Culture

See how Igbo Governors are insulting Ndigbo

Published

6 years ago

February 10, 2020

grassroots

BY: Mazi Omife I. Omife

See how Igbo Governors have remained cowards and made South West Governors heroes!

See how Igbo Governors have remained slaves to Myetti Allah leaders because they, not Buhari, promised one of the governors to become the next President!

Imagine how aggressive and militant OPC has been. Nobody stopped them till today. When Yorubas felt that OPC was not enough, their Governors created Amotekun without taking permission from anybody.

Imagine how eminent Yoruba heavyweights such as Femi Falana, Wole Soyinka, Odumakin, Femi Kayode and others came out fully in support of their Governors.

Imagine the Northerners establishing their own security network in the name of ‘Shege ka Fasa’ security outfit, without taking permission from anybody.

But Igbo Governors had pretended to be sleeping until pressure from Ndigbo forced them to hold an emergency meeting with only one agenda. After the meeting, the chairman of the Igbo Governors Forum, Governor Umahi announced the only agenda of their meeting. And that was to write a letter to President Buhari through the Secretary to the Federal Government

asking for permission to create their own security apparatus!

Before then, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had surprised everybody and formed the intuitive and innovative Forest Guards security project in Enugu State which has been yielding positive results.

One had expected that the South East Governors would immediately follow the example of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi by adopting his Forest Guard model. But this did not happen. Instead, the Igbo Governors went back to the usual game they best know how to play by resorting to letter writing.

Somebody told me, not yet confirmed, that Igbo Governors letter has not even reached the desk of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation but still lying around the table of one of the Special Assistants to the President at Aso Rock.

This negative and servile course of action by South East Governors against the general interest of Ndigbo is not new to most Ndigbo as it has been their stock in trade from day one of the Buhari administration.

The South East Governors did a similar thing on the issue of IPOB when the Igbo governors proscribed IPOB at the behest of the Federal Government even when they lacked the powers to do so.

This was in contrast to other geo-political zones. For instance, the OPC leader, Gani Adams, was conferred with one of the highest titles in Yoruba land, Aare Kankafo of Yoruba land by his people and all the South West Govnors were present during the conferment.

Erstwhile leader of Niger Delta militants, Tompolo was also celebrated by Bayelsa people and was rewarded with juicy contracts even by the Federal government.

The South East Governors did similar thing it during 2019 election campaign when a quintessential son of Igbo land, Peter Obi was tipped as running mate to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The issue of a running mate for Atiku had stirred up a hot debate and controversy among PDP leaders from various geo-political zones as to which region should produce the vice presidential candidate.

But Atiku expressed preference in the South East, arguing that Igbos have suffered for the PDP more than any other region and eventually won the support of PDP leadership against intense pressure by the South West.

But Igbo governors would have none of it and rose in unison to oppose the choice of their brother and kinsman. We all know the story, how the South East governors called an emergency meeting to declare their opposition to Obi’s candidature, insisting that Atiku must explain to them the parameter for choosing Peter Obi as his running mate.

When their protest came under heavy fire by Igbos across the country, the governors changed course and manufactured another reason for opposing Obi’s nomination, this time, the failure of Atiku to consult them before making his choice of running mate. This triggered lot of criticism from Igbos against the Igbo governors.

As further reaction by Igbos against the opposition of Igbo governors to Peter Obi’s nomination, several Igbo groups across the country and the Diaspora began to put pressure on Ohaneze Ndigbo to adopt Atiku/Obi ticket as the Igbo choice candidates in the coming elections, in line with the long tradition of Ohaneze to adopt particular candidates every election season.

After a long period of deliberations and consultations, the apex Igbo organization finally bowed to pressure by adpting the PDP as a party, based on the party’s promise to restructure the country. By adopting PDP, rather than individuals, Ohaneze wittingly covered the interest of Igbo PDP governors who by implication were direct beneficiaries of the Ohaneze declaration. But the Igbo governors refused to see it that way.

