Emelam udo.
People of Igbo Nation both at home and diaspora will storm Umuahia, the Abia State capital, Umuahia, Wednesday, 28th December, to attend the 4th edition of International Christmas Retreat.
The Retreat, which is being organized by Igbo Think Tank and Nzuko Ndigbo, according to the group, would be used to discuss the conditions of Ndi Igbos in the Nigerian society and also chat the way forward for Igbo citizens beyond now.
The event which would hold at Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia, would also be used by the Igbos on whom to support in 2023 general elections.
Addressing the press on the International Christmas Retreat, the Trustee of Igbo Think Tank, Prof Maduike Ezeibe and Mr Chuks Ibegbu, Local Organizing Chairman/ Leader Nzuko Ndigbo respectively explained that the “Igbos should be given the 1999 settlement which calmed the tension in the country.”
Prof Ezeibe, who is renowned for discovering drugs for treatment of HIV, reasoned that the arrangements that produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo which calmed the June 12 imbroglio, should equally be applied in 2023 for an Igbo man to become the President.
Prof Ezeibe noted that if the 1999 is applied, the tensions in the country, especially the insecurity challenges in the South East would be a thing of the past.
“We know what happened in 1999. Our brother Ekeleme formed the PDP but Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was brought out from the prison and made the President under an arrangement to calm the tension in the West.”
“We can also recall that our brother, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu was the Presidential candidate of APP but he was persuaded to step down in the APP/AD coalition we made Olusegun Obasanjo and Only Falae to be the two Presidential candidates.
What it means is that you either vote Olu Obasanjo and Olu Falae and we saw how the agitations and tension in the South West and the entire country as settled”, said Prof Ezeibe.
He pointed out that the Igbos have sacrificed a lot to the country by living and developing every place they find themselves, noting that it was time for nation to reciprocate their commitment.
The theme for this year’s International Christmas Retreat is “Ndigbo, yesterday, Today Tomorrow” while the sub-theme would be “Ndigbo in Geo Politics of Nigeria, the case of 2023”.
The organizers noted that respected Igbo scholars like Prof Elochukwu Amucheazi, Prof Maduike Ezeibe, Prof Obasi Igwe and Prof Chris Osuagwu would deliver lectures on the way forward for the Igbos, during the event.
Apart from these, the ,G 5 Governors in PDP are also expected to be in attendance as special invitees, even as a top decision concerning the Igbo decision on 2023 general polls would be issued after the event, through a communique.
The Igbo Think Tank and Nzuko Ndigbo also explained Igbos in diaspora, clergy, traditional Rulers, captains of industry, student leaders, youth and women leaders would also be in attendance.
