The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a social-cultural organization that traces its history back to the post civil war period not necessarily as the name appears today but the conceptualization of the union of all Igbos both at home and in the diaspora has been in the news lately.
The tenure of the present leadership would hopefully come to an end on January 11, 2021. Baring any hitches, it is hoped that there would be an election to select a new leadership for the organization. Five gentlemen are in the race; Prof. George Obiozor, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, Dr. Chris Asoluka, Prof. Chidi Osuagwu and Dr. Joe Nwaorgu. These men are accomplished sons of Igbo land with a cocktail of personal and professional achievements between them.
I had been part of an interactive Zoom media chat on the platform of Njenje TV with all but Prof. George Obiozor in attendance. I watched and listened to the candidates present their credentials and answer questions from the public. It was as revealing as it was interesting. Information and lessons soaked in…
However, as a political columnist/Editorial board member , I follow and write about leadership and governance on national and global levels. I love watching politicians talk, campaign, make promises, speak from both sides of the mouth, chase power, lead well, fight to retain same, oscillate between political parties, maintain permanent interests and all those things politicians are globally known for.
I have also watched leadership of community and Igbo organizations and have also read the history of past Igbo leaders and politicians. Note that I am careful with these two words, leader and politician. With no form of prejudice,I believe a politician can choose to be a leader but in most cases leadership manifests irrespective of nomenclature.
I have watched male and female leaderships at Igbo community levels. The leadership emergence processes at the family level is often hierarchical while that of the bigger community level is often based on pure credentials based on private and professional pedigree and this often has little or nothing to do with western education. Leadership at this level is based on the most altruistic backed with integrity and commitment for greater good. Loafers and the socially unfit in terms of behavioral choices often have no chance in hell of accessing leadership at this level. Everyone has each other’s history on their palm so when and even though the socially unfit covet such posts, they are often told in clear terms that they are unfit and case is closed, no rhetoric of witch-hunt or political intrigue is played here.
So as we get close to the election of a new leadership, I just want to remind those involved in any way to remember that the Socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo is not an extension of Nigerian politics. Their forte first of all is Ndigbo and their welfare just like you have the Arewa, the Ijaw National Congress, Afenifere and other socio-cultural groups in the country.
As I think of the kind of leader the Ohanaeze needs at this time, the people that come to mind are, late Akanu Ibiam who is a great legend for his commitment to the welfare of Ndigbo beyond personal honour. Renouncing and returning to the British head of state the three insignias of knighthood that both she and her father, king George VI had earlier conferred on him as an outstanding missionary physician for services to church and state for the role Britain played during the Nigerian Civil war against Ndigbo is the hallmark of love, service and leadership, late Achebe who twice rejected Nigerian National honour in protest against the conspiratorial acquiescence during the time of the locust in Anambra politics. These to me are undeniably the altruism that define leadership and commitment to a people beyond self.
I remember late Dozie Ikedife a former President General of Ohanaeze for his humanity and sense of commitment in the field of medicine. His endowments for the best students in the profession and his commitment to the health sector in Igboland. I remember late Dr. Ralph Uwechue, he too, a former leader of Ohanaeze and his commitment to the Igbo causes, I remember the leadership of Prof. Ben. Nwabueze (SAN) spanning almost twenty years. These few were by no means perfect but one can glean leadership from their history and actions.
Make no mistake about it, the regional body cannot be averse to national politics and all its intrigues and politicking, no, that is part of it, a voice for the group, for the region, for the people. But we do not want a leader that would sell the people on the altar of National politics. We want an articulate, committed non-merchantilic human that would not fit into the false stereotype of ‘just give an Igbo man money and he can sell even his mother’! No we want a leader who understands that leadership is not about power but about influence and integrity. We want a leader whose altruism is an open book.
The Igbo leader we want must in the words of Achebe not be the bastard that points to his father’s Obi to the stranger with the left hand! He must be an articulate and strong strategist that understands that leadership is not an ego trip, not for grandstanding but to serve the people and lead by the finest examples. We do not need a Saint but we need a sincerely honest man that knows how to build, how to unite and how to galvanize the ‘IGWE BU IKE’ spirit and the ‘ONYE AGHALA NWANNE YA’ spirt of Ndigbo. We want onye NDU UZOR, one that does not have a price. We want a leader that stands alone but for all of us at all times. A leader whose life and pedigree represents the Igbo spirit of community, care and industry. Nothing less can be a starting point to a region so broken by the perennial presence of selfish political opportunists! We want a strategist that knows that the third tripod in the Nigerian project must not be treated as a mere VOTING BLOC and ignored in the leadership process after elections. We want a chief strategist not a garrulous rabble-rouser.
We await with open mind the leader that the organizers of the election and the voters would throw up. Fighting for a president of Igbo extraction must not becloud the need for a regional reorientation and the realization that Ndigbo need to sweep clean their house first. We want such a leader. Anything short of this, the region might stay long in the wilderness of directionlessness of the political class that has left the region bleeding endlessly on all fronts!
My one pence!
– Ogaziechi is a fantastic writer and columnist