By Tony Adibe
The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has debunked the report of a purported leadership crisis in the group following the death of its President General, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has therefore, insisted that it was sacrilegious for anybody to begin to struggle for the office of President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo even when the burial committee of the late Chief Iwuanyanwu has not been set up.
“More importantly, even the least cultured Igbo knows that to struggle for the seat of the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide before the burial committee is constituted is to say the least, very sacrilegious, imprudent, and unscrupulous,” emphasised Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in a statement issued on Saturday.
He was reacting to a publication in a national newspaper which claimed that there is a current leadership tussle in Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a result of the death of its President General, Chief Iwuanyanwu. The report quoted a certain man from Rivers State, Chief Dr Jackson Omenazu, who claimed to have taken over as a replacement for Iwuanyanwu as the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo statement issued by Dr Ogbonnia read: “The attention of the National Executive Committee (NEC) OF Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to a Guardian Newspaper publication by a seasoned journalist, Lawrence Njoku, titled : Iwuanyanwu: Ohanaeze Ndigbo Returns to the Leadership Row of Old. Njoku stated that “the demise of President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has sparked another leadership tussle, and a return to the tenure and zoning arguments among member-states”.
“The publication also includes statements by Chief Dr. Jackson Omenazu from the Igbo speaking ethnic of Rivers State, wherein Omenazu “has declared himself a de facto acting President General, to run the affairs of the organisation pending fresh election in January next year.” Insisting “I will take over. By the constitution of Ohanaeze and its organogram, I will take over. I am the de facto President General and acting President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo”. Omenazu added that the reason “people here from Rivers State are skeptical about our identity is because of this level of domination, which has reared its head in Ohanaeze”. He also stated that “the conduct of our elder brothers is shameful and immoral and unacceptable”
“Based on the foregoing, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide states as follow:
1. The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Engr. Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, MFR; OFR; CFR; FNICE; FNSE; FNIST; KSG (Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo) passed quietly on Thursday, July 25, 2024. On July 30, 2024, the NEC of Ohaneze Ndigbo was officially briefed by the Secretary General, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, MFR and a condolence book was opened in honour of the late President General. All the States President were asked to ensure that condolence books were opened in honour of the late icon. The Chairman, South East Governors Forum, and the Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, CON has been officially briefed on behalf of the governors. Very soon, the Imeobi Ohanaeze Ndigbo will be briefed about the demise of the former President General. It is therefore very ill-advised and strange for an Igbo to begin to claim the position of the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, even when the burial committee for Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo is yet to be constituted.
“2. There is no leadership row or tussle in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide at present and there is not likely to be one in the near future. The NEC comprises erudite scholars, technocrats and veterans of diverse fields such that functions of the umbrella Igbo body are being fulfilled, most seamlessly on a daily basis by the appropriate structures under the administrative competence of the Secretary General, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, MFR.
“3 There is a letter in circulation that Chief Dr. Jackson Omenazu was nominated/selected to replace late Joel Kroham, who until his death was the Deputy President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. However, such a letter was not made available to the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. And it would have been exceedingly insensitive and inconceivable for the NEC to adopt a replacement of kroham based on a mere letter from Rivers State, especially where many of them are very ambivalent and “skeptical about their Igboness”.
“4. It is also important to inform that during the Igbo Day Celebration, held on September 29, 2023 at the Michael Okpara Square, Independence Lay Out, Enugu, some known Igbo dignitaries from Rivers State, including Chief Emmanuel Chinwenwo Aguma, HM Eze S. N. Woluchem, etc were listed for post humous awards. Unfortunately, none of them showed up. Furthermore, Chief Iwuanyanwu in May 2024 led an Ohanaeze delegation to the Rivers State in an effort to embrace our kith and kin, an Ikwerre socio-cultural group, the Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation led by Dr Okachikwu Dibia sent a red flag, stating that “it was careless and insensitive for Iwuanyanwu to be associated with such a claim that the Ikwerre people in Rivers State were Igbo” He added that Iwuanyanwu claims were “false and unfounded”. Such were the ethnic disjointments, identity crisis, and double standards which formed part of 8-year legacy of Chief Nyesom Wike as the governor of the Rivers State.
“5. It may be necessary to recapitulate that Joel Kroham, the Deputy President General had died before Prof. Obiozor. When the funeral rites of the President General and his deputy were finalized, the NEC declared the two positions vacant and using the principles of doctrine of necessity, requested for replacement from Rivers and Imo States. The Imo State Chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Barr. C J Ihemedu in collaboration with the Imo State Elders Council, led by His Majesty, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, sent the name of Chief Engr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu to the Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, CON.
Thereafter, the people of Imo State unanimously submitted the name of Chief Iwuanyanwu to the Imeobi-Ohanaeze. The Imeobi sat on April 30, 2023. It had in attendance, two state governors, namely Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Professor Chukwuma Soludo and three deputy governors. Also in attendance were the two former Presidents General, namely Prince Garry Igariwey and Chief Nnia Nwodo. In fact, it was Nwodo that moved the motion that Chief Iwuanyanwu should be adopted as a replacement to Prof Obiozor. The motion enjoyed unanimous support without a dissenting voice. In other words, the Omenazu group, perhaps failed to follow up the letter which did not even get to the NEC of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
“6. Our brother, Dr. Jackson Omenazu has all the right to pursue his interest as the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo come January, 2025 without attaching such words as “shameful, immoral and unacceptable” to the reputation of Ohanaeze. It is in his own interest that he should go about his campaigns without giving an impression to the wider world that Ohanaeze Ndigbo has a leadership crisis. More importantly, even the least cultured Igbo knows that to struggle for the seat of the president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide before the burial committee is constituted is to say the least, very sacrilegious, imprudent, and unscrupulous.
“7. It is a maxim which has enjoyed validity both in physical, social and psychological realm that water must surely find its level, and that a broken leaf after fluttering in the air must obey the law of gravity. We are unshaken in our supreme confidence that the Igbo stock in the Rivers State must ultimately be gravitated to their roots, no matter the length of time.
E-Sign: “Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.”
