•••Promises To Tackle Issues Affecting Igbo People
By Kamsi Anayo
The new President of Ohaneze Ndigbo worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu says that he has carefully examined the circumstances and challenges plaguing Ndigbo and has decided among other things to tackle them head long as the President of Igbo apex body.
Iwuanyanwu made this known immediately after being accepted by Ohaneze Imeobi to replace Prof. George Obiozor as the new president of the body.
He said that during his tenure, education, agriculture, industrialization, electricity, power generation, health etc would be given priority attention.
“In 1914, when Nigeria was amalgamated, some parts of Nigeria were more advanced than the Igbos in education, industrialization, and development.
“But by the grace of God and the indomitable resolve of our forebears to succeed, in 1960, when we had our independence, we had literarily ascended to the top as leaders in education, commerce, industry, government and in Military craftsmanship.
“I want to observe that two things played a major role in making it possible for Igbos to attain this position. The first one is Education and the other one is Commerce & industry. It is my belief that education will still play a major role in the development of Ndigbo”. Iwuanyanwu said
He also stated that a committee on Ohaneze Ndigbo National Honours will be set up for the purpose of recommending people who deserve to be honoured.
“A museum of Igbo history will be part of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide with Enugu as its Headquarters,” he said.
On youth and culture, Iwuanyanwu noted that with the support of the state governors, annual sporting competitions of all the Igbo speaking states will take place in their various states while the final of the competitions will be held at Enugu the Headquarters of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
“Also Cultural competitions will be initiated in all the states and the final will take place at Enugu to determine the overall winners. A Committee will be set up including representatives of the state governments in other to implement these.
On the release of Nnamdi Kanu, Chief Iwuanyanwu said he would make a very special appeal to the President, Mohammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kalu before the end of his tenure.
“The security situation in Southeast is very disturbing and I believe that there is very urgent need for a Peace Summit in Igboland.
“I will therefore make a special appeal to President Mohammadu Buhari to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before the expiration of his tenure in office.
“Nnamdi Kanu is very crucial for any key discussion and it is not possible to negotiate any peace while Nnamdi Kanu is in prison.
“It is also important to note that the judiciary has discharged and freed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. It will be the joy of many Igbo people and Nigerians to see Mazi Nnamdi Kalu released from detention. There is also a report that his health is deteriorating.
“I feel it is important that he is released to have access to his medical doctors so that he does not die in the prison”. Iwuanyanwu noted.
He,however, noted that poor electricity power supply is a source of major worry in Igboland.
“We are happy that the National Assembly has removed Electricity Generation, Transmission and Distribution from the Exclusive List to Concurrent List. We will support and encourage our business men to engage in power generation, transmission and distribution. For this purpose, the use of coal for power generation needs to be revisited.
“I commissioned a study on the quality of Nigerian coal deposit in Enugu. The report is very impressive. Many parts of the world use coal and my investigation reveals that the quality of Nigerian coal in Enugu is superior to the coal mined from many other parts of the World,” he said.
Iwuanyanwu also expressed sadness that in spite of impeccable credentials and qualification of medical doctors of Igbo extraction, people still look forward to foreign hospitals for their medical treatments.
“Ohaneze Ndigbo will look into these matters and work with both the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and various States Ministry of Health to ensure that our hospitals and Healthcare Centers are repositioned to respond to the health treatment needs of our people,” he said.
