Ohaneze, IPOB Reconcile, Agrees To Work Together

Nnamdi Kanu and John Nia Nwodo. Image via Youtube

BY JOE CHUKINDI
Pan Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo and the separatist Igbo group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have mended fences, with a promise to work together for the common good of Igbo people.

Both groups met on Tuesday at the home of the First Republic Aviation Minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amechi in Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Both groups have been at daggers drawn in recent times, with the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu calling on his members to attack the leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Nnia Nwodo, anywhere he is seen.

But Amechi who met with the group described the rivalry as unnecessary as they were both working for the good of Igbo people.


“I summoned the two bodies to express my displeasure with what I have been reading in the newspapers about Kanu giving orders for the stoning of Chief Nwodo.

“I’m happy that even before this peace meeting, Kanu has retracted the statement. We, therefore, appeal to Nwodo to accept the retraction and get it off his mind as IPOB has agreed to work with them.

“The two bodies must realize that it is the same battle they are fighting, which is marginalization, killings and denial of the Federal Government to develop South East and Igbo land in general.

IPOB, represented by Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu said he was at the meeting with the blessings and instructions of his client, just as he thanked Amaechi who he said was not a stranger to what he was doing having been once declared a terrorist.

Also, speaking on behalf of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Anambra State President of the body, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, said the body endorsed all that was contained in the communique.

He said, “Those who thought our fences are fallen will know that the fences are much stronger than they thought.”

2023 Is Igbo’s Turn – Ohanaeze Reacts To Arewa Forum’s Position On Presidency

BY SEUN OPEJOBI

The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Wednesday rubbished remarks by Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, on Igbo Presidency.

In a chat with DAILY POST, Ohanaeze’s Deputy spokesperson, Chuks Ibegbu insisted that those agitating for Biafra like the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, can’t stop the push for Igbo presidency in 2023.

ACF Secretary-General, Anthony Sani, had warned that Nigerians would be scared to elect a President from the Southeast if they are seen to be agitating for secession from Nigeria.

Sani had stressed that Igbo people are suffering from what he termed “superiority and inferiority complexes.”

According to the ACF scribe, the Southeast was playing both victim and entitled, while cautioning them that “democracy is a contest of ideas and reason and is never a bullfight.”

Sani had said: “Igbos suffer from both superiority and inferiority complexes.

“At one point, they tout their superiority by claiming to be over and above any other nationality in Nigeria because they are better at the use of their superior commercial acumen for trade.

“At another, they play the victim by crying of marginalization the most. Power in a multi-party democracy is never secured through threats and intimidation, nor is it obtained by jeremiads out of pity.

“This is because democracy is a contest of ideas and reason and is never a bullfight.

“Igbos cannot agitate for separation and hanker for president by still expecting the country would not be scared of voting them for the presidency.

“Igbos may wish to recall that Senator McCain lost the elections because he had [Mrs Palin] who was governor of the state of Alaska. This was also because her husband was accused of attending a meeting of separatists who wish the state of Alaska to leave [the] USA and join Russia.

“I do not see how somebody from Scotland, Catalan, Quebec, Aceh or Xinjiang could dream of being voted president of their countries. Reason: Such a person would most likely play Gorbachev.”

However, Ibegbu said: “What Sani said is rubbish because what Boko Haram is talking about, is it not secession?
Boko Haram is talking about Islamic Caliphate, but it did not stop Buhari from becoming a President.

“What Sani said has no meaning, its complete ‘brabadash.’ Boko Haram did not stop Buhari so those agitating for Biafra like IPOB can’t stop us from becoming President in 2023. I insist, 2023 is our turn to become president.”

On the issue of cabal in the presidency as admitted by President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Ibegbu said: “You can’t stop cabal anywhere. Cabal can be found even in our houses.”

2023: Igbo Town unions Meet With Ohanaeze

Chief Nnia Nwodo, President-General, Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo. Image: Wikipedia

BY RAPHAEL EDE

The Association of South- East Town Unions held a closed-door meeting with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, in Enugu on Saturday, to strategise and plan for the Igbo to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.

