Paper presented in a panel discussion by Prince Okechukwu Nwadinobi Deputy President-General Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.
May 7, 2025
Quest for Unity, Equity and Justice in Nigeria:Shall the labours of our Heroes past be in vain
Fellow citizens of Nigeria, I bring you greetings from Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the umbrella organization of Ndigbo. Some accounts put the population of Ndigbo at 34 million, almost the population of the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland put together. I also bring you greetings from Ndigbo Worldwide.
My task today is to answer the question, Quest for Unity, Equity and Justice in Nigeria: Shall the labors of our Heroes past be in vain?
* Late Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark
In consideration of the topic before us today, is it to reaffirm, deny or state the obvious? Did our heroes past have unquenchable thirst for unity, equity and justice? The answer is a resounding Yes.
Pa Edwin Clark whom we celebrate today, manifested and stood for these principles in every way. This explains why Ndigbo have turned up in high numbers to celebrate a great personality who believed in and supported nation building where no person or ethnic group is left behind and was very vocal about marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria. He expressed his desire to see all ethnic groups valued and having the opportunity to thrive in our Nigeria.
Even though his dream was not actualized in his lifetime, we thank God that he lived long enough to impact positively on the lives of a high number of Nigerians . He therefore, was the mirror that reflected the image of our heroes past, an epitome of hard work, discipline and belief in treating others as he would like to be treated. May the soul of our beloved Pa Edwin Clark rest in peace.
Igbo people have a proverb or saying, onye agha la nwa nneya. Translated, this means leave no one behind. The Igbo nation believed in and practised the concept of leave no one behind long before the United Nations came up with the 2030 Agenda's commitment to leave no one behind which for them is a new approach to address poverty, inequalities, and exclusion.
It is this age-old Igbo principle that I wish to reawaken today.
It is no longer news that in several areas, Ndigbo have been left behind in Project Nigeria. I will not dwell on these facts, which are glaring, but I would like to offer a few recommendations:
The time has come to make room for the Igbo nation in the front, alongside others in the Nigerian project, if Nigeria is to truly become a nation of hope, peace and prosperity.
The theme for today, which echoes from our national anthem, reflects the commitment and achievements of the heroes and sheros of our past. You may recall, it was the brave women of Igbo Nation who staged the historic Aba women's protest of 1939. A peaceful protest, which the colonial administrators wrongly chose to call a riot in order to blacklist and wrongly label Igbo women who understood the art of peaceful protest using palm fronds. Unfortunately, they suffered a violent crackdown resulting in a pregnant woman being gunned down.
When you make room for Ndigbo at the front alongside others the Nigerian nation will derive immense benefits from the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo people, as exemplified by the spare parts wonder of Nnewi , the ingenuity of designers in Aba, the market skills of Onitsha to mention just a few.
In addition, the Nigerian State will enjoy the unprecedented apprenticeship incubation model which institutions like the World Bank have sent their experts to study. When you make room for Igbo people at the front lines, the Nigerian state will fully enjoy literary amazons such as Chimuamanda Adichie.
When you bring the Igbo people alongside others to the front lines, the Nigerian state will appreciate better, the extraordinary gifts of talented artists like Kanye Tagbo Okeke, a 14 year old, who was recently awarded a place in the Guinness World Book of Records.
You leave no one behind when you enforce court judgements for all and not for some as we have seen in the case of Nnamdi Kanu.
When you make room for Ndigbo in the nation’s front lines, the Nigerian nation will benefit more from the adventurous spirit of our people who will be proud to open their shops in the most remote parts of the world, where you will see signs of Okeke and Sons. When you make room at the front, for Ndigbo who are innovators and are recording great feats in medicine, academics, science and technology in different parts of the world, they will team up with like minds from different parts of Nigeria to make our nation great. A case in point is the achievement of Prof Onyema Ogbuagu in the Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough.
In the professional sector, two Igbo sheros, as at today lead the global association of women lawyers (FIDA) by Barr Ezinwa Okoroafor and the Medical Women’s International Association by my beloved wife, Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi.
Leaving no one behind but making room at the front means that the Nigerian state will enjoy the contribution to global landscape of heroes and sheros like Chienwetalu Ejiofor in the film industry, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and several others, in different fields of endeavor.
The fundamentals for achieving unity, equity and justice, unfortunately, now appear to be lacking unlike our post-independence era. Was there any conscious efforts to create a competent labour force by our past heroes? Yes, there was and I will say, recorded history about their accomplishments are all over the federation to attest to the outcome of their actions. They set high standards and truly achieved them. They established systems that worked and in many cases better than in most countries. In education, public service, health services, support for the private sector; they achieved above average performance.
How do we forget so soon the generation of leaders who established education and health institutions that were of such high standards as the best in the world? In the time of our heroes past, people came from other countries to receive medical attention. A generation that had one of the best shipping lines, Banks, insurance companies, Airline, housing estates, Public Service and governance systems and infrastructure, established and operated at the highest standards.
In pursuit of unity, equity and justice our heroes and sheros made a conscious effort to lay the foundations for growth, progress and healthy competition but above all ensured that there was accountability to the people with the fear of God. We had true heroes and sheros who became role models to the younger generations recognizing that investing in the young was not just the right thing but the smart thing to do. The youth population enjoyed the benefit of emulating and being molded and mentored to become leaders in their own right by emulating the outstanding heroes and sheros. Do we miss them? Yes, we miss them for many reasons prominent among which was their overriding interest in the common good.
One feels a sense of loss witnessing the gradual erosion of the timeless values, which served as beacons for good behavior and patriotism.
For us in Ohanaeze, we stake our claim as members of the one Nigerian family and are committed to the wellbeing of every member of the family. We call for a whole of government and a whole of society approach to ensure equitable distribution of resources, leadership positions and where necessary apply remedies and reparations.
Our common quest to rebuild our nation and take it back to the vision of our founding fathers and mothers should start with inclusiveness, tolerance, dignity and mutual respect.
We celebrate Pa Edwin Clark today and those of his ilk who are becoming rare to find and thank God for the gift of their lives. They were truly God sent.
The motto of Ohanaeze: igwe bu ike, translated is ‘unity is our strength.’ The quest for unity, equity and justice in Nigeria must be built on the strength of a people united in aspiration and purpose. We the people of Nigeria must resolve collectively that going forward no one tribe, no one people , no one creed will be left behind so that the labours of our heroes and Sheros past shall not be in vain.
Umu nnem Onye aghala Nwanneya.
My Nigerian siblings, thank you for listening.
Prince Okey Nwadinobi
Deputy President-General
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
Wednesday May 07, 2025
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