2015 Presidency: Groups adopt Chukwumerije’s speech as Igbo roadmap


BY Tony Edike
ENUGU—SIXTEEN Igbo groups rose from a meeting in Enugu Monday endorsing Senator Uche Chukwumerije’s epistle to Ndigbo as the authentic roadmap for Ndigbo as the Igbo race pursues self-discovery and political salvation.

The Chukwumerije epistle, titled Wake up call: Path to Igbo Self-Realisation, delivered at the recent 2011 Igbo Day celebration at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has been generally hailed by Ndigbo at home and abroad as an honest and patriotic agenda-setting document for the Igbo race.

The groups, which met at the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, Secretariat GRA, Enugu, agreed to work together, assisting each other and co-operating as a team to build synergy to move Igboland forward.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, President of IYM, Evangelist Elliot Uko, said Ndigbo was in dire straits at the moment because of decades of marginalisation and deliberate efforts by past regimes in the country to divide and hold down Ndigbo.

Uko said Igbo were surprised that such a beautiful document could come from a serving PDP senator, urging Ndigbo to be guided by Chukwumerije’s admonition in their pursuit for political relevance.

He announced the setting up of five committees to articulate and aggregate various shades of opinion from Igbo traders, civil servants, the clergy, traditional rulers and Igbo in the diaspora.

The committees are those of mobilisation, enlightenment, strategy, finance and integration and they are expected to brief the groups’ general meeting scheduled for December this year.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/10/2015-presidency-groups-adopt-chukwumerije%E2%80%99s-speech-as-igbo-roadmap/

@my Igbo brothers,

Anyone seen this Uche Chukwumerije roadmap document?
I've always trusted Uche Chukwumerije in terms of Nigerian national politics. He ranks VERY HIGH in my book.

It appears that the document is making waves among Igbo groups worldwide.
We Nairaland pundits need to see and comment on it.

NL Pundits ke?

Ok, I came across some of the quotes from his speech:


"Path To Igbo Self-Rehabilitation explained its essence in the opening paragraph thus: "The dialectical flow of Nigerian's history has now swept Ndigbo to what Zik once described as the brink of an open grave. Ndigbo must today -not tomorrow - regain themselves and re-assert their corporate personality in our multi-ethnic Federation or diffuse into isolated individual entities in the anonymity of Nigeria's multitude. The purpose of this brief address is to draw our attention to this threat and offer suggestions on a mode of urgent redemptive positive action."

"Content analysis of the Nigerian press in the last three decades will probably indicate that no ethnic group has fielded as many super-patriotic expert-advisers on Nigerian unity or is as ready to sound and act holier than Pope Nigeria as members of the Igbo ethnic nationality.

"But all these noisy activities have neither induced a change of heart in the Nigerian System nor restored our rights and dignity in the Federation. Today, South East zone still carries the open wounds of a savage genocidal war. She is the backwater of Nigeria, scoring low in economic, political and social indices. On the economic front, the fact that an indisputably major national project, Second Onitsha Bridge, has been abandoned by Federal Government to South East self-help through the euphemism of Public Private Partnership while similar mega national projects in other states or zones receive full Federal funding is an eloquent statement on Nigeria's attitude to the challenge of repair of our war-destroyed economy. In the quest for political leverage, our loud deadlines and projections on the election of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction have been mocked by the Nigerian system. Our place on the rung of Federation's power ladder has slid to 5th or 6th level, yet we are the largest single ethnic group in the country. On the social front, the Igbo cultural personality is treated with as much respect by the rest of Nigeria as the regard which animals of the forest reserve for the once-respected red crest of the rooster!

"The Result? The nose-dive of the ethnic group, beginning from the collapse of our Igboness in 1970, has continued so relentlessly that the group is on the verge of extinction. Yes, total disappearance of a group from the institutional centre of our multi-ethnic Federation is a refined form of extinction. Extinction does not refer only to the death chambers of physical extermination and genocide. Total disappearance of a group from a political map is a refined extermination entraining the same grim harvest to a group which allows itself to disintegrate into lone disparate stars in the firmament."

Senator Chukwumerije's proposal for halting and reversing the slide of Ndigbo amounted to a three-sided rescue operation as follows:

•Functional unity anchored on a core group.

•Launch of a 'Marshal Plan' to the rehabilitation of our war-shattered economy.

• Recovery of our group cultural personality.

"In increased effort to optimally realise the potentials of its grass roots-oriented republican constitution, Ohanaeze needs to do more to reach three groups. One is the large reservoir of elders and statesmen in our large family to enrich and strengthen Ime-Obi. The second is the youths. Youths are the teeth or the fangs of any disadvantaged group struggling for redress. Distancing ourselves from our main youth organizations like Massob will cost us the leverage necessary to re-direct their energies to constructive ends WITHIN THE AMBIT OF THE LAW. The causal relationship between OPC/June 12 and South West access to the Presidency for twelve years, or between youth militancy and Niger Delta's current access to Presidency, or between a politicized Boko Haram and North's determination to win the next round of Presidential election points to the fact that youth militancy has become an effective weapon in the armoury of group struggle. It is the fatherly duty of Ohanaeze to devise means of constructive engagement with our youth bodies as members of our large family."

