Igbo Corner
Arthur Eze and Igbo cause ~ by Mazi Omife Omife
I deeply believe in Igbo cause and will die believing in Igbo cause. It was my belief in Igbo cause that spurred me to embark on annual documentary titled 100 FASCINATING IGBOS in the 90s.
I embarked on the project at a time when successful young Igbo entrepreneurs came under heavy criticism from some people from other tribes who accused them of making money through drug pushing and other criminal ventures.
In response, I commenced the annual publication during which period I packaged over one million young Igbo millionaires with outstanding achievements in various walks of life and their respective businesses to prove that they made their money through dint of hard work for which Igbos are known and not through dirty jobs.
The author, Mazi Omife I. Omife
I also made sure the books were widely circulated to most National and State libraries and universities.
This is why I was shocked to the marrow by Arthur Eze’s recent statement that Peter Obi should shelf his presidential ambition. I also believe the statement did not go down well with other Igbos.
Please let this stop.
Ozo Igbo ndu Prince Arthur Eze is one Igbo man I have great respect for from many years back.
He is a man with a big heart. I have always believed that he believes in Igbo cause.
I was shocked by Dr. Arthur Eze’s statement because I believe that he is one of the people that should champion the Igbo cause and not to stand against it.
I love and respect Prince Arthur Eze so much and believe that he should be the one to rally Igbos together for any Igbo presidential candidate particularly Peter Obi who has nationwide acceptability.
I recall at a time when I noticed that Prince Arthur Eze’s contemporaries across Nigeria had been conferred with the Nigerian national honours award, my company was the one that nominated him.
At that time, I didn’t have much information about him, so I approached Rt. Rev Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, the then Anglican Bishop, now Archbishop of Enugu Diocese and Dr. Chike Obidigbo of Hardis and Dromedas, from whom I got sufficient credentials to support his nomination. The nomination went through and he got the national honours award.
It is doubtful that Arthur Eze is aware of this fact to date. But all I did was in the spirit of Igbo nationalism. But his cousin, Prince Hon. Okey Eze is aware. I did the same thing for so many other Igbos. I believe that Igbos should promote their brothers and sisters and not run them down.
I am not in Peter Obi’s camp though. My camp is with Professor Peter Umeadi, APGA presidential candidate. Ask me why.
At the onset when politicians from other ethnic nationalities were declaring for the presidential race, only Professor Peter Umeadi in the entire Igbo land mustered the courage to declare his interest. And that was why the Association of South East Past Presidents-General with membership of about 4,635 drawn from all the communities in Igbo land and with me as National President gave a public endorsement of Professor Umeadi, before the emergence of Peter Obi and other Igbos in the presidential race.
The same applies to Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. When the Southern governors reportedly reached an agreement that the presidency must come from the South in 2023 and that no Southerner should accept the position of Vice-presidential candidate, our association criticized Okowa for accepting the PDP vice president slot.
But when some people said that Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is not an Igbo man, I came out in his defence to say it is a capital lie, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is a full-fledged Igbo. I even published a brochure titled, Letter To Ndigbo, to defend my position.
What endeared Ifeanyi Okowa to me was his action at a time a group of Igbos declared a sit-at-home in Igbo land as a remembrance day for Igbos who died during the Biafra war. All the South East governors were against the order.
It was Ifeanyi Okowa who said that he himself lost many relatives and kinsmen in the war and that his administration was in support of the Remembrance Day.
It was after Okowa’s statement that the South East governors followed suit and that was how the Remembrance Day event was held throughout Igbo speaking areas of Nigeria.
So, Arthur Eze asking Peter Obi to wait for another time, I ask:
- Is there any particular time meant for politicians to win elections?
- Do politicians keep promises and agreements?
- Must a presidential candidate win at the center to achieve political gain for his people?
- When Zik contested the presidential election in 1979 under NPP, was it not only three states that he won – Plateau and the two Igbo States then, Anambra and Imo States?
Zik was not so daft not to know that he was not going to win the presidency. But he went into the race in the interest of Igbos. And no single Igbo man or woman criticized him the way some of us are criticizing Peter Obi today.
Does it mean that Igbos were more intelligent and united then than today?
After the election, Zik used the three NPP states to reach an accord with the ruling NPN and through the accord, Igbos got the position of Speaker of House of Reps in the person of Edwin Umezeoke and Minister for Sports, in the person of Paulinus Amadike, Minister for Education in the person of Dr. Ihechukwu Madubuike, among other juicy positions in the Federal government.
Had Zik not contested for the presidency, Igbos would have got no say in the Federal government.
