The Apex Igbo Socio-Cultural Organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, extends its deepest gratitude to all sons and daughters of Igbo lineage, both at home and in the diaspora. We commend your overwhelming participation and commitment to the observance of the 2024 IGBO DAY held in all Worship centres across the globe on Sunday 29th September 2024, a significant occasion dedicated to honoring our fallen heroes. This year’s observance resonated strongly across the globe, reinforcing our collective identity and solidarity as a people.
As we celebrate our culture, it is crucial to reiterate the imperative of adhering to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Constitution, which unequivocally designates the responsibility and constitutional right of Rivers State to produce the next President General by January 10-11th, 2025. The emergence of the President General from Rivers State, carried out in accordance with these constitutional provisions, is not only sacrosanct but also essential for the preservation of Igbo unity.
However, in a deeply concerning development, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has observed with increasing alarm the collusion of two Southeast Governors alongside a former Military General who has held the dual roles of Head of State and President of Nigeria from the Southwest. They are joined by a former 2023 Presidential Candidate representing an opposition party, a prominent chieftain of the Pan Niger Delta organization, and other subversive elements in an alarming scheme aimed at undermining the constitutional rights of Rivers State to produce the next President General. Such efforts to impose an individual from Abia State are not merely attacks on our constitutional prerogatives; they represent a broader assault on the integrity of Igbo leadership and the fundamental principles of self-determination.
As students of history, we acknowledge the profound impact that the former Head of State has had on the identity crisis among the Igbo people, particularly in the Igbo-speaking areas of Rivers State since the conclusion and the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970. We are acutely aware that the entities involved, including certain members of the Pan Niger Delta and their Ijaw allies, are actively working behind the scenes to perpetuate a status quo that has stifled the Igbo lineage in Rivers State since the end of the war. Their motivations are steeped in fear—the fear that the emergence of an Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General from Rivers State would challenge and potentially reverse the historic divisions concocted by past military regimes that have long sown discord among our people.
The involvement of the two Southeast Governors and their political accomplices in supporting these subversive conspiracies against Rivers State’s constitutional right to nominate the next President General from Abia State is alarmingly evident. Their actions appear driven primarily by political expediency, particularly with their eyes set on the upcoming 2027 elections, rather than the collective interests and unity of the Igbo nation.
In alignment with the directives laid down by the esteemed Prince Dr. Richard Ozobu led Ohanaeze Ndigbo Elders Forum, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, asserts the organization’s unwavering commitment to uphold the tenets and norms of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, prioritizing the constitutional rights of Rivers State above all other political interests. We will not allow high vested external interests to conspire with internal dissidents to impose an external candidate from Abia State on our collective will for 2025 OHANAEZE NDIGBO President General elections.We are aware of the huge funds made available by the two southeast Governors to some nonexistent and faceless groups bearing Ikwerre ethnic names with the intentions for the groups to continue to publicly deny their Igboness and Igbo identities, a ploy to discredit Rivers State from producing next President General but definitely Ndigbo will always overcome.
The Igbo people are far too sophisticated and aware to be manipulated by the machinations of these two Southeast Governors, the 2023 opposition presidential candidate, the former Head of State, and the Ijaw leader. Our call to action is directed at all Igbo interest groups: we urge you to remain steadfast and unified in ensuring that Igbo unity is not only preserved but solidified. Together, we must coordinate our efforts with the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to effectively counteract both external and internal conspirators whose ambitions threaten our shared goals and aspirations.
The emergence of the next President General from Rivers State is not a mere political discussion; it is a fundamental and unassailable right of the people—a right that must be defended with unwavering resolve. Our commitment to this pursuit is steadfast, and we believe that together, we can overcome any forces that seek to undermine our collective identity and autonomy.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Signed,
Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro
Secretary General
Ohanaeze Ndigbo
1st October 2024