Expectedly, the Ohaneze declaration triggered another round of protests by Igbo governors, again led by Obiano and Umahi. While Obiano from Awka, called the Ohaneze leader, Nnia Nwodo, on phone to call him an “idiot”, over the Ohaneze declaration (Obiano later denied he called Nwodo an idiot), Umahi from Abakaliki berated Nwodo for scheduling Ohaneze meeting on the same day Buhari was visiting the South East. This was an Ohaneze meeting that is usually fixed several weeks in advance to enable all stakeholders across Nigeria and the Diaspora to make necessary adjustment to their programmes.

Obiano and Umahi believed that the entire Igbo leaders should suddenly cancel a meeting that had been fixed weeks before to discuss the affairs of Ndigbo because of Buhari’s less than 4-hour visit to the South East or because Buhari was commissioning the decoration of a tomb in Onitsha, call it a mausoleum or what you will, which took Buhari four years to complete as the only visible Federal project in the South East in his four years of administration.

But Obiano and Umahi would rather have Ohaneze Ndigbo cancel a very crucial meeting that touches on the destiny of Igbos to run down to Onitsha to watch Buhari commission a mausoleum when he should be commissioning the second Niger bridge or the Onitsha-Enugu express that had been a death trap for many years, the same road through which Ohaneze members were expected to travel to Onitsha to witness the opening of a tomb.

Then came the count down to the election when Buhari went to Ebonyi State on campaign. Umahi mobilized over 200,000 rented crowd to give a semblance of mass support to the APC. He later turned around after the rally to insult the intelligence of Igbos by publicly announcing how he mobilized people for APC rally so as to prevent APC from being disgraced for lack of supporters. Can you imagine?

Umahi did not stop there. As soon as Buhari left Ebonyi, Umahi showed that his hiring of a crowd for Buhari was not just a joke but a manifestation of his support for APC candidate. He summoned all traditional rulers in his State and ordered them to endorse Buhari, under risk of dethronement. Yet not in one State of the North did traditional rulers endorse either Buhari or Atiku, not even in Buhari’s Katsina home State.

On his part, Obiano also summoned all major stakeholders and APGA ward chairmen in Anambra State and directed that they must deliver their respective communities to APC for the presidential candidate and to APGA for the Senatorial ballot.

On the day of the Presidential election, Igbos in all the states of the South East and all parts of the country trooped out to vote massively for Atiku and Peter Obi including Anambra State where most communities defied Obiano’s directives by making sure that not one single APGA Senatorial candidate was elected and that Atiku and Peter Obi won by landslide against Buhari.

For one thing, the massive Igbo vote against Buhari was a clear indication that Igbo governors had no followers and supporters and on the contrary, that Igbos have nothing but contempt for their governors.

This is where I doff my heart for our indefatigable Igbo political patriots par excellence whose last minute pep messages to Igbos helped do the final magic of calling out Igbos to the election battle ground to declare their Igboness without fear.

These included Hon. Ugochukwu Agballah and his Igbo Improvement Union who toured all Igbo speaking states and rounded it up at Shoprite. There was also the Osisioma Igbo Dr. Chike Obidigbo, one of the founders of the Anambra State Elders Forum, which met at the Amos House Awka, few days to the election with the attendance of who is who in Igboland to mobilize Anambrarians to vote Atiku/Obi ticket. Then there was the Enugu born political juggernaut, Chief Maxi Okwu who also stormed various parts of the country with his ‘Otu Nkwado Atiku na Obi group’ to awaken Igbos to action.

It is amazing that Igbo Governors in the face of the critical security situation in the South East cannot join other geopolitical zones to defend their people by establishing their own security networks.

This where I commend the wisdom and patriotism of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in his Forest Guard initiative which has made tremendous positive impact on the security situation in Enugu State.

If only the other South Governors will show similar zest for the lives and property of their people by towing the path of Governor Ugwuanyi without all the groveling to Abuja to seek permission that may come very late or never be granted.

