Ohanaeze to launch professorial endowment in seven varsities for Igbo history, culture 

Apex Igbo sociocultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has announced plans to provide financial support and career development for researchers and students of Igbo history in seven universities in the Igbo-speaking states.

Ohanaeze’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, disclosed this while briefing newsmen about the outcome of the inaugural meeting of the Senator John Azuta-Mbata-led executive, held at the National Secretariat of the organisation in Enugu at the weekend.

Chukwu, who disclosed that seed money had been set aside for the purpose, stressed that Ohanaeze’s investment would enable scholars in the institutions to engage in research for the development of the Igbo language, culture, tradition, and history.

The fund, he added, would help those researchers develop the tools and skills they need to ensure that the Igbo language does not go extinct.

He disclosed that the Deputy President General, Okey Nwadinobi, will be the chairman of the committee, with a few NEC members assisting in the committee.

He said: “Today, we had our inaugural executive meeting under the Senator John Azuta-Mbata-led executive committee. At the inaugural meeting, we adopted as a working document the handover note by the immediate past President General of Ohanaeze, Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu.

“Secondly, we discussed extensively over sundry issues, among which is the most pertinent—the seeking of approval for the establishment of various committees that will give the Mbata-led administration a result-driven leadership for the common good of the Igbo nation.

“Part of the committees are the committee articulating the work plan and administrative framework of this administration. The committee was given milestones and timelines in order to enable us to run systematically.

“We also established a very important committee on peace, reconciliation, and dispute resolution. This committee will look at all sorts of issues that are associated with either crises or are prone to crises within the compact of Ohanaeze Ndigbo at different levels.

“Thirdly, we equally had the approval of NEC to establish another important committee that will enable Ohanaeze to establish a professorial endowment chair in the seven states (that make up Ohanaeze) with specific terms of reference to engage in research for the development of the Igbo language, culture, tradition, and history. Seed money was equally released to that effect.

“It is high time we as Ndigbo started telling our history, and obviously, if we don’t adopt a robust mechanism to enhance our culture and tradition, especially language, our language could go extinct. When our language goes extinct, our worldview, world pattern, belief system, social mirror, and all other aggregates of a corporate being as they pertain to Ndigbo will also go extinct.

“So, these committees will embark on extensive research on Igbo historicity, Igbo language, and culture, and the output of this committee on endowment chairs in the universities will equally include extensive and periodic publications on their research outcomes.

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“This, we believe, will enhance scholarship, give our claims a sustainable academic background, and also justify all our efforts toward enhancing and consolidating our being as Ndigbo within the polity.

“The chairman of the committee is the Deputy President General, Prince Okey Nwadinobi. A few of our NEC members are also in the committee. They will also engage some other Igbo scholars, especially Igbo language scholars and pan-Igbo academics in various institutions of learning.

“With the enthusiasm and huge cognate experience that Senator Mbata has brought to bear, it’s obvious that you’re going to witness an empirical break and a pragmatic paradigm shift in our affairs.”