The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, was preceded by a meeting of the National Executive Committee of ASETU.

The National President of ASETU, Chief Emeka Diwe, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on the outcome of the meeting with the leader of the Igbo apex sociocultural organisation in his Enugu residence, said they discussed other issues affecting the Igbo’s interest and welfare.

Diwe said, “Part of the reason for the meeting was to douse the tension in the land; there is too much tension and suspicion.

“Ndigbo will remain in Nigeria and get what is due to them in Nigeria.”

On Igbo presidency, he said, “We are still consulting, the coast is not clear yet, but we want to see how to first address the rising tension and suspicion in the country and we feel it’s necessary to send the signal that Ndigbo will remain in Nigeria to get their due.

“The meeting we had with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is an outcome of the brainstorming we had before we moved to the residence of Chief Nwodo for a closed-door meeting with him.

“There are a lot of eye opening revelations obtained from our consultation with Chief Nwodo, and that will lead us to further seek more interrogations and consultations from other Igbo quarters and hierarchies.”

The ASETU chief said the union had become a formidable platform to articulate the interest and welfare of Ndigbo and galvanise them towards a particular direction which should be viewed as the metamorphosis of the defunct Igbo Union.

“The Association of Igbo Town Unions is a continuation of Igbo Union; it is not a recent development. Ohanaeze is the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation with elitist colouration,” Diwe said.

The group a fortnight ago ended a retreat in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, where, among other things, they agreed to set up a joint community-based Vigilante Outfits and Security Trust Fund to check the rising cases of insecurity and invasion of Igboland.

SOURCE: PUNCH.

Ohanaeze Disowns Isiguzoro Led Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council

Imave via CISA

BY CHRIS OJI

ENUGU (THE NATION) -- Apex Igbo sociocultural organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo has disowned the Okechukwu Isiguzoro led Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council.

In a statement issued by the President general’s Special Adviser media and publicity, Chief Emeka Attamah, Ohanaeze described the group as non-existent but mere expletives of disgruntled power seekers who were shamed out of the leadership of the authentic youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The statement says:

“Ordinarily, one would have regarded the recent rantings of one Okechukwu Isiguzoro and his cohorts parading themselves as leaders of a non-existent group called Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide as mere expletives of disgruntled power seekers who were shamed out of the leadership of the authentic Youth Wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide years ago for their nefarious activities.

“While the ideal thing would have been to consign their outbursts and vituperations against the highly respected leader of Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, into the trashcan where it belongs, as dwelling on it would inexorably accord them recognition they do not deserve, it is imperative to make certain clarifications for the less infomed who may swallow their bile-coated belligerence hook, line and sinker.

“In the first instance, it is pertinent to unmask Okechukwu Isiguzoro. He was elected the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Leader in 2014, but due to his greed for money and inordinate quest for power, he was removed with his executive in 2016, during the tenure of Chief Igariwey,Chief Nwodo’s predecessor. So, Chief Nwodo was not even responsible for his ordeal. All attempts he made to perpetuate himself in power were quashed by courts. Not the one to stay without what he had come to regard as his only source of livelihood, he resorted to his stock in trade of parading himself as leader of a non-existent group called Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide which is neither affiliated to nor recognized by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, nor is it recognized by Ndigbo. With this, he goes round with his ilk extorting money from gullible and un-suspecting governments, groups and individuals.

“Not being a recognized body by Ndigbo, one wonders, therefore, where they derive their powers from to decide who and who will be put forward by Ndigbo for the presidential race in 2023 in the country.

Moreover, the President General, Chief Nwodo, as of personal choice, does not belong to any political party, and even if he did, the constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo debars him from partisan politics.

“It will be a tale for another day to chronicle the covert and overt exhortations, persuasions and campaigns carried out by prominent sons and daughters of Igbo land, traditional rulers, the clergy and some governors of the South East to get him to accept to be the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. In fact, it will be right to say that he was drafted into the role much against his wish. Having bowed to the wishes of the people, Chief Nwodo went to all the seven Igbo-speaking states to satisfy himself that his candidacy received the support of the totality of Ndigbo. In each state, the unanimity of the people in the choice of him was unequivocal. The situation was such that on 11th January, 2017 when elections took place, Chief Nwodo had unprecedented votes of 208 against his rival’s 14.

