By S. Long Williams Esq.

“‘Ohanaeze’. Oha-na-eze is a unity of two poles: ‘Oha’ and ‘Eze’. In a very loose sense, ‘Oha’ refers to all, public, while ‘Eze’ refers simply to a king or ruler. But, in its strict and broad sense, ‘Oha’ denotes the village or General Assembly, an all-purpose body. The ‘Eze’ represents the council of Elders (Ndichie). Both ‘Oha’ and ‘Eze’ are not opposed to each other, neither, they are brought into a relationship of mutuality and functional coexistence…”

Founded in 1976 as Igbo Forum to cater for the interest of the Igbo ethnic nationality in Nigeria and in diaspora. In 1979, the name was changed to Ohaneze Ndigbo with Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam as it’s first President, Dr. Ben Nwabueze as Deputy President and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as its Patron.

The Ohaneze Ndigbo from inception and it’s constitution is made of the five Igbo states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. But agitations on the controversial issue of inclusiveness of some persons in the Igbo speaking communities in some non Igbo states, the body now went further to add supposed Igbo speaking communities of Rivers and Delta States into it’s fold and Article 11 of the Ohaneze Ndigbo constitution has provided for the rotation of the office of the President General to these supposed Igbo speaking communities in the non Igbo states.

In Article 2:3 of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo constitution, the objectives of the organization include, to serve as a focal point of reference, of direction and of collective leadership in matters affecting the interest, solidarity and general welfare of the Igbo; to promote, develop and advance Igbo language and culture, to promote honour, dignity and self respect among Ndigbo and encourage their achievement orientation in various aspects of life, to assist and encourage the formation of Igbo selfhelp, mutual assistance and improvement organizations wherever Ndigbo may reside and to promote peaceful coexistence with other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. The membership of the organization is open to all adult Igbo of Igbo parentage.

Following the death of the last President General of the organisation, Chief Emmanuel Nwanyanwu on 25th July, 2024, Ohaneze Ndigbo declared that it has zoned the office of the next President General of the organisation to Rivers State for the elections slated for 10th January, 2025 and called on Rivers State indigenes who are it’s members to indicate interest for the said office. This declaration elicited negative reactions from various segments of Rivers society who condemned it as a surreptitious act of the Igbos to annex Rivers State as part of Ndigbo vis a vis the Biafra agenda.

On Monday, 6th January, 2025, one of such opposition groups, the IWHURNUOHNA PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION (IPO) a Pan Ikwerre group of the Ikwerre Ethnic nationality in Rivers State took out a public protest and marched peacefully to the Rivers State Government House where they made their position known to the Governor by stating that Rivers State is not an Igbo state, that Ohaneze Ndigbo has no business zoning it’s Presidency to Rivers State or to hold it’s national Convention in Port Harcourt. The group went further and made the following statements to wit:

1. Iwhurnuohna (Ikwerre) is not Igbo.
2. That an Ikwerre person being a member of Ohaneze Ndigbo is a personal decision.
4. That all the activities of such persons in Ohaneze Ndigbo do not represent in anyway whatsoever, the interest of Ikwerre.
5. That the Rivers State Government should not permit Ohaneze Ndigbo to organise its national convention in any part of Rivers State in these circumstances.
6. That allowing them may result in ethnic crisis.
7. That Rivers State is not the 6th Igbo state in Nigeria and therefore, Ohaneze Ndigbo should leave Rivers State alone. If they need a state, they should go to the National Assembly.

The Rivers State Government is yet to react to the demands of the protesters.

In another breath, a group, the Igbo Indigenous Council IIC based in Rivers State led by it’s President , Chimenu Amadi threatened that the Council will boycott the elections if the office of the President is not left for Rivers State. Their argument is that it is the turn of Rivers State to produce the President General of the organisation and that if Rivers State is not given the opportunity, they will boycott the elections and pull out from the organisation.

The question agitating the minds of Rivers people and Nigerians generally is what is the position of Rivers State on the Ohaneze Indigbo question? One thing that is pertinent to note as a matter of fact is that some communities in Rivers State speaks languages and share cultural attributes that has some similarities with the Igbo language and culture. But the question is, does that make them Igbos? The Ikwerres in particular who have over the years strongly rejected the Igbo genealogy has stated in no vague terms that they have their origins from the Benin Empire and that the mere fact that they share some faint similarities in language with the Igbos does not make them Igbos. It must be stated emphatically that similarities in language or culture does not make or translate a people to being from the same origins with another set of people with similar language. That assumption is not always correct. The typical example is the Okrika and the Kalabari people of Rivers State. The Okrikas and Kalabaris speak almost same language and share similarities in culture, but that does not in anyway translate to a single source of origin. The two ethnic groups share different origins which are poles apart without any meeting point though both communities belong to the same body, the Ijaw National Congress (INC). Ditto for the English people of England. The language of the people of England is English and the origin of English language is from the West Germanic language of northwest Germany, Southern Denmark and the Netherlands brought to Britain in the mid 5th-7th centuries AD, does that make the British people indigenous to these other countries? The answer is a sure NO.

It is therefore disturbing that Ohaneze Ndigbo zoned it’s Presidency to a non speaking Igbo State which is not a member of the organisation. The question is what is the agenda of Ohaneze Ndigbo in this regard, is this action an attempt to carry it’s supposed Igbo speaking communities along in the spirit of oneness and inclusivity or is there more to it than meets the eye? In the book, the Crown of life written in 1819, it was stated thus “If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an article of belief, a dogma, and men will die for it.’ Joseph Goebbels, the war time Propaganda Minister of the Third Reich under Adolphus Hitler had this to say during the years of the second world war “A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth” So who is lying here, is it Ndigbo or is it the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality of Rivers State?

With the election of Distinguished Senator John Azuta Mbata, a native of Eneka in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, the first Senator from the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality to represent Rivers State in the National Assembly in the fourth Republic as President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, where does that leave the Ikwerre agitations and protest as a non Igbo community. Is this a betrayal of the Ikwerres to the Rivers people or the Distinguished Senator is on a frolic of his own? Furthermore, where does that leave Rivers State that is not a member of Ohaneze Ndigbo but having one of it’s illustrious sons as the leader of the pan Igbo organisation. Given the closeness of Distinguished Senator John Azuta Mbata to the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, where does that leave the Governor in this very grave unfolding drama. Was the Governor part of the plot or is it coming as a surprise to him as it turned out to most Rivers people?

The Rivers man and woman has never in history accepted being part of Igbo Ethic Nationality/the Biafran agenda and this belief contributed greatly to the defeat suffered by the Igbos during the Nigerian civil war. With Distinguished Senator John Azuta Mbata as the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, will that not give a foothold to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Rivers State and will it make Rivers State to be part of the mix in Ohaneze Ndigbo agenda. Whose interest will this serve? Time will tell!!!

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