By Jennifer John
Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma has made it clear that for Igbos to succeed in Nigeria and reclaim their pride of place among ethnic nationalities in the country, they must do things differently.
The governor made this assertion at the Imeobi Ohaneze Ndigbo meeting held on Sunday at the Nike lake resort, Enugu, in Enugu state.
He pointed out Igbos were not the only tribe notorious for having discordant views and noted that other regions were able to manage theirs better, stressing that the time had come for Igbos to do things differently to move the region forward.
Uzodimma commended the outgoing President General, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo for raising the bar of the leadership of the organization despite the many challenges and difficulties he faced and disclosed that the South-east governors had agreed to present a brand new Prado SUV to him as a parting gift.
He appreciated the reports of the various committees particularly the Alaigbo stabilisation fund committee chaired by Prof. Osita Ogbu, which he observed would enable Ndigbo to get freedom, in addition to creating employment and solving security problems for Ndigbo, just like the Manhattan project that helped Israel gain their freedom and further went ahead to offer a fully functional office in support of the stabilisation fund committee.
The Outgoing President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, thanked the people for the opportunity to serve in that capacity and prayed for the emergence of new credible leadership come January 2021.
Nwodo harped on the need for continuation of diplomatic warfare by the new leadership as he recounted the horrors of the civil war, noting that war is bad, and he would never be a party to anything that will bring the type of dastardly activities of the last civil war as he further warned against allowing Igbo youths tip the region on the edge of war when it is not necessary.
The outgoing President General stressed the importance of not abandoning the struggle for national restructuring even as he expressed satisfaction that those who previously were against the restructuring of Nigeria were now calling for restructuring.
He lamented the extravagances of Igbo traditional rites during Marriage, burial ceremonies etc and charged the heads of Igbo traditional institutions to address this and bring about changes.
Present at the meeting included Imo Deputy Governor, Prof Placid Njoku, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Prof Maurice Iwu, Prof George Obiozor, Engr Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Sen Chris Ngige, Sen Ike Ekweremadu, Dr Peter Obi, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, heads of traditional institutions in the Southeast,
Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe and many others.
Highlights of the meeting included the review of South-east security committee report, the draft of membership of Ohaneze Ndigbo electoral committee and adoption of resolutions of the Alaigbo stabilisation fund committee which featured the Ndigbo Development Fund and Alaigbo Investment Company.
