Onwuka Nzeshi, Onyekachi Eze 
As the National Assembly gears up for another round of constitutional amendment, the President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, says the 1999 Constitution has done a lot of damage to Nigeria and the vision of its founding fathers. In this chat, the business mogul and politician tells ONWUKA NZESHI and ONYEKACHI EZE that the apex socio-cultural group of the Igbo will push for power devolution, state police and fiscal federalism during the constitution review.
Last year, Ohanaeze set up various committees and some recently in different sectors like education, cultural revival, agriculture, etc. Has any of the committees turned in any report and how do you intend to implement them?
It is true that we constituted so many committees and they are working. Some of them have turned in their reports. For instance, we had a committee that is for national honours. You know, last year, they recommended that it was important to honour our heroes and heroines because if you don’t encourage the past heroes, it will be difficult to tell a young man to be good. In that light, we decided to recognise our heroes because if we don’t, the young people cannot have the desire to do great and heroic things. We had to establish Igbo National Honours, showcasing different categories of honours. The lowest one is the Hero of Igboland, the other one is Distinguished Hero of Igboland and the final one is the Grand Hero of Igboland. So, we honoured many people. You saw it last year. Icons like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Dr Michael Okpara, Dennis Osadebe and Mrs Maryam Babangida were honoured. There were many others. Even though he was not an Igbo, General Philip Effiong was also honoured because of his faithfulness and loyalty throughout that period of the civil war. We are also working on other areas. In agriculture, we have set up a committee to harness the agricultural potentials of the South East. In industry, we are working to revive our moribund industries. So, all the committees are working. We cannot say that we have established any industry. You know, we have been in office for only 12 months. We have done quite a lot. It is even good for me but everything is still at the planning stage. I cannot show you that this is a building we have completed because it is just 12 months.
Ohanaeze has been propagating the philosophy of Aku ruo ulo. How far and well has it been embraced by the average Igbo businessman?
We have been telling our people to come and invest at home but you know our people have made a lot of investments outside. I discovered that it is very difficult to tell somebody in Alaba Market to come and invest at home without creating a conducive business environment here. We are now building international markets in all the state capitals in the South East. We have got a land in Umuahia, Abia State and we ,Ohanaeze, in conjunction with some developers will develop it. Traders are very happy about it because while we are developing it, they will get shop allocation immediately it is finished. It is going to be easy for them. It is not like in Alaba Market. In the proposed new markets, a trader in Alaba Market can bring some of his goods to sell in the shop at Umuahia. He can employ about three persons or so and put them there. In doing this, we would have achieved two things. We have now brought goods and services to be sold in Igbo land and we have also created employment. As we speak, the designs of the markets are going on but it will take a long time to get these things actualized.
Apart from Abia State, which other state has shown the green light?
Like I said earlier, every state in the South East is giving us a piece land. So, once we get it, we have it, Ohanaeze in partnership with some of our wealthy sons and daughters will now develop it. Don’t forget that we have Igbo traders spread across the world. Some of them are in South Africa; some of them are in Mozambique; some of them are in Niger, Chad and Ghana. When they now have allocation, that will make it possible for them to invest at home, employ people at home and create job opportunities at home. On this template, the state governments are working and we are helping them to get businessmen to invest in the project. We have been on it for a long time. By the grace of God, it would be built and commissioned in no distant time. In your plans to promote commerce and industry in the South East, have you factored issues such as availability of power to drive the businesses? Of course, there are a lot ot challenges to the growth of businesses here in Nigeria. We know they need gas; they need light or electricity but good enough for us, the biggest advantage of the South East is that we are sitting on a lot of gas resources. We are actually looking at how we can develop the gas and make it available to our businessmen and women. In Imo State, there is a power plant at Egbema. It is a very big power plant and that can supply power to Imo and other states like Anambra. All the states are working with Ohanaeze and we are building industrial clusters. The most important thing is that we want these people to start investing at home. We are not telling them to shut down their businesses in their present locations and come home. If anybody tells them that, they will not come because it will be difficult moving everything to the South East. If anybody thinks that an Igboman, who has invested so much in Lagos would just go away, the person may be kidding.
You are succeeding now in bringing them to do business at home while they continue with their business outside but insecurity has taken a frightening dimension in Igbo land, giving the recent attacks on Nimbo by suspected Fulani herders. What is Ohanaeze doing to resolve the issue of insecurity in the South East region?
