Ambassador Okey Emuchay
OpenLife Nigeria reports that Ambassador Okey Emuchay, the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has scored high in the estimation of Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos.
In this exclusive interview, Chief Aguene speaks glowingly about Emuchay and the future of Ohanaeze Ndigbo
Sir, past President Generals of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Professor George Obiozor and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu have passed away and have been buried. What is next for Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide?
Well, this question should go to the people of Imo State because even if the Imo State tenure remains one day, they are the ones to give an answer to this your question. It is also a question for Ohanaeze Ndigbo national.
However, I am only concerned about the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Ambassador Okey Emuchay.
As I study his relationship with late George Obiozor and Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, I began to see a humble servant in the person of Ambassador Okey Emuchay.
He is a real diplomat like his former boss, Ambassador George Obiozor. He served his bosses diligently without attaching any personal interest. He is a wonderful man. He actually came to work for Ndigbo with his heart.
You can see the way he was humble to late Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. He is still very humble.
When Iwuanyanwu died, he worked with others to make sure that the late President General was given a state burial.
It was when I got a bit close to him that I found out that Ndigbo should be praying, fasting and even consulting our ancestors to get someone like Ambassador Okey Emuchay as a leader of Ndigbo.
Ambassador Okey Emuchay is a man who is not after his personal interest but only for Ndigbo to move forward.
You need to go close to this gentle servant, Ambassador Emuchay, to understand what I am saying.
He is like Leo Messi of Argentina in football who doesn’t complain, no matter what the referee blows but only focuses on how to improve his talent and score goals. That is Ambassador Okey Emuchay for you.
It took me a lot of time before I began to understand him. In short , Ndigbo should have a special day to thank him and give him an award as the best Secretary General Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has ever produced.
Anybody who knows me can confirm that I will never eulogise anybody that does not worth it.
This is because nobody can give me what God has given me.
If you ask me two years ago, I will tell you that Ambassador Okey Emuchay is no body until I realized that the problem we are having in Lagos chapter with the members of executive of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide is from Everest Ozonweke {Onowu}.
First, Everest Ozonweke wanted to be President of Ohanaeze by hook or crook. But one thing he failed to do was to ask his God: Is it going to be possible? But we all know that Everest Ozonweke is a hungry man.
If you take him to a funeral ceremony and give him water to wash hand, he would first drink the water before the food.
If his greedy nature had not made him to be in a hurry, he would have got the Ohanaeze President, Lagos chapter on a platter of gold.
If he had served well with honesty and humbled himself, his election to be the Ohanaeze President would have been unopposed.
I would have handed over to him quietly without going about deceiving some chairmen and some executives under my leadership.
Anyway, we have nothing to worry about him. He is his own nemesis. The Ohanaeze presidency would have given him a job as a jobless man that he is. When you call Everest Ozonweke any hour of the day, he is always free. He started his blackmail from Fabian Onwughalu’s tenure.
He went to Enugu and told former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo and some of his executives that Fabian Onwughalu was trying to extend his tenue and change the bye law.
Immediately he told them, the national executives were no longer comfortable with Fabian Onwughalu’s regime especially the former President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo. Then, the Enugu national started having problems with Fabian Onwughalu.
Meanwhile, Fabian Onwughalu did not know where the problem was coming from.
He did not know that the same person he was wining and dining with , Everest Ozonweke, was the one going to Enugu to blackmail him.
Everest Ozonweke wanted to contest the Lagos Ohanaeze presidency then. But Fabian Onwughalu told him that if he was going to contest, he should first of all go to Badagry and renounce his Onowu position according to Lagos bye law. But as a greedy man, he wanted to be President of Ohanaeze and also as Onowu in Badagry in Eze’s palace which is another traditional and Igbo title.
You cannot be a governor and House of Reps member the same time even in politics.
However, Fabian Onwughalu still went ahead to conduct a free and fair election which brought Leo Okafor {Oba Ojoto}
Everest Ozonweke still went to Enugu and instigated them to come and nullify the election. And he succeeded in doing that. Enugu national body then set up another electoral committee to conduct a fresh election which brought me, I, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, to power as President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos.
Do forget that the Lagos bye law empowers the outgoing president to conduct election and handover to the successor. Fabian Onwughalu was cheated according to the constitution/bye law.
