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Fred W. Opara
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for greatness is there already.” – John Buchan.
The outgoing president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, is not only leaving a shoe big enough that may be difficult to fill, but also an indelible footprint in the socio-cultural sands of time of the leadership of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Though he was in the saddle in an inauspicious time such as the volatility of Nnamdi Kanu’s detention together with IPOB separatist struggles, the consistent audacious and spirited refrain for the urgent restructuring of the country, he neither compromised nor surrendered Igbo principle.
To say that he brought astute sagacity to bear in the discharge of his onerous functions as the president of Ohanaeze is an understatement. Since his ascendancy to Ohanaeze leadership, he never left anyone in doubt that he wanted and worked assiduously through the coalition of forces with socio-cultural organisations in other geographical zones in the country, to have a nation where peace and justice shall indeed reign. Courage is a sine qua non for a good leader. It takes courage to stand alone for the ultimate good or for the achievement of a noble cause. Chief Nnia Nwodo is in words and indeed courage personified. Having succeeded in this unpleasant responsibility mandate, the icing on the cake would have been allowing him have a well-deserved second term in order to consolidate the gains of his monumental stewardship to Ndigbo.
Assuredly, that would not characteristically be permissible due to our republicanism and the sanctity of our laws. As the noble Chief bows out, we severally and jointly as a noble and God-fearing race doff our adorable hats to this able and indefatigable brother-leader and compatriot, having made us proud in our avowed collective quest to restore the dignity of man, to wit, every Nigerian. It is therefore incumbent on the in-coming leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to among other virtuous leadership qualities, be a man of stellar qualities and accomplishments. Like the outgoing president, the next helmsman of Ohanaeze should incontrovertibly be a witty and immensely erudite personality. What Ndigbo want is a visionary leader who is always exhibiting superlative prescience in the handling of Nigeria’s intractable socio-cultural politics. He should not be someone gifted to self-eulogy and personal aggrandizement, but well vast and noted in diligence, crack erudition and originality. As he is always going to be seen as the symbolic face of the Igbo, and since we cannot run away from the precariousness of the region in the Nigerian question, national and international bridge-building qualities should be his natural forte. The list is endless as the expectations are high.
The next president of Ohanaeze must not lose sight of the fact that leadership is a continuum. Fine-tuning and the clinical completion rather than jettisoning the good policies and programmes, approved and tested existing roadmaps of previous administrations should be the excellent approach to building the Ohanaeze Ndigbo of our innate dream and collective aspiration. Every patriotic Igbo leader now and in the future should never lose sight of the thoughts of Clem Aguiyi, an accomplished columnist and writer on pan Igbo agenda, who sometime ago premised Igbo new political roadmap on that “philosophy that will guarantee our collective survival, Aha m Efule, in that ndi Igbo so much cherish family ties, Onye aghala nwanne ya, and because to survive we must show strength in solidarity, Igwe bu ike, and as nobody will love ndi Igbo more than ndi love themselves, Onye ajuru aju, anaghi aju onwe ya.”
We should also never lose sight of another Brand Essence of the Igbo nation, ‘Gidigidi bu ugwu Eze,’ in order to continue to guarantee our very existence, God willing. In the Igbo nation, the leader takes absolute pride that much is achieved not by individual egoistic contributions of the followership, but by the individual and collective talents of his people. In the Igbo nation as of old, talent counts and still counts today. Those who hold the view that Ndi Igbo have ancestral links with the Jews are not far from the truth. Before the end of captivity of the Jews in Babylon in about 445 BC, Jerusalem, their capital city was rebuilt not by their monthly dues since captives neither hold meetings nor run governments, but by the astute management of their individual talents and donations by a sincere and committed leadership exemplified in the person of Nehemiah: the Jewish cup bearer to King Artaxerxes 1 of Persia. Nehemiah got the King’s permission to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the walls destroyed when King Nebuchadnezzar captured the city. Assuredly backed by providence, he completed the work in 52 days, against concerted opposition and distraction. Nehemiah was not only a practical man of action, but also a man of prayer. To date, Jerusalem stands ‘gidigwa’ on ground in spite of the onslaughts from her aggressive and hostile neighbours.
It is against this background that the main thrust of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and its affiliate bodies and organisations throughout the federation of Nigeria should be reviewed to make the monolithic body savvy in order to be above competition vis-a-vis other ethnic socio-political and cultural organisations in the country. More than ever before, the body should see to the constant rekindling of a sense of patriotism and community nationalism among ndi Igbo wherever they may reside. By achieving this, the Ohanaeze has not only succeeded in instilling competitive developmental consciousness among the various Autonomous Communities, but will also be remembered by posterity for making every Igbo man or woman ever willing and ready to contribute to the development and advancement of Ala Igbo.
Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo together with its affiliate bodies and organisations should be unflinching in the continuous sensitization and persuasion of our men to think home, Ala Igbo. An all inclusive socio-political direction without a corresponding achievable economic blueprint makes the socio-political roadmap unsustainable. The foresight of Nnewi leaders in taking the strategic decision of developing their market, Nkwo Nnewi, in the mid 70’s due to the hard and harsh lessons of the civil war should be emulated by every community in the Southeast. Today, that strategic decision has paid off most handsomely as some notable entrepreneurs in Africa are from Nnewi extraction.
Opara writes from Lagos via [email protected]
