The Youth Wing of the apex Igbo cultural Organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Monday urged the Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, to channel his energy in drawing the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari towards obeying the principles of Federal Character in all his appointments.
Ohanaeze equally said Okorocha lacked the locus standi to speak for Ndigbo and that he had no mandate to speak on their behalf.
The group made the statement through its National President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro and National Secretary, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, who led the National Executives of the youth wing to hold a meeting with Akwa Ibom state chapter of the organization on the well-being of the Igbos in the state.
The group, which said that the youth wing National Executives of the organization were on a working visit to the state, maintained that the meeting with Akwa Ibom Chapter of the body was anchored on proffering ideas aimed at protecting the welfare and interests of Igbos resident in the state.
They said that it became pertinent that the youth wing reacted to the recent interview credited to Okorocha, in which he blamed Igbos for being the cause of their exclusion in recent appointments made by Buhari.
In the said interview, Okorocha reportedly said, “Some of the appointments we lost were caused by our people.”
Okorocha, also in the interview, claimed that Igbo leaders refused to listen to him when he cried like “a lonely voice in the wilderness” while urging the Igbos to embrace Buhari and the APC.
The Imo State governor also accused Igbos of putting their eggs in one basket despite his admonitions that such a decision was unwise.
But reacting further, Ohanaeze youth wing maintained that Ndigbo would never regret any political decisions they took in the March 28th Presidential Election because the issue of implementation of National Confab was considered.
“We use this medium to warn Okorocha to concentrate on the affairs of how to make IMO State better by prompt payment of workers salaries and Free Education projects and forget dabbling into the affairs of Ndigbo.
“Gov Okorocha and the APC South East Spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, should not wash their dirty linens outside but should imbibe the Igbo values of ‘ONYE Aghala Nwanne Ya’.
“We call on President Buhari to work towards fulfilling his electoral promises to Ndigbo, especially the revamping of Enugu Coal mine, which has remained moribund for 43 Years now.” the group added.
Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom Chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth wing has appealed to the Department of the State Services, to release the report of its finding on the recent invasion of Akwa Ibom government house by its operatives so as to calm the nerves of both indigenes and non-indigenes in the state.
The state chairman of the group, Mazi Emmanuel Ikechukwu-Jonathan, said that the continuous silence exhibited by the DSS after the raid was enough to put fears on those who wanted to invest in the state or currently doing business in the state.
“We are making this appeal because of our people who have invested heavily in the economy of this state as we don’t want anything that will create civil unrest because it is our people who will suffer most.
“You know that any part of this country where there is civil unrest, it is the Igbos who normally suffer the damages because they are the highest in number, in terms of the non-indigenes you will find in any state outside the South East.
“Currently the APC and the PDP are trading blames and you don’t know what may come out of such actions”, hee added.
Ohanaeze also sympathized with their in-law, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over the accident he had on his way to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to catch an international flight so as to visit his family abroad.
“We wish our in-law quick recovery from injuries he sustained from that accident and pray God to continue to protect him in all his endeavours,” the group added.
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