By Tony Adibe
President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has said that the four originators of the anti-Ohanaeze leadership fake news were jobless, hungry, and mischievous people bent on smearing his image and that of Ohanaeze.
“Most of these people are jobless and out of frustration, they embark on these malicious publications. We need to create jobs for them so that they can live a meaningful life”, he said.
Chief Iwuanyanwu also debunked the report in social media claiming that Ohanaeze leadership collected a N100 Billion grant(bribe) from the Fulani Miyatti Allah and went to Sokoto Caliphate to apologize for the death of the late Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello. The Premier and other prominent northerners lost their lives during the January 15, 1966, military coup led by Major Chukwuma Patrick Kaduna Nzeogwu. Nzeogwu hailed from Okpanam, an Igbo area of Delta State.
Iwuanyanwu spoke during a press conference at the Ohanaeze National Secretariat in Enugu, on the resolutions of the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the group. He said NEC of Ohanaeze directed him to report the four culprits to the Imeobi (inner caucus), the highest decision-making organ of the group for the sanctions to be endorsed. He said the issue of apologizing to any ethnic group was never on the Ohanaeze agenda during the Ohanaeze meeting held at old Government Lodge, Enugu .
He stressed that Ndigbo never executed any coup and should not be blamed for the actions of military officers. He said Igbos rather deserve an apology from the country for the pogroms against them and the subsequent annihilation of millions of Ndigbo during the civil war. Iwuanyanwu disclosed that Isiguzoro in particular who masquerades as Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo had once approached him and requested to be paid N50 million for him to stop using the name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to cause confusion.
“I can tell you that no such apology was ever contemplated. No such thing was discussed. If any ethnic group deserves an apology for all the injustices meted to her, it is the Igbo that should be demanding an apology from the rest of Nigerians. Igbos don’t owe anyone an apology,” the visibly angry Igbo leader emphasised.
He said: “I have never traveled to Sokoto since over 30 years now. I know the four people who are behind this useless propaganda are jobless and they are looking for money. They just want to tarnish the Ohanaeze image and my name. There’s no atom of truth in the allegations.
” I fought in the Nigeria/Biafra war. I sustained bullet injury on my knee which I’m still carrying till date. There are other Biafran patriots who got similar injuries during the civil war. And do you expect me to go and apologize to anyone because of the coup or the war? What about the Igbos who were slaughtered in the entire North ?”
He said that what surprised him most was the fact that people”tend to believe this fiction told by jobless people who are driven by hunger and idleness to attempt to destroy Igbo race through fake media publications.”
He described as fake the letter purportedly written by Miyetti Allah, and addressed to a former President General of Ohanaeze, claiming that it had supported the candidate presented to Governor Hope Uzodinmma. “I tell you, gentle men of the press, these things are fake news. It’s not true. That letter was not written by Miyetti Allah. It was written by our people to give the false impression that the have full support of the governor. The mischief makers want to destroy Igboland. The are the enemies of Ndigbo,” he said.
He said that one of the four culprits causing the current trouble using social media, once approached him for N50 million to enable him (the culprit) travel abroad for treatment since he was on wheelchair. He said simply because he has not provided him the money, he conspired with others to continue to “cause mischief in order to pull me down.”
He also alleged that another member of these evil and wicked group, wrote a book which he said focused on Ndigbo, and he wanted Ohanaeze to publish it for him. However, Iwuanyanwu told the author that “Ohanaeze doesn’t have the money to publish book now. But I will from my private pocket give you some financial assistance. But that is on the ground that we have to read the book first and foremost to know its contents.”
He said the next thing he heard from the author was the current media attacks. “What baffles me is that people believe all these fake news after reading. Do you know what N100Billion is?,” he asked. Iwuanyanwu said that the four persons, including; Prof Obasi Igwe, Harford Ugwu, Okechukwu Isigusoro and Nwankwo Nwezeigwe would face possible ostracism from Igboland for trying to portray the entire Igbo race in bad light. He said: “NEC is viewing this seriously and have resolved that this gang trying to destroy Ndigbo must be fished out. NEC has asked me to invoke my power to ensure that these people are disciplined. We are going to teach them a lesson.
We will send the four names to Imeobi for disciplinary action. Imeobi will determine the punishment for them, their names will be sent to villages for ostracism. “This meeting today has resolved that enough is enough. They will be sanctioned according to Igbo tradition.”
