By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has rebutted the news making the rounds that he referred to the Yoruba as political rascals, saying that it is “a lie from the pit of hell”.

He described the statement as a ‘quel dommage’ from the insidious minds that wish to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.

Iwuanyanwu stated this during the event to mark the one year in office of Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo in Awka, the state capital, on Saturday.

He said: “This Is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venoms, injected with ethnic nuances, and propelled to fly to various corners, fronts, and heights in order to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in the social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria.

“Indeed it is a lie from the pit of hell. I want to tell those in Lagos to realize that there is no war between us and the Yoruba. What I said was that ‘those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested’.

“This has mischievously been twisted to imply that ‘Yoruba people are political rascals and that we will fight them’. This is quel dommage! It is from the insidious minds that wish to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.

“At any time in history, there is often a tug of war between two major groups; mostly the good people with conscience on one hand and the devious insidious minds on the other.

“However, the moral force of the godly will always countervail the unconscionable. This helps to keep the world in an ontological equilibrium. So, as much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that Ahaejiagamba holds the Yoruba in very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it.”

Chief Iwuanyanwu drew the attention of the audience and the general public to the fact that Ndigbo and Yoruba people are neither quarreling nor fighting, implying that the Yoruba are a friendly group of people.

He added: “The emphasis Is that we must not attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba ethnicity, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, spivs, charlatans, miscreants, and dregs of Lagos society.

“The depth of the roots of the intermarriages that have taken place between the Igbo and the Yoruba is transcendental, eternal, and can no longer be uprooted.

“The successful marriages of Yoruba daughters by frontline Igbo sons; Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Asagba of Asaba, Professor Joseph Chike Edozien; Professor Vincent Ike, Professor Okey Ndibe, etc, and vice versa, exemplify the irreproachable similarity in the Igbo Yoruba cultural values and cosmology.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will resist any attempt to paint the 2023 presidential election with an ethnic tar.

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) enjoyed the support of eminent Igbo sons and daughters.

“It is also on record that the emergence of Peter Obi and the success he recorded in the presidential election was by Nigerians of all ethnicity, class, and creed.

“This accounts for why the Ohanaeze was about the last to adopt Peter Obi as a presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Ohanaeze rather re-affirmed and indeed reaffirms its stand on the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) led by Chief E K Clarke and Chief Ayo Obasanjo.”

Chief Iwuanyanwu further recalled with nostalgia the cordial relationship he had with the Yoruba when he contested for the presidency of Nigeria in 1992; similarly as an Executive Chairman/Publisher of Champion Newspaper Limited, Chairman of Oriental Airlines Limited, and Chairman of Oriental Shipping Lines Ltd; among others.

Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, who relayed Iwuanyanwu’s words via a statement, added: “The Chairman, Council of Elders, Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalized Nigerian who enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics.

“In all his private and public discussions, he has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect, and hospitality and also applauded the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are an integral part of various Yoruba communities.”

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