Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has debunked a report making the rounds that the Chairman of its Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, referred to the Yorubas as political rascals.
In a statement issued by Ohanaeze‘s National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, on Sunday, the group said the report was as a result of a misinterpretation of a statement made by Iwuanyanwu at an event on Saturday.
Ogbonnia said the purported news was the “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 social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria.
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“Speaking in Awka, Anambra State on Saturday at the event to mark the one year in office of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state, Chief Iwuanyanwu drew the attention of the audience and the general public to the fact that Ndigbo and Yoruba people are neither quarrelling nor fighting, implying that the Yoruba are friendly group of people,” the Igbo group spokesman said.
“At the event, Iwuanyanwu said “I want to tell those in Lagos to realize that there is no war between us and the Yoruba; 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 rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnics,” Ogbonnia said.
“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.
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“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 a very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it.
“Iwuanyanwu in all his private and public discussions, has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect and hospitality. He applauds the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are integral part of various Yoruba communities.
“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,” he added.