The newly inaugurated leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo World-Wide in Abia State has reiterated the call for other tribes in the country to support the agitations for the Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, come 2023.
The call was made by the new President of Ohanaeze, Comrade Okey Paul Nwankwo, during a press conference on Friday at Michael Okpara auditorium which was attended by executive members of the pro-Igbo group, drawn from all LGAs of Abia.
He noted that for the 2023 project to become a reality, the Igbo nation needed to strike a formidable alliance and understanding with other tribes, pointing out that coordinated consultations were the key to success of the move for Presidency.
Nwankwo regretted that despite her large population, contribution to socio-economic advancement of Nigeria, the only time the tribe tasted “political power was the short-lived period of late General J. T.U Aguiyi Ironsi”
He drummed support for the Ambassador George Obiozor-led national body of Ohanaeze, while dismissing the existence of any faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
The Abia State President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo further commended the efforts of South East Governors and ministers towards the successful conduct of their elections, and urged the Igbo nation to discard partisanship in the 2023 project.
On his vision in Abia State, Comrade Nwankwo promised that his team would liaise with the Abia State Ministry of Education in ensuring that studying passing of Igbo language become compulsory, with patronage of quality Igbo language and cultural books written by sound authors.
He equally expressed worry at the rise in insecurity in parts of Nigeria, but maintained that the best solution to the security challenges were peaceful dialogue, not violence.
His words , ” We fought in the bush in the past, our youths died in the war but this time around, the battles would be done on the round table, not through guns”
