are expected to do to attract the gains of the agenda to the south east.” Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attairu Jega was also asked to cancel the 30, 000 polling units recently created by the commission. The group lamented the allocation of the new polling units, describing it as an attempt “to work against the political interest of the south”. Speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, said: “We condemn the creation of additional 30, 000 polling units by INEC, which gives a larger percentage of the units to the North. What it has simply done is to make the south a slave politically to the north. “The north east has been depopulated as a result of insurgency, yet it got a good share of the allocation. What INEC has done, shamefully so, is to decide the vote of the president on the basis of the vote of the north against that of the south.”
Tag: Ohaneze
-
Lagos Ohaneze leaders unveil vision
The Ohaneze leader in Lagos, Phebian Onwughalu, and the other newly elected executive of the Lagos branch met during the week with Igbo prominent citizens in Lagos. At the meeting, Onwughalu explains the vision and plans of the new state executive.
“We have been doing our best to reconcile the factions and carry everyone along. Our desire is to take our people to the next level so that peace is achieved. There must be decorum, respect of our tradition and warning for those going against the injunction of the court. We have had petitions from farmers and some obas in the South-West. The National Secretary has been trying to reach out to host communities for peaceful co-existence,” Onwughalu said.
He added: “The first project is to acquire a massive piece of land to build an Igbo secretariat in Lagos State. We do not have the funds for the project, but we know that there is nothing we ask in our name that we cannot get. There would also be a three star hotel inside the secretariat, where our people can relax. We also want to pay courtesy visit to all the governors in the South-East”.
Onwughalu a lawyer goes on to talk about the proposed National Conference and its importance. “Everyone has a right to associate, speak and carry out their daily obligations without offending other people. Where your right stops is actually where the other person’s rights begin. As Igbos, we are supporting the National Conference and we are mobilizing towards it. We want the conference because we know that it is good for the South , it is about equity and those who know that they would lose some of their privileges are those against it. For a long time , we have been on the receiving end.The basis for sharing the national cake should be the zones and not states or local government. Resource control is what would be properly discussed at the conference and we would advance from there,” he informs.
Onwuahalu adds that: “We also have problems with mobility. We need three buses for the executive, the youth wing and the women’s wing of the organisation.
On his part,the host Chief Solomon Ogbonna said the meeting would usher in a turning point for the organisation. “I thank the Ezes for their support and for bring me to join the group in Lagos. I am into artwork and I am building a Museum. When they elected this new government, I knew it was from God. The preservation of art, culture and tradition of the people is a vision flowing in the bloodline of the Aguene Okorie’s family that I hail from.
The family has a vision of a society where art, culture and tradition of the people will be preserved for posterity. My grandfather, Chief Okorie Oti was a great traditionalist and he became an inspiration to his father, Chief Aguene Okorie who passed the baton to me. I am therefore ready to assist our people and be a part of the positive dreams of the organisation.”
-
Ohaneze backs Obiogbolu
The governorship aspiration of Dr Alex Obiogbolu recently got a boost when the former President General of Ohaneze, Chief Dozie Ikedife, Ikenga Nnewi threw his weight behind his candidature.
Chief Ikedife who was speaking when the PDP governorship aspirant paid him a court visit said that Obiogbolu is a very good material for the job of piloting the affairs of Anambra State.
Ikenga Nnewi said as a matter of fact that the state is in dire need of a man of integrity, intellect and courage to consolidate on the achievements of the incumbent governor. He noted that these qualities are personalised in Obiogbolu who because of his antecedents in the Local Government Service Commission and Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA) has proved to be a first class material that has the capability to shine even in the midst of gross darkness.
The former Ohaneze boss noted that the Peoples Democratic Party would be stepping into a relative advantage over other political parties if a personality like Dr Alex Obiogbolu is allowed to fly the party’s flag in the forth coming governorship election.
Dr Dozie Ikedife, however, urged the governorship aspirants to make necessary contact with relevant bodies and organisation so as to get the National Working Committee of his party know the true situation of things at the grassroots where he has become a fieldmarshal because of the robust relationship he has cultivated with the people of the state irrespective of party affiliations over time.
In another development, the first female governor in the country, Dame Virgy Etiaba has also blessed the aspiration of the PDP stalwart, Dr Alex Obiogbolu. The former governor described the aspirant as a good man who can be trusted with the responsibility of administering the state.
Dame Virgy Etiaba said this when the PDP governorship aspirant paid her a visit in her Umudim Nnewi country home.
-
ACF, Ohaneze, Northern governors: he’ll live on
The pan northern sociopolitical organisation, Arewa Consultative Form (ACF), the Ohaneze Ndigbo and Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) have said the late Prof. Chinua Achebe will live on.
The Forum, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani, said Nigerians need no tombstone to remind them of the legacies left behind by the late Achebe.
