The apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has set up a 20-man committee to articulate the unified position of the Igbo on the restructuring of the country.
A former Enugu State governor, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, and former President of the Senate, Senator Adolphus Wabara, are at the head of the committee unveiled on Wednesday in Abuja.
The list also included former Imo State governors Ikedi Ohakim, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Senator Ben Obi, Senator Julius Ucha, Mr Dan Nwanyanwu, Professor Epiphany Azinge, Professor Charles Nwekeaku, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, and Chief Osita Chidoka, among others. The president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who inaugurated the committee, urged the members to give the assignment the seriousness it deserved.
He underscored the significance of the assignment because of the need to produce a structure that will make the country a better place for all the citizens
“I’m, therefore, of very strong belief that restructuring of Nigeria is a social, economic and cultural imperative.
“Many other groups in Nigeria have continued to make demands for secession from the country.
“Such demands have come from the northern, western, and, of course, eastern parts of Nigeria.
“Once the structure of Nigeria is right, all these demands and agitations will stop, and Nigeria, by God’s grace, will be one of the greatest countries in the world.
“Today, I have, therefore, a great pleasure and honour to inaugurate a committee comprising very distinguished and illustrious Igbo sons and daughters under the leadership of His Excellency, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, the former Governor of Enugu State, to review past discussions and make wide contacts with Igbos as Igbo positions on a restructured Nigeria.
“The duty you are carrying out is very sublime and critical to the future of Igbo in Nigeria.
“I pray the Almighty God who had led our people through past perilous times guides you as you carry out this sublime duty of producing a structure that will make the Federal Republic of Nigeria a happy country for all of us,” he said
Earlier, Iwuanyanwu recalled past agitations before and after the civil war, dispelling the long-held wrong notions about the position of the defunct Eastern Region during the Aburi Conference.
According to him, the late Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, who led the delegation to the Aburi conference with the then Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, never asked for secession from Nigeria but for restructuring to give the component parts of the federation greater autonomy.
