The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex sociopolitical youth group in the South East geopolitical zone, has completely dismissed what they termed malicious, wicked, and hate-laden texts, videos, and voice notes circulating online purporting that Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo, President-General of the apex socio-cultural Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, is leading an agenda to render an official apology on behalf of Ndigbo to the Fulani over the killing of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and others by Chukwuma Nzeogwu.
In a statement issued Wednesday in Owerri by the President General of COSEYL, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, the Coalition described the allegation as a plot seeking to advance the ultranationalistic agenda of some self-seeking phoney group.
The PG insisted that no such agenda was ever considered during the March 27 (2024) retreat of the Ohanaeze.
He said that rather than focus on the items and agenda of the summit, which ranged from how to make Igboland self-sufficient and productive and unite together, the group chose to hit the media spaces with half-truths, fallacies, and outright fabrications, all in an attempt to score a cheap academic point, taking the uninformed through the nuances and subterfuge of these humans.
He regretted that the goal of those behind the blackmail was to smear, rubbish, and deconstruct the image, person, and achievements of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
He said, “The history of the troubled decade, being the 1960s, is well known in all respects.” This, aptly, captures the bundle of lies being circulated against the Ohanaeze family.”
He pointed out that the place of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu in the history of Nigeria and of Igboland, especially the post-war reconstruction era of Igboland, cannot be wished away.
He said: “Apart from various humanitarian ventures, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, through his construction company as a trained engineer, rebuilt most parts of Igboland. Sad as it is, the malice and hate on the minds of these individuals manifested clearly in the form of crab mentality, the “pull him down syndrome,” egged on by historical revisionism.”.
He said, “COSEYL is aware that the same humans never respected the Ohanaeze leadership, whether under eminent scholars and diplomats like the late George Obiozor or Chief Nnia Nwodo, regardless of how they emerged, whether by consensus or election.”.
Ibem regretted that these anarchists would never respect any Igbo-constituted authority, even if Michael Kpara, Akanu Bam, or Mba N. Ojike were to be at the saddle.
He said: “It should be clear to every right-thinking and discerning Igbo that the collective agenda should involve how to accelerate development in Alaigbo, build rail projects that connect cities therein, leverage the vast arable and uncultivated land lying fallow to achieve agricultural revolution in the face of inflation and a worsening food crisis, and above all, how to work towards the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. It should also give every Igbo son/daughter cause to worry, not hate and mudslinging, which can only culminate in retrogression.”.
The PG declared that if there is an apology owed to any group in Nigeria, it is to the Igbo.
He pointed out that the pogroms and genocidal wars of the 1960s through 1970 are not lost to the world or to the youth, and history is not silent on those inhuman experiences either, no matter how the establishment forces try to erase what is fact.
The youth-led group therefore urged those renegade brothers and sisters to retract and return to the fold.
He reminded them that the name of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and other Igbo sons and daughters working round the clock to put Ndigbo on the map of world development should not be downgraded because of certain interests.
COSEYL calls on all and sundry to disregard the antics of enemies of Ndigbo and stand solidly behind their able and dynamic leader, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who has dedicated his entire life and resources towards the growth, progress, and development of Igboland.
He said, “Igboland will be great with Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu on the saddle as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.”
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