An Igbo group, Igbochukwu Foundation, has inaugurated its Interim National Executive Council, with a mandate to champion the rebirth of the Igbo spirit, which it stated encompasses excellence, arduous work and unity.
The convener of the group, Dr Chike Obidigbo, and elder statesman, who spoke through the inauguration ceremony at Obu Gad, Enugwu Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State on the weekend, stated the group was shaped to champion the unity and well-being of the Igbo individuals, particularly within the face of what he referred to as and existential threats.
Obidigbo stated Igbo individuals face existential threats each from actions and insurance policies of the Federal Government, which trigger marginalization and people of Igbos too, which have led to mass exodus from the area to different areas and likewise out of the nation.
He stated: “Igbochukwu Foundation has come as new way to rekindle the Igbo spirit of excellence founded on sound moral principles and dependence on God as the great artificer.
“We have come to this inescapable conclusion that except one thing drastic is completed, the expected extinction of Igbo identification would come to a actuality. So, as a substitute of sustaining the standard lamentation of marginalization and discrimination, we determined to arrange this basis as a gathering of patriotic little kids to hunt options by conversations concerning the destiny of Igbo nation.”
Speaking about the marginalization of Igbos, Obidigbo said: “Discrimination in opposition to the Igbo, which started after Nigeria gained independence from Britain on October 1, 1960, took a special dimension after the civil conflict, when it remodeled right into a nationwide coverage.
“The discrimination faced by Igbo, combined with divergent post-independence interests among the major ethnic groups, culminated in the Nigerian Civil War, which pitched the rest of Nigeria against the Igbo ethnic group. But, instead of riding on the lessons of the civil war, Ndigbo decided to recoil from their cultural identity in the rush to embrace alien cultures and practices, which were aggravated by mass exodus from Igbo heartland.
“Therefore, Igbochukwu Foundation is coming on the proper time to assist in reversing the adverse socio-cultural developments, whereas serving because the platform for worth re-orientation and thought management on Igbo affairs.”
The highpoint of the gathering was the inauguration of the Interim National Executive Council, with His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. R. C. Opoko, JP as President General.
Opoko in his acceptance speech outlined the vision of the foundation, saying it is to peacefully and diligently pursue the cause of Ndigbo, whose way of life and culture are rooted in the principles and dictates of the Supreme God, also known as Chukwu Okike Abiama.
