Igbo Corner
Wake up, Igbo Governors, awusa abatago Awka!
Awusa Abata Awka! The chickens have come home to roost!!
When we said it before, some of our Igbo governors called us mad. Today, who is mad? We or the governors?
1. During the Covid-19 lockdown in Nigeria two years ago, and long trucks were alleged to be conveying thousands of Fulani youths to the South East and South South from all directions, we raised alarm.
No governor said or did anything, except Gov. Wike who ordered the Fulani youths who came to Rivers State to be transloaded back from where they came.
The author, Mazi Omife I. Omife
2. When young Fulani cobblers and shoe shiners in South East capital became new brand Keke owners and drivers overnight, we complained but nobody gave us a listening ear.
3. When it was discovered that Fulani herdsmen had taken over our forests in all South East States, and could trek through the forests from Nsukka to Onitsha without missing or asking anyone for the road, showing they have mastered all terrains in Igbo land, we complained again.
The governors asked us whether Igbo people live in forests and told us to leave Fulani alone in the forests. Nobody took us serious until the Methodist Prelate, Samuel Kanu-Uche who was kidnapped by Fulani people at Umunneochi confirmed that Fulani people were now the landlords of our forests.
Even when it became obvious that Igbo land was on fire!
*Somebody was busy at Umuahia dancing and drinking all day long.
*The other person was at Abakaliki planning how to abandon PDP and defect to APC in order to succeed Buhari in office.
*Another person was at Awka nearly choking himself with brandy.
*Another one was at Enugu grabbing land here and there.
*The one at Owerri is a write-off. Not worth any comment.
I wish Prof Charles Soludo was there at the time. It would have been different.
We hear of South East Governors Forum. Do we really have such a forum, that is supposed to canvass the interest of Igbos?
When last did the forum hold a security meeting? Did they hold it in secret? There is nothing to show.
*Does it mean Igbo governors did not hear of the terrorists attack on Nigerian soldiers at Zuma Military Check Point in Abuja?
*Can it be that Igbo governors have not heard about terrorists attack on Kuje Prison Abuja where they released over 600 terrorists?
*Do we take it that Igbo governors have not heard about the killing of six members of the Presidential Guard Brigade at Abuja?
And that they did not hear about the government closure of all schools in Abuja AND NASSARAWA
So all these incidents make no meaning to Igbo governors?
How many hours drive is from Abuja to South East?
Are Igbo governors telling us they are not aware of the daily kidnapping by so-called Fulani herdsmen along Enugu- Umuahia express road and every part of Enugu, Anambra and Imo States?
Yet Igbos and their governors are sleeping.
Attention all Igbo Governors irrespective of party.
Attention Ohaneze Ndigbo.
Attention all traditional rulers in Igbo land.
Attention all serving and past Presidents-General in Igbo land.
Attention all religious and women leaders in Igbo land.
Attention all youth leaders in Igbo land.
Attention all community vigilantes in Igbo land.
Attention every Igbo man and woman at home and abroad.
There is no time to waste.
There is no time for long talk.
Fulani herdsmen are all over us. Not only in our forests but also all over our urban and rural communities.
Go to Owerri Road Enugu Mosque today. You will shudder.
Go to Umuahia.
Go to Aba.
You will see over 2000 Keke vehicles parked all over the Mosque and its vicinity, most of the time blocking traffic with reckless abandon.
Nobody is talking.
A few years ago, if you pass through any of the mosque roads in any Igbo State, all you see are scores of Hausa Fulani cobblers and manicures huddled in different groups doing their trade.
Today the story is different. And we are looking for a prophet to tell us who and who are the kidnappers. Just like the Federal government is still looking for the terrorists location in the North. Yet Gumi goes to the forest to see them.
If the federal government is serious why can they not arrest Gumi to get their contacts or even seized Gumi’s phone and get the full contacts and start from there. Fools! Who is deceiving who?
I am making a clarion call on Igbo governors to take immediate action to protect Igbo land.
I am saying that Igbo governors should enter the forest and clear it before they are turned into full scale Fulani strongholds.
Let them not forget the revelations of the Methodist Prelate, Samuel Kanu-Uche who was kidnapped by Fulani people about two months ago at Umenneochi town in Abia State and taken into a forest in our own land and had to pay one hundred million naira as he said, before he was allowed to go.
Another woman who was kidnapped at Isuochi recently coughed out millions of naira before she got her freedom from the herdsmen.
They were lucky, yes very lucky because many who were kidnapped did not come back alive to tell their story.
Igbos now spend millions of naira and dollars almost on daily basis as ransom to secure their bail from the clutches of their Fulani hosts in our own land.
The one that annoyed me most was the recent kidnap of my very good friend, , Clemson Cornel, a popular Nollywood actor and his female colleague, Cynthia Okereke at Ozalla, Enugu State where they went to shoot a film.
