A renowned lawmaker, Senator Chris Anyanwu, has emerged the pioneer President of Nzuko Umunna (NU), a leading think-tank of foremost Igbo technocrats and professionals.
The announcement of the new NU executive council was made by the foremost political economist and Chairman of the Nzuko Umunna Board of Trustees (BoT), Prof. Pat Utomi.
He said: “I am pleased to flag off the formal path forward from four years of impactful service to the Igbo nation at home and abroad by the Nzuko Umunna Foundation, especially through this platform, to a new level of greater impact, with an executive council selected by the trustees to administer Nzuko Umunna affairs for the next four years when formal elections by eligible members will decide their replacement.”
In a statement titled: ‘The Light Finds Formal Torchbearers’, Utomi noted that “a candle loses nothing when it lights another candle. I am full of trust, therefore, that the eminent members of this executive council will give generously of their service in knowledge, wisdom and love for God’s purpose for the Igbo person, that all may thrive wherever they are located and live in peace with fairness, justice and equity, as defining marks of their environment.”
The former presidential adviser observed that the new leadership “sets the pace and tone of where NU and the Igbo nation is going by breaking new ground in both diversity and inclusion,” adding that the team “features accomplished entrepreneurs, social enterprise and civil society champions, outstanding academics, media experts and technocrats.
“Finally, I want to salute the dedication, tenacity and goal mindedness of Ngozi Odumuko and his team of young people who birthed Nzuko Umunna in response to the desperate needs of our people for direction.”
In her acceptance speech, Anyanwu thanked Utomi and the BoT “for assembling such an amazing mix of young, tough and bright Igbos men and women of experience and capacity in the new council,” noting that: “The task to be undertaken is not going to be easy, but with the team members bristling with patriotism, I am sure that passion and the ‘can do’ spirit will propel us to new frontiers and higher goal achievement.”
In his remarks, Odumuko, the founding coordinator of the think-tank, said: “I am full of joy for seeing through a successful handover to a great executive council under Senator Anyanwu as the president. Ndigbo have shown the light for a great woman to be leading a very strong global Igbo organisation comprising men and women. It is heartening that Nzuko Umunna in the last four years has implemented great interventions including the Handshake Across the Niger Conference, Never Again Conference, Igbodum Database project, and the South-east Economic Development Integration project, to name a few.”
