A meeting of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu on Sunday witnessed poor attendance as most Igbo leaders stayed away.
The meeting, which is the first since the swearing-in of President Muhammadu Buhari, had only a handful of persons in attendance. Most regular faces in the previous meetings never showed up.
Ohanaeze had before the election, declared total support for former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also, as a major fallout of the presidential polls, the Ohanaeze leadership declared that there would be no formal activity to mark the 2015 Igbo day celebration.
The event is usually celebrated on the 29th of September every year.
President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief Enwo Igariwey, who briefed journalists on the outcome of the meeting said this was a time for sober reflection.
He said “we had a meeting, a select group met in-house with Ohanaeze executive to discuss the Igbo day celebration.
“It will be held in low-key; branches are free to celebrate the Igbo day as they want, but at the national level, we have decided to retreat, to think back. The situation of things in the country calls for tact and unity among Ndigbo. This is also why the theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Ako na Uche; Njiko Aka’, (tact and unity).”
Igariwey, however, stated that even though there would be no activity at the national level of Ohanaeze to mark the day, “we are calling on Ndigbo to observe the compulsory 3 minutes of silence on the 29th of September for people who died during the civil war.”
He added that “our people should not be agitated or disappointed by lopsided appointments made by the President. We should remain calm, steadfast and think home on how to develop our place. We should speak with one voice and avoid distractions.”
Earlier in an interview, former Secretary-General of Ohanaeze, Col. Joe Achuzie called on Ndigbo not to despair but to remain viable opposition.
The Biafra war veteran said “having known that the President has distributed key positions”, Ndigbo should only accept ministerial positions if they would use such in the interest of the zone.
“If one is taking up the position, the person should not use it to popularize himself as others did in the past, it should only be on the basis of working for the interest of Ndigbo.
“We are already in the opposition; so Igbos should maximize everything in the opposition and remain viable to get something better out of it”, he declared.
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