By Tony Edike
DISTURBED by the absence of a representative of Ndigbo in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, after the removal of the former national chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ebonyi State chapter, has called for his immediate recall.
The group said Nwodo remained the best option in search of who to fill the vacant position he was forced out of, stressing that “as leaders of Ndigbo youths, we find it unacceptable that the South East is not represented in the highest organ of the ruling party”.
The Ohanaeze youth wing asked President Goodluck Jonathan to “recall how Nwodo put in all in his arsenal and defied powerful lobbies to shut him (Jonathan) out of the presidential race over zoning” and initiate moves to recall him immediately.
Speaking to newsmen in Enugu, state youth president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Ebonyi State, Mazi Okemiri Alex, stated that since the crisis in the party had worsened, even after Nwodo was forced to quit, “it is now clear that if his reform programme had been allowed to take effect, the party would have been the better for it now.
“It is now very clear that Nwodo meant well for the party as his reform package would have taken care of the acrimony now threatening the victory of the party at the polls.”
Stating that “the time to recall him is now and not later”, the group contended that all Nwodo stood for in trying to open the gate of the party for those angling to come was exactly what President Jonathan was now preaching in calling for reconciliation and for aggrieved members to remain instead of leaving the party.
Protesting the current state of affairs, he maintained that it was not acceptable to Ndigbo that another person from another zone would be allowed to occupy a sensitive position zoned to the South East “when the Igbo man who was removed gave a good account of himself as a man of integrity.
“I am, therefore, on behalf of Igbo youths, calling on President Jonathan to recall Dr. Nwodo to office as the vacuum created by his exit has remained unfilled and the evidence is seen in the confusion in the party, where the party leadership is unable to solve any of the lingering problems.”
The group further called on “Igbo leaders, especially those who are in PDP and continue to watch while Ndigbo are being sidelined wrongly to rise up now and reject this treatment to Nwodo while some others now in NWC who actually worked against the president are there now holding sway and pretending to be Jonathan’s friends”.
They alleged that those who forced Nwodo to quit the exalted office are enemies of Ndigbo who actually saw the man’s profile rising as one of the voices of conscience for the nation as he strove to restore dignity and discipline to the ruling party.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/ohanaeze-demands-nwodos-reinstatement/

Socio-cultural organization or political?

[size=14pt]Our problems self-inflicted, say S-East leaders[/size]
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/01/our-problems-self-inflicted-say-s-east-leaders/

[size=13pt]SOUTH-East leaders, yesterday, admitted that the problems confronting the zone where persons who occupy positions zoned to them are often removed from office are self inflicted.[/size]

Rising from a meeting in Abuja, under the aegis of Eastern Leaders Forum, the leaders lamented that an Igbo person would lend himself for the purpose of pulling down top Igbo leaders, stressing that the body was doing something to stem the tide.

Addressing journalists in Abuja after the meeting, Chairman, Eastern Leaders Forum and former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, noted that though the problems which most top political office holders of Igbo extraction had faced nationally were very shameful, they were, however, fuelled by external forces who want to create the impression that the South East could not be entrusted with topmost leadership positions.
The group also restated its support for President Goodluck Jonathan in the April presidential election, just as it insisted that a president of Igbo extraction must emerge in 2015.

Ezeife, who noted that the zone’s quest for the  Presidency come 2015 was not negotiable, stressed that the quest was a moral issue which other parts of Nigeria must key into if Nigerians truly believe in the unity of the country and equity. He added that an Igbo man only ruled the country for just six months, whereas other zones in the country had controlled the affairs of this country for a greater number of years.


According to him, “it would be unfair not to accord us that privilege. A South Easterner ruled this country for only six months and after he was killed, his kits and kin were massacred in large numbers thereafter.” ”

[size=13pt]On the problem faced by Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, which led to his resignation, Ezeife explained that not only did both Nwodo and Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, pretended they had accepted all the peace offers made to resolve their differences, but that what led to Nwodo’s forced resignation were externally influenced.[/size]

[size=13pt]“Our problems are self- inflicted.  Give us three months to begin to see new things and answers to some of the agitations that the people from our zone make.  We are working on it and things will change I can assure you,’’ he said.

On the presidential election, the South East Leaders Forum restated its resolve to massively mobilize Ndigbo to vote for President Jonathan, saying that doing so was to strengthen the unity and progress of the country. He said:  “We are putting all our eggs in one basket for Jonathan because since after the civil war, all the governments ignored all the roads and other federal facilities in the zone.” [/size]

“For Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to have received our support to have emerged in the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, we have hope that all the roads in all parts of the country will be fixed because it will benefit our people who are found in large numbers everywhere.

“We pray that he will be used as a tool in the hands of God to bring the desired major changes in Nigeria in the interest of every group in Nigeria.

“Indeed, we earnestly call on the leadership of every group in Nigeria who can influence the actions of others to give peace, progress and the permanence of one Nigeria a chance by being restrained in what they say, preach or announce.

“We salute the entire Igbo delegates at the convention of PDP.  They did not disappoint our elders and leaders.  Above all, the apex Igbo organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo who unequivocally endorsed the candidacy of President Jonathan for 2011Presidential election and have been working for his success.

“We also congratulate delegates from the South West, South South, North Central, North East and North West zones, who voted for the President for standing for a new Nigeria where justice, equity and fairness shall be the watchword.  We enjoin all of you irrespective of how they voted not to relent.”

