Igbo nation is not working – Okorocha

Written by Tony Edike

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Tuesday, lashed out at the present Igbo leaders for failing to work for the collective good of the people.

Okorocha, spoke at the International Colloquium on the Igbo Question in Nigeria held in Enugu,

said despite huge human and material potentials, the Igbo nation was not working owing to disunity.

He said: “The Igbo nation is not working, but the Igbo nation can work and it will take my generation to make it work.

“The problem is not that we don’t have abundant natural and human resources, the problem is not that we don’t have enough educated people, enough business men, enough professors, enough religious leaders; our problem is lack of unity, any day Ndigbo become one, something will happen in Nigeria.

“Our problem is that there is no unity, Governors are not united, businessmen are not united, traditional rulers are not united, the women, the youths are not united”.

Advocating a change of attitude among Ndigbo, the governor said that he had asked God to show him what Ndigbo will do to be united.

“First and foremost, we must ask God for forgiveness, Ndigbo must set aside a date to fast and atone for their sins, on such a day, we must lie down on the ground and cry to God.

“All hope is not lost; the Yoruba has ruled Nigeria, the Hausa has ruled Nigeria, all the other zones have ruled Nigeria, but the problems facing the country are still there, any day an Igbo man occupies the presidency, there will be a total turn around”.

Earlier in a welcome address, the Coordinator and Chairman of the Colloquium Planning Committee, Prof. Uzodinma Nwala, said the event was conceived by a body of Igbo intelligentsia, clergy, elders and patriots in the light of the current socio-political situation in Nigerian federation and the debate over her future and in the light of the enormous challenges facing the Igbo nation.

Quoting from the handbook of the colloquium, Nwala said the event “provides the much expected opportunity for the entire Igbo race to prepare themselves for a national conference and at the same time, to examine ways and means of overcoming the challenges they face both in Nigeria and in the world today”.

A key note speech was delivered at the event by renowned icon Professor Chinweizu Ibekwe who stressed the need for. Ndigbo to come together and work for their progress in the nation.