Why I Didn't Attend Igbo Summit — Chief Ojukwu
Adey Oyenuga
By Paul Odili
ENUGU—THE Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Ojukwu, says he
did not attend last Friday’s Igbo conference because it was not
a summit but "a gathering of job-seekers, hirelings, loud-mouths
and empty jingoists, who were charting personal agenda and not
the Igbo."
"I did not want to attend and it was not an historic occasion. I
took a careful look at positions of the programme that got to me
before the event and it became so clear to me that it was neither
Igbo nor a summit. Every summit that I have heard of, distills
various leadership, and you get the numero uno’s from various
groupings to sit together and discuss a specific problem . I don’t
know how many groups we have in Igboland and I don’t know
therefore how the numero uno’s could be 500 or whatever, "he
declared in an interview.
Following is the full text of the interview:
"The first Igbo summit held here in Enugu on Friday, January 19,
and what was clear was your absence. May we know why you
were absent?
I did not want to attend and I do not agree with you that it was
an historic occasion. It was nothing, by my way of looking at
things, it was not historic. On the 19th, we were invited by some
people in what was termed, in very grandiose terms as the Igbo
summit. I took a careful look at positions of the programme that
got to me before the event and it became so clear to me that it
was neither Igbo nor a summit. You may immediately jump up
and say why not? But it is obvious.
Where in the world have you heard of a summit of nearly 2000
people? When you mention the figure a thousand that appeared
there it may look very high, so well you can cut it down to say
1000, that relates more to a market place than a summit. And
when you say summit, who were the participants? Every
summit that I have heard of, distills various leadership, and
you set the numero uno’s from various groupings to sit
together and discuss a specific problem. I don’t know how
many groups we have in Igbo land and I don’t know therefore
how the numero uno’s could be 500 or whatever it. But let us
get back to the real issue, who are those people?
>From the names I saw from the programme, it was going to
be a talk shop and indeed later, I was proved right. It was a
gathering of job-seekers, hirelings, loud-mouths and empty
jingoists. It is a sad reflection of the Igbo situation in this
country, that really anybody can get up and say I am setting
up a summit. Can you look even at the way it was organized
and you would see that clearly, the whole of the 19th, that
the Igbo; let me make this very clear the IBOS and the
IGBOs came together. Putting it more clearly, the IBOS are
the Nigerian Ibos. They are people I don’t use the word
leaders, people who now consider themselves Nigerians
and look to Nigeria for their sustenance in everything.
They are people who in their hearts of hearts have abandoned
the struggle to help the Igbo de-marginalise. People who feel
they must cut a sufficiently attractive figure to be seen by the
powers that be. People who are hawking themselves expecting
actors in the power game to find them attractive and then to get
employment from them.
A lot was said on the 19th and I must say without any
equivocation that the young man from Abia, Gov. Orji Uzor
Kalu, would seem to have said something closer to the hearts
of Ndigbo. That is what we need in a summit. It is to chart a
new course for our people. I mean let’s forget this millennium
the most you can do is to chart for Ndigbo is perhaps for a decade.
Even that, you probably need more than one day to do so. It did
look to me like certain preconceived notions where laid down,
and nobody really cared about making the meeting even a rubber
stamp one. No. It was a propaganda meeting where you take
things that are disjointed, people attended and ignore what they
discussed and you produce a communiqué, which would tend to
support one thing or the other. And I think that I am again being
born out, because up till today, there is no communiqué, because
they were arguing. Why are they arguing? not because the
communiqué was not prepared. No! The draft communiqué was
prepared, but what happened in the hall was no longer, what
was expected. Having said all these, it is the Igboness that I just
want to underline, and Ndigbo do not discuss their affairs in the
market square. So green horns cannot really be expected to
chart the Igbo course. What we are looking for are men of
value, wise men with tremendous experience, men who have
paid their dues and who have made sacrifices and are prepared
to make even more sacrifices for Ndigbo and who cannot be
bought. We are not looking for 419ners and certainly, when
you are talking about a summit, the leadership of a people, it
is not even a democratic one, a movement to a leadership
position could and should be democratic. But once they are
there as leaders and known, there is no way a Mr. Who, can
be part of an Igbo summit. A lot of people talked and
organized; really go through their antecedents and you will
see. I have always being around, that they are mostly
individuals who cannot win a seat in their own local
government councils. They are no leaders for Ndigbo.
