• Obi harps on unity, love, at Ibadan cultural gathering
By Brown Chimezie
The Ndigbo have been tasked to live in love, peace and unity wherever they find themselves. Onye Ndu Ndigbo of Ibadan and Oyo State, Chief Aloy Obi, said: “The reason for this is because a people united can never be defeated.”
He spoke while celebrating new yam festival as National Chairman, Ndi Ndu Ndigbo (Igbo Cultural Leaders) in the Diaspora, in Ibadan.
He told Daily Sun: “Today is a very special day for me. It is my 40-year wedding anniversary, my wife’s 60th birthday. I am also celebrating my new yam festival. Before, we used to talk about double-barrel celebration. But this one has gone beyond double barrel. It is a multi-barrel celebration for my family and Ndigbo in general.
“As the Bible says, this is the day that the Lord has made, and we shall rejoice and be glad in it. God has been very good to me and to my family. Celebrating 40th wedding anniversary is a milestone. The least I can say is God, thank You.”
On what it takes to be a leader, he responded: “Leadership is not like a walk in the park. For more than 30 years that I have been the leader of Ndigbo in Oyo State, I have seen that leadership is not easy. It is the support of the people and wisdom from God that is seeing me through.
“There is a very big difference between a ruler and a leader. The truth is that you cannot rule over a people, especially Ndigbo because of our republican nature. You can only lead them and for you to lead them, you have to lead with truth and honesty and sincerity.
“Igbo are special people. They are very hard working, so they are not hungry. That is why it is very difficult to rule over them. However, when they see that you are sincere, truthful and transparent, they on their own will decide that you should be their leader.
“The reason is because they are comfortable in their different homes. You that they decide that you should lead them there is nothing that you have that a lot of them don’t have even more than you. The only reason they are coming to you or taking you as their leader is because you are a man of truth and transparency.
“Your yes is your yes and your no is your no. That is the only condition that full-blooded Igbo people will follow and recognise you as their leader.”
He said Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, “is a highly respected Igbo man. He is one of the few Igbo irokos that is still standing.
“I thank God for still keeping him alive to do what he is doing now. As far as I am concerned, his coming on board is a rescue mission. Before his emergence, Ohanaeze Ndigbo was on a crossroads. The former president, Ambassador George Obiozor and his deputy passed on to join their ancestors.
“There was a very big vacuum. Chief Iwuanyanwu rose to fill the vacuum so that Ndigbo will continue to move forward. Since he came, he has being doing wonderfully well, bringing Igbo together, defending the interest of Ndigbo.
“I am grateful for him and his executives for recognising Ndi Ndu Ndigbo na uzu ije and making us part and parcel of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. We all are serving the same interest, which is the betterment of the Igbo nation.”
Obi described Chief Alex Anozie, one of the prominent Igbo leaders in Ibadan, who passed on recently as his friend and brother: “Anozie’s death was a very big shock to me. As a friend and brother, I have gone to his house to pay my condolences.”
On the recent South East Economic and Security Summit in Enugu, he said: “I see it as a step in the right direction. Igbo are very good in commerce and industry. That is what we are good at. That is what we are known for. But circumstances are making it look as if we want to lose our identity.
“Imagine the sit-at-home, which has almost crippled the economy of the South East. Everywhere we are, we are developers and not destroyers. Everywhere we go, we bring development. But some destructive elements have infiltrated Igbo land and are trying to turn us into what we are not.
“The summit, if implemented to the letters, will help to revamp our decaying economy. I am appealing to Igbo in the Diaspora to begin to think home and invest in Igbo land.
“A typical example is the multi-billion dollar Oji River Industrial City, being built at Ugwuoba, the boundary town between Enugu and Anambra states by the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah. Such a project will transform the economy of the region.”
The celebration attracted Igbo and Yoruba leaders in South West, including Olubadan of Ibadan land. Oba Olalekan Balogun and Baale of Ekotedo, Ibadan. Others were, Onye Ndu Ndigbo of Ekiti State, Chief Nathaniel Uzomah; Onye Ndu Ndigbo of Osun State, Chief Iheonunekwu George, aka Enyikwonwa and president, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Oyo State, Nze Emeka Enwereonye.