Igbo Groups Meet Over Confab

Different Igbo groups on
Monday met with the leadership of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu to harmonise views the Igbo nation would present at the forthcoming National Conference.
Our correspondent reports that some of the Igbo groups who met with Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by its President General, Chief Garry Igariwey, included the professor Ben Nwabueze’s led Igbo Leaders of Thought, though, the renowned constitutional lawyer was conspiciously absent, representatives of the Dr. Alex Ekwueme-led South-East Peoples Assembly.
Others were the former senate president, Chief Ken Nnamani-led South-East Peoples Development Association, Ndigbo Lagos, Elders of Ndigbo led by former Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, aka Ikenga, among others.
The Ohaneze President General, who spoke to newsmen at the end of the marathon interaction held at the organisation’s secretariat in Enugu, said the meeting was called to rob minds and harmonise positions for the proposed conference.
Igariwey, who had been embattled since he assumed office as Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General, also added that the idea was to have an all inclusive position that would enable the Igbo nation speak with one voice at the conference.
He further disclosed that the meeting set up a committee led by former Governor of Enugu state, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, to harmonize their positions.
The committee which has four days to submit its report, he said, has the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nworgu, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, Professor Okere, and Professor Okafor as members.
He further said the harmonised position would be presented to the general meeting to be summoned again in the next one week.
The President General also hinted that some of the positions are identical, saying the committee would only fine-tune the language so as to make sure that when the people speak, they would speak with one voice as a people.
“We had good attendance and we had fruitful discussions. We are satisfied and we think that within the next one week we call them together again to show them our final position. We are still open to other inputs. There had been other documents produced by the Igbo nation in 1994 and in 2005. We believe so much in those documents because they were produced by our best hands and the circumstances that led to those positions have not changed and the issues have not been addressed”, he said.
Igariwey, however, used the forum to deny that there was leadership crisis in Ohanaeze Ndigbo, adding that there was no court matter concerning the leadership of the Igbo umbrella body.