It said: “There is nothing we can say beyond the usual platitude that God should give the people and government of Nigeria the fortitude to endure what cannot be changed, since death is an inevitable end for all mortals.
“The Prof is gone in flesh. But in many ways, he is very much around, considering he needs no tombstone to remind us of his legacies.
“We can imagine his body lying in peace and in pains: the peace associated with death and the pains of what he has left behind that are still begging for attention. And so, one way of remembering Prof Chinua Achebe is live up his legacies.
“Yet, however we feel the loss of the Prof, we may not trade places with those who did not share the sentiments of what he stood for in life. May his soul rest in peace.”
NSGF said the death of the literary icon and elder statesman marked the end of a glorious era.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, said the late Achebe was a literary giant who lived a purposeful life of dedication to the cause of founding and development of African literature.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, said: ‘’Thanks to the sacrifices and commitment of Professor Achebe, and his contemporaries whose writings have become leading lights in our country’s literary constellation.’’
The forum expressed the hope that the generation of writers who benefited from the immense knowledge and professional competence of the late Achebe would keep the flag flying by continuing to raise the bar.
The forum said the best tribute that Nigerians can pay to the late writer and nationalist is to re-dedicate themselves to the ethos of nationalism, nation building, and respect for citizens’ rights which the late literary icon preached and practiced.
The forum condoled with members of Achebe’s family and prayed that God will give them the fortitude to bear the irredeemable loss, while also granting the departed eternal rest.
Aliyu urged the Federal Government to honour the memory of the great Nigerian, to serve as an inspiration to the younger generation of Nigerians.
The pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, said the late Achebe’s death was a big shock. Its deputy president general, Chief O. A. U. Onyema, in a statement, said the world has lost a
The statement reads: “The news of the death of our nobel laureate Prof Chinua Achebe came to us as a shock few minutes ago. The Igbo race, Nigeria and indeed the entire world have lost an icon. At 82, Prof Achebe was one of Africa’s best known authors. Well known for one of his very old books written in 1958 called Things Fall Apart.
“I wonder whose legs can match the shoes he just left behind in the novel industry. While I commiserate with his immediate family and our Nation; I urge the growing ones in the field of literature to work harder, as we will like to see many from of our people attain the status of Achebe.
“I’m aware that he survived a car crash in 1990, which got him to be moving with wheel chair; however that never deter him from writing. While on the wheelchair, he manifested further great intellect in his book There was a Country.
“Achebe’s Things Fall Apart has been translated into more than 50 languages and focuses on the traditions of Igbo society and the clash between Western and traditional values. We love him so dearly for this. We pray that many more sons of Igbo extraction will tow his footpath.”
-
Chime, Ohaneze lament killing of Igbo
Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime and the apex Igbo cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo have described the Kano bombing as unfortunate.
Chime, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Chukwudi Achife, said the wanton killing of innocent Nigerians under any guise, not only traumatised the people but undermined the integrity of the country.
The deputy president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief O. A. U. Onyema, said: “I’m to say the least very disappointed in this bombing of our brothers in Kano new luxury bus park, but I urge the Igbo everywhere in the country to remain calm. They should not show any sign of ill-temperament. Two wrongs do not make a right. Honestly, the bombers have really hit a nerve nexus, but we shall show maturity in handling it.”
-
Ohaneze approves three international festivals
The Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, an Igbo socio-cultural group, on Friday announced the approval of three international festivals, which it said would boost unity of Ndi Igbo both at home and in the Diaspora.
Chief Rommey Ezeonwuka, an Ohaneze chieftain, told journalists at Enugwu-Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area, on Anambra during the 2012 Olili Obibia Eri Festival.
He said that the festivals were: the Igbo New Yam festival (Iwa ji Ndi-Igbo nile), counting the Igbo Calendar (Igu Aro Igbo) and Olili Obibia Eri festival (visit of Igbo in Diaspora).
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Olili Obibia Eri festival featured cleansing of 10 African-Americans, who are from Igbo extraction at the Omabala River, from the stigma of slavery that had haunted them and their fore-fathers after the slavery trade in Africa.
Ezeonuwka said that Ohaneze had decided to support the festivals and make them an international event, which would attract all Igbos in and outside the country as well as African-Americans of Igbo extraction.
He said the festivals would help to further unite Ndi-Igbo culturally, since it would be staged in the three most significant communities in Igbo history and genealogy; namely Igbo-Ukwu, Agukwu-Nri and Enugwu-Aguleri.
“We have approved the Iwa ji Igbo (New Yam festival); Igu Aro Igbo (Beginning of Igbo Calendar Year) and Olili Obibi Eri festival.
`The three festivals will be held to unite the three principal lineages to the progenitor of all Igbos, who is Eri himself.
“Igbo-Ukwu would host the New Yam; Agukwu-Nri would host the Beginning of Igbo Calendar Year; while Enugwu-Aguleri would continue to host the Olili Obibia Eri festival,’’ he said.