The newly elected President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Rivers State, Lucky Ekeji has said that there are plans to replicate the socio-cultural group in all 23 local government areas of the state, during his administration.
Ekeji gave the hint shortly after his coming on board in an election that marked the end of the crises that recently rocked the leadership of the group
He noted that membership of the group cuts across all Igbo-speaking peoples including Ikwerre, himself, being an Ikwerre man.
The new president of Ohanaeze promised to promote peace and unity amongst members and to ensure that issues of factionalisation end in the organisation.
According to him, “everybody is a winner, I will make sure that I unite all the groups because we cannot move ahead if we are not united. In as much as human beings are involved, there is bound to be problem but the most important part of it is when problem comes, there is need for settlement. Without unity, there would be no progress”.
He called on warring factions to come together for the interest of peace, saying, “I want to call on all warring factions in Rivers State to come together to form a strong and viable Ohanaeze Ndigbo”.
He explained that the group aims to pursuethe welfare of its members, which he observed cuts across the five Eastern States and two others, Rivers and Delta States, that is the Igbo speaking parts.
He said, “the essence of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, like any other social-cultural group is to ensure the welfare of their membership”.
He charged members to be law-abiding in the state, while assuring that the executives would ensure that every “Ibo man doing business and residing in Rivers State would receive adequate protection”.
On his part, the Vice President, Mr Bestman Ike, pledged his allegiance to the tenets of the group and promised a successful tenure.
You would recall that different individuals had claimed president and other positions in the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the state, leading to several factions.

By: Tonye Nria-Dappa