“Since assuming office, Chief Nwodo has brought his indisputable intellectual endowment, political sagacity, panache, oratory, courage, candour and transparency to bear in his leadership of Ndigbo, so much that Ndigbo can, once again, stand tall both in Nigeria and the diaspora. Hardly does any week pass without his being invited either to inaugurate a new branch abroad or to deliver a thought-provoking lecture within and outside the country.

About whether Ndigbo will present Chief Nwodo for the presidency of the country or not, there is a saying that you do not know the mind of the man on the ground, whether he will stand up and walk away or fight on.

Without presaging Chief Nwodo’s likely reaction to the issue, suffice it to say that as a bona fide Nigerian, he is eminently qualified by the Constitution to vote and be voted for. Nobody has the right, not even Okechukwu Isiguzoro and his co-travellers, to stop Chief Nwodo from aspiring to any office, if he so wishes.

Also, by dint of hard work, personal achievements and service to his fatherland,and judging by any parameters,Chief Nwodo stands as one of the tallest in Igbo land and the country at large.

He is academically sound; he is morally incorruptible as his service as a two-time minister of the Federal Republic without any corruption charges against him attests to; he is courageous and follows the dictates of his mind; he is ac bridge-builder made manifest in his being able to bring the South West, South South, South East, Middle Belt and some parts of the North into a common understanding of the ills of the country and how to get out of them; he is focused and knows the political economy of the world enough to give the country a positive direction; he is detribalised (even though he leads Ndigbo) as seen in his being elected the only Igbo President of the Students Union, University of Ibadan, where nearly 70% of the student population was Yoruba, and in people from other ethnic nationalities in his security apparatus and his employ; he has the oratory and power of conviction; above all, he is Godly and believes in equity and fairness in all he says and does. And so, what are the parameters for determining the suitability or otherwise of a presidential aspirant ? Isiguzoro should tell the world.

Can it just be a case of that any Igbo man who seeks prominence or popularity sees Chief Nwodo as the ladder ? Has Chief Nwodo grown so much in stature that the only way up is to attempt to bring him down? Has Chief Nwodo become the issue or factor ? Or, is there more than meets the eye ? Is it more clandestine or sinister than that?

What is Chief Nwodo’scrime that he is already being besmired, harassed and hounded with calumny, if not that, as is usual with Okechukwu Isiguzoro, he has been paid to do a hatchet job by those who are afraid of the stature of Chief John Nnia Nwodo and which the hatchet man is doing without scruples ? Unfortunately, Isiguzoro has allowed his unquenchable greed and pettiness to get the better of him and exposed his underbelly.

This piece would not have been necessary if it was for Isiguzoro alone. Evidently, the masquerade dancing in the middle of the road has a drummer in the bush beating the drum. There is or are men behind the mask.

Pray, what “antics” was Isiguzoro referring to ? Who is really playing antics between Isiguzoro (his faceless employers) and Chief Nwodo ? Ndigbo should decide.

“Chief Nwodo has less than seventeen months more to hand over the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to his successor. The least anybody can do is to leave him to concentrate on discharging his obligations to Ndigbo without distractions. Isiguzoro and his co-transducers are mere distractions and should be seen as such.

“Chie Nwodo has neither said nor done anything suggestive of further ambition in politics for anybody to begin to see him as a possible rival. He is contented with serving Ndigbo as honestly, purposefully and transparently as his conscience will allow him, and so it is. Unfortunately, the respect for elders very much enshrined in Igbo culture has been eroded. If not, Isiguzoro and his type would have been berated and called to order by prominent traditional rulers, governors and prominent Igbo sons and daughters who all urged Chief Nwodo to come out to do a job that has exposed him to this kindu of opprobrium.