To cut a long story short, Igbos say that nkem bu nkem, mana nke anyi bu nke anyi. Igbos should start supporting their own.
Okelekwe goes to war
Oruo mgbe anyi ji eje ogu!
Onye ujo abiana mgbe anyi na eje ogu!
Some of the people who saw him that day must have been frightened by his mood and the alacrity with which he dived into the canoe, into the roaring river.
He was in a war mood.
War?
Yes.
But a different kind of war.
It was war against poverty.
It was war against hunger.
It was war against neglect.
I call it political bravery or courage – the readiness to confront danger and uncertainty just to be able to show compassion and goodwill to long neglected and abandoned people of Awba Ofemili and neighbouring communities.
I define political courage as a disposition by a politician to stand up for democratic ideals of justice and equity in the dispensation of the good governance and dividends of democracy to all parts of the State.
A politician with requisite moral integrity, courage, self-sacrifice, conviction, honesty, and willingness to help and promote the well being of suffering humanity.
These ideals are what were recently demonstrated by Dr. Okelekwe Kodilichukwu when he visited Awba-Ofemili in Awka North Local Government of Anambra State, to commiserate with the victims of the ravaging flood in the community.
Oblivious of the risks and dangers involved in travelling to Awba-Ofemili at this time of ravaging floods, Dr Okelekwe Kodilichukwu braved the floods and crossed two heavily flooded rivers to visit and condole with the hapless members of this community.
Despite its massive contribution to the socio-economic development of the state, Awba-Ofemili has remained one of the most neglected and abandoned communities by successive administrations by way of abysmal lack of basic amenities, and now devastated by unprecedented flooding that took heavy tools in lives and property.
It certainly took a lot of courage, moral integrity and passion for social justice for Dr Okelekwe Kodilichukwu to visit the unfortunate community. It also took a sense of concern for suffering humanity for him to donate a whopping N2.5 million naira to the community as his widow’s mite to cushion the effects of the flood devastation, and capped the donation with a scholarship award to a primary three pupil that lost his father to the flood from primary to university education.
By this inspiring act of valor and compassion, Dr Okelekwe Kodilichukwu has proved himself to be a good material for political representation at any level.
By the visit, he has also become one of the only two politicians to visit and commiserate with the people of Awba-Ofemili since their tragedy, Senator Uche Ekwunife having done the same before.
I salute their courage and concern to mitigate the pang and pains of a long suffering community. Read more.
Mazi Omife I Omife (Mbuze Mbaukwu); omifelord@gmail.com
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There’s something about persecution that does two things to a people: it either breaks them, or it makes them beasts of survival.
For centuries the Jews… they were hunted, hated, and humiliated by empires. But they didn’t vanish.
They evolved. They adapted. And today, the Jews are arguably the most powerful tribe in the world economically, intellectually, and politically. Ruthless when necessary.
They are unapologetic about their survival. Now, look at the Igbo. A tribe known for industry, resilience, and brilliance.
A people who just want to live, do business, and thrive. But Nigeria doesn’t want that. Nigeria wants control.
Nigeria wants submission. And the one thing the Igbo have never known how to do is bow. And that’s the real issue.
So what does Nigeria do? It sidelines them. Isolates them. Provokes them. Bombs their villages under the guise of security.
Locks up their agitators. Shuts down their businesses. Mocks their pain. Ignores their history. Prevent them from voting. Play politics with their education. Sponsored bigotry on them.
And then Nigeria pretends to be surprised that there’s growing radicalization in the East?
Let me be clear: The Igbo didn’t start this fire. Nigeria did.
And history, the very same history we keep refusing to learn from, has shown us that when you keep pushing a tribe that knows how to survive, they evolve into something stronger, something unstoppable.
It’s happened before. With the Jews. Europe tried to exterminate them. Instead, they became the backbone of global finance, media, tech, and diplomacy.
You don’t touch a Jew today without consequences. You don’t push them to the wall and expect them to stay quiet.
Now Nigeria is doing the same to the Igbo, pushing, prodding, provoking.
But here’s the warning: when you push an animal to the wall, it doesn’t stay calm. It fights back. It bites. And this time, when it bites, don’t act shocked.
But this isn’t just about the Igbo solely. Nigeria has perfected the art of creating monsters, then acting surprised when they bite.
The Niger Delta? Radicalized. The region was exploited for oil, polluted beyond repair, and ignored until their youths picked up arms.
The Fulani terrorists? Radicalized. Left behind by the same government that claimed to represent them, now manipulated by religion and resentment.
The Almajiri? Radicalized. Abandoned by an elite that used their poverty as a vote bank and then left them to rot.