Mazi Omife I. Omife [Mbuze Mbaukwu]

Culture

NBA Conference: Enugu Cleanest, Safest City – Lawyers Reel out Experiences

Published

2 days ago

September 2, 2025

Ani Sandra

Lawers enjoying Enugu tourism during NBA Conference 2025

Enugu city is one of the cleanest and safest cities in Nigeria, many lawyers, who participated in the just concluded Annual General Conference, AGC, of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Enugu have declared.

They made this known during a tour of some tourist sites in the state, saying they were thrilled by the Art Gallery, National Museum, Milliken Hill, Ngwo Pine Forest, and their several days of experiencing Enugu State.

Many of the lawyers said that their impressions about the South East had changed dramatically by spending time in Enugu, noting that the state “runs an organised system.”

Stephen Medaiyedu from the FCT Bar, Abuja, expressed his satisfaction with the level of infrastructure put in place by the state governor, Peter Mbah, in just two years and his ability to pull the event through within four months of moving the conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.

According to Madeiyedu, hardly any lawyer would say that he or she did not have a good time in Enugu or that he or she did not feel adequately safe throughout the conference that lasted from 22nd to 29th August.

“The infrastructure is fantastic, the transport system is very well organised, the security is very assuring, as we have no reason to be afraid of anything. I commend the governor and the people for the hospitality they afforded us. The sightseeing also was part of the package,” Medaiyedu said.

Samir Mohammed Adamu, Bauchi State, acknowledged the unity, peace and serenity found in the state throughout the conference.

He described the state as one of the most beautiful and peaceful cities in the country where hospitality and serenity were at their peak.

Recounting his experience, Samir said, “We thank the governor for giving us the opportunity to visit the tourist sites and the things he has been doing for us since we came into this beautiful city. It is a beautiful city with peace and hospitable people. It is green and its environment is quite serene. The way and manner the people received us here is quite wonderful.”

Ozor Nnadume Awforkansi, Ezeagu Branch of Enugu State, said that with what the lawyers had seen in Enugu, the NBA had discovered the state as one of the places that would now be hosting various events of the umbrella body of the legal practitioners.

“I want to tell you sincerely that lawyers are recounting their good experiences in Enugu. They said if they knew this was how beautiful and safe Enugu was, they would have been coming to the state for their vacations and weekends.

“But some of us from Enugu were sincere to have told them that this was not the look of Enugu prior to this moment, as this was made possible by the present governor, Mbah. We told them there was nothing like International Conference Center in Enugu before Mbah came because it was abandoned, but was completed by Mbah.

“We have gone to a lot of places and we have eaten a lot of local delicacies. We enjoyed ourselves. It is quite a memorable outing,” he said.

Wilson Uche Ugwe, a tour guide, said there was no better way to sell a state’s tourism attractions than what they had done by showcasing the natural beauty of the state’s environment, noting that the visitors would then go home and spread the good news.

“The governor has also mapped out over N13bn to invest in the state’s tourism sector, which we have seen so far. As you can testify, the governor is doing well in terms of security and infrastructure and the state will keep improving.

“I am the Vice President, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) and I know that infrastructure is key to tourism. In Enugu, everyone can testify that the governor is doing a lot. We have transport terminals, CNG buses, Enugu Air and others. Our visitors are happy and we are calling on investors to come and invest in our tourism,” he said.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dame Ugochi Madueke, said she and her team not only took the lawyers around, but also made sure that they savoured the rich cultural delicacies in the state, ranging from okpa to abacha, achicha, palm wine, among others.

Maduake maintained that the Mbah Administration was determined to revive all the tourist sites in the state, stressing that tourism the world over constituted a major chunk of revenue to government.

“By the time the lawyers will come back to Enugu, we must have been done with our zipline, which is going to be the first in Nigeria and would equally have steps called 600 Steps to Tranquility from where we can go to the waterfall for ease of movement. We will equally have big rotunda here. So, I thank the governor for believing in tourism,” the Commissioner said.