Like I have told you, if not for our intervention, it would have become worse. It is just random attacks, like this one that happened in Nimbo, Uzo -Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State . The truth about it is that those are people, who escaped from Benue State and are now doing hit and run attacks. But you see, the point about it, our people have passed through all these things before. An average Igboman is very conscious of this kind of thing. The biggest issue is not the Fulani herders or bandits; the biggest threat we have is our own Igbo people. Those people who are fomenting trouble because of Nnamdi Kanu. This is why we are saying Nnamdi Kanu should be released because some people are hiding under that to commit crime. That is the biggest problem that we have. To be honest, the issue of the Fulani herders is what we can sort out. You know these herders cannot continue to cause problem in our place because our people have been used to this kind of thing and know how to safeguard themselves. They have been coming; they disguise as motorcycle riders; they disguise as beggars and in the night, they become something else. We are not worried about them to be honest. No! I am not worried about it. All said and done, every other part of Nigeria, even the West is encountering the Fulani issue. The other time, they went to a church in Owo, Ondo State, where they killed so many people. They also killed Igbo people in that attack. They killed over 16 Igbo people in Owo.
Is there anything Ohanaeze can do with State Governments to establish the equivalent of Amotekun in the South East to protect the people?
I want to tell you that we are very proud of the South West that they were able to start that Amotekun. It was a very good initiative. We, in the South East, that is how we came up with the Ebube Agu. Ebube Agu is there but it hasn’t been as strong as the Amotekun. I want to congratulate our in-law, the late former Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, for the role he played in the establishment of Amotekun. The truth about it is that South West has done very well because without it, it would have been difficult to actually curtail the excesses of these people. Now, what is happening to us today in the South East is that the governors are working separately. Every state has gotten its security arrangement, which is not good enough. What we are trying to do is to make sure we bring them together and I am sure they will come together very soon.
Today is your one year anniversary in office and you know that by 10th of January next year, your tenure will come to an end. So, what is the succession plan and what do you intend to achieve between now and then that you can consider as your legacy?
I am over 80 years. I am not a young person. Even if somebody comes now, I will hand over because I have achieved a lot. All these things I have done, all these committees I have set up, somebody can start from there. The fact about it is that the leadership of Ohanaeze has been zoned and under normal condition, it should go to Rivers. But the unfortunate thing is, Rivers has not been showing enough interest in the activities of Ohanaeze. Since after the war, they have not been showing interest in Igbo affairs. We are not really surprised because we know that they believed that after the war, that we were down. Otherwise, as a young person, my father lived in Port Harcourt. I was brought up there. So, I can speak the dialect of the area very well. In those days, they all believed they were Igbo and of course, they answer Igbo names. For example in Igbo language, we have Okpara, which means first son. In Owerri, we call it Opara; Onitsha call it Okpala because of differences in dialects but they mean the same. Ohafia calls it Okwara. Ikwere calls it Epara. But there are some other words that are the same like Amadi, Uchendu. Then, there are names like Nwachukwu, which the Ikwere people call Wachukwu; Onyesom, they call it Nyesom; Nwike, they call it Wike but they all mean the same thing. The truth about it is that they are Igbo. When I went on tour of Rivers State last week, I met one Emmanuel Aguma, who was a founding member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The wife was celebrating her 85th birthday. So, I went there to join them. I addressed a press conference and somebody asked me a question whether I am aware that Ikwere people say they are not Igbo. Well, I answered by saying that as far as I am concerned, people have a right to say who they are. I am not bothered about it. But the truth about it is, Ikwere is Igbo; Onitsha is Igbo, Enugu is Igbo, Anioma, all of them are Igbo but if anybody comes from there and says he is not an Igbo, it is okay. He is free.
Let us bring you back to the issue of Nnamdi Kanu. The Ohanaeze and even the South-East governors have made several attempts to find a political solution and get him released but it had not happened. What is the next line of action you will be taking to ensure that he is released?
