Success
Damian:
Publicity Secretary
of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos State and Vice Presidential Candidate of Alliance
National Party (ANP) in the just concluded 2019 General Election, Evelyn Okere,
has come out to dissociate the Igbos from comments credited to Chief Solomon
Ogbonna.
She said as somebody
who claimed to be a Curator, Ogbonna is not in the position to speak on the origin
of Ndigbo as he is not a Historian or Archaeologist. She therefore called on the
president of Ohanaeze Lagos Chapter to resign.
Speaking at
a press conference called by concerned Igbo leaders of thought in Lagos on
Wednesday, to address issues raised in an article in The Sun Newspaper of May 6, in which Chief Ogbonna, gave his unwavering
support to the claim by the Royal Father of Yorubaland, Ooni of Ife, that the
Igbos are from Ile-Ife and not from Israel.
While
stressing the fact that there is crack in Ohanaeze Lagos leadership, Okere
disclosed that Chief Ogbonna has carried himself in a very irresponsible manner
in so many ways. “But the one that has come to the forefront is the
embarrassment by concurring with a monarch that the Igbos originated from
Ile-Ife based on word syllables and similarities.”
Okere stated
that for the fact that everybody eats yam or plantain does not give him the
audacity to say that these people are from the same place or same culture.
“Igbos are
migrants in nature. To go back to history, history tells it all. Even during
slave trade, Igbos have been traders; they trade in palm oil, slaves, kolanuts,
they trade in so many things, and as early as 15th century, the Igbos
in the hinterland had already started slave trading, they conquer a village,
they sell slaves, when people were coming through the waters, from Calabar axis,
Port-Harcourt, so people were coming and, again we are here trading with the people.
“So certified
historians and archaeologists have been able to prove their researches over time
that this is where they believe Igbos came from. From the religious angle also,
and in every school of thought there are different diversions, everybody with
their own research, but whatever research it is you share with the world, there
is a proper procedure for it. You don’t wake up because you buy artifacts from
the market or you deceive people and go to shrines and collect masks, that
gives you the authority to claim that because you have 3000 artifacts you bought
from the market, or you went to Ile-Ife and bought one, that gives you the power
or leverage to say that Igbos are from wherever, there are procedures,” Okere analyzed.
She
challenged Solomon present his certificates to the people. “I am challenging
the President if he wants the Igbos to believe what he is saying; he must give
us certificate, primary, secondary, university, PhD, Masters, where he has
tendered papers. He says he lives outside Nigeria, he is a Curator, my brother,
if you go and check the definition of a Curator, it means someone who looks
after Art works, Paintings, Status or sculptural pieces, I look after it every day
and open it for people to see, I am a Curator.
“If you are
not a certified Historian or Archaeologist, whose job it is to research, go to a
site, where he has heard about certain things happening, culture, he excavates
the land, finds artifacts to prove the culture of that race or people of
whatever he is researching on and tells the world and share paper, and give
speeches about his project, recorded, give empirical summations and conclusions,
so that different school of thought can share from the idea. We are talking
about intellectuals, who have studied overtime and this takes years to build,
that is why you credit university graduates, you credit master degree holders,
you credit PhDs, and you credit professors because they stay years to be able
to prove whatever they want to prove to you.”
Okere stated
that it is an insult to our people, adding “I want to apologise because no
matter how you see it I am in the Exco, so I want to officially apologise to
our people, that in the face of all these we should all take heart and we should
be calm, it is in order to make things better. You heard from everybody here, I
think he should tender his resignation for this huge embarrassment and give
unreserved apology to Igbo people because this is going round the whole world
right now.
“I am giving
him a challenge, in two weeks to produce his certificate to prove what he is
saying. Having 3000 artifact does not give people the right to change the
course of history; you change the course of history with certification, proving
that you have that authority, that mantle to change history,’ Okere asserted.
Other Igbo leaders of thought who were
present at the press conference were High Chief John Uche, First President of
Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos; Comrade Umezurike Austine Umezurike, a political
Engineer; Pastor Okey Anoruo, Babaloja of Tejuosho Market and President of Imo
State Towns Development Association Lagos (ISTDAL) and Hon. Kalu Uguru,
Ex-Officio Ohanaeze Abia State.
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