The national President of the Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Wing, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, who made this declaration said the people of the zone would resist any such move.
His statement read, “The Ohanaeze Youth Wing, the elephant of the Igbo nation is finally on its feet. Its inauguration indeed marks the consummation of decades of struggle by Igbo youth leaders for the emergence of a youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which shall be a youth wing, both in name and in deeds. Finally, the youth wing has found its voice and our words shall be matched with action. Henceforth, it shall be forward ever and backward never in the march towards Igbo self actualization.
“The Ohanaeze Youth Wing under my leadership has a 3 Point Agenda, namely Security, Youth Empowerment and Re-orientation. Of all these, security is the most essential since without it, nothing else can be actualized. According to statistics from the African Institute for Applied Economics (African Heritage Institution), the South East has a very low BECANS (Business Competitiveness Across Nigerian States) index. Investors, both ndi-Igbo and non-Igbos have given insecurity as their major challenge in investing in Ala-Igbo. Lack of industries in Ala-Igbo has led to severe unemployment, based on the fact that Ndigbo churn out more graduates annually than any other segment of Nigeria.
“Therefore, the Ohanaeze Youth Wing under my leadership shall fight insecurity in Ala-Igbo, both South East and beyond, to a standstill. Kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities in Ala-Igbo are being perpetrated by youths, mainly Igbo youths. We have what it takes to go after these miscreants who give Igbo youths a bad name. With the collaboration of our Governors as chief security officers of their various states and in partnership with security agencies, insecurity in Ala-Igbo shall be reduced to the barest minimum, within one year. However, it is on one condition, that the Governors and security agencies apply the formula we shall give them.
“Notwithstanding, the unfavourable investment climate in Ala-Igbo owing to insecurity and lack of infrastructure, we call on Igbo industrialists having their businesses domiciled in other parts of the country to emulate Innoson and Juhel, by bringing down to Ala-Igbo the bulk of their operation. While it is good for Ndigbo to travel all over the world and to invest there, we urge them never to neglect the development of their homeland. The importance of this message is underscored by the theme of last year’s Igbo Day, which Ohanaeze Ndigbo in its wisdom captioned, “Ojemba, chetakwa Ala-Igbo” meaning Mr. Traveller, don’t forget Ala-Igbo. Those Igbo sojourners who invest everything outside Ala-Igbo often have themselves to blame as such investments become “Alawa aghara” in the event of any crisis in such areas”.
He added that, “The second point on my Government’s Agenda is Youth Empowerment. Based on our belief in youth empowerment as a panacea to insecurity, we are today launching the Igbo Youth Development/ Skill Acquisition Centre. This centre shall have sections on ICT, entrepreneurship training, leadership training, skill acquisition, etc. We ask all those present to support this noble idea.
“The third aspect of my Agenda is Re-Orientation. One of the basic problem facing today’s Igbo youth is that of internalizing Igbo cosmology as espoused by Igbo ethos such as igwebuike, onye aghala nwanne ya, ezi aha ka ego, etc. Today, Igbo youths commonly believe in “Onye kpu igu ka ewu na-eso” as opposed to “Aguu nwere nchekwube anaghi egbu egbu”. This makes them to behave like goats, unable to control their appetite in order to make right decisions. All these are reflections of Post Biafran War survivalist tendencies among Ndigbo. Before the Biafran War, the archetypal Ndigbo believed in death before dishonour. A man who could not keep to his words was seen as “onye nwuru anwu na-aga ije”, a walking dead man. Then, prostitution, ritual killing, 419, etc were anathema among Ndigbo. This has led to a wrong conception of Ndigbo by other Nigerians. The only solution is mentorship. Igbo elders should devote time to mentoring the younger generation, so that our tomorrow shall be better than our today. My Government shall devote all her energy towards re-branding Igbo youths and Ndigbo as a whole. We should once again learn to revere honest enterprise. Borrowing a leaf from our late sister- Prof Dora Akunyili, we shall ensure that every Igbo youth becomes re-branded. May her soul rest in peace. Amen.
“We also condemn the ongoing Boko Haram terrorist attacks as an ill wind that will blow no good. We shall do all in our powers to defend Igbo territory against the incursion of Boko Haram since such incursion shall have dire consequences for national security. We as well condemn the terrorist activities of so-called Fulani herdsmen who terrorize innocent farmers and women, at will. Just two days ago, they attacked two women at Agbogugu, here in Enugu State in their farms, maiming them seriously. If those people are actually Fulani herdsmen, we ask the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to call them to order.
“We commend President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for tremendous achievements of his Government, especially his projects in Ala-Igbo such as the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, 2nd Niger Bridge, etc. We ask that he ensures the completion of the bridge on schedule owing to its strategic importance to Eastern Nigeria. Therefore, we ask Mr. President to do the following. Firstly, we ask him to help fight insecurity in the South East by extending amnesty to South Eastern militants who were denied amnesty by President Yar’adua based on their being from the South East. It is on record that these Igbo militants who fought in the creeks side by side with their Ijaw brothers now relocated to the South East with their armoury and their boys. Osisi ka nkwu and Ofe akwu are good examples.
“Secondly, we expect more infrastructural development in the South East by his Government. From available statistics on his Government’s Mid Term Report, the South East has the least percentage of Federal Government projects. If this trend is reversed and the coal industry is revived in order to create jobs for our teeming youths, it will be easy to guarantee him the support of Igbo youths in the 2015 Presidential Election, when he decides to run.
“Ndigbo must do all that is necessary to reclaim their place as major power brokers and prime movers in the Nigerian polity. No more shall we be ignored in the scheme of things. Based on our demographic strength and geographic spread, nobody shall ignore again, except to their own peril. We commend Igbo elder statesmen and Igbo groups who after their recent consultative assembly are collaborating with AIT to hold an opinion poll on the view of Nigerians with regards to having geo-political zones as federating units. We therefore re-affirm our total support for the Igbo position that Nigeria must be re-structured into 6 geo-political zones. We therefore commend the South West for stoutly and ideologically defending this position at the ongoing National Assembly. Re-structuring is the only thing that will provide a lasting solution to Nigeria’s political travails. Without addressing Nigeria’s structural imbalance, any gain or victory at the ongoing National Conference shall be a Pyrrhic victory, merely symbolic.
“Finally, we wish to appreciate all those who have supported us from our election till date. We thank Governor T.A. Orji (Ochendo) for being the most Pro-Ohanaeze and the most youth friendly Igbo Governor, as of today. We ask other Igbo Governors to emulate him since Ohanaeze is for them and they should be for Ohanaeze. We also thank the Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey led Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership for conducting the first ever Ohanaeze youth national election”.
DAILYPOST