Or was Isiguzoro just flying a kite?

It will neither fly nor perch !”

Imo Summit Resolves To Defend Igbo Cause

BY CHARLES OGUGBUAJA

OWERRI THE GUARDIAN) -- Prominent Igbo sons and daughters rose from the 2019 Igbo National Security Summit in Owerri, Imo State, yesterday and resolved to unite and defend Igbo cause.

They demanded anti-open grazing law in all the five South East states, to avoid conflicts between farmers and herders, and vehemently opposed the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) initiative proposed by the Federal Government.

‘Peace, Security and Development of Alaigbo and her Neighbours’ was the theme of the summit, which was attended by the chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, Amb. Lawrence Agubuzor; entertainment impresario, Charles Oputa (Charly Boy); former Vice Chancellor, Imo State University (IMSU), Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie; National President, Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU), Chief Emeka Diwe; as well as representatives of former Niger Delta agitator, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari; Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the academia, business community and women groups among others.

Agubuzor regretted the level of insecurity in the various parts of Igboland.He appealed to the various groups in the region to desist from disparaging one another.

“We should work in the interest of Ndigbo and respect the authority and governors. House divided against itself cannot stand. If there is anytime Ndigbo need peace, it is now. Ndigbo should work and respect one another; do anything agreed to be done.

“Everybody should go to his governor and say, ‘give us anti-open grazing bill’. It is a must. Every community can defend itself. Please, our security is in our own hands.”

Oputa, who came as the president of Association of Frustrated Persons of Nigeria (AFPN), castigated the political leadership of the country.

He promised to “donate” himself to pursue and protest what he called injustice meted to Igbo people, opining that the game change should take place to bring about socio-political and economic equation in the land.

“Why do people run to other places. We should stop that and defend ourselves. Is that an impossible task? I am back. I am ready to donate myself. If we decide that Igboland is going to be good, we are going to be proud of ourselves,” he said.

An analyst at the event, Emeka Umeagbalasi, regretted that from records and statistics, between August 2015 and September 2017, 480 Igbo were killed in different parts of the country, disclosing that 95 per cent of the federal security agencies in the South East were manned by Northerners, noting that only four commissioners of police were of Igbo extraction.Dokubo-Asari urged the Igbo to unite and fight their cause.

Just In: Ohanaeze President Denies Receiving N6.2b For Ruga From Buhari

BY CHRIS OJI

ENUGU (THE NATION) -- Ohanaeze Ndigbo has denied the allegations making rounds in the social media that its president general, Chief Nnia Nwodo alongside former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu received N6.2billion from President Buhari for the establishment of RUGA in the Southeast.

In a statement issued on Friday, the apex Igbo sociocultural organization said neither Nwodo nor Ekweremadu have authority over lands in the Enugu or anywhere in the Southeast.

In a statement by the group, it says:

“Our attention has been drawn to an insidious social media story making the rounds that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, and a Distinguished Senator and former Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Ike Ekweremadu, collected a whopping N6.2 billion from President Buhari out of N22.2 billion budgeted to plant RUGA in the country. The story which was purported to have emanated from a faceless traditional ruler from Umuchigbo Abakpa in Enugu State sounded preposterous and deserves to be consigned to the dust bin where it rightly belongs knowing that the purveyors of the story may have underestimated the intelligence of some audience of the social media but who certainly may not be as gullible as they think and will do with some clarifications. Why did the writer not mention the name of the traditional ruler and whether he was there when money exchanged hands? One would have expected their detractors to have established the veracity of their claim by giving an insight into how the money exchanged hands or through which bank accounts they were remitted to Chief Nwodo and Senator Ekweremadu. It will also would have been good if the accusers had clarified if Chief Nwodo and Senator Ekweremadu collected the money as individuals or on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. For the sake of clarity, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has no control over land in Enugu State or in the South East neither does Chief Nwodo and Senator Ekweremadu. Again, Chief Nwodo and Senator Ekweremadu are not traditional rulers and therefore don’t have custody over land in the South East. They should also have authenticated their allegation by stating where the said RUGA settlements are in Enugu State or in the South East. It is sad that upon all Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been doing to improve the image of Ndigbo in the comity of Nigerian Nations and efforts to restore Ndigbo to their rightful place in the country, either some Igbo sons and daughters still allow themselves to be used to deride their own or some external forces are determined to undermine the unity of Ndigbo, afraid of what strength Ndigbo can derive from such unity. It is pertinent to put the public on notice that more of these senseless, vitriolic and demented attacks are expected to come from the stable of these traducers. It is also worthy of note that many Igbo organizations abound which are out to enrich their pockets and have opened bank accounts where they deceive Ndigbo to pay money into, money that is usually unaccounted for. These organizations only lay claim to their existence by attacking Ohanaeze Ndigbo and its leadership. The consolation is that social media users are knowledgeable and discerning to disregard such mercenary organizations.”

