Ohanaeze, Afenifere, MBF to meet Tinubu on Immortalising Iwuanyanwu

Plans are afoot by the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the need to immortalise the late elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.

Iwuanyanwu, until his demise on July 25 this year, was the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide.

Sen. Ben Obi, who chairs the national burial committee for the late philanthropist and business mogul, made this known Thursday at a press conference held at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

Obi disclosed that Iwuanyanwu would be interred on Friday, 1st of November this year, and that members of his committee would work in concert with the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Sen. Hope Uzodinma, and the South East Governors Forum to achieve the objective.

“We are also going to make that demand strongly because Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was undisputedly one of the foremost statesmen of this country in respect to any human endeavour you look at,” he said.

“So it would be in our own interest to join hands with other groups and work hand in glove with the South East Governors Forum and the chairman of the PGF, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, to achieve it.”

Secretary General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Okey Emeuche, noted that Iwuanyanwu remained committed to the quest for equity and justice until he breathed his last.

He added: “On restructuring, he never minced his words about equity, fairness, and justice, and he knew as the Igbo nation, as Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, we couldn’t do it alone. So we had a canvass with the Southern and Middle Belt Forum leadership, PANDEF, Afenifere, and we operated on that canvass. He gave us the opportunity to canvass this issue of restructuring.

“He gave us the opportunity to seek parity because, if you check, the South East is the only geopolitical zone that has five states. The PGF asked for parity. If others have 7, give the South East 7. If others have 6, give the South East 6, not 5. But today he is no more.

“We in Ohaneze and other stakeholders would continue to pursue issues that were very dear to his heart. We want to give assurances that we will not fail. The President General we had will have no regrets. He ties his story with history. He has scars of the civil war.

“He was a young man, he fought and had no regrets on the two issues we had raised: seeking justice, seeking fairness, asking for restructuring, and asking for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. I am sure where he is, he would never regret these critical issues.

“He meant well for the Igbo nation; he meant well for the South East. He wanted a South East of development, a South East where people would be proud of where they come from, and then to talk to Nigeria about the Southeast. These things kept him alive, these things kept him awake, and the word ‘regrets’ he would not have.”