ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has called for the restructuring of Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria is not properly structured, hence the need to restructure the country.
He made the call on Monday in Enugu, at his very first meeting with the executives and other members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo caucus.
His words: “We in Ohanaeze Ndigbo believe that Nigeria is not properly structured. We believe that this country should be restructured. And for avoidance of doubt, people continue talking about Ojukwu’s seceding.
“I was close to Ojukwu. Ojukwu actually wasn’t interested in secession. Military carried out the coup, the coup was not an Igbo coup, many other coups have taken place since then, the Igbos did not proffer any group to be coup plotters. They decided to say it was Igbo coup because there were Igbo officers who were there.
“Biafra has nothing to do with the Igbos as such. Nigeria must realize that Igbo questions must be addressed and must be answered. We are not fighting anybody, we love Nigeria, we are working to develop Nigeria.
“I think the question of restructuring is still very important and that is why Ohanaeze is talking about restructuring Nigerian, so we believe in restructure.”
Speaking on his several failed efforts to become the Nigerian President, Iwuanyanwu said he valued being Igbo president than Nigerian President.
He promised that his administration will create job opportunities, stressing that unemployment is the root cause of most challenges in Nigeria.
On the area of agriculture, the new Ohanaeze President said it will be a major issue for everyone in Igbo land, which according to him can help Igbos stop depending on the oil allocation from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He said if agriculture is well established in Igboland, people will be able to eat enough food, there will be more job opportunities and it will also help to stop criminality in the region.
“When we talk about agriculture, many people have the believe that we don’t have plan. In Igbo land, we have enough agricultural potentials to feed our people and to earn enough money to run our affairs even without relying on the monthly oil allocation they get from Federal government.
“This can be if we develop our agriculture in South-East. We have seed that can grow all kinds of crops in Igbo land, if we develop it, we will have enough to eat and enough to export through foreign agents. This will improve our gross domestic products.
“The greatest wealth of any people is agriculture and we are going to use it. Ohanaeze will set up a special committee on agriculture that will work with state government, ministries for agriculture in all the states will be involved.
“We will use Ohanaeze to energize our system, work with the state government to make sure that we create job for our people. If we develop agriculture, it will be enough to absorb these people who are unemployed and that will help us to stop criminality,” he added.
He further stressed on the importance of restoring Igbo cultures and history, adding that he will direct South-East Governors in the next 60 days, to allocate land for the building of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Cultural Center.
Iwuanyanwu explained that this will help the younger generation know more about the Igbo culture and history.