1966 Coup: Ohanaeze will never beg any ethnic nationality for forgiveness —Iwuanyanwu

VICTOR DURUAMAKU, Owerri  

The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has said that the Igbo Apex body has no plans to visit any ethnic group to beg for forgiveness as a result of the 1966 Coup in the Country.

He described as absolute falsehood, malicious, wicked and dangerous the audio clip by one Harford Ugwu and Obasi Igwe in which they said that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had at a retreat held for various Committees of the body, at the Old Government House decided to go to Sokoto to beg the Caliphate for forgiveness over the killing of Sadauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello, during the 1966 coup.

This is contained in a statement, issued in Owerri Wednesday, by Mr. Ben Osuagwu, the Special Adviser on Media to the President-General.

He described the allegation as, “the imagination of the evil doers who are bent on destroying Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide”.

Mr. Osuagwu said that the retreat was chaired by Rtd Rear Admiral Alison Madueke and was well attended by the members, pointing out that no Governor was invited.

The President General expressed gratitude to the Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mba, for sponsoring the retreat pointing out that Enugu State Government has displayed leadership and patriotism in all activities of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Chief Iwuanyanwu wondered how Governors who are very busy with other States’ functions could be invited to Sub-Committee meetings which are neither Ime Obi nor Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly.

He explained that the outcome of the retreat which Harford Ugwu and Obasi Igwe referred to were widely aired in the electronic and published in the print media and wondered how the duo fabricated their own report to cause disaffection in Igbo land.

He further said that the retreat examined other areas including industrialization of Igboland, agriculture, health, development of skill acquisition, Ohanaeze development and Investment Company, education, industries, producing of cultural calendar of Igboland, interstate cultural competitions and inter states sports competitions.

On the 1966 Coup, the President General said the military should be held responsible for it and not the Igbos reiterating his position that Igboland did not have anything to do with the coup.

According to him, “the Coup plotters did not intend to elevate any Igbo man through their action”.

He revealed that the coup failed due to the intervention of General Thomas Aguiyi Ironsi who was not part of the coup and was later assassinated, noting that Igbos were murdered in large numbers in the northern parts of the country.

Chief Iwuanyanwu recalled, “later there was a civil war which was fought on Igbo soil that claimed millions of lives of Igbos.

He described the period as the “very painful part of our history” and  said, “the question of Igbos going to apologise does not arise in any way.”

On the Peace and Reconciliation Committee set up by Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Iwuanyanwu explained, “it is to protect the interest of Ndigbo wherever they live.”

According to him, the terms of reference for the work of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee include: “To identify and collaborate with the various Igbo interest groups; to mainstream the diverse Igbo elements and groups into the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; to identify ways by which the confidence of Igbo youths in Nigeria can be restored; to workout strategies aimed at ending intra-group conflicts and hostilities in Igboland among others”.

Chief Iwuanyanwu said that the Committee is also to publish and present a book, a comprehensive and valid narrative of the Nigerian Biafran War adding that the the Book will tell the story of all that had happened in Nigeria from 1914 to date.

He observed that other people have been writing and telling their own stories about events in the country and in some cases, they blame the Igbos but said,  this time, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will come out with its position on all events and the book will be titled: “This

is Our Story”.

For a better society

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