MAGNUS EZE, Enugu, reporting
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has said there were provocative attacks against the Igbo in various parts of Nigeria outside Igboland.
This is as President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, declared its resolve to protect the interest of Igbo people anywhere in the world, saying it was the group’s core mandate, reports Daily Sun.
Iwuanyanwu described the Igbo as creative, hardworking, industrious and enterprising people, noting that unfortunately, these qualities had brought them envy from various people.
Notwithstanding, the Igbo leader said his people would not relent, instead, they would redouble effort to excel in whatever they engaged in.
Giving account of his stewardship since becoming president general of Ohanaeze, he mentioned Lagos State as one place that hostilities against the Igbo became very obvious recently, including during and after the 2023 general election.
However, the Igbo leader said he rose to the challenge and working closely with the South East Governors’ Forum, led by Hope Uzodimma, they were able to stem the tide.
“I am glad to report Lagos State government has suspended the demolition of houses but they are reluctant to pay compensations to the owners of demolished buildings. After careful study of the situation, I have come to the conclusion that the owners of these demolished buildings did not transgress any law. The state government has got the right to acquire any land or property for an overriding public interest but adequate compensation must be paid for such acquisitions,” Iwuanyanwu said.
Elsewhere, he restated Ohanaeze’s commitment to joining forces with other ethnic nationalities on the platform of the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders’ Forum (SMBLF) to ensure tthe restructuring of Nigeria was actualised.
He said: “Let me tell you the truth, anybody who does better than his peers will attract envy and persecution. I can recall that when amalgamation was done in 1914, Igbo did not have any college but by 1960 we were the best in education. This is because of the capacity of Ndigbo. That is why I am saying anybody who is born in Igbo land will be a member of Ohanaeze.
“I have seen that Ohanaeze is what will save the Igbo. We keep talking about restructuring but Nigerians are not ready. They only know what they are gaining. So, we are restructuring ourselves. We are looking at how to use our resources.
We have found out why our people don’t come home to invest and we are solving it. We are going to restructure Ohanaeze.”
