•Iwuanyanwu
MAGNUS EZE, Enugu reporting
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was the last of the Igbo titans, an immutable Nigerian patriot who never pretended over his Igboness, reports Daily Sun.
He was one of the finest among the Igbo, an outstanding Nigerian businessman, philanthropist par excellence, robust creative thinker, a broad-minded, charismatic personality of impeccable pedigree, and a foremost Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
He devoted all his life in the service of the Igbo, including becoming the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide at 81.
Widely known by his chieftaincy title of Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo, he became President-General of the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, April 20, 2023, after the demise of the occupant, Prof. George Obiozor.
Iwuanyanwu was to be 82 by September 4 this year, before he died Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The Igbo leader’s life trajectory was dotted with distinctive stardom, beginning from his primary school to the present day. There had never been an idle moment in his life as a school prefect, college sports captain, brave Biafran Army Captain who was among the engineers that invented the multi-purpose Biafran bomb called the Ogbunigwe, an accomplished engineer with legacies in road construction and the aviation industry, air and sea transport, real estate, football, publishing, agriculture and research and development. He was chairman of federal boards, chairman, board of trustees of formidable political parties, and he contested for Nigeria’s presidency and Ohanaeze leadership, among others.
He was celebrated and bestowed with three national honours, Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). He might have gone down in history as the only Nigerian so honoured.
He was also a Knight of St. Christopher in the Anglican Church.
Publishing, politics, aviation and football club ownership gave Iwuanyanwu fame.
He established Champion Newspapers in the late 1980s, which bestrode the nation’s media space as a collosus. He also owned Oriental Airline, just as he was proprietor of the all-conquering Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football Club.
Though Iwuanyanwu played strategic roles at various times in Ohanaeze from its inception till he died, his brief tenure as President-General of the Igbo body was legendary.
He made the Igbo struggle his life, his age notwithstanding. Iwuanyanwu, in barely a year and three months, presented the case of Ndigbo at any available opportunity.
He worked tirelessly for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Iwuanyanwu also advocated for equity, justice and fairness in Nigeria, condemning the continued marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria.
At a retreat for Igbo leaders held in Enugu in March, he reiterated the call for the creation of an additional state for the South East and demanded the devolution of power in the constitution review by the National Assembly.
According to him, the Igbo were not happy with the skewed nature of the 1999 Constitution, hence Ohanaeze still stood by its Awka Declaration on constitution review after a special summit in 2018.
“We stand for a restructured Nigeria where power will be devolved from Federal Government to the states to enable the state governments to have reasonable autonomy to develop at their own pace without any hindrance from the Federal Government.
“Our position is that allocation should be shared based on states, we don’t support the sharing of federal allocation to local governments. It’s lopsided,” Iwuanyanwu had said.
In a recent interview with our correspondent, the Igbo leader spoke passionately on the foregoing issues.
He said: “The truth about it is that Nnamdi Kanu was charged and he was granted bail, terrorism charge you can’t get a bail, then there was an attempt to kill him according to his report and he ran away. Judges have tried him and they said he has no case to answer; till now, we don’t know what he has done; if you ask me about his terrorism charge, is there anywhere, did he topple a government, is there anybody he killed?
“I as an Igbo leader, I don’t know what Nnamdi Kanu has done, nobody has given me clear picture of the offence he has committed and that’s why, on behalf of Ndigbo, I’m saying Nnamdi Kanu should be released.
“If they can release these other people, I don’t see why they can’t release Kanu. I’m giving this government one advice to release him, I’m no longer a young person.
“And again, I must say, until Nigeria is restructured, it will continue to have people asking for separation, that somebody asked for secession doesn’t mean he has committed any treason, what Nnamdi Kanu did was to say he was not happy with what was happening in the country, about Igbo being marginalised, which is true.
“We’re being marginalised, so all the government needs to do is to address the problem by restructuring Nigeria. Nnamdi Kanu should not be kept in detention any longer, there’s no reason why he should be there, that’s my position as the leader of Ndigbo.”
Iwuanyanwu’s 81st birthday had provided an ample opportunity for Ndigbo to celebrate him.
Imo State Governor and the chairman, the South East Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, had qualified the elder statesman as “a living legend and one of the founders and pillars of Imo State,” saying that, “As a pioneer, you have made quantum contributions to Nigeria, from the Imo Airport to Blood Bank, from millions of scholarships to publishing, from real estate to construction, to sports, to philanthropy, your imprimatur is everywhere.”
Uzodimma pointed out that “since he took over the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the difference is clear.”
For the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Iwuanyanwu was a “committed patriot who has done his best for the growth and development of the South East and the country in general.”
Soludo then remarked that Ahaejiagamba “has shown a mature way of handling the affairs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,” stressing that by his “methodical approach to leadership, Ohanaeze has achieved a lot in advancing the interest of the Ndigbo.”
The governor had further commended Iwuanyanwu to have used “his numerous business establishments to offer employment to the teeming Igbo youths.”
In its birthday message to the Igbo leader, last year, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, UK and Ireland chapter, led by Mrs. Aqueen Ibeto, said Iwuanyanwu was “an inspiring leader, a pillar of strength and support; a man with a large heart who stands for justice and fairness, a real hero and a benefactor of many lives.”
Ibeto stated that Iwuanyanwu had remained a worthy ambassador of everything good in the Igbo community both at home and in the diaspora.
She added that Iwuanyanwu had distinguished himself as a “man of large heart who stands for justice and fairness; a real hero and an outstanding purveyor of morals.”
Former managing director of Champion Newspapers, Emma Agu, in his tribute likened Iwuanyanwu to a “good wine that tastes better with age, every passing day.”
According to Agu, “Iwuanyanwu keeps appreciating in value as a foremost nationalist, bridge-builder, patriot and statesman and has contributed enormously to the socio-economic development of the country.”
The veteran journalist stated that Ahaejiagamba had in the 20 years that he had the privilege of working with him “registered an indelible impression on him as a compassionate and foremost advocate of justice, equity and fairness qualities,” the rare and sterling qualities he inherited from “his parents, Pa Bernard and Lady Hulder Iwuanyanwu, both of blessed memory, from Umuohii Atta in Ikeduru Local Government of Imo State in Nigeria.”
The Agu impression was not in contrast with the general attestation that “Iwuanyanwu has always espoused the view that equity, justice and fairness were irreducible requirements, indeed spiritual conditions, for peace and all human progress, to which he was ready to commit every effort and every resource at his disposal.”
Following the sudden death of Iwuanyanwu, he has exited just like several Igbo leaders of his ilk who died lately, with unfulfilled dreams for Ndigbo.
Like his predecessor, Obiozor, First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, and former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Iwuanyanwu died without realizing freedom for the detained IPOB leader, Kanu.
In addition, the marginalization of the Igbo, which they fought to bring to an end, still persists in Nigeria.
Though Iwuanyanwu received the cheering news of the signing into law of the South East Development Commission Bill, and saluted President Bola Tinubu, he died barely 24 hours after.
