OHANAEZE NOT REPRESENTING THE IGBO RACE

ByChidi Aloysius Nwosu (Abia writers)

Editedby Livingrich Ezeikpe
Ohanaeze as the name suggests is suppose to champion the interests of the Igbo race in Nigeria but group has been politicized. Ohanaeze is now acting as a political platform for some Igbo politicians seeking political relevance, contracts, and the likes. The result is that the Nigerian government now dictates for Ohanaeze. When the Nigerian government wants to punish the Igbo people for a reason like not supporting or voting for them, it’s the Ohanaeze that the Nigerian government will use to carry out such evil plan.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo as the name implies is supposed to be a Democratic group of appointed Igbo people representing the Igbo interest. The executive are supposed to be elected by the people or those appointed by the people to represent them, but it’s not done so, rather few people come together to select themselves to form the executive and with the help and influence of the Nigerian government it works for them. Ohanaeze is supposed to have offices at the grassroots, where the people can reach them but there is no such thing in existence. If you ask any Igbo person on the street, what Ohanaeze stands for , he will say he has no idea. Ohanaeze does not project the interest of the people.

Take for instance, the recent happenings in Nigeria, Ohanaeze is supposed to protect the people's interest, but it does not. Currently, there is massive deployment of Nigerian military in Biafra land. This is a place where there are no security threats or crisis, except those created and carry out by the same Nigerian government. In almost all the roads in the region, there are heavy road blocks by the military and police with constant molestation, intimidation and extortion of innocent people of the region and Ohanaeze does not open its mouth to criticize these evils of the Nigerian government.

There is no single international airport or even a functional local airport in the region; for a person from the region to fly international, he has to travel by dilapidated roads to Abuja, Lagos or Kano which are more than five hundred miles away from the region. Ohaneze is not saying anything in that regard. Ndi Igbo are the economic backbone of Nigeria and major importers, yet all the seaports in their region were shut down years back. This means that their imported goods will be conveyed from Lagos which is over five hundred miles or from Kaduna dry port which is about six hundred miles to the eastern region through dilapidated roads laden with numerous road blocks by the military, customs, drug law enforcement agency, police, civil defense and many other gun wielding security agencies. All these go with heavy extortion by these numerous road blocks, which makes the goods so expensive when they come down to Biafraland.

Yet Ohanaeze is not doing anything about it, not even criticizing the government for the imposed hardship on the people or at least engage the Nigerian government in discussion to stop the menace it is unleashing on the Igbo people. Another issue is the killing of innocent Igbo people at Enugu and other parts of Biafraland by the Fulani herdsmen; the Ohanaeze is practically doing nothing to avert this ugly situation even when it is obvious that the federal government of Nigeria is supporting the killings.

Now Biafrans are asking for the restoration of the state of Biafra, they are not going about it violently, rather they chose the internationally recognized way to self-determination, which is asking for referendum, but the Ohanaeze is busy organizing Nigerian political rallies, clamouring for restructuring of Nigeria against the wish of the people. This move by the Ohanaeze shows that they are after their own interest and not the interest of the people. The people are now disassociating themselves from Ohanaeze Ndigbo and their activities. With one voice, the people are saying that Ohanaeze “will no longer represent the Igbo race and any political rally or meeting organized by them will henceforth be boycotted”.

From the foregoing it is certain that Ohanaeze is fraudulent and can no longer represent the Igbo race.