Ohanaeze Youths Canvass For Igbo House Of Reps Speaker

BY CHRIS OJI, OTABOR OSAGIE

ENUGU (THE NATION) -- The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has cautioned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against side-lining the Igbo in the sharing of principal offices of the National Assembly.

Ohanaeze Youths said: “It is a big insult and an affront to the Igbo nation that the Southeast is not in the consideration of APC for any key principal position in the Ninth National Assembly leadership.”

The group spoke through its Deputy National Youth Leader, Dr. Kingsley Dozie.

It frowned at the non-inclusion of the Southeast on the list of zones to produce the presiding officers for the Ninth National Assembly.

Ohanaeze Youths said it was aware that the APC leadership, backed by the Presidency, had endorsed Senator Ahmed Lawan (Northeast) for Senate President and Femi Gbajabiamila (Southwest) for the Speaker House of Representatives.

It added: “We query the justification in zoning the presiding officers of the National Assembly to regions that already have a fair share.

“We contend that since the President and Vice-President came from the North and the Southwest, justice and equity demand that either the Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives should come from the Southeast.

“Since APC has already zoned the Senate Presidency to the Northeast and the Deputy to the Southsouth, the Southeast should be allowed to produce the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“If they say we have no ranking senator from their party, will they also say we don’t have qualified APC members in the House of Representatives, where one of them is returned for the fourth term in the name of Mrs Onyejeocha?

“Nigeria stands on the tripod of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba, hence the distribution of political offices should reflect this equilibrium without excluding any tribe.

“APC’s orchestrated plans to exclude the Southeast from the Nigerian Project and power bloc will be resisted and any attempt to relegate Ndigbo to the background would not succeed.

“The Ndigbo are not visitors in Nigeria and not second class in the Nigerian Project. We cannot be treated as such. We are not slaves and can never be. Nigeria belongs to us all and this is a fact everybody must learn to live with.


“We urge members of the National Assembly to cede the Speakership position to the South East to foster unity and National cohesion.”

Also, the member representing Estako Federal Constituency in Edo State, Johnson Oghuma, has said the next Speaker of the House of Representatives will come from the South.

Oghuma, who was re-elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said there was no need exchanging fireworks with the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the ruling party has the numbers to produce the Speaker.

The lawmaker addressed reporters in Auchi after distributing empowerment items to 800 residents of his constituency.

He said the Eighth National Assembly dominated by the PDP was an obstacle to the Executive, thereby frustrating developmental plans of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Oghuma said the incoming Ninth National Assembly will ensure harmonious relationship between the Executive and the Legislature to fast-track good governance for the Nigerians.

He said: “Nigerian should expect things to be different this time round. You know it is not too long that I went to the House. I was voted into the National Assembly in February 17, 2017. I discovered that members of my party at the Senate and the House of Representatives were problems to the APC-led government at the centre.

“The Ninth Assembly will collaborate with the Executive. Our role is complementary. No one is an island. We are supposed to work together to give the desire results that Nigerians are yearning for. Our people are suffering.

“President Buhari meant so well for our people; he is not stealing our money. He believes that the people should have what they are entitled to. That is why we will support him and the Judiciary to succeed.”