Immediately I was inaugurated, they took me to court. The reason was that Lagos bye law makes it clear that it is the out-going President that should conduct election and hand over to his successor. That was why I was taken to court.
That is one of the reasons I am always ashamed of those people who are fighting against positions in Ohanaeze leadership today without knowing the foundation of what happened. But I am so sorry for such people who are always far from the truth in all their dealings in life.
During the campaigns, Everest Ozonweke joined my camp and contested as Secretary. At that time, what he had in mind was that he would remove me from office in less than a year and take over as interim president because of the relationship he had with Enugu executives.
So, in the first petition he wrote against me, he consulted my Chief of Staff, Chief Chief Thompson Ohia , who agreed with him, then.
After they gave the petition to my deputy, Vitus Uzor and promised him that he was going to take over as President, my deputy read through all the paragraphs of the petition and said “God forbid bad thing.”
My deputy said to me that the letter was so bad.
He said that God will never forgive him if he took part in such arrangement because of the blackmail in that letter.
Everest Ozonweke and Thompson Ohia also showed the letter to Charles Odunukwe, {Chardon, Okemili Na Oraukwu} who also condemned the contents of the letter because it was so bad.
It was so bad that Enugu would have believed the lies and announced my removal. But God was on my side and Everest Ozonweke dropped that petition.
So, as a jobless man, every driver and conductor who operated the Lagos-Enugu route that time knew Everest Ozonweke as the regular customer for night bus travels when he was always going to present himself to Enugu executives that he was the only honest person in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos chapter.
And when he would come back to Lagos, he will present himself as the mouth piece of Ohanaeze National for Lagos chapter.
He gave himself personal assistant to late Professor Obiozor. Obiozor warned him because he knew who Everest Ozonweke is. Under late Emmanuel Iwuanyaywu’s regime, he gave himself the title of co Ordinator of South West Ohanaeze Ndigbo. That time, he would tell us that he boarded first flight. It got to a point that we started calling him “First flight to Enugu.”
As he failed with the petition to remove me, he went to Enugu to make sure that Enugu executives set up a committee that will come to Lagos for fact finding to remove me.
When they came and after the whole thing, they told Ozonweke to apologise to me because he was found to be the problem of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State and they told him to his face.
Dr Ezechi and deputy President General to late George Obiozor, Chief Joel Kroham from Rivers State and Ohanaeze Mother Worldwide were the delegates that came to Lagos from Enugu.
The last one Ozonweke did to remove me was when he saw the Certified True Copy, CTC, of my Consent Judgement to continue as President Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos till 2026.
He went and met the man that brought me out to contest the Ohanaeze President, Chief Oliver Akubueze and Uche Dimgba,‘Okpetemba’ who promised to deliver him for the kangaroo election if he settled him well.
He convinced them with other few people that the only way they can useless the court judgement was to impeach me in any of the general meetings which they affirmed. At this time, Professor Obiozor was already very sick and did not have the strength to listen to any complaint of Ohanaeze.
Then, their plan was to pass a vote of no confidence on me and they agreed with him. Even those who contested that kangaroo election with him were not aware of the plan and they were in the meeting.
He came to me a day before the meeting and borrowed N150,000 from me to solve a domestic problem of his child whom he said was not feeling fine.
That is just to tell you how dangerous Everest Ozonweke is. I thought he was with me.
The crowed at the meeting was over 2000 people.
As the meeting was going on, he gave the micro phone to one of the former chairmen to make the statement of vote of no confidence.
As the former chairman wanted to begin the statement, someone from the back came and collected the micro phone by force from him and said loudly that he was no longer part of the impeachment plan.
Then, Ozonweke and about 13 people stood up and moved away and we continued our meeting which I presided over till the next adjournment and closing prayer.
So, that was the last impeachment he planned against me and he failed.
It was after the impeachment completely failed that some of them came to tell me that Everest Ozonweke was the mastermind of the impeachment plot.
Ozonweke supposed to know during his last attempt to impeach me in the General Assembly meeting in Ajao Road, Calabar Hall, Surulere that there is no age group in grace of God in anyone.
