The Ohaneze Igbo Youth Council has warned against campaigns of calumny, especially, from purveyors of blackmail to desist from dragging names of Igbo leaders in the mud, as the nation’s general election gathers momentum. The group regretted that this has been the usual refrain to prevent leaders of the eastern ethnic stock from gaining political prominence, particularly at the centre. ONYEKA AJUMOBI ONOCHIE reports
Speaking at an interactive forum, August 19, in Owerri, Imo State, the council’s National President, Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka, said, “as is well known, the next election season will mean a lot for Nd’Igbo and as such, we need every synergy to pull all our intellectual and material resources together in order to live up to the expectations of the rest of the world which is waiting to see how we will respond to the challenges ahead of us.”
Particularly, he said the attention of the council has been drawn to a well choreographed plan to throw mud at the hard-earned reputation of one of the most respected and highly promising leaders of the Igbo nation, His Excellency, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, a former governor of Imo State accusing him of fraud, by one Ms Chinyere Amuchienwa, stressing that this will no longer be tolerated. The said Amuchienwa, he said, wrote a frivolous petition to the Inspector General of Police and caused it to be published in a national daily, all with sinister motives.
Igboayaka alleged that “the author of the petition which was targeted at tarnishing the image of the former governor remains one Ms.Chinyere Amuchienwa, who, along with her cohorts, were recruited by some enemies of Igbo nation and had served as an instrument in foiling the nation’s political advancement”, but warned the petitioner(s) “to retract the publication within 14 days or be ready to face the youth body of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.”
Recall that few days ago, a Lagos-based newspaper carried a report based on a petition written to the Inspector-General of Police by one Ms.Chinyere Amuchienwa, in which she claimed that she was defrauded of some sums of money by Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.
IIgboayaka further said,”Members of Ohaneze Youth Council, as patriotic Igbos, and owing to the tremendous love and respect we have for One of the Igbo outstanding personalities, His Excellency, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, and other well-respected Igbo leaders, we immediately got in touch with Dr Ikedi Ohakim to get his own side of the story.
“Thereafter, Ohanaeze Youth Council embarked on our independent investigation both on the personality of the woman involved and the plausibility of her claims.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we want to state without any fear of contradictions that we have since discovered that Ms.Chinyere Amuchienwa’s claims were false in their entirety and that true to our earlier assertion, were concocted to tarnish the image of His Excellency Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.
“Our fear is that other well meaning and prominent Igbo leaders may be geared to be blackmailed ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“From our preliminary investigations, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim never sold any land in Lagos or anywhere in the world to anybody in his entire life. Regarding goods worth N110million which Ms Chinyere Amuchienwa claims to have supplied the former governor, we discovered that it is absolutely unfounded and a politically-motivated blackmail from undesirable elements and shenanigans.
“Therefore, this forum is issuing a two-week ultimatum to Ms Chinyere Amuchienwa to retract her allegations and make a public apology to Dr. Ikedi Ohakim as failure to do so, would only but compel us to take the necessary steps to expose her, her sponsors and other political enemies of Igbo interest.”
He continued, “We wish to make it abundantly clear that Ohanaeze Youth Council under Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka will no longer condone any acts that are capable of ridiculing any well meaning Igbo leader at such a critical time like this when the other nationalities are doing everything to preserve their collective integrity and reposition their individual leaders in the fierce struggle over who gets what in Nigeria Political project.
“As is well known, the next election season will mean a lot for Nd’Igbo and as such, we need every synergy to pull all our intellectual and material resources together in order to live up to the expectations of the rest of the world which is waiting to see how we will respond to the challenges ahead of us.”
The Igbo youth leader noted that the council would stop at nothing to ward off any aggression, whether internally or externally, that would be aimed at pulling down any of the regional promising politically-exposed persons, “which Dr. Ohakim is one,” emphasising, “We want to seize this opportunity to warn anybody who is being used, whether from within or outside our Igbo extraction, to pull down any of our leaders to desist from such; or see the wrath of Ohanaeze Youth Council and Ndigbo at large.”
He further stressed, “From our findings, we are not unmindful of the fact that in the time past, people like Chinyere Amuchienwa have been used by both outsiders and insiders to run down our leaders, but we want to state without equivocation that we have had enough of that blackmail.
“Nd’Igbo, both young and old, have learnt their lessons. But before we brace up with the challenges coming from outside, Ohaneze Youth Council believes that we must first and foremost begin with internal sanitization of the Igbo political, social and cultural landscape and rid it off the likes of Chinyere Amuchienwa and her cohorts.
“We therefore, warn any individual or group that will be used to blackmail Igbo leaders to steer clear and embrace peace and Igbo Spirit which is ‘Onuru Ube Nwanne Agbala Oso’ (He who beholds the agony of his brother shouldn’t run).”
pix: Dr Ikedi Ohakim