He said beneficiaries have received training in fishery, tailoring, welding, solar power repairs and installation, cosmetology, CCTV installation and repairs, as well as aluminium fabrication.

Nwodo, An Enemy Of Ndi’Igbo?

Nnia Nwodo

BY CHARLES MBANI

INDEPENDENT
Most times and in my quiet moments, I ponder about the fate of Ndi’gbo in the political and leadership configuration of Nigeria. I accept the constant reality that we have been marginalized in Nigeria, a country which remains our international identity for now. Igbo nation has never had a fair deal in this country since the unfortunate Biafran war of 1967-70.

I am not happy or even excited that the rest of Nigerians hold the Igbos in contempt and disdain. We are ranked among the three major tribes in Nigeria, pegging along with the Yorubas and the Hausa/Fulanis.

Nigeria has had democratic leaders from these two other ethnicities, except Ndi’gbo. The highest we have ever gone in leadership of Nigeria is Vice President and some ministerial portfolios. And for nearly four decades and after the end of the civil war, Nigeria has dumped us where we are today.

I do not necessarily blame the rest of Nigerians for this erroneous perception of Igbo nation. A people in the comity of other competing ethnicities package themselves to attract attention. A bride attracts the groom by her beauty. Unfortunately, Ndi’gbo has not packaged itself as a beautiful bride before Nigerians. That’s why the rest of the country scorns us; it is reason we flaunt ourselves naked before the communality of Nigeria.

Worse of it all, our leaders, whether political, traditional or cultural are not leading us to the path of redemption. We are still living with the individualistic tendencies, our colonial masters found in us; ruled us for years and later granted us independence.

I cry every day, wishing that the likes of Zik of Africa, Prof. Chinua Achebe and other intellectuals like Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Ikemba of Nnewi, Chief Odemegwu Ojukwu were still alive to guide us with the wisdom to navigate Nigeria. Though, dead, but their wisdom is stored in history books, which we read every day, but have refused to adopt in practicality.

With no apologies to any of my kinsman, brethren, the elderly or the young, I wish to say, Ndi’gbo has no leadership at the moment. If there is one, it means, they were so enthroned to finally destroy the hopes and aspirations of Igbo nation in the Republic of Nigeria. I crave for personal independence and freedom as a human being. I like it.

In same manner I have passion for the Republic Biafra. But you do not become anything of your wish with brute force and brigandage in today’s world. Tact, diplomacy and wisdom are required. Ndi’gbo leaders today have none of these leadership acumen.

Our leaders are partisan, uncouth and disoriented. Each time they howl, it means there is no food on their dining tables or easy cash to leisure in Harlem. They hardly think about Igbo nation in fantasies that would invoke in anyone us, the fond memories of Zik or Ojukwu and the rest. These leaders exist today for themselves and their families alone.

I am convinced they don’t even have the wisdom to interpret and explore to our advantage contemporary political cum leadership issues in Nigeria to speak on our behest. I am sure, our guardian god, “Amadioha” and other ancestral custodians have abandoned us to our fate.

I was pained throughout the period of the electioneering campaigns for the 2019 general elections. I could not believe the extent Ndi’gbo leaders sang discordant voices. It’s the disunity we market to Nigerians every time.

Rather than unite us for a common cause, which should ideally be the pursuit and realization of a President of Nigeria of Igbo extraction, these leaders recoil into their shells, without consulting anybody and come out, disgorging petrifying rubbish, draping with the least understanding of the informal arrangement of power rotation in the country.

In 2019 for instance, had these leaders known, the first bargaining chip would have been to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection bid to end North’s eight-year reign in Aso Rock, so that power can rotate back to Southern Nigeria. An insightful Ndi’gbo leadership would have lobbied to have any of our kinsmen as Buhari’s running mate in 2019. They didn’t know or preferred not to know that a focused leadership of a people lamenting day in, day out about marginalization should have struck at that point.