I just heard they were released today or yesterday but I have not confirmed the report which I intend to do shortly and know how many millions they paid as ransom.
While we are waiting for Igbo Governors to act, if they will, as the National coordinator of Association of South East Past Presidents-General ( ASEPP), I hereby call on the leadership of all Town unions in Igbo land to apply all security measures at their disposal to protect their people from the real danger to lives and property including:
1. Strict monitoring of strangers and their movements and report any suspicion to the police through the community vigilante.
2. Keep 24 hours security by vigilante groups, other able bodied youths and age-grades especially in the nights or very early in the morning when people are still sleeping, especially now that our forests have been occupied by Fulani, learning from the experience from States like Benue, Zamfara and Taraba.
3. Daily monitor of all local beer parlors and eateries for any strange or suspicious faces/movements.
4. Mount check points at all community boundary spots to check entry of new stranger elements into the community and their mission.
5. Compile and monitor a database of all strangers in the community specifying their places of origin, occupation, residence/landlord and other relevant information.
6. Ensure that property owners do not allow more than two adult male stranger tenants in one room and not more than five stranger tenants in his/her house.
7. Ensure that landlords with stranger security guards account for their identities and take full responsibility for the activities of their workers.
8. Organize regular self-defense lessons for members of the community including women and children.
9. All urban and rural motor park operators should search all incoming vehicles for arms and ammunition or suspected terrorists.
Before I end this message, I once again call on South East governors to take the following measures immediately:
Stop the movement of cattle on foot just as South West, and make it mandatory for all cattle to be transported by vehicles to the various selling points. This will reduce the disturbing incidence of widespread destruction of people’s farms by cows coupled with killing and raping of women by herders.
Every House Assembly should enact a law proscribing herders from building residences in the forests and for them to secure houses within the residential areas as other non-indigenes do.
As it is now, it is suspected that many of the Fulani youths have already gained entry into Igbo land and many of them may have joined their people living in our forests. All those living in the forests should be asked to come out and hire houses among the people like so many northerners, so that their identities and activities can be checked and controlled.
Relocate all cattle markets at the adjoining State border areas in Igbo land such as Ugwuoba in Enugu State, Amansea in Anambra State, Lokpanta in Abia State and other state boundaries to the hinterland. Such adjacent border locations of cattle markets make it difficult to check infiltration of criminals to and from one State to another.
Establish their respective Forest Guards as Gburugburu did as an urgent interim security measure to enforce the above laws while they complete arrangements for regional security.
Other urgent actions Igbo governors should take include:
1. Take immediate step to cross check and re-examine the Federal Waterways Bill which aims at taking over our rivers by the Federal government for reasons that are unclear and suspicious and take all necessary and urgent steps including going to court to prevent its passage.
I am at a loss why the Federal government is much interested in appropriating people’s ancestral land across the country. They tried RUGA and Nigerians rejected it. They tried National Livestock scheme, it failed. They are now coming back with Waterways bill, less than a year to the end of the present administration, which makes the move very suspicious.
2. Ensure attendance to every Southern governors meeting to be able to speak with one voice with other Southern governors since Igbo governors have shown to lack the courage to speak out to the Federal government on their own on issues affecting Igbos.
3. Be courageous for once like Wike, Orthom etc to fight for the inclusion of South East representative in the national security council to enable the South East zone know what is happening in the country, security wise.
4. Discuss with the Inspector General of Police on the urgent need to appoint Igbo Commissioners of Police in the South East for more effective local policing as against the present preponderance of non-Igbo police commissioners in the South East, unlike the north where there is hardly any Igbo police commissioner.
5. Take immediate steps to discuss with relevant agencies on the lopsided leadership of military formations in the South East to the total exclusion of South East personnel
6. Take steps to look into the involvement of Igbo youths in the wave of killings in Igbo land. Igbos are not known for killing themselves or others. Igbo governors should make a move to canvass the setting up of a panel for the de-radicalization, reorientation and rehabilitation/training of Igbo youths locked up in various cells across the country, just as the Federal government does to arrested Boko Haram members in the north.
Finally, I advise Igbo governors to deemphasize politics and scramble for political positions and face the challenges of insecurity. Igbos have to be alive before politics.
They should dissolve Ebubeagu security outfit which is unpopular among Igbos and replace it with another outfit that Igbos will like to work with.
Better still, they should hand over the operation of the outfit to Ohaneze youths for full effect.
I once again call on Igbo people everywhere to rise up to the challenge of protecting themselves from any eventuality.
I use this medium to call on our members in all the communities to liaise and give full support to serving PGs in their respective communities in ensuring maximum security and vigilance.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Mazi Omife I. Omife (Mbuze Mbaukwu)
National coordinator, Association of South East Past Presidents-General ( ASEPP)
Email: 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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