"It was the Niger Delta militancy that ensured that President Goodluck Jonathan became President of Nigeria while the Boko Haram sect is being used by the North to achieve its presidency bid in 2015. The Igbos should therefore incorporate the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) into its system to ensure that an Igbo emerges as President of Nigeria [in 2015]."

I say we should adopt MASSOB as our enforcement arm.
Every serious group has an armed wing. Only Ndigbo.
I'm happy that someone as high as Senator Uche Chukwumerije is the one advocating this.

I always laugh at all these Igbos who want to be more "patriotic" than other Nigerians.
I'm seriously laughing at such foools.

Igbo president or Nigerian president.

So you expect me or any Nigerian to vote for an Igbo president instead of a Nigerian president ?

Even if it is Rochas, Once he talks of Igbo presidency, he has lost my vote.

^^

Frankly I don't even care about Nigerian presidency. I just want MASSOB to be supported by ALL Igbo politicians.
We can do a lot with it. I know you know what I'm about.

But somehow talking about Northern President is acceptable to you? Shut the 4k up biko. @AlmajiriHarem

alj_harem:

Igbo president or Nigerian president.

So you expect me or any Nigerian to vote for an Igbo president instead of a Nigerian president ?

Even if it is Rochas, Once he talks of Igbo presidency, he has lost my vote.

You unrepentant hypocrite. You only have one vote. 2015 may yet make or break. Nuff said.

i understand this guy. he is basically saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If massob causes enough wahala like dem boko boys, Nigerians will pay attention. that means that by 2015, massob must cause more palava than boko becos right now, boko are already paving the way for a northerner in 2015. massob is on a really short deadline, activate the massob goons now!

udezue:

But somehow talking about Northern President is acceptable to you? Shut the 4k up biko. @AlmajiriHarem

Brother, the Atiku lost my vote was the day he was shouting about Northern presidency. That tells you the kind of person I am

South-East:

You unrepentant hypocrite. You only have one vote. 2015 may yet make or break. Nuff said.

what did I do nw ? btw, that is why I said my vote; thus it does not mean others would think in the same line as mine

The most important of Chukwumerije's points is the Recovery of our group cultural personality.

I have lamented here that our culture is being muddled and confused in the Nigerian dungeon.

I was watching a South African theater art by the "Soweto Gospel Choir" and was amazed by the similarity to our Igbo choirs in the early 80s (during civilian rule), all of which are now dead.

I started wondering how a South African black group could retain much of their cultural singing and dancing under white rule, than Igbo maintaining our singing and dancing under Hausa/Fulani/Yoruba rule.

If you go to youtube.com you would see how vibrant all these South African black theater groups are.
Now, try watching "Nigerian national troupe"; you would become so confused and embarrassed.  

We need to reclaim and revive our culture. Else, we die. This is ultimately really a matter of cultural life and death.

I thought he is in PDP, he could start by switching to MASSOB

The Igbos should therefore incorporate the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) into its system to ensure that an Igbo emerges as President of Nigeria [in 2015]."

Am I missing something here, cos I thought MASSOB was for Biafra, what the heck is 2015 Presidency?, you don't win the game if you don't make up your mind where you want to be.

Meanwhile, I would love to hear his "Marshall Plan" speech on why Abia State is firing non-indigenes plus including (apologies Chief Zebrudaya) the Igbos, and why hasn't Ohanaeze even released a press statement on that? I imagine if a Northern Governor tried that we would have a big speech by now.

Speech or no speech, all na English. Group that adopted are jobless. The problems of NdiIgbo can be solved if we want to, very simple if I may add.

[flash=480,360]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSTQoQ-urRw?version=3&hl=en_US"[/flash]

I haven't listened to such VERY HIGH quality choir anywhere in Nigeria since 90s.
This was common in Igboland before now.
Today, there is nothing. It has been killed by the Nigerian confusion.

Azikiwe Goodluck is using Igbo people time. Which one be 2015,

you make me laugh. I don tell una make una break nigeria.


there is no igbo president in 2015. Azikiwe goodluck is from the east,

The north had it under Yar Adua
The the east had it under Azikiwe Goodluck.

An igbo man WILL SURELY BE PRESIDENT of Nigeria come 2015 by God's grace. AMEN.

@POST

Senator Uche Chukwumerije has written like a politician whose eyes are set on future political stakes. I had expected to read the deemed necessity or insinuation to arm MASSOB to the hips so that Igbo youths in the organization could fend off incessant abuses from the Nigerian security outfits.

