When you hear that the labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain, that is the sacrifice the Igbo people have made
By Moses Okorie
The president of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Barrister Ifeanyichukwu Obasi-Nweze, popularly known as Nmuo has said the Igbo people have made great sacrificed for the unity of Nigeria even as the country marks its 64th Independence Anniversary on Tuesday.
Obasi-Nweze stated this while speaking with our Correspondent in Abuja after celebrating the Igbo Day on Sunday, September 29, saying that the clause in the former Nigerian National Anthem ‘The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain’, in the real sense, connotes the sacrifice Igbo people have made at one time or the other especially during the Nigerian/Biafra Civil War.
“We downplay the fact that Igbo people laid down their lives. When you hear that the labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain, that is the sacrifice the Igbo people have made.
“People did not only sacrifice their lives, but their wealth went. And that is why when we remember that, we come to thank God every year on 29th of September, and that is what we refer to as Igbo Day. We are not remembering dark days, but to thank God for making us to stand strong and progressing, and that gives us the hope that better days indeed are ahead, by the grace of God”.
Speaking further on the leadership style he has employed to make lives better for the Igbo people living in Abuja, Ifeanyichukwu Obasi-Nweze said, “We have said to our people that we want to make things better, and I am very glad today that they are seeing that things are getting better. We want to empower our people; get them to start doing business and making returns so that others would also be empowered.
“The people that you know as Igbo leaders, those are the people you saw here today. You saw Chief Arthur Eze (Ozoigbondu) in person with his group, the governors of Enugu and that of Imo all sent their representatives and made their donations. In the days ahead, I am sure more people will give their support.
“We have prayed and by the grace of God, the money would be judiciously managed. That is what shows good leadership; it is not in talk. We want to set records, and good records; God helping us”.
The Ohanaeze president said they have a cooperative society registered with the sole aim of empowering all Igbo people especially those doing business in Abuja as they have the opportunity to request for loans with which to boost their economic activities.
“We have a cooperative, and in that cooperative, you can be saving money and you will also have a dividend. Another aspect is that you borrow money, if you have something doing and it would be with marginal interest that will make it to be running, but we will require proper guarantorship to ensure that we don’t fall into wrong hands”, he stated.