Also present at the briefing were Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, Eze M.O. Kanu, Senator Sylvanus Ngele, Igwe Ofoebe; Comrade Peace Obiajulu; Eze Igbo Ibe Nwosu; Hon. Agunwa Anekwe, Dr. Ifedi Okwenna; Dr. Kanayo Okoye and Eze Ambassador Longinus Udogwu.

Others were Ochigbo George, Dr. Caliiben Okonkwo, Barrister Aleto Maxwell, Eugene Anekwe, Magnus Ibe, among others.

Have they finished the much they collected to remove him?

.

^^^ Please stop!! People should be allowed to discuss any people they want without it disintegrating into some tribal fight!! How come we feel it is OK to discuss issues, even when those involved are from other ethnicities, but turn into attack-dogs when our own those from our own side are discussed? Worse, why do some take it on themselves to attack other ethnicities simply because?

You know what though? I blame the @Moderators because if they clamped down on the tribalists and tribalism in general, you would probably not be here telling this dude who he can or cannot speak about.

Kobojunkie:

^^^ Please stop!! People should be allowed to discuss any people they want without it disintegrating into some tribal fight!! How come we feel it is OK to discuss issues, even when those involved are from other ethnicities, but turn into attack-dogs when our own those from our own side are discussed? Worse, why do some take it on themselves to attack other ethnicities simply because?

You know what though? I blame the @Moderators because if they clamped down on the tribalists and tribalism in general, you would probably not be here telling this dude who he can or cannot speak about.

Kobo, I agree that we can all discuss our issues with ourselves since we are in the same country.

Freedom of speech is a right of all human beings. Granted there are those who misuse that freedom but that should be no reason why some or anyone should take it on his/herself to decide no one can talk about certain ethnic groups or persons from those ethnicities.

Again, if the moderators wanted, they could clamp down on those who continue to misuse this freedom but since they continue to ignore, it is time people grow a thick skin and man-up about having their ethnicity criticized. All these attack-dogs are just immature kids throwing a tantrum and feeling they need to get on the offensive but they do not shy away from labeling and attacking other groups, it seems!

When they say the federal government ignore them, are they not part of the same federal government? Do they not have elected and appointed federal leaders? or is it not up to their elected leaders at both federal and state level to speak for and fight for them to get things done back home?

See how they just excused and forgot about the folks they elected and appointed back home and passed the ball to GEJ.

I wonder why they keep fighting the wrong war.

um . . . @Poster, can you open a Fashola vs the People thread as well. Make we try to balance these things out. ROFLMAO!!

ohaneze people are not serious

Why can't this people form a political party, what has PDP's affair got to do with them?
They are supposed to be organising our New Yam, Masquerade Festivals and promoting our Cultural Identities.
But here they are all the time talking about politics, their last outing was- "Igbo vote goes to Jonathan", as if they can even guarantee their own wives vote for Jonathan, let alone a whole nation.

Eziachi:

Why can't this people form a political party, what has PDP's affair got to do with them?
They are supposed to be organising our New Yam, Masquerade Festivals and promoting our Cultural Identities.
But here they are all the time talking about politics, their last outing was- "Igbo vote goes to Jonathan", as if they can even guarantee their own wives vote for Jonathan, let alone a whole nation.

lol . . . I used to think Ohaneze meant the people speaking for the people . . . but this particular group --- I could definitely do without them organizing new yam festivals or telling politicians who I and my family will vote for.

Eziachi:

Why can't this people form a political party, what has PDP's affair got to do with them?
They are supposed to be organising our New Yam, Masquerade Festivals and promoting our Cultural Identities.
But here they are all the time talking about politics, their last outing was- "Igbo vote goes to Jonathan", as if they can even guarantee their own wives vote for Jonathan, let alone a whole nation.

Our republican nature as Igbos made sense when we were widely spread out across the land, not any more, not in this internet, facebook, and tweeter age.
Recent geopolitical events since the 1960s to date seem to show that the umbrella Igbo group Ohaneze is not even political enough. With time, this group will come to substitute for our lack of central monarchy, and present Igbos numerical superiority for what it ought to be.
The Iwa-ji festivals are not the only prerogative of the Ohaneze.

naijaking1:

Our republican nature as Igbos made sense when we were widely spread out across the land, not any more, not in this internet, facebook, and tweeter age.
Recent geopolitical events since the 1960s to date seem to show that the umbrella Igbo group Ohaneze is not even political enough. With time, this group will come to substitute for our lack of central monarchy, and present Igbos numerical superiority for what it ought to be.
The Iwa-ji festivals are not the only prerogative of the Ohaneze.

WELL SAID SIR.

^^^
When was the last time you visited Orie-agu?

^^^Last Easter period.
But I will be there soon as I will be going to Owerri to present cash and gifts from members of the Igbo Youths U.K to the Centre for sickle cell and child stroke.
We did a fund raiser two weeks ago for this centre and a lot was raised.

Ralph Uwueche opened up a can of worms.

Now even Ohanaeze youth - Ebonyi chapter is porknosing into PDP affairs for Nwodo sake.

Soon we would hear Ohanaeze toddlers - Abia chapter campaigning for Nnanami whilst Ohanaeze women - Rumuokurishi chapter campaign for Amaechi.

All after collecting their cut of course!

lol