•Iwuanyanwu
A socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze-Ndigbo Worldwide has reiterated its commitment to the protection of the Igbo people and their interests across the country and abroad.
The President General of the group , Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, gave the assurance over the weekend while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt.
Iwuanyanwu, during his first official visit to Rivers state upon assuming the office of president general of the group, reminded Igbo people in the state and around the world that it has their interest at heart and is committed to protecting them at all costs.
He said the group was established to protect Igbo people around the world, pledging to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to prevent the predicted extinction of the Igbo language by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO.
Iwuanyanwu while emphasising the urgency of taking proactive measures to sustain the cultural heritage of the Igbo people, charged Igbo people to rise up to the challenge.
He said, “It will be a problem if the Igbo leaders fold their arms and do nothing to sustain their culture and language”.
Chief Iwuanyanwu who dismissed insinuations that the apex socio-cultural Igbo group has been factionalised, insisted that he remained the only leader of the body, describing those claiming to be factions as economic adventurers.
Chief Iwuanyanwu however alleged that the Ikwerre ethnic nationality in Rivers State is an extended part of the Igbos, insisted that the language and culture of the Ikwerre people suggest they are Igbos.
“One major factor to know the ethnicity of a people is Language. Everybody identified to be Igbo and called Igbos, they speak Igbo. They could have had some little differences but it doesn’t stop the truth. For example, the word first son, in Owerri and Umuahia we call it “Okpara”, in Onitsha it’s called “Okpala”, and in Ikwerre it’s called “Epara”. It’s not me or my parents who say that Ikwerre are Igbos. For Ikwerre people to say they are not Igbo is not correct, because their language shows that they are Igbo.
“For example, they answer ‘Amadi, Amaechi, Onyesoh or Nyesom’, these are pure Igbo names with definite meanings. Some of them here in Ikwerre say they are from Benin, there is nothing wrong with it, someone can say I was originally an Igbo man but now I have made up my mind to change to Benin, it’s normal and will be accepted. But for somebody to come and tell blatant lie that an Ikwerre person is not an Igbo person, it can’t be possible and it can’t be defended in any modern society, because your culture, habit and name, everything is Igbo,”
“I was raised up in Rivers State and in those days, we didn’t have such controversies whether Ikwerre is Igbo or not, the truth remains that Ikwerre is Igbo,” he added.
He however urged the Ikwerre people in Rivers State to participate in the programmes and activities of Ohanaeze-Ndigbo to maximise the impact and serve the purpose for its establishment.
