By Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu
Barely 72-hours after his emergence as the President-General of the apex Igbo Socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, former Minister of Information, Chief John Nnia Nwodo said his election would be a new dawn for Ndigbo in Nigeria.
This is as former President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated Chief Nwodo over his emergence as the new President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, describing his election as a popular choice.
Nwodo said the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria had endured their travails and had got to “an elastic limit”, noting that the support that greeted his election last Tuesday was a clear indication that the people were no longer ready to be pushed aside and had decided to take their destiny in their own hands.
Nwodo who spoke during the inauguration of the Enugu State chapter of the pan Igbo socio-cultural organisation with Chief Alex Ogbonna as the state president also declared that he would not get involved in partisan politics, despite the national attention given to his recent election.
He said the well-being of Ndigbo mattered most to him now and nothing more.
He regretted that Ndigbo who used to occupy the first position in Nigeria in virtually every sphere of life including economy, had lost the number one position and were now occupying the first position from the bottom of the ladder.
Nwodo who was Minister of Civil Aviation in the Second Republic and Information Minister under the military government of Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar, said he would do everything possible to ensure the repatriation of all the capital lost by Igboland.
“Less than 48 hours after my election, President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated me. I received a call from the Afenifere. The Afenifere later placed an advertorial for me in the newspaper and said they will like to meet with me. I received a call from the Deputy President of Arewa Consultative Forum, asking me when we are going to meet.
“Former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme called me. Ebitu Ukiwe called me. Emeka Anyaoku called me. My former boss, General Abdusalam Abubakar called me. They all congratulated me.
“I received a call from Archbishop Onayeikan. When the election was going on, the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Professor Onah and Bishop Martin Kukah of Sokoto Diocese called and said they were praying for me. You can see the national attention given to our election.
“But, one of the decisions I took is not to speak to the press. In the handover note given to me, I was made to understand that the youth wing was proscribed for speaking to the press all the time.
“We are going to have our national executive meeting next Thursday, where all the state chairmen and members of executive will be in attendance.
There, we will talk about how to review our constitution, our budget and other critical issues and thereafter, if we talk to the press, it will be Ohanaeze Ndigbo speaking” Nwodo said.
The Ohanaeze leader recalled that when Michael Okpara, the then Premier of Western region built a steel company in the east, it was the first steel company in the country before Aladja and others. But today it has become moribund.
According to him, when Golden Guinea brewery and Mirinda drink were being brewed in the East, they were the first in the country, outside Lagos, but today, such investments in the east had all become moribund.
Nwodo regretted that whereas some Governors built schools in the past, public schools across Igboland are now in a state of disrepair while children of the poor can no longer attend the same schools with children of the rich.
He however appealed to other newly elected officers of Ohanaeze at all levels to join hands with him in the struggle to salvage Igboland from its ruins, saying he was prepared to work with all those that share the same philosophy with him. Ends
The ex-President who lauded the election of Nwodo in a goodwill message urged him to use his new position to not only work for the good of Ndigbo but also seek to promote national development.
In a statement issued by Ikechukwu Eze, the former President’s Media
adviser, Jonathan said: “I wish to convey my best wishes and congratulate you on your election victory as the new President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
“Your victory is well deserved and I am convinced that Ndigbo and the entire nation will be better for it.
“Given your record of accomplishments and outstanding service to our dear country in the various public offices you had held, I have no doubt that you will succeed in this assignment and justify the huge
confidence reposed in you by a people whose love you always profess.
“I believe that in leading Ohaneze Ndigbo, you will deploy your integrity, exceptional eloquence and abiding goodwill across the nation to not only promote cohesion and national development, but also provide Ndigbo with a strong voice that will command national and international acclaim.
“May God lead you to accomplish your mandate.”
