Group applauds installation of Uwazuruike as Igbo leader
By PHILIP NWOSU
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The National Union of True Igbo Movement (NUTIM) has called for support for the leader of Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, following his installation as the new Igbo leader. National President of NUTIM, Dr. Samfo Nwankwo said Uwazuruike deserve the honour as “he has consistently fought for Ndigbo in the same manner our late leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu did.”
Nwankwo, who spoke to newsmen in Owerri criticized Ohanaeze Ndigbo for dissociating itself from the title bestowed on Uwazuruike and described the action as the product of envy.“Leadership is earned. To our objective assessment, Uwazuruike has earned his leadership of Ndigbo just as our late father, Dim Ojukwu did,” the NUTIM boss submitted.
He said unlike the current leadership of Ohanaeze, Uwazuruike had laid down his life severally for the survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria.
According to him, “there is no prison in Nigeria Uwazuruike has not been a guest. Was it because he stole? No! He has been suffering deprivations because of Ndigbo. Those who criticize him are known to be carrying their CVs from office to office groveling before men of power for their selfish aggrandizement.”
He noted that those opposing Uwazuruike also opposed Ojukwu for the reason that while the two leaders stood for the masses, the others ‘stood for their pockets’.
Nwankwo described Ohanaeze as a group that had lost relevance and should be disbanded, saying that the executive was no longer connected to the people.“Without equivocation, it was only during the tenure of Justice Ozo Ozubu that Ohanaeze represented the interest of Ndigbo. After that golden era, what we have are people chasing appointments and contracts,” he lamented.
He said it was unfortunate that while Arewa and Afenifere were defending the rights of Hausa and Yoruba people, Ohanaeze was acting like a servant to any government in power.
He was happy that with the assumption of office of Uwazuruike as the new Igbo leader, no government and ethnic group would take Igbos for granted again. “After the burial of our great leader no other person or group would speak on behalf of Ndigbo except Chief Uwazuruike,” he said. He said NUTIM members across Igboland would soon pay a solidarity visit to Uwazuruike to urge him to continue to make sacrifices for the wellbeing of Ndigbo.
According to him, “after the burial of Dim Ojukwu, we shall mobilize to formally pledge our loyalty and cooperation with Chief Uwazuruike so that together, we shall protect Ndigbo.”
