Ohanaeze Ndigbo Founder, Chief John Uche Moves To Reorganize Lagos State Chapter
Posted on January 30, 2024
KINGSLEY EBERE
The founder and first President of the Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State, Chief John Uche, may have started making moves to reorganize the group following the purported declaration by the Ohanaeze Worldwide that the leadership in the State had been a disaster and calamitous to Ndigbo.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the Igbo in Lagos State have completely lost confidence in the leadership of Ohanaeze owing to the protracted leadership power tussle between the two factions led by Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene and Chief Sunday Ossai over the years.
The fight, which moved from various Police Commands to the High Court in Lagos State, considerably weakened the leadership as well as throwing Ndigbo into disarray as they lost confidence in the leadership.
The last that ruined the image of the leadership was what transpired during and after the last general elections, where some Igbo people, who lost their properties due to demolitions, claimed that the leadership was unable to do anything despite the fact they gave them assurances that they had good relationship with the Lagos State Government.
Again on the recent appointments by the Lagos State Government, no single Igbo man was deemed fit to be given any appointment for any position whereas the leadership of the two factions led by Ossai and Aguene boasted that the Igbo will get an appointment, which never happened.
The arraignment and prosecution of Ezendigbo in Ajao Estate, Eze Fredrick Nwajiagu, for terrorism charges finally nailed the Igbo leaders in Lagos State because they were not able to do anything or even negotiate for the release of Eze Nwajiagu.
Speaking over the clamour to reorganize Ohanaeze in the State, Chief Uche explained that there was need to restore the confidence of Ndigbo back to the group because things had not been going well with the group over time.
Chief Uche recalled how he made sacrifices to form Ohanaeze in the six Western States Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo, with solid structures that sustained it over the years.
He stated that he cannot fold his hands and watch Ohanaeze gradually collapse without finding solutions by making constructive engagements to restore the organization back to its lost glory.
On what went wrong, Chief Uche, who is also the Igbo Kingmaker in Diaspora, explained that crises which led to the factionalization of the group was a major factor coupled with the selfishness of some of the leaders, which worsened the situation.
He stated that there is need to reorganize Ohanaeze in Lagos State so that Ndigbo will accept it back and by extension overhauling the entire structure of Igbo leadership including Ezendigbo in Diaspora, which he was empowered to anchor by late Odumegwu Ojukwu as Ezendigbo Gburugburu.
P.M.EXPRESS investigation revealed that the President General of Ohanaeze Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has expressed disappointment on the leadership of Ohanaeze in Lagos State and blamed the whole thing on the emergence of the leaders of both factions.
While Chief Sunday Ossai was introduced to Chief Iwuanyanwu as the authentic President of Ohanaeze by his faction based on the election they conducted, he attempted to embrace him before he discovered that he does not have any capacity to manage the affair of Ndigbo and eventually dumped him.
Chief Ossai was also brought down by his executives, who allegedly conspired and suspended him as President over allegations of gross misconduct. But he resisted his suspension and since the ugly incident took place, nothing has been heard about Chief Ossai’s faction of Ohanaeze because his image was seriously dented.
On Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, Chief Iwuanyanwu was said to have distanced himself from him because he saw Aguene as Lagos High Court Ohanaeze President, which has never happened in Ohanaeze history.
While Chief Aguene has been fighting hard to be recognized, Chief Iwuanyanwu was said to have made it clear to him and in public that he will not work with him based on the information he has that his tenure had elapsed and he went to Court and obtained consent Judgment against the norms of Ohanaeze.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was also said to have described Chief Sunday Ossai’s presidency as a disaster while Chief Aguene’s leadership was described as being calamitous to Ndigbo, hence the search for a new leadership for Ohanaeze in Lagos State.
Some of the Igbo stakeholders, who spoke to P.M.EXPRESS correspondent, supported the new moves to reorganize Ohanaeze and hopes that the move will see the emergence of someone, who will restore the confidence of Ndigbo in Lagos State.
It was not yet confirmed if the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide was in support of the new move to reorganize the group because it will involve the scrapping of the leadership of the two factions for the emergence of a new leadership.
However, the question on the minds of Ndigbo in Lagos State is, will Chief John Uche be able to do it without the support of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide?
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