Igbo leaders received knocks yesterday when friends, family members, well-wishers and associates of Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, converged on Enugu to celebrate his 78th birthday.
This is coming at a time when chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, said that even as Ojukwu is on wheelchair, he remains strong.

Speaking at the event, Senator Uche Chukwumerije said Igbo leaders lack what he called the Igbo spirit, which he said has affected the position of the South east in the current political arrangement in the country.
Chukwumerije, who was the first to speak, shortly after his arrival with former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, said: “We are here primarily to celebrate the spirit of an Igboness, the spirit personified by Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of Ndigbo.

“I hope we all understand what we mean by the spirit, the spirit of never say die, the spirit of keeping your heads high; the spirit of saying come rain come sun Ndigbo must rise again in Nigeria; that is the spirit we are talking about.

“Let me tell you why I think Ojukwu is the unhappiest man today; he is very unhappy because the greatest casualty of the civil war is not those killed; it is not property destroyed, but the death of the spirit of the Igbo-man.
“Forty to fifty years after the war, the Igbo man can’t rise up with courage and say this is my right; let me claim it back; and this is what the spirit of Ojukwu is telling you today; wherever he is today watching you, he will recover tomorrow if he knows that you are going to rise as one person to reassert, once more, the preeminent

position of Ndigbo in Nigeria.”
The senator accused Igbo leaders of inability to take a firm stand on issues that concerns their people, saying: “Every little thing they will hide under the bed; tell them it is Igbo president in 2015, they will say no it is not our turn. Those who want to be like Ojukwu please imbibe the spirit of the Igbo man; that is the only Igbo man I know in Igbo land, come rain come sun, come what the whole world is saying, he stands for the Igbo people and speaks for the Igbo people. I want you to carry your heads high and behave like Igbo’s;” he urged.
Also speaking Imo State Governor Chief Rochas Okorocha said: “I want to tell Igbo, rejoice because you are an Igbo man; the days of songs of marginalisation are gone because no one man can marginalise Ndigbo; if there is marginalisation in Igbo land it is indeed, the Igbo that have marginalised themselves because we are special people.

“I want us to use this occasion as Ndigbo to make a re-think; what are we really looking for; power, money? What are we looking for that we cannot unite? People always talk about Igbo; the day Igbo nation comes together, the Ekwuemes, the Iwuanyanwus, the Arthur Nzeribes, all our leaders, the governors, the day they come under one table of brotherhood I tell you the nations will bow before this nation. Our problem is ourselves, and no one is holding us but we are holding ourselves. Let’s embrace each other, let’s work in unity.”

On his part, Governor Obi said there is no Nigeria without Igbo pointing out that they are the only people residing and developing all parts of the country. He noted that the unity is coming in gradually, adding: “We have agreed to work together as governors in the zone and not to discuss our issues in public.”
APGA chairman, Umeh, said the party is eternally grateful to God for sparing the life of the leader of Ojukwu, who he addressed as the greatest Igbo spirit still alive.

He said: “Those of you who followed the journey of his sickness right from December I, 2010 many people doubted that Ojukwu will be alive to mark his 78th birthday. Ojukwu is a special creation by God and nobody can takeaway his uniqueness as a human being; even in sickness he has shown he is a brave man.
“Nobody can believe that somebody can be in coma for nearly six months and he eventually made it; today he sits on his wheel chair in England; it is not easy.”
Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu thanked Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of Movement for a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for single-handed organising the celebration for the sick Igbo leader.

She thanked God for the life her husband, who is recuperating in a London hospital. Mrs. Ojukwu said” “I also thank all the Igbo; it is your prayers that has kept him going. I express gratitude to the President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife who have shown enough concern over the health of Dim Ojukwu.
“I want to thank Governor Peter Obi made arrangement and he was flown abroad in December last year; up till today he has made sure that every month he comes to London to see him; he has been the one paying his medical bills running into hundreds of millions.

“It is a miracle that after one year Ojukwu is still alive; it is something to celebrate; despite his sickness he remains a true general; he has starred death in the face many times and on many occasions he said by the grace of God it is not my portion. Sometimes when I am talking to him he will keep quiet but when I tell him, you know this place is not our home, Ezeigbo won’t we go home, he will nod in affirmative; he wants to come back to his people in good health; he loves you all and he remains deeply appreciative.”