Ndigbo’s support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived second term ambition sparked a disagreement at the Igbo Lecture Series organized by Ohaneze Ndigbo to mark the 2014 Igbo Day celebration in Awka, Anambra State over the weekend. The characters that traded words on the matter included the National Chairman of the United Peoples’ Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, the Acting President of the Ijaw National Congress, Charles Ambaiowei and President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Gary Igariwey.Continue...
Chief Okorie had in his address at the lecture staged at the Women Development Centre, Awka, which received a loud ovation from the audience, resented the unsolicited endorsement of Jonathan’s re-election bid by the Igbo, stating that endorsing the President without any negotiation or concrete promise to the people of the South-East amounts to sycophancy.
He wondered when and why Ndigbo suddenly lost their bite, to the extent of queuing behind other ethnic nationalities sheepishly without asking questions or seeking to know what they stand to benefit, saying, “When I look around me, I see 1,000 Igbo men who are more qualified than Jonathan, when I look again, I see more than 2,000 Igbo men that are more qualified than Buhari and Atiku put together. So, what are they telling us?
“My problem is not just that the Igbo have no good leaders to negotiate for them, my main problem is that they do not even have the teeth to bite any longer.
The UPP chairman, went on to distance himself from any endorsement or adoption that President Jonathan might have received from some Igbo leaders, including Ohanaeze Ndigbo, stressing that his party would field an Igbo presidential candidate in next year’s election.
“I have nothing against Jonathan, but I believe that we should negotiate before we adopt, and not adopt before we negotiate. I don’t know when Igbo grew this cold,” he said.
Responding to Okorie’s speech, Ambaiowei, who served as Commissioner in Bayelsa State under Jonathan’s government in the state, described the claim by the Chairman of UPP as being very far from the truth.
He argued that there has been an existing partnership between the Igbo and the Ijaw nation, urging Okorie and his likes to rather think of how to utilize the said relationship to consolidate their stay around the corridors of power, with the hope of taking over from Jonathan after 2019.
Hear him, “I was on my way coming here (Awka) when I got a news alert on my phone that ‘Chekwas Okorie blasts Jonathan,’ and later I was told that Chekwas will be here and I said it will be good for me to see him.
“What I am saying is that with the partnership we already have between the Ijaw and the Igbo, we are asking our brothers here to support Goodluck Jonathan to complete his second term, and after then, we will now ensure that Jonathan hands over to the Igbo.”
Also speaking, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Gary Igariwey, restated the Ohaneze stand on the matter, stressing that although it was the turn of the Igbo to produce the president, they would shelve their aspiration if Jonathan declares interest.
He noted that he would rather not join issues with Okorie as he (Okorie) is a respected Igbo son, and had spoken just like the politician he is. Igariwey, however, said there was the need to call on Igbo at home and in the Diaspora to join in the collective struggle to build Igbo-land and make it the pride of the Igbo.
Addressing journalists on the Igbo Day celebration due to take place today, the President-General of World Igbo Congress (WIC), Chief Nwachukwu Anakwenze, said it would focus on calling on Igbo in the Diaspora to return home and contribute to development of the Igbo nation.
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