The Agbero? Radicalized. Uneducated, weaponized, and unleashed as tools of political chaos.
Even the middle class is slowly being radicalized, not with guns, but with hopelessness. That, too, is a ticking time bomb.
A nation cannot continue to marginalize its most brilliant tribe and expect peace.
The Igbo are not docile. They are not quiet. They are not forgetful. They are survivors, and survivors don’t beg for space forever. At some point, they take it.
The Igbo didn’t set out to be radicals. They were made into one by a country that won’t stop seeing their confidence as a threat.
You can’t keep pretending unity means silence. You can’t keep preaching peace while planting injustice.
The Igbo are not asking for too much, they just want to live, build, and grow.
But if you insist on turning their dignity into defiance, their enterprise into enmity, and their survival into sedition, then you are creating a monster.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s this: when a persecuted people decide that survival is no longer enough, when they decide to stop running and start resisting, they don’t just fight back. They win.
Nigeria must understand this: you cannot keep pushing people into a corner and expect submission.
When you back a lion into a wall, don’t expect it to purr. It will roar. It will claw. It will tear through anything standing between it and freedom.
So here’s the final warning, for those who still care to listen: Nigeria is radicalizing the Igbo.
But worse, Nigeria is radicalizing everyone. And it won’t end well.
When the fire spreads, when the rebellion multiplies, when the beast we created begins to fight back, don’t act shocked; no tribe will be left untouched.
Don’t pretend it wasn’t preventable. We all made it happen. You don’t corner a lion and expect peace.
Abolaji Rasaq is a public affairs analyst.
Palpable crisis is brewing in Nnewi over the election of the President General of Uruagu Community in the industrial town of Anambra State, with a business mogul and owner of Organiser Plc., Chief Innocent Okoli, accused of upsetting the apple cart.
The crisis has led to protests and resignation of members of the Board of Trustees (BoT).
One of the resignation letters sighted by News Band was from a legal practitioner, J. N. Obi, Esq.
Barrister Obi, until his resignation served as the Secretary of the Executive Committee and member, Uruagu Board of Trustees.
Tendering his resignation letter, Obi cited brazen violation of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union.
The letter was referenced OB/03 /296/2025, dated May 8, 2025, and addressed to His Highness. Obi A. C. Obi (Ogidi IV).
In the letter entitled “Letter of resignation as member, Board of Trustees (B.O. T) Uruagu Nnewi. Obi announced his resignation based on the following reasons:
- Article 8. 9 (a) of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union. 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“The Board shall “Ensure the observance of this Constitution”. - Article 14.4 of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“Each ward shall submit a list of the Electors In writing to the Secretary General of the Union, one month before any election.
“The submission of the list of the Electors shall be done by the Ward Chairman In consultation with the Ward’s Obi.” - “The election sought to be conducted on Saturday, 10th day of May 2025, did not comply with the above provisious as it was on the Union’s general meeting of the I3th day of April 2025 that the expiration of the tenure of the Executives was announced.”
The legal pratictioner, however, noted that the election to be held on May 10 will not be up to one month.
He, therefore, resigned his membership of B. 0. T for failure to abide by the above provisions of the Constitution as stated above.
On his part, the former President General of Uruagu Nnewi, Chief Ambassador Charles Nwonye, decried series of illegalities in the proposed election championed by Chief Okoli.
He recalled the efforts of past and present stakeholders to ensure that Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union is recognised as a legal and responsible entity in the state.
He, however, speaking in a voice note obtained by Diaspora Digital Media (DDM), regretted:
“It’s very, very unfortunate that those counsels that instituted Uruagu Development Union are no longer alive.
“They were the ones who were known for speaking out the truth. But at the same time, we will not all keep quiet.
“I, hereby, wish to bring the following to the attention of all Uruagu indigenes, scattered all over Nigeria and in the diaspora that four years ago, a similar thing happened.
“Uruagu Nnewi Constitution was also flagrantly violated four years ago.
“At the end, a lot of stakeholders asked the former Executive Committee to resign and leave en masse.
“The Constitution, however, allowed them to recontest.
“The Executive Committee then honourably resigned and no one of us recontested, ushering in a new Executive Committee.
“They argued that following the election, the Constitution will be amended to correct all the flaws and ensure no such flagrant abused repeats itself.
“They went for the election and what happened there was the same illegality we’re talking about.
“Some of our youths went and connived with mischief makers, disrupted the election and declared the present Executive Committee members winners.
“The youths stood by them in their misguided thoughts that the Executive Committee members enjoy special gains in the office.
“They disrupted the election and ensured that the present crop of Executive Committee members was ushered in.
