Controversies have continued to trail the speech of a chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, which he delivered on Saturday, 25 March, in Awka during an event to mark Charles Soludo’s one year in office as the Governor of Anambra State.
The popular Igbo businessman and politician was said to have described the Yoruba race as ‘Rascals’ while speaking at the event attended by top Igbo leaders and political stakeholders.
In their reaction, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode and some other notable people in the South-West region of Nigeria have since slammed Iwuanyawu over the alleged statement.
In a statement by its National Organising Secretary, Apagun Omololu, Afenifere faulted Iwaunyawu, and called on the Ohaneze Ndigbo leadership to caution him.
The organisation said it would reach out to the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to seek clarification on Iwuanyanwu’s comment and whether his view is a reflection of the thinking of the Igbo group about the Yorubas.
In a long writeup on his Twitter handle during the weekend, Fani-Kayode said the Ohanaeze chieftain was speaking for himself when he reportedly called the Yoruba people ‘rascals’.
He said: “As for Iwanyanwu, I will not respond to him or to all those that were at that event and that collectively rubbished our people because they are my in-laws and because my four sons are half Igbo.
“There is nothing Iwanyawau can say that will make me turn against the Igbo because I have blood and family ties with them, and I will continue to love them despite this outrageous provocation.
“Apart from that there are millions of Igbos who do not share Iwanyanwu’s views and who have shown nothing but the greatest respect for the Yoruba race and our Northern brothers and allies.
“Amongst them are dear friends and brothers like John Nwodo, Orji Uzor Kalu, Chimaroke Nnamani, Ifeanyi Ugwainyi, David Umahi, Hope Uzodinma, Innocent Chukwuma, Emeka Offor, and so many others.”
A transcript of what Iwuanyanwu said at the event, however, seemed he was referring to political thugs who oppressed the Igbo speaking people during the just concluded election elections in Lagos State.
Press statement:
YORUBA ARE POLITICAL RASCALS-A Rebuttal
Our attention has been drawn to the fake news making the rounds that the Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, CFR (Ahaejiagamba) referred to the Yoruba as political rascals.
“This is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venoms, injected with ethnic nuances, and propelled to fly to various corners, fronts, and heights in order to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in the social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria. Indeed it is a lie from the pit of hell.
“Speaking in Awka, Anambra State on Saturday at the event to mark the one year in office of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state, Chief Iwuanyanwu drew the attention of the audience and the general public to the fact that Ndigbo and Yoruba people are neither quarreling nor fighting, implying that the Yoruba are a friendly group of people.
According to Iwuanyanwu “I want to tell those in Lagos to realize that there is no war between us and the Yoruba”, adding that “those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested”. This has mischievously been twisted to imply that “Yoruba people are political rascals and that we will fight them”. This is quel dommage!’ It is from the insidious minds that wish to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.
“At any time in history, there is often a tug of war between two major groups; mostly the good people with conscience on one hand and the devious insidious minds on the other. However, the moral force of the godly will always countervail the unconscionable.
“This helps to keep the world in an ontological equilibrium. So, as much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that Ahaejiagamba holds the Yoruba in very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it. The emphasis is that we must not attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba ethnicity, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, spivs, charlatans, miscreants, and dregs of Lagos society.
“It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalized Nigerian. He enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics. He would recall with deep emotional attachment the cordial relationship he had with the Yoruba when he contested for the presidency of Nigeria in 1992; similarly as an Executive Chairman/Publisher of Champion Newspaper Limited, Chairman of Oriental Airlines Limited, Chairman of Oriental Shipping Lines Ltd; among others.
Iwuanyanwu in all his private and public discussions has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect, and hospitality. He applauds the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are an integral part of various Yoruba communities. The depth of the roots of the intermarriages that have taken place between the Igbo and the Yoruba is transcendental, eternal, and can no longer be uprooted.
“The successful marriages of Yoruba daughters by frontline Igbo sons; Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Asagba of Asaba, Professor Joseph Chike Edozien; Professor Vincent Ike, Professor Okey Ndibe, etc, and vice versa, exemplify the irreproachable similarity in the Igbo Yoruba cultural values and cosmology.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will resist any attempt to paint the 2023 presidential election with an ethnic tar. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) enjoyed the support of eminent Igbo sons and daughters.
“It is also on record that the emergence of Peter Obi and the success he recorded in the presidential election was by Nigerians of all ethnicity, class, and creed. This accounts for why the Ohanaeze was about the last to adopt Peter Obi as a presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Ohanaeze rather re-affirmed and indeed reaffirms its stand on the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) led by Chief E K Clarke and Chief Ayo Obasanjo.
Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide
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