So, if anyone is coming out now to contest as President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo world wide, the person should watch Everest Ozonweke very well because his ways are not clear.
Once he penetrates the person with lies, the person will be catering for his morning, afternoon and evening meals until the election is over.
First, when he comes to you, just as he did to me, he will tell you that God has revealed to him in the midnight that you are the only person who can help him in life. That is always his kick starter to enter anybody.
Evelyn Okere and kalu Uguru warned me when Everest Ozonweke came into my camp during campaigns in 2018. They said if I allowed Everest Ozonweke, I will have problems in future.
The former representative of Ndi Enugu in Ohanaeze Lagos , Agugbata Ofiah { Vice President, Enugu State, Ohanaeze Lagos} also warned me.
He said to me that if I allowed Ozonweke to contest as Secretary under my leadership, he will not fight me but he will never attend my Ohanaeze meeting by the I assumed office because Ozonweke will never give me rest.
He said he knew that Everest will never change.
And since I went against his advice, he has never attended my Ohanaeze meeting till date.
The last two things Everest Ozonweke did to kill Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos finally was when he convinced Enugu headquarters that Ohanaeze state chapters are by zoning.
I, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, contested against Anambra person, Tony Nwakeze. The immediate past president, Fabian Onwughalu contested against a man from Enugu state.
John Uche, the first executive President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos from Imo state contested against a man from a different state.
Oliver Akubueze from Abia contested against a man from a different state. But Everest Ozonweke went to convince Enugu executives with lot of lies that it was the turn of Enugu when I am still in power with Consent Judgement.
Ozonweke finally played Enugu national and they zoned it to Enugu so that he will contest and win.
But as it turned out, he contested and failed woefully in the kangaroo election with all the people he selected to be his executives.
You can play man but you can’t play God.
That was why the whole people who contested to work with him realized that you cannot cheat nature.
Since that day, they gave him a long rope. Even till date, Everest Ozonweke still believes that he can play God.
There is no doubt that he is a specialist in blackmailing. He can even tell you that he was the one who introduced your wife and children to you once you allow him to know their names.
When he wanted to get a job of printing banner and rent chairs as an event planner, he met some Iwuanyanwu family members and told them that Chief Iwuanyanwu was like a father to him.
He brought every Tom, dick and harry to join him on the platform of Iwuanyanwu’s burial, telling them that they are all members of the burial committee. He used them to make money as mobilizer.
Many of them only got a piece of meat pie on the day of tribute in Eko Hotel especially those who had the chance to attend.
Sometime last year, I gave him an award as the number one green snake under the green grass.
There is no time you will get in contact with him that you will not sympathize and love him because of his cunning ways.
Before you will realize his chameleonic nature of life, it will be too late. I don’t hate Everest Ozonweke but I want peace in Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
So, anyone who wants to help Ohanaeze Ndigbo should be thinking of providing him a job for Everest Ozonweke, if he will even like to work.
Everest Ozonweke can destroy a friendship that someone has built for ages. Presently, we are not quarrelling.
If he finds out that God is with you, he will come to you and tell you all the bad things people have been saying about you.
He will say all the derogatory words people have been using against your name. He will tell you that you are like a moon that hand cannot cover. He will also tell you that you are like an old win, the more it stays the sweeter it is with its nourishment.
He is indirectly referring to himself when he tells you about people who are against you. You need to be highly intelligent to be able to beat his devil network. He is sharper than telecommunication mast.
Above all, I want Ohanaeze national to stop listening to Everest Ozonweke if they want peace in Lagos Ohanaeze.
But the best is to stop him from coming to Enugu and have anything to do with the national. Otherwise, there will be no peace in Ndi Eze and Ndi Oha which form Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos.
In 2027, any association that gives him little money, he will accept and condemn Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
That was what he did in 2023 by using G50 to humiliate Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
He did not support Chief Solomon’s regime and even the one from Enugu that a kangaroo election brought in as a factional president to challenge valid CTC court judgement.
He was telling people that my judgement is court order and court injunction and that in less than two weeks, they will vacate it from the High Court.
He also told them that what I was carrying is like a paper of bread. But up till date, nobody has appealed the court judgement let alone vacating the court judgement.
So, Everest Ozonweke is the problem of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and I have come out to join others to bring peace back to Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
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