“The election was heavily flawed and rigged in favour of Eloka Ike and Innocent Okoli, but we let go and left peacefully.
“The new Executive Committee promised to preside for only four years and leave, but we are currently seeing the same illegalities.
“I dare ask: Should Uruagu be known only for illegalities? I thought Ndi Uruagu are smart people?
“I have observed that there are certain individuals who are hell-bent on ensuring that the Uruagu leadership fails.
“They seem bent on destroying all our efforts, acting as agents of chaos and destruction.
“How can one man gather a bunch of Umuezeagu indigenes and take them to the court, claiming that they sued the union to court?
“They deceived the High Court and got a frivolous injunction against Uruagu people, all in the name of election!
“When I got this information, I knew that something was wrong.
“How can someone, after serving a tenure fraught with irregularities, fight his way to a second tenure against the people’s wish?
“I want to make it clear to all the delegates in the so-called election that it will not be possible to make an illegality legal.
“Anyone who casts a vote in that sham election is an agent provocateur, as well as a villain.
“Let it be on record that I denounced the so-called election founded on illegality and fraud and all participants, be it a delegate or participant in any manner is an enemy of the people.”
Chief Okoli and other responsible people of Nnewi leadership could not be reached for comment at the moment of this publication.
More details will follow…
The remains of HRH Eze Stephen Nwabueze Ugorji, Orji Ukwu 1 of Lorji Nwekeukwu Autonomous Community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, will be laid to rest on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The late Eze Ugorji will be buried in his palace at Orji Ukwu Estate, Lorji, following a Catholic funeral Mass at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Lorji.
News Band was informed that His Excellency the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese, Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, has been invited to officiate at the ceremony.
Bishop Nwobi, it was learnt, has also accepted the family’s invitation to officiate at the funeral rites of the late grand traditional ruler.
This information was provided to members of the press in Owerri by the Opara Eze (First Son of the Eze), former Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji.
His Lordship Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese (Mbaise) and Eze Nwabueze Ugorji’s First Son, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji
“The family is grateful to His Lordship for granting us a rare request to officiate at a funeral on a Thursday,” Dr. Ugorji said.
“Our father will feel honored and appreciated because he was not just a devoted Catholic, he shouldered the building of the St. Andrews Catholic Church at Lorji until his death,” the former commissioner added.
Igbo Corner
EXCLUSIVE: Ngozi Orabueze dissolves Biafra Govt In Exile as Simon Ekpa may spend longer time in prison
Dr. Ngozi Orabueze has abruptly dissolved the Biafra Government In Exile following secret information that his former boss, Simon Ekpa may not be coming out from Finnish detention in a hurry.
News Band reported that Mrs. Orabueze, a former Chief of Staff to Mr Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government In Exile, toppled his principal after he was thrown into prison for promoting violent agitation and terrorism in the Southeast of Nigeria.
Ekpa’s trial is scheduled to start in May 2025.
Ngozi, a former chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Atlanta, United States in a statement on Wednesday, announced the dissolution of Biafra Government In Exile.
She said all assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
Orabueze also directed all officers of the former exile government to report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment.
The statement reads, “It is resolved that the Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE) is hereby dissolved as it’s reason for the existence has been superceded by the November 29, 2024 Declaration of the restoration of the Independent United States of Biafra
“All assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates(BRGIE corporation ID: D237527271) shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
“All officers of the former exile government shall report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment. All activities of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile shall cease as of February 15, 2025”.
Meanwhile, an insider source in the movement reliably told News Band that Ngozi decided to dissolve BRGIE after receiving intel that Simon Ekpa might spend longer time in prison.
The source also revealed that the Nigerian government is doing everything within it’s power to nail Simon Ekpa for all his atrocious acts in the SouthEast region.
So, the only way to keep the agitation going in the absence of Ekpa is to dissolve BRGIE.
“Yes, Ngozi Orabueze dissolved the Biafra Republic Government In Exile so as to be fully in charge of the assets belonging to the movement. With the way the Nigerian government is going about the case of Simon Ekpa, he may spend longer time in prison”, the source said.
Moreover, before now, Orabueze has been at war with some arrowheads of the separatist movement who refused to acknowledge her authority.
This however, has led to series of fights, accusation and counter accusations among the agitators.
We celebrate the life of Mrs. Roseline Udu Eze, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and pillar of strength.
Her unwavering love, kindness, and selflessness left an indelible mark on all who knew her.
Though we mourn her passing, we take solace in the legacy she leaves behind and the cherished memories we hold. Rest peacefully in the arms of the Lord, dear Roseline.
You will forever be missed.
May her soul rest in perfect peace.
Amen.
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