Culture

Okhma hosts high-level investment pitch for 70 brands ahead of Carnival Calabar 2025

Published

7 days ago

August 28, 2025

Ani Sandra

As preparations intensify for the 2025 edition of Carnival Calabar, Africa’s biggest street party and one of the top five carnivals globally, Okhma Global, the official marketing and brand management agency appointed by the Cross-River State Government, convened a high-impact investment workshop for leading corporate organizations.

The event, held at the prestigious Lagos Oriental Hotel, brought together representatives from over 70 top-tier brands spanning banking, FMCG, telecommunications, oil and gas, aviation, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, all seeking strategic partnership and brand visibility opportunities within the globally celebrated festival.

Speaking during the session, Mary Ephraim-Egbas, Managing Director of Okhma, delivered a data-backed, sector-specific pitch showcasing how brands can leverage Carnival Calabar’s expansive footprint, projected to attract nearly two million physical attendees and reach over 200 million viewers across Africa and the diaspora through extensive media coverage and digital streaming.

“It has been a deeply rewarding engagement,” Ephraim-Egbas stated. “Over the years, we’ve received numerous inquiries from organizations seeking to understand how best to participate in and benefit from Carnival Calabar. This session provided the platform to not only answer those questions but also correct misconceptions about the carnival’s strategic value to brands.”

She emphasized that the 20th edition of Carnival Calabar, set to run throughout December 2025, will be a milestone celebration. Under the leadership of Governor Prince Bassey Edet Otu, the carnival has undergone a major revitalization, receiving unprecedented executive support to restore its stature as a premier destination for culture, tourism, and brand engagement.

“Governor Otu’s commitment has repositioned the carnival for growth, innovation, and renewed global interest,” she added. “The level of interest we’ve seen at this workshop from both legacy and first-time brands is proof that the market recognizes this renewed potential.”

The interactive session concluded with brand executives expressing their excitement about the carnival’s evolution and sharing expectations around programming, innovation, and activation opportunities. Many participants also filled out formal expressions of interest, signaling their readiness to engage further with Okhma and the Cross River State Government on customized brand activations for December.

Culture

Charles Emembolu Named Chair of Nigeria’s Creative Tech Council (CCTF)

By Sandra Ani

Published

2 weeks ago

August 18, 2025

grassroots

Engr. Charles Emembolu, chairman of CCTF

The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) of the Federal Ministry for Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy (FMACTCE) has appointed Engr. Charles Uchenna Emembolu to chair the Council for Creative Technology Futures (CCTF), a pioneering body set to drive innovation in Nigeria’s cultural and creative industries through advanced technologies and platform including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Web3.0, and blockchain.

The CCTF’s mandate is to position Nigeria as a global leader in creative innovation by developing a National Creative-Tech Framework and Roadmap, shaping policy reforms in intellectual property protection, taxation, and technology adoption, and spearheading flagship initiatives such as the Creative Futures Fund, ICE Hubs, and Discover Naija. These will expand job creation, skills development, and global market access for Nigerian creatives across 49 industry sectors.

Engr. Emembolu is a technology entrepreneur, innovation policy advocate, and current Chairman of the Innovation Support Network (ISN) Nigeria, representing over 220 incubators, accelerators, and innovation hubs nationwide. He is also Co-Convenor of the Omniverse Africa Summit, which unites technology and creative sector leaders from across the continent.

At the heart of the Council’s direction and coordination is Mr. Obi Asika, the dynamic Director-General of NCAC, whose track record, leadership and deep industry expertise will anchor the CCTF’s vision, ensure high-level stakeholder engagement, and drive alignment across Nigeria’s diverse creative and technology ecosystems. The ministry of FMACTCE is led by Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa.

“Our creative economy is a catalyst for technology-driven prosperity. The present is digital, global, and transformative. Through CCTF, we will channel that momentum into capital, ownership, and innovation, enabling more homegrown platforms that consolidate our creatives’ global leadership as owners of their value ecosystems,” said Emembolu.

The NCAC will serve as the Secretariat for the CCTF, whose inaugural council members are: