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| Chief Nnia Nwodo |
The
former Information Minister, who was accorded a rousing welcome by many key
national and state members of the organisation at the Enugu airport, related
the special takeaways from the US trip to newsmen, and as well spoke on some
national issues, including what he called the continued marginalisation of
Ndigbo; deteriorating state of the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu, and the agenda
of Ohanaeze for 2019, among others. Sit back and consume it.
What is your impression
about the state of Akanu Ibiam international airport where you landed via
Ethiopian Airlines, upon your return?
I lost
my temper at the airport upon my arrival, because our people have an airport
that is in deplorable condition. I spoke to President Muhammed Buhari at the stadium in Abakaliki about the
state of Enugu Airport and it was widely reported by the media.
The
runway is in a despicable condition. Ethiopian Airlines came to complain to me
in my house, with pictorial proofs. They showed me how their tyres were split
by the cracks on the runway. The new terminal building has been abandoned and the
one that President Goodluck Jonathan
renovated is not like anything anybody did anything to.
Part
of the annex to the building was carried away by rainstorm and the one that is
there, itself, is in a very bad condition. It took us two hours to get our
luggage at the international arrival, which we used upon landing. The reason
was because the trucks that were supposed to go and bring our luggage were in
disuse and only one was working.
In
short, the degree of punishment our people are subjected to at that airport is
just so frustrating. Immigration personnel take bribe from our people just as
customs personnel too take bribe from them, by way of extortion.
There
is nowhere else in the world you arrive in your place from air travel and the
Customs begins to ask you ‘What are you carrying?’ The reason is that there is
an international agreement for carriage of goods. So, all dutiable goods are
assessed at the point of shipment.
They
go through an x-ray and they see that these are goods that you cannot carry unless
you are going to pay duties. And in any case, to export them, you have to have
permission to export them. But, unfortunately, people carry personal effects
and on reaching Enugu airport, they tell them to open their box to see what
they are carrying. Nobody does it in Lagos, nobody does it in Abuja, and nobody
does it in Kaduna or Kano. But it is done in Enugu.
Were you personally
subjected to such ordeal or is it that you observed it physically?
I
think I have to mention names to show the world that I was personally involved.
A young man called Jubril of the Nigeria Customs was the one that presided over
this rape of our people at the airport, right before me, and I chastised him.
The level of discriminatory treatment of Ndigbo is very infuriating; the total
neglect of our international airport in Enugu is shattering.
I do
not know how any government can willfully neglect a complete geopolitical zone!
This is the only international airport in the South East geopolitical zone, and
the facilities there are moribund. Some of the airlines that have gotten
license to fly internationally, such as Air
Peace, have not been given the permission to start operation, simply
because they are owned by Igbo. We can no longer tolerate the marginalisation –
the discriminatory treatment meted out to our people and I have said these
things time so many times that I am beginning to sound like a broken record.
And my question is: What have we done?
Talking about neglect of
Ndigbo, the jostle for 2019 seems to have commenced and former Vice President,
Atiku Abubakar has just returned to PDP. Would your administration at Ohanaeze
Ndigbo pitch tent with any particular political party or candidate, like your
predecessors did, or do you intend to be absolutely neutral?
Ohanaeze
is a non-political organisation and its membership cuts across political lines.
All Igbo are members of Ohanaeze from their town unions, and they exist in all
the political parties. So, I cannot be an agent of any political party; every
Nigerian is free to belong to whichever political party he chooses, and so is
former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar,
free to join any political party he likes.
That
has nothing to do with Ohanaeze. What is important to Ohanaeze is that before
the election, all the political parties must sell their manifestoes to us so
that we can advise Ndigbo appropriately as to who has protected our interest in
their manifestoes. So, the parties have not yet nominated their candidates, and
it is premature for me to begin to ask them what plan they have for Ndigbo.
When
the candidates emerge, I would seek audience with them to demand that first:
whoever becomes the next President of Nigeria would have to give Nigerians,
especially Ndigbo, an undertaking, if he is not an Igbo, that he will not run
for more than a term; and that his successor would come from Igboland,
thereafter. That is the irreducible minimum for Ndigbo.
Secondly,
we want this neglect that we are talking about to be reflected in the
manifestoes of various political parties. Only then can we begin to determine
who is protecting the interest of Ndigbo or not. But, beyond that, I have no
need, at this point in time, to engage in any speculative campaign.
And
please, when you quote what my predecessors had done, note that I would lead
only by their legacies that I find consistent with our constitution, enduring
and of good value. I am prepared to depart from their tradition if I feel they
had done something wrong. And I will not become a national organising secretary
for any political party or any candidate. That I will not do.
The federal government
recently set up a special burial committee for the late former Vice President,
Alex Ekwueme, with a directive to liaise with the Ekwueme family and Anambra
State government, without any mention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Are you comfortable
with such development?
I do
not serve the federal government and I do not expect the government to appoint
me to their committee. I rather expect them to seek my views on what they think
the committee can do. I am aware of the committee, and after the first meeting
that Ekwueme’s wife had with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
(SGF), they spoke to me and I also spoke to the governor of Anambra State to
form an Anambra committee.
I am
liaising with the Minster of Labour, Dr.
Chris Ngige, who is a member of the federal committee, with Governor Obiano as well as the Anambra
chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which is also involved in the local programme – the
Anambra committee.
As you
know, the one you made reference to is a government committee and Ohanaeze is a
non-partisan organisation. So, I do not need to go and serve under the SGF, but
I can interface with him and let him know what we expect him to do. We will
make our input as and when necessary. However, Ohanaeze would certainly have a
role to play in Alex Ekwueme’s funeral because he was an icon of the
organisation.