It is unfortunately Uche Chukwumerije wrote about the need to guide Igbo unity to a steel form but his Abia State governor, T O Orji, is bent on creating resentments towards Abians with his foolish sacking of non-indigenes of Abia State. I guess Uche understands charity begins at home.

I am disappointed that respected scholar such as Uche Chukwumerije, who has been within corridor of power in Nigeria on deferent capacities, spent time and energy writing about Ndigbo, Nigerian presidency and 2015.

Uche Chukwumerije and all other sons and daughters of Ndigbo in high places in Nigeria must drum the need to site international airport with comparable size and functionality of MMA and NNA and deservedly federal presence in Igbo land or then eastern region of Nigeria to any unwilling and capable ear in federal government of Nigeria.

good one what can i say igbo are now adopting some senses what can i say again follow me on twitter @Gentlejoe_pjc

If there is anything that scares nigeria to death - i mean really scares them to death - is MASSOB!  They shldn't be scared to death yet, that wld be cowardly, u know, because we're just startg and we know that God has given the life of this nation into our hands; when we decide that it's tyme, we shall take our destiny in2 our own hands! and the wolrd wld hv no other choice than to support us because it's bn decades and yet the entity nigeria i deterioratg to the shock of even our neighbourg countries!  Need we say more?

MASSOB needs a name change.

Movement for the Welfare of Igbo Nation would be a better name.

[b]Onlytruth[[/b]quote] Ndigbo must today -not tomorrow - regain themselves and re-assert their corporate personality in our multi-ethnic Federation or diffuse into isolated individual entities in the anonymity of Nigeria's multitude[quote][/quote]

@^^ Does the above quote not sound very hollow in the light of the sacking of so called non-indigene staff spat between Abia state and Imo state ?.  A house divided cannot stand. A people without vision, foresight and long range creative thinking plans rarely make it to the so called "promised" land. The current so called Igbo leadership are too short term [/b]oriented in thinking and lacking genuine creative problem solving abilities. They are too ego centric and easily pliable and dazzled by gimmicks by anyone and sundry. They seem to be quick to make grand standing statements without well thought out ideas and plans for viable, implementable actions. Please think and review the implications of the spat between Abia / Imo and perhaps other Igbo states like Ebonyi too. The situation demands serious thinking and action plan before looking outwards to projects like the [b]Centre where the general feeling of antipathy against the Igbo is enormous and those representing the various Igbo communities at the Centre are not exactly people of vision or emotional attachment to their people. It's as serious as War!

Posted by: cheikh

@^^ Does the above quote not sound very hollow in the light of the sacking of so called non-indigene staff spat between Abia state and Imo state ?. A house divided cannot stand. A people without vision, foresight and long range creative thinking plans rarely make it to the so called "promised" land. The current so called Igbo leadership are too short term oriented in thinking and lacking genuine creative problem solving abilities. They are too ego centric and easily pliable and dazzled by gimmicks by anyone and sundry. They seem to be quick to make grand standing statements without well thought out ideas and plans for viable, implementable actions. Please think and review the implications of the spat between Abia / Imo and perhaps other Igbo states like Ebonyi too. The situation demands serious thinking and action plan before looking outwards to projects like the Centre where the general feeling of antipathy against the Igbo is enormous and those representing the various Igbo communities at the Centre are not exactly people of vision or emotional attachment to their people. It's as serious War!

I totally agree with all the bolded. I would like to believe that Uche Chukwurije's plans must have addressed that, hence the wide applause it is receiving from various Igbo groups. If you read the quotes from his speech, that is the impression you get. The three key areas he identifies are the critical areas that need seriously brain work.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with ONE step forward.

Does anyone have a link to the speech or is it meant to be a secret?

.

I'm still looking for the full speech by Chukwumerije, and I will post it here.

I just had to rehash some key points in his speech:

In the quest for political leverage, our loud deadlines and projections on the election of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction have been mocked by the Nigerian system. Our place on the rung of Federation's power ladder has slid to 5th or 6th level, yet we are the largest single ethnic group in the country. On the social front, the Igbo cultural personality is treated with as much respect by the rest of Nigeria as the regard which animals of the forest reserve for the once-respected red crest of the rooster!

MASOOB have there strategics people should not worry about massob they are everywere they made their plead known in UN,even Obama knows about BIAFRA from the first day he took office,a lot of things is changing massob have calm down a bit cus of Jonathan Good-luck but soon the heat will be on again in few months

Good one Chukwumerije. Why such folks that should be in the fore front of Igbo leadership like to remain laidback beats me. Ndigbo need a militant group. whether it is massob or not remains the issue as Massob is clearly committed to non-violence. The fact is that each ethnic group needs to be prepared like the Boy scouts in face of this BM nonsense and also to be not only seen but heard since it appears violence is the language the powers that be understand