S’ East govs declare 7-day mourning

Posted by admin Governors, Latest Politics, South-East Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

The stage is set for the commencement of a grand farewell to the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu with the declaration of a seven-day prayers and mourning, beginning from Thursday, December 1.

Ojukwu died last Saturday morning in a London hospital. He was flown out of the country on December 23 last year, following a stroke.
The prayer and mourning period was declared yesterday at a press conference addressed at the Casa Bianca, Enugu residence of the late Ikemba Nnewi, by the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

The prayer session was also endorsed by the Chairman, South-east Governors’ Forum and Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi, who returned from London yesterday morning and arrived at Ojukwu’s house shortly after the conference ended.

“I just came back this morning, everybody is aware of his death. We are all in mourning mood, Igboland is in mourning mood, Nigeria is in mourning mood. He (Uwazuruike) declared prayers, which all must follow/ We need prayers for our leader, it is seven days of prayers and every Igbo person should support that,” Governor Obi said before he proceeded to Abuja to officially inform President Goodluck Jonathan of the demise of the Ezeigbo Gburugburu.
According to Uwazuruike, the mourning would require the participation of all churches, irrespective of denominations, bishops, reverend fathers, traders, teachers, students, among others.
The MASSOB leader said Ojukwu lived for the masses, adding that “whatever concerns him, must be for the masses.”

He also ordered that condolence registers be opened on the premises of all Igbo organisations worldwide, disclosing that they had already opened condolence registers all over Nigeria, where MASSOB has its formations.

Uwazuruike also called on the Federal Government to use the death of Ojukwu to make amends as well as show the evidence of “No victor, No vanquished” declared by Gen. Yakubu Gowon shortly after the Nigeria-Biafra war ended.

“We have not seen that evidence since the war ended, Now that Ezeigbo is dead, they should seize the opportunity. Nigeria should give Igbos the same status being enjoyed by others by creating two additional states to compliment the five states in the South-east.
“Secondly, they should show this evidence of ‘no victor, no vanquished’ by declaring the entire South-east a disaster area in terms of infrastructure,” he said.
The MASSOB leader warned that the people of the South-east were not cowards, saying “the boys are very angry.”

His words: “We know what is happening in Nigeria, that those who the government listens to are those who carry arms; there is something I will tell you that you don’t even know; the position of MASSOB being non-violence has been sustained by Ojukwu; he has always insisted that we must remain non-violent. But not many people know this; whenever there seems to be problems, he would call and warn me to make sure I did not depart from non-violence.”

“So, that’s why I am saying all these because Nigerians believe that because you carry guns or start throwing bombs, that you will be listened to. We are not cowards and if they remember whenever an Igbo man starts something, it takes a different dimension. We do not intend to go to that extent but the death of Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who has paid the price for the emancipation of the Igbo; if that is not enough for Nigeria, well, no problem.”

Uwazuruike also warned that the burial of Ezeigbo should not be politicised, insisting that he must be given the respect he deserved.
“We shall rather use his death to unite the whole Ndigbo; the death of Ojukwu will be the basis for the unity of the Igbo,” he said, even as he disclosed that there were plans to call a meeting in Ojukwu’s house shortly after his 78th birthday celebration held at his Enugu residence on November 4.

Uwazuruike was hopeful that Ojukwu upon his death and now in the spirit world would bring peace to the Igbo.
He said: “I believe that with the death of Ojukwu, the problems of Ndigbo have come to an end because our leader is now in the spirit world and Igbos would now receive support from that angle. Ojukwu has fought more than any other Igbo man dead or alive, for the unity and welfare of Ndigbo and now that he is dead, he will give us that support from the spirit world and nobody will marginalise Ndigbo again.”
He, therefore, urged Ndigbo not to open for business on the day their leader would be buried, adding that no date has been fixed for that.

“The final expectation from Nigeria is that they should immortalise Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu; that should be done immediately. The newspapers are awash, Ojukwu is this, he is that,because he is dead; the finest soldier, the most brilliant soldier, they knew all these things but how many barracks in Abuja bear Ojukwu’s name. Those who have such barracks, are they more intelligent than Ojukwu or did they contribute more to the army than Ojukwu? You see the discrimination I am talking about? So, we want to see that; how many streets in Abuja are named after Ojukwu?” He asked.wp_posts