Posted by By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, (just back from Okwe) and VAL OKARA, Owerri on
There was a thunderous ovation on Saturday at Okwe in Onuimo council area of Imo State as Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu mounted a rostrum outside the ‘Freedom House', country home of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), during the burial of his mother, Ezinne Monica Uwazuruike.
• As Ohanaeze, Dokubo, Adams, Kalu, others converge at Okwe
There was a thunderous ovation on Saturday at Okwe in Onuimo council area of Imo State as Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu mounted a rostrum outside the ‘Freedom House', country home of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), during the burial of his mother, Ezinne Monica Uwazuruike.
The ovation came as Ojukwu told Uwazuruike to be more courageous in his struggle for the actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra.
Ojukwu's counsel came just as elder Statesman and Chairman of Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), Chief Anthony Enahoro, has stated that any intimidation or harassment of those agitating for self-determination would be a crime against humanity that may lead to genocide in the country.
Amidst a cheering crowd, Ojukwu declared: 'don't be afraid to champion the course you believe in because fear itself does not entertain another fear".
Ojukwu said: 'If you have dreaded people behind you, which other dreaded people are you going to be afraid of?", he quried as he rolled his striking eye-balls right, left and centre in admiration of highly elated MASSOB members.
The ex-Biafran warlord told the cheering crowd that: 'Uwazuruike is my begotten son with whom I am well pleased because all the messages I kept getting from him while he was in the prison custody was not to tell me that he was hungry or tired and required support, but rather he kept telling me that he was healthy and that he stood by his struggle."
Earlier, Chief Chika Okpala (a.k.a.Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo alias 430), a comedian and master of the ceremony had introduced eminent personalities at the ceremony, including the leader of Niger/Delta Revolutionary Force (NDRF), Alhaji Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo; the leader of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams; leader of the youth wing of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima; chairman of Coalition for the Freedom of Dokubo and Uwazuruike (COFDU), Comrade Ayodele Akele; President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife; former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu; National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, among others.
In his speech, Akele, COFDU chairman, said he was holding the federal government responsible for the death of Monica Uwazuruike because of the trauma she under went as a result of continued incarceration of Uwazuruike in the prison custody, as well as frequent invasion of Uwazuruike's freedom house by security agencies which usually end up in casualties.
Akele urged President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua-led federal government of Nigeria to not only drop the charges against Uwazuruike, but to also establish a process of nolle-prosecui (no case against him), adding, 'now that the whole world has known that Ndigbo are being marginalized, the best solution now is to compensate Uwazuruike for his mother's death".
Ikedife, Ohanaeze president, rapped up the talks with a statement: 'Those at the corridors of power should tell the federal government that Ohanaeze is saying once again that enough is enough of all these pains which Ndigbo are being subjected to."
Ikedife commended Uwazuruike for his courage, adding, 'when he started this struggle, people mistook him for a mad man, but today, people have realized the importance of the struggle."
Enahoro made his declaration on Sunday at Okwe in Onuimo local government area of Imo State when he led a group of activists to pay a condolence visit to Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) who buried his mother at the weekend.
According to him, Nigeria was not created for the benefit and advantages of the nationalities that dominated the country, but for the benefit of the part of Europe that created Nigeria.
'Any intimidation or harassment of citizens because of the strong views they hold or because of their struggle for self determination, is close to genocide and a crime against humanity," he said, adding: 'we must always remember that Nigeria was not created for the benefit and advantages of the nationalities that today dominate Nigeria, but that Nigeria was created by the British for the benefit and advantages of the part of Europe that created Nigeria, and it took the courage of Nigerian youths to liberate Nigeria."
The first republican parliamentarian observed that an alternative to what the ethnic nationalities are demanding would be dictatorship that may lead to eventual collapse of the country, stressing that those that cling to the present system where the basic infrastructure had failed are basically dishonest.
He stated that some Nigerian leaders advocated for Unity of the country only because of the fear that Nigeria might disintegrate if the nation's differences were deeply examined and objectively discussed.
Said he: 'We believe that people should not forget their pedigrees of their political, historical, cultural, linguistic, environmental or territorial differences, because of the causes of differences are always there and cannot be shunned."
Enahoro further observed that the ethnic nationalities could be different but still remain friends and united. 'Many of us believe that we must learn to build the foundation of the unity of our country and of its component parts on the understanding that differences are not necessarily an impediment to unity and that unity only makes sense because of the differences. In other words, we can be different but yet friends and united."
Chief Enahoro who alleged that only cowards and corrupt leaders in the country are afraid of discussing the problems confronting Nigeria with their opponents, stressed that the present generation must avoid the mistakes of the past.
'All the ethnic groups in Nigeria had their administrative structures long before colonial rule was imposed on us. We cannot expect them all to cling uncomplainingly to the Unitarian system that may mean very little to them and then mortage their future, the future of their children and even the future of their children's children."
Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, while responding said that the nation's present leaders only canvassed for the unity of Nigeria for their selfish interests. He said that there was no way the unity of the country could be preserved in the absence of justice, noting that because of the leaders selfish interest that people still agitate which ethnic group would produce the next president of the country.
Those that accompanied Enahoro to Uwazuruike's country home in Okwe included Dr. Amos Akingba and a retired Anglican bishop, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Gbonigi.