I thought that your attendance would have sharpened this
contradiction that you identified.
And you really think what I should be doing after so many
years is shouting in the market square?
Is that what you are asking and I say no? It is far better that I
am here now and people note by my absence that it is not an
all Igbo affair, certainly. And you cannot say it is a summit or
the best you can say is that it was billed to be a summit, but it
was not complete, it is far better. And I don’t know, can you
or can’t you, we say in Igbo language, "Agbawo dike Izu,
agbamgba na abuo," which means that when you set out and
proceed to marginalise those who should, or when you do
things without consulting those, who should be consulted, all
it means is that you have to repeat the exercise. It is my
genuine hope that when we are ready, we would repeat the
exercise, but I hope most sincerely, that the repeat will not
be obtuse as the one of Friday.
Where does Ndigbo go from here; what do you expect them
to do about this conflict?
There is no conflict yet, no. All I said is that it would seem that
Ndigbo are not yet ready. Or I put it this way, when we are
ready then perhaps a repeat, when I say repeat not in the
obtuse manner of Friday. I cannot prescribe the speed at
which Ndigbo will put their acts together. But one thing is
clear and let me make it absolutely clear to everybody that
hears me, that if Ohaneze can only produce what it produced
last Friday, the time has come for Ohaneze to be disbanded.
And let’s get proper leaders to organize Ndigbo. You look
at me again and ask why don’t you? I say I intend to strive
along that line, to do what I can. I am one person that will
not be attracted to participate in the shaming of Ndigbo like
what happened on Friday. It was a shame, anybody who
took part in that event should be asking himself a question —
it was bad, Ohaneze disappointed everybody. It shot itself in
the foot. I am sure as a journalist you looked at the whole
thing, when you were coming, you were expecting a lot of
things, you were expecting some ideas, you were expecting
new direction for a people.
A people known quite recently for their dynamism. But because
of the way, the whole thing was conceived; the way it was
organized, the way it was run, they left Ohaneze meeting
crippled. And they have nobody to be blamed, they shot
themselves in the foot. A lot of people had suspected this and
have been quite patient, but this time no. Something drastic
has to be done.
You just talked about Ohaneze’s failure and all that, the new
organization that you expect to lead Ndigbo, will it be by
election or selection?
I said that the leadership of Ohaneze probably has to be
disbanded; so, you and I are talking about two different things.
Okay, if it is disbanded, how do you expect the new leadership
to emerge?
It will emerge through the constitution properly. Don’t forget
that most of the people leading Ohaneze, have not been
subjected to the terms of a constitution, which was written
some three years ago. It was presented to Ohaneze and has
never been fully approved or put it into practice, that is one
of the problems. We have people in Ohaneze today, who
have held office for nine years; that is nonsensical, anybody
that held office for three years in any organization should
bow out with grace, and soon. There are others, who are
self-appointed. No. Ohaneze in its new constitution as
proposed, I am not really talking about that, because it
hasn’t been put into practice, but within that, the restructuring
of Ohaneze has been done. It is a question of getting the
present pseudo-leadership of Ohaneze to one side and
adopting the constitution, and trying it, I hope it will remove
a lot of the nonsense. I believe also that the Igbo situation
is not one that can be led by a socio-cultural organization,
we are in a democracy come on, call its name, what we
need is a political organization. Something that will embrace
the Igbo agenda, no matter what political party you later
join, you are expected by your people to do three, four, five
things or more for them. All you have to do is to support,
ensure that wherever you are, you are moving in that
direction. And we should respect our leadership much more,
not everybody claiming leadership, there is too much of that
going on. So that the enemy will not use the black legs to
confuse the nation about the Igbo opinion."
Vanguard: Transmitted TUESDAY, 23rd JANUARY, 2001