How would you describe the outing
in the United States of America, where you had gone to inaugurate the Ohanaeze
Ndigbo Chapter?
I have
to first, note that the organisation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is worldwide. Ohanaeze
comprises Ndigbo who are Nigerian citizens and are found in seven states of the
federation, including the five South East States, as well as Anioma and IkaIgbo
in Delta State; and Ikwere Igbo in Rivers State. These Igbo live in every State
of Nigeria and most parts of the world. In every part of Nigeria, they have an
Ohanaeze structure, with state executives, local government executives and town
union as the primary unit.
In
every other country of the world where Ndigbo live, Ohanaeze exists. In the US,
Ohanaeze had never taken roots as an organ. We have a number of Igbo
organisations in the US, such as WIC (World Igbo Congress), Igbo in the
Diaspora, Council of Igbo States of America, ICAN and many more.
But
the national executive of Ohanaeze, in its wisdom, decided that US must conform
with the organisation of Ohanaezeas it exists in other countries of the world.
We threw it open to them and the first state to grab it was North Carolina. So,
we had gone to inaugurate the North Carolina branch of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the
outing was an extremely colourful ceremony.
What were the takeaways
from the event and why is the US so important to Ohanaeze?
North
Carolina is the developing electronic hub of the East Coast of the United
States. It is also renowned. It’s a very reputable medical industry and a lot
of our people who are medical doctors of repute, who are in the digital world,
and who are professionals in all fields of life, are in North Carolina. But,
principally, they are in the medical and medical-associated fields.
And we
had the opportunity of meeting them, their wives and family. So many women came
there with their children and it was cheering to observe their children speak
unadulterated Igbo. They showcased cultural displays of all kinds and dance
steps of all sorts.
The
Arochukwu Cultural Dance, Akuneche Enyi Cultural Dance as well as cultural
troupes from Igbo-Rivers, Ikwere and several others, all showcased wonderful
cultural performances at the event. We brought a tape of the event, which we
shall distribute to all the state Chairmen to keep in their offices. We also
had meetings with all kinds of state branches, like the Anambra people, who are
living in North Carolina, among others. We as well, met with the leadership of
the WIC, in Atlanta, and the leadership of ICAN, in Dallas.
On the
importance of US to Ohanaeze, you know that no single country in the world has
as many Igbo living in it as the US. Therefore, the US is very important to us.
We as well used the opportunity of the visit to discuss with them about the
South East Economic Summit (SEES), which was held in Enugu recently, and also
about programmes of the Soludo committee in the Planning and Strategy
Committee.
Interestingly,
a lot of them are already planning to come home, with very meaningful proposals
to sell to the South East Governors Forum. One of our boys there, who is into digital
technology has a technology by which he can ensure that select towns in
Igboland are, through solar power, connected to the internet 24/7.
He is
putting his package together to come home and present it to the South East
governors, so that we can choose those hubs that need them such as Aba, Onitsha,
Enugu, among others, which have tremendous industries growing in them and which
also generate employment for our people. That will ensure that whether we have
power or not, a trader who wants to connect his branches in Nigeria can do so;
and educational institutions can as well use it to promote learning and
expansion of knowledge.
They
also showed us in North Carolina, the technology for Moturu Cow breeding (local
cow). They breed Moturu –our own kind of cow, in Igboland– over there, and they
are anxious to come and open agric extension institution in the South East, so
that our people can learn how to breed cow and crossbreed them so that we can
get cows with better meat, milk and better source of income as well.
There
are so many other things that we discussed, but these are essentially the
angles that we went through. They are already forming a committee with a view
to articulating all the things they want to present to our governors. We shall
book appointment for them to come down with their overseas partners, at a time
the governors would have their meeting, to address the governors, so that
through Ohanaeze, we shall help the governors to continue economic development
of South East.
I am
also happy to report that our people that we met in America are living happily
and peacefully. They gave us a special Holy Mass on Sunday, in North Carolina.
It was a Mass they hold every Sunday, in Igbo. They have an Igbo Catholic
Church there, essentially peopled by Ndigbo who filled the church. The priest
is also an Igbo man – Rev Fr. Joseph
Orji-Kalu. The priest said the Mass in Igbo, the readings were done in
Igbo, the choir sang in Igbo and I was asked to address the congregation in
Igbo. It was a very exciting experience.
Which country do you intend
to visit next to inaugurate another new branch?
Our
current move of opening up state branches in the Diaspora is a new policy of
Ohanaeze and we are already working towards forming a committee that will
henceforth, certify the state branches compliant with our constitution before
we go to inaugurate them any further. As we speak, we have outstanding
invitations from China, Ivory Coast and others.
We had
to reschedule our appointment for Ivory Coast because the market where our
people do business was burnt down. But, the minister of foreign affairs has
sent a fact-finding team there; the President has visited them, and we have got
reports both from our people there and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As
soon as we find a resolution, we would make our findings public.
Our
aim is to ensure that the Ohanaeze flag is everywhere in the world and that our
people are in tandem with our policies and our aspirations and those of our
government.
How would you describe the
working relationship that exists between you and your deputy?
We are
enjoying a very wonderful working relationship and I am very privileged to have
him as my deputy. Although Mr. Hilary Opara is a retired Deputy
Inspector-General of Police, his humility and commitment to duty have been
awesome. Just like in marriage, it is very difficult to have a colleague at
work that you can call your friend.
It is
like you have a husband or a wife, and you can proudly say that your spouse is
your friend. We have harmony and very, very good working relationship, and like
I said, I am very privileged to have a deputy whom I can call my friend.
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