Igbo socio-political and cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo recently elected new set of leaders headed by former Minister of Information, John Nnia Nwodo. Assistant Editor, CHUKWUDI NWEJE traces the journey of the organisation to its current state and the task ahead.
Igbo socio-political and cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, seems set to pull itself from the dust of controversy that it had been in recent time, if the calibre of persons that contested its January 9, 2017 national election, is anything to go by.
They included a former Minister of Information, Nnia Nwodo; former Vice Chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Professor Chinweite Ejike; Professor Simon Otuanya and Joel Ezeugwu; and former Chief of Naval Staff and erstwhile Military Governor of old Anambra State, Rear Admiral Allison Madueke (retd).
At the end of the voting, Nwodo polled 242 votes to defeat Ejike, who scored 13 votes. Otuanya and Ezeugwu stepped down for Nwodo at the last minute, while Madueke did not contest the election.
Other officers elected at the exercise included retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Hillary Opara, who emerged Deputy National President; Uche Okwukwu, Secretary General; Emeka Ogwu, Treasurer; Professor Chigozie Ogbu, Vice President, among others.
Representatives of the governors of the five South East states, witnessed the election. Among them, were, Deputy Governors of Enugu and Ebonyi States, Cecilia Ezillo and Kelechi Igwe, respectively; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okwesilieze Nwodo, Senator Chuka Utazi, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Okey Ezea, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe; and former Minister of Health, Professor ABC Nwosu, among others.
Observers see the emergence of Nwodo as being significant because for the first time in a long time the election was rancor-free and devoid of court proceses.
Insinuations, initially ran high that some members of the organisation, led by renowned constitutional lawyer and former Minister of Education, Professor Ben Nwabueze had gone to Enugu High Court in a bid to nullify the election of Nwodo.
Nwabueze, who was secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for about 20 years is the Chairman of lgbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), an influential group within Ohaneze.
Ejike, who Nwodo defeated to emerge President-General of Ohanaeze is also a member of the ILT. However, Nwabueze, who is one of the founding fathers of Ohanaeze has denied the alleged court action.
Evolution of Ohanaeze
Ohanaeze was born out of the need to unite Ndi Igbo. The events that preceded and succeeded the Civil War, in which over one million Ndi Igbo most of them women and children were killed thought the Igbo a bitter lesson. Those that survived the war were displaced and left without means. The people had no choice than to rally together and help themselves.
Thus, came the ‘Igwe bu ike’ (there is strength in numbers) philosophy which led to the formation of Igbo National Assembly (INA) by prominent citizens of the zone that included Dr. Kingsley Ozumba (KO) Mbadiwe, Dr. Michael Iheonukara (M.I) Okpara, Dr. Pius Okigbo, Jerome Udorji and Nwabueze among others.
The move saw to renewed engagement of the Igbo on national issues.
The then Federal Military Government was however threatened by the speed with which the Igbo picked their lives up and moved on despite the obstacles placed in their way.
This was not without cause. The government had, shortly after the war, seized the funds in the bank accounts of every Igbo man and paid them a merger 20 pounds, irrespective of what they had deposited. The Military Government of the era banned INA and accused it of suspicious agenda.
Determined to foster Igbo unity, Ohanaeze Ndigbo was formed in 1976 as the umbrella and foremost Igbo socio-political group.
The objectives of the group include to foster unity among its members in other to allow them better representation within Nigeria’s political arrangement. The membership include the five Igbo speaking states in Nigeria’s present structure and the Igbo speaking communities in Delta and Rivers states.
The structure at the National level has the General Assembly as the highest policy making body. This is followed by what is called Imeobi, which means inner caucus and the Council of Elders which are serviced by Executive Committee and other various standing committees.
This structure is equally replicated in the state and local government chapters. The Ohanaeze constitution was amended in 1999 to integrate both the youth and women in its fold.
Ohanaeze and Nigerian politics
The organisation is a non-partisan socio-cultural group that was intended to serve as a pressure group and bargain for the best representation for the Igbo regardless of the party in power.
Unfortunately, over the years, it has not been able to get the best representation for the Igbo because the group had not been at peace with itself. In fact, at a time, many had concluded that Ohanaeze had abandoned its core mandate especially since the return to civilian rule in 1999 and had in its place, become partisan, and served as a tool for mobilization and endorsement for various shades of politicians.
For instance, in 2008 when Professor Joe Irukwu’s tenure expired, he handed over to an acting President rather than to Dr. Dozie Ikedife who emerged as the President during an election which he did not accept. An Enugu High Court had to restrain Irukwu, the Acting President, Ifeanyi Enechukwu and the Secretary, Joe Achuzia, from parading themselves as officials of the body before Ikedife took charge.
