The 2023 general elections are fast approaching and Igbos are clamouring for the presidency in the spirit of equity. But, in the South -East, a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is calling for total segregation from Nigeria, while the Ohaneze Ndigbo is calling for a diplomatic approach to achieve the Igbo agenda. In this interview with our correspondent, JOHN NDU, the National Vice President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Afam Okeke-Ogene, gave an insight into the stand of Ohaneze on Igbo presidency.
Sir, how ready do you think the Igbo, especially Ohaneze Ndigbo, are for the Igbo Presidency?
Ohaneze Ndigbo is a cultural organisation and not a political party. Ohaneze Ndigbo can’t bring out candidates, it is the responsibility of parties to do so. Igbo presidency is a communal affair, it is all inclusive. It is our mission to create awareness, to sensitise Nigerians to the need to have a president of Igbo extraction.
Is the South-East desperate for the presidency?
We don’t call for war or plan to instigate war. It is not possible we will go for war, that is why we are organising handshakes across the Niger. But, our mandate is for the South-East to go for the presidency. The president of Ohaneze Ndigbo cannot be a candidate. The leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo also cannot be candidates. And there is no particular party on which platform we would want our people to contest. If any Igbo politician gets a ticket in any of the parties, we will support him or them as the case may be. So, let the politicians do the needful and leave the rest for us.
How well have you sensitized political parties to field candidates of South-East extraction?
It is ongoing. First of all, we are reaching out to cultural organisations to help us talk to politicians. But, we want our politicians to be at the forefront. You can see some cultural organisations like the Arewa Consultative Forum, saying there is a need to have a president of Igbo extraction; the middle belt, the Ijaws, they are all clamouring for Igbo presidency, but we need to see action from our politicians. If we are all pushing and nobody is contesting or wants to contest or have the capacity to contest, I wonder… But, we will keep pushing until we achieve our dream.
What is the stand of Ohaneze Ndigbo on the attack on some communities in the South -East by herdsmen?
Honestly, Ohaneze Ndigbo has its own agenda and IPOB has its agenda too. Our mandate is to negotiate for the South-East position in Nigeria and to see that the Igbo have their rights as stated in the constitution of Nigeria. So, on the issue of security, Ohaneze Ndigbo is working with the SouthEast governors.
You know, there’s nowhere in the constitution that a cultural organisation is empowered to be in charge of security. It is the responsibility of chief executives of states to provide security. Mind you, Ohaneze has spoken on the herdsmen attacks, condemning the attacks by the herdsmen. So, our chief executive officers should act in line with the constitution to provide security for their people. I know they have set up a committee that involves the attorney general of all the states to look into the matter and promulgate a law and also establish community policing for the South-East and have a legal back-up for the security outfit. We are still in Nigeria and Nigerians, but I want you to understand that every full-blooded Igbo man is a Biafran and IPOB people are Biafrans.
Are you saying indirectly that you are in support of Biafra?
The issue of Biafra, like our national president, said, is beyond one man and one organisation. It is a collective effort. The Ohaneze Ndigbo cannot wake up and say that we need a Biafra nation. Ohaneze equally will not come out tomorrow and say, we are pulling out from Nigeria, no. It must be the collective responsibility of everybody. Of course, you know a cultural organisation does not create a nation. So, if the majority of the people they are leading say this is what they want, we go with them. We are not from the west or from the north, we are from the east. Of course, you know what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Sir, if it is a collective responsibility why can’t Ohaneze support IPOB to achieve the goal?
This is not the time for supporting or not supporting them. There are certain things you must do. You people are seeing it as a parallel something. No, remember you have Igbos of over 11.5 million in the North. Do you want to sacrifice them in one day? Are you not even making plans on how they will come back and how they will settle because we are congested here. You are not talking of their future. Are the 11.5 million lgbos not going to be Biafrans? Are we not going to consult them?. So, it is beyond one group and one person.
So, what’s your advice today to IPOB?
What you will understand is that we have fought a war. What we need now are diplomatic and intelligent strategies. Every Igbo man still believes that the war has not ended because we have not achieved our goal. The most important thing is that we must tread with caution. We must be careful with the way we handle things. We have our 11.5 million brothers over there. Well, no Igbo man will tell you he is happy with the way Igbo are treated in Nigeria.
So sometimes, the youths that are involved in this, you will not blame them because first of all, the Federal Government provoked them by calling them terrorists and banned them when the actual terrorists are walking around. That is why Ohaneze finds it difficult to control them because they believe that the Federal Government hurriedly went to court and tagged them, terrorists.
I have not seen any IPOB man carrying guns, but on Benin -Ore and Ondo roads and under Federal Government, crises are everywhere. The Fulani herdsmen are with AK47 everywhere terrorizing the whole country. Miyetti Allah addresses world press conferences regularly in Nigeria. So, it is the Federal Government that provoked them. It is not easy for a cultural organization to control them (IPOB) because the Federal Government was not fair to them.