The fact about it is I am the leader of the Igbo now and I have made it clear for anybody, who wants to listen that this man in the eye of the average Igbo man and woman is that he is a victim of the fact that he was making complaints about the plight of the Igbo in Nigeria. Every Igbo man is conscious of the fact that Kanu is suffering for daring to complain about the marginalisation of the Igbo people in Nigeria. He complained about the Federal Character, that was skewed against the Igbo. He complained about the 1999 Constitution, inequality in the number of states and local government areas and how these have been used against his people, especially in the sharing of the resources of the federation. You know these are some of the things that the Igbo people complain about and when they complain like that, they are victimized. That is why the Igbo are worried about Kanu’s detention. It has been made worse by the fact that there has been a similar complain in the West by Sunday Igboho and the matter took a different turn. Somehow, they were able to go to Kenya to capture Kanu but they could not go to Cotonou here to capture Igboho. The other person too who was charged for treason, Omoyole Sowore, came to the court, but has been granted bail. I wanted to speak to President Bola Tinubu on the matter that day we met at Owerri, but he said as soon as he is free, he will see us. Even a high court has said that Nnamdi be granted bail. We know they granted him bail earlier but when soldiers wanted to kill him, he escaped and they are now using it against him. There is nobody you want to kill that will not run away. We are saying this thing is not beyond a political solution but we believe that some people in the North don’t want Nnamdi to be released and they are the people poisoning the mind of the government to continue to detain him. We are urging Tinubu not to listen to them because Kanu’s release will ease a lot of tension and it will be a solution to some problems.
The National Assembly has embarked on another round of constitutional review and we will like to know if the Ohanaeze Ndigbo will be making specific demands or proposals during the exercise?
If the survival of the country must be guaranteed, then certain constitutional provisions must be looked in to during this period of the review. The constitution that we have presently, will destroy this country, if not changed or amended to address the yearnings and aspirations of the people. It took the founding fathers a long time to arrive at the Independence Constitution in 1960. Nigeria was amalgamated by Frederick Lugard in 1914 during the first World War. He didn’t do much. Then, Clifford took over from him. He didn’t see much homogeneity between the North and the South. So, he didn’t do much. It was in 1923 that we had the first Constitution but it was not more of a British Constitution because it came from Britain. So, not much was achieved until 1946, when Arthur Richards made the Constitution that now has all the parts of Nigeria but it was still a British Constitution. It was during the period that the independent movement started with the formation of the political parties such as Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP) headed by Herbert Macauley and later National Council of Nigeria, the Camerouns (NCNC) headed by Nnamdi Azikiwe; the Action Group (AG) headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) headed by Ahmadu Bello. It was during that era that we were able to get the Independence Constitution and that constitution was amended in 1963 and it was acceptable to the component units of the federation. It then changed in 1979 and 1999. These changes by the Military failed to recognise and reflect the desires of Nigerians. Any constitution that we have, must reduce the powers at the centre. We should have a constitution that will have states or regions as the federating units. We shouldn’t have a country where all the power will be on the president and at the centre. It doesn’t work and it’s not good for us. This is perhaps the biggest problem that this country has today. We need to review the constitution to devolve powers to the federating units. We in Ohanaeze, have had a meeting on the matter and we have a vision already and we are going to present it when the tine comes. We have decided that Nigeria must be a true federation with the federating units given more powers to develop at their own pace. During the period of the Independence Constitution, there was healthy rivalry and competition among the regions. At that time, the world reported that Eastern Nigeria was the fastest developing economy in the country. Both Eastern Nigeria and Western Nigeria, had Embassies and High commission abroad. Even Northern Nigeria had its High Commission in London and the United States of America. Each of these regions had their own constitution. Nobody had any serious need to see the Prime Minister or the President in Lagos because the regions were strong and had thriving economies. But today, everything is the party in Abuja. So, it is a very serious problem. We in Ohanaeze, believe that the states can remain as the federating units because if we start going to the old regional and zonal arrangement, it will create a lot of problems. People have gotten used to states. But they must create one additional state in the South-East to enable us have six states like other zones. Once, we have states as the federating units, then power should be devolved to the states. That means, they’ll get more money; they will now be responsible for their revenue.
Would you support state police?
The truth about it is that we need state police or regional police. What we don’t need is the current local government system. It should be scrapped because we were not present when it was created. They were foisted on us by the Military and they didn’t even bother about us and how we felt about it. So, what we need is the Federal Government and states as the only federating units. Every state will then decide the type of local administration that it wants and then, you look at the security, the landscape, and the State will decide how many local governments they want. Each state will decide the number of local councils it wants as the local government will be directly under the State. We cannot have both the local government and the State government getting money from the federation. These things were done by the Military because of selfishness and it has not worked. We need state police and resource control.
Would you support a return to the parliamentary system?
We want to look at the presidential system and the parliamentary system and see what we can fish out from both of them that will be good enough for us. But we need a system that will give the federating units more powers, so that there will be healthy competition. Today, they all rush to the Federal Government for funding without any initiative and that is why they can’t do much in terms of development. Instead, the current system swells corruption.