Before then, in 2006, the Iruku-led leadership had supported former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term agenda, in a manner that analysts considered the worst form of betrayal to Igbo nation.
The rot did not stop there. During the 2015election, Ohanaeze was sharply divided between those that supported then President Goodluck Jonathan, who was seeking a second term in office and the other supported the candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari.
As if that was not enough, immediate past President General, Gary Igariwey, who was elected on January 12, 2013 was accused of plotting to extend his tenure to 2019. This led some members to set up a parallel executive led by Dr. Ralph Obioha.
But in a peace deal brokered by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, the two factions embraced and Igariwey was recognised as the President-General. It was the expiration of this interim period that saw the election of the Nnia Nwodo team.
Task before Nwodo
The major task before Nwodo if he hoped to restore the glory of Ohaneze is to reunite not just the divided Ohanaeze but the entire Igbo people.
An activist and public affairs analyst, Ike Ajufo, who has been deeply involved with Ohanaeze intelligentsia since 1999, regretted that the group had lost focus. He described Ohanaeze in its present status as a toothless Bull dog and prayed that Nwodo would be able to restore the glory.
Ajufo regretted that the organisation had remained indifferent to the prolonged incarceration of the Coordinator of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government, arguing that other socio-cultural groups like the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) would have acted differently.
A pressure group, South East Revival Group (SERG) however, sees Nwodo as a good choice to lead Ohanaeze Ndigbo, at this period of its search for new direction. The National Coordinator of the group, Willy Ezugwu, in a statement noted that “The emergence of Chief John Ogbonnia Nwodo as the Ohanaeze leader would go a long way in restoring confidence in the group and bring to an end unnecessary bickering among members of Ohanaeze.”
He added that “the unanimous decision of Igbo leaders in government and business, as well as traditional rulers to endorse Nwodo candidature and his subsequent affirmation is not unconnected with his outstanding experience in the public service and his interpersonal relationship with the people across the Igbo speaking communities.
“At this historic threshold, we urge all the Igbo speaking people to join hands with him as he goes to work, knowing that he would engender Igbo cultural renaissance. The SERG urges the new Ohanaeze leader to promote Igbo language, which is currently in danger of going into extinction”, the group said, adding that his goodwill across the country and internationally would be his most valuable asset for the pan Igbo body”.
Even at that, a legal practitioner who caved anonymity, said that he doubted whether Nwodo would be able to “deal with the rot in Ohanaeze Ndigbo”. He argued that even as Nwodo had an enviable track record of service to the nation and enticing antecedent, he should not have dabbled into the murky Ohanaeze politics.
Carl Azudibia, erstwhile unionist, also agreed that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had failed in its task and called on the Nwodo executive to make a radical departure from the sorry path. He said the group as it is today “is a historic relic that should be confined to the dust bin of history.
“A new Ohanaeze should emerge with this leadership because what we have before now is a product of the military. The concept of Ohanaeze as a group was predicated on the concept of Arewa Forum, Afenifere of the South West, so it is alien to the culture and tradition of our people. It has never served the real interest of our people and today it still lacks the capacity to secure the welfare of our people in a democratic dispensation,” he argued.
According to him, “Ohanaeze as we know it today simply derives its legitimacy not from the people but from Abuja. The new Ohanaeze that I am talking about will not derive its legitimacy from Abuja or Lagos. It will derive its legitimacy from its impact in the lives of our people, its impact in charting a new cause, bringing about the Igbo consciousness of our people that died during the war.
“There was an Igbo consciousness; the consciousness that made Ndigbo, which, despite our being one of the last ethnic groups in Nigeria, in West Africa that came in contact with the white man at the time of Independence in 1960, the two Universities then, University of Ibadan, University of Lagos were headed by Igbo Professors, Onwuka Dike and Eni Njoku. So we need to go back to the drawing board. That is the challenge before the new Ohanaeze.
Opportunities before Ohanaeze
Analysts urge Nwodo to use his election to partner the Federal Government on addressing the pressing issues of neglect and under representation of the Igbo in the present Federal Government.
Incidentally, President Muhammadu Buhari had indicated that he would “be a partner-in-progress in implementing suggestions, measures and programmes to advance the unity, development and prosperity of Nigeria.”
In a congratulatory message to Nwodo signed by Shehu, President Buhari called on the Igbo as well as the wider community of Nigerians to support the new leadership to fulfil their mandate in these challenging times.
The message read in part: “As Mr. Nwodo prepares to settle down with his team to implement his vision for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the President appeals to Ndi Igbo as well as the wider community of Nigerians to support the new leadership to fulfil their mandate in these challenging times.
“President Buhari looks forward to working with the new leadership, and assures Ohanaeze Ndigbo that his administration will continue to be a partner-in-progress in implementing suggestions, measures and programmes to advance the unity, development and prosperity of Nigeria”.