As preparations to mark the nation’s centenary anniversary continues to acquire steam, a former senator for Imo North (Okigwe District) Chief Sylvester Anyanwu has attributed her slow pace of development to the poverty of vision of the post independence leaders who according to him either wittingly or unwittingly stifled the vision of the 1914 amalgamation
He lamented that the situation had continued to deal a devastating blow to the Igbo who in the pre independence era occupied a prime of place in the nation’s scheme of things.
Senator Anyanwu who spoke while receiving the National and State Chapters of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo who visited him at his private residence in Owerri regretted that as the apex Igbo Socio-Cultural Union which superseded the former Supreme Council of Ndigbo (Igbo Union), the Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a symbol of Igbo unity had been voluntarily and brazenly neglected to rot away by successive Igbo leaders.
Senator Anyanwu, noted that the Igbo, traditionally famous for hardwork, determination, doggedness and perseverance in nation building had retrogressively been pushed to the back seat in national affairs as a result of both external intra-tribal factors and called for the reversal of the ugly trend.
The business mogul turned politician who is the National Chairman of “Njiko Ndigbo” – a Socio-Political affiliate of Ohanaeze Ndigbo also decried the systematic and gradual erosion of Igbo language, culture and tradition and commended the Imo state chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo for its spirited efforts to reverse the sordid development.
He also pleaded with parents/guardian of Igbo extraction to teach their children and wards, Igbo customs, values and norms to spare the Igbo race from possible extinction in the country as is the case with the other major ethnic groups in the country.
The senator who also took exception to the unholy activities of the Islamic fundamentalist sect (Boko Haram) in the country and its devastating effect on the Igbo race called for concerted efforts by well meaning Igbo sons and daughters to advance the economy of the Igbo nation.
President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Imo State chapter Dr. Emeka Ukaegbu had earlier explained that the visit was to felicitate with Senator Anyanwu as the National Chairman of Njiko Ndigbo which he said is a socio-political affiliate of the Ohanaeze.
Dr. Ukaegbu while soliciting the patronage of the Senator in funding the Imo chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo forum billed for 7th September 2013 with the theme “Celebrating Nigeria’s Centenary-the Igbo perspective” condemned the Boko Haram insurgency and recent bombings in the face of the two weeks extension to the presidential committee on Dialogue and Resolution.
Ukaegbu a former member of the Imo State House of Assembly (Ikeduru Constituency) also denounced the arrest of Igbo in Lagos and their deportation to Onitsha which he said bordered on bad governance by the Lagos State government even as we sought patronage in the funding of the Imo State Ohanaeze forum.
