•Urge him to call for Kanu’ release
From Magnus Eze, Enugu, Stanley Uzoaru,Owerri and Brown Chimezie
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has congratulated Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu ahead of his inauguration as the new President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on April, 30.
This is as its youth wing urged the Federal Government to release detained leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to enable him access proper healthcare, noting that it would also contribute to peace in the land.
Spokesperson of IPOB, Emma Powerful in his congratulatory message, yesterday, urged Iwuanyanwu to follow the footsteps of his late predecessor, Prof. George Obiozor in administering the affairs of the Igbo social cultural organisation.
He appealed to him to consolidate the efforts made by Obiozor for the unconditional release of their leader, Kanu who is being detained by the Department of States Service (DSS).
“We want to congratulate Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu (Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo) as he emerges the new President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on April,30. We hope he would follow the already laid down request made by his late predecessor. Obiozor and other notable Igbo leaders like the late Mbazuluike Amaechi, who have been making frantic efforts to have our leader released. We only hope Iwuanyanwu would follow their footsteps but if he does not, he would only have us to contend with. Iwuanyanwu is well respected in Nigeria and the whole of the South East, he has what it takes to grant us our wish,” Powerful said.
Also, Financial Secretary of Ohanaeze youth wing, Mr. Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, lauded the nomination of Iwuanyanwu as new PG of Ohanaeze.
He said the youth wing’s endorsement was borne out of sincere conviction that he was the right person to steer the ship of the Igbo nation at this critical period of their trajectory.
“Iwuanyanwu is an experienced, accomplished technocrat and businessman. Having interacted with him, we can assure you that with him as President-General, Igbo land will experience the dawn of positive development. With him as leader, we’ll be able to challenge our people who are not doing well in government and hold government to account for grassroots development. To set the records straight, he is not yet the President-General, as against permutations in some quarters, because due process has to be followed before his emergence,” Arthur-Ugwa said.
Ohanaeze youths further called on those fanning the embers of discord in the Igbo organisation by promoting factions that did not exist to desist from such ignoble role.
In a related development, former deputy president Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State, Chief Vitson Uzoh said Iwuanyanwu, philanthropist and media giant, has all it takes to move the Igbo nation forward.
While calling on Igbo to give him maximum support in the discharge of his new responsibility, Uzoh said it was important that all hands must be on deck to unite Igbo so that the race could attain sociopolitical dependency.
Uzoh urged Iwuanyanwu to engage Igbo leaders, at home and the Diaspora, in town hall meetings on how to address critical issues facing Igbo.
“I also call on the new PG to use his experience to engage the Federal Government in a dialogue that will result in the release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu”
While describing Iwuanyanwu as the best thing to happen to the Igbo in recent times, Uzoh said the contacts and experiences of Chief Iwuanyanwu would enable him move The Igbo to greater heights.