President-General of Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo appears to be our greatest problem now and archenemy in disguise, posed as our leader. He failed to discern the political undercurrents in Nigeria and aligned with some groups like Northern Elders Forum, Pan-Niger Delta forum, the Middle Belt Forum, as well as a faction of Afenifere, in Abuja to kick us out of the leadership arena. They so senselessly made loud statements about the endorsement of PDP’s 2019 Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

They left their own son, Prof. Kingsley Moughalu who also contested the elections and endorsed another Fulani man against Buhari. That’s the extent of the idiocy of Igbo leadership. My brother, Moughalu wept and wept over this betrayal by his own people. I gravely feel his pains. Atiku has lost the election to Buhari because only Southeast did not see anything good in President Buhari, but the rest of Nigerians, over four million of them overruled Ndi’gbo with votes in favour of Buhari.

But Nwodo is not tired with his destructive plots against Igbo nation. He is still sniffing and vomiting the same rubbish after the post -2019 era against President Buhari. And it is unknown to him that the Southeast rejection of Buhari twice as reflected in the votes of the 2019 presidential elections might compel this President to form alliances with the Southwest in 2023 at the expense of Ndi’gbo. Are we cursed? Are our leaders insane? What is the beneficial imperative of pulling the daggers at Buhari now, as Nwodo is doing?

Nwodo is personally free to hate President Buhari. But must he do it on behalf of Igbo nation? He renewed the tears in me by his conscious destruction of the destiny of leadership of Nigeria by Ndi’gbo. I wept profusely when a read a recent interview credited to Nwodo published by “The Sun” newspaper wherein he said; “If you are a Fulani and you are a Chief of Army Staff you can be there forever. When your tenure finishes it can be elongated, something that has never happened in the history of our country and does not have any justification in any establishment law that we know.”

Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo President-General, please sir, there is neither wisdom nor diplomacy in this statement and your entire preachments in the interview about ethnicity. Maybe, you don’t know, but let me be blunt to you; there is nothing feasible that can enable Atiku wrest power from Buhari now!

There is no Northerner that would endorse the leadership retirement of President Buhari in the manner you think for an Atiku. A focused leadership of Igbo nation should be courting Buhari and not these excoriates of his government by our apex socio-cultural leadership.

Chief Nwodo, you are free to live with Atiku in your dreams; but stop mortgaging our political future in Nigeria because you want to sip from Atiku’s endless tea of wealth. I am shocked to the marrow that you don’t know retired military officers are recalled to serve the nation in times of need like now. It happens everywhere in the world.

That you are complaining about the elongation of the tenure of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and leader of counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai and other Service Chiefs, speaks volumes about your intellectual inadequacy. It’s impossible for you to keep disgracing Igbo nation with backdoor deals, very hostile to our collective interests and expect the rest of us to keep quiet.

I now perceive you in the mould and bearing of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, very aberrational in every sense. Are we saying, self-determination must be realized through such criminality? Of course, some agree with Kanu’s style; but millions out there including me are opposed to it.

At this age, we want to tell the whole world that Igbo nation is so ignorant of the lawful means of self-determination or secession, until a questionable “don” assembles a gang of criminals to unleash violence on us before it becomes a reality? I respect Senate Deputy President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu for telling Nnamdi Kanu and his apostates the gospel truth through a letter before the proscription of IPOB. When we are ready for a Republic of Biafra, we know the genuine and lawful, internationally recognized conventions to apply.

Lastly, I appeal to Nwodo to use his leadership to unite Ndi’gbo with Nigeria. What I see now under our leader Nwodo painfully bruises me with scars of lack direction, penchant for divide and rule with selfish and very biased political views.

Ndi’gbo should think beyond today because tomorrow is greater. There is no reason to make President Buhari our enemy now for Christ’s sake! In spite our stout opposition to him, this President has continued to patronize the Southeast in capital projects. What else does Ndi’gbo want?

Sadly, Nwodo, majority of our people are beginning to think that you, Chief Nwodo, as leader of Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, is much more a problem to us now than Kanu, initially considered a huge burden on the progress of the Igbo nation. It’s better if you change your style, Sir.