Sunday Ossai
OpenLife Nigeria reports that the unending leadership crises that have bedevilled the Igbo socio cultural and apolitical group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, appear deeper as Chief Sunday Ossai, president of a Lagos faction was sacked during the week.
It would be recalled that in the course of the election of Professor George Obiozor as the President General of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo,Worldwide on Sunday, January 9, 2021, a former commissioner in Imo State, Engineer Chidi Ibeh also emerged as factional President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Each faction generated its key principal officers charged with the responsibility of running the affairs of the socio-cultural group.
By the time Professor Obiozor died at age 80 on December 26, 2022, the Engineer Chidi Ibeh led factional executive functioned ,in their own belief, as the authentic Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
However, following Obiozors death, Nigerian politician and entrepreneur, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, emerged as the new president-general of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group on April 20, 2023.
Curiously, his maiden nationwide tour which commenced with a visit to Lagos further exposed the leadership crises that have trailed the Lagos chapter.
According to Chief Iwuanyanwu, the leadership crises in Lagos between Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene and Chief Sunday Ossai was unknown to him.
By Thursday this week, the lingering crisis among the faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo also known as the rebel group, took another dimension following the removal of Chief Sunday Ossai as the President of the group by their executives in Lagos State.
Chief Ossai was suspended and subsequently removed by the Executives following a motion moved during an emergency meeting held at the Old School, Stadium in Surulere, Lagos and was adopted by the house.
The Executives and Chief Ossai had been at loggerheads over the manner in which Ossai was managing the Apex Igbo organization in Lagos State and his inability to provide leadership to Ndigbo in Lagos State.
The Executive members were said to have suspected that Chief Ossai has collected huge sums of money before consenting to the use of Ohanaeze Ndigbo as brand a for St Eve Concept Ltd football tournament. And they conspired and perfected the plans to remove him.
During the meeting, Chief Ossai was confronted to explain why he solely took the decision and went on to grant press conference on Arise TV on a matter that have not been discussed in the executive meeting.
When he was unable to satisfy them with his responses, they moved against him through a motion moved by Barrister Leonard Nwaogidi, who is the Financial Secretary of the group and was supported by Chief Mrs. Nelly Okeafor and Mrs. Blessings Ngozi and the majority of the executives endorsed his removal.
After Chief Ossai had been removed on the ground that he cannot be the judge over his own matter, the executive members immediately took a decision and disassociated themselves from the said football tournament while asking the organisers to remove the logo of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.
It was not certain who will take over since Chief Ossai has been removed. It was gathered that three names have been mentioned and are now jostling to take over. They are namely, Chief Evaristus Ozonweke and Chief Friday Obi, who initially contested for the position and lost to Ossai.
The group rebelled and went on to conduct election despite the valid Consent Court judgment in favour of Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene as the authentic Ohanaeze President, Lagos State.
Chief Aguene has since filed Form 48 and 49 on Contempt of Court before the Lagos State High Court to commit some of them to prison for conducting an illegal election despite the Court judgment.
It was not certain if Chief Ossai has accepted his removal as efforts to contact him proved abortive because his phone number was switched off. The secretary of the group, Chief Robert Obasi, could not be reached as at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, president, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos chapter, in the estimation of public analysts, has done well to reposition the socio-cultural and apolitical group.
He has been passionate about development of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization. In one of his interviews, Aguene said.
Initially, I thought Ohanaeze Ndigbo starts and ends in Enugu or Igbo land until I learnt that it has chapters in all the states of the federation including Lagos.
I enquired about the Lagos chapter but was told there was no specific location to meet the officials as meetings are held at hotels and rented halls. I felt it was not proper, and my instinct told me I could make a difference if given the opportunity to serve the organization.
I discussed with some eminent Igbo people in Lagos who equally expressed their displeasure at the way Lagos chapter was being run. I am a cultural activist and promoter of Igbo culture and tradition.
I felt that a well organised Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos will be an excellent platform to promote Igbo culture and tradition. So, I aspired to be part of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos executive to promote Igbo culture and tradition.
I met an organization without a functional Secretariat or fixed address and no bank account. Furthermore, I met a polarised organisation with splinter groups and warring factions even among the Ndi Eze Igbo in Lagos.
The battle for supremacy among the factions was tearing Ndigbo apart. Again, the organisation had no articulated goals and objectives. The various members of the executive were running the affair from their respective homes and offices. The lack of proper coordination impeded execution of set goals.
The first and foremost of all changes is the establishment of a functional secretariat for the organization. This makes for proper coordination of its activities and programmes. The secretariat is accessible to all Igbo resident and visiting Lagos.
It is located at the heart of Lagos, the sports city, Surulere. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos meetings hold here at the secretariat and records are kept, promoting accountability and transparency.
The next key progress was to reconcile the warring Ndi Eze Igbo in Lagos. One of them become the overall Eze (Eze Gburugburu Goddy Ohazulike – Mpume); another, Chairman of Council Ndi Eze (C. O. Nwachukwu – Eze Igbo Isolo) and his deputy, Eze Eneh – Eze Igbo Ojo.
The other major step was the strengthening of the activities of Ohanaeze Ndigbo at the Local Council Development Areas and Local Government Areas in Lagos. So, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos is now one big happy family.
The first step we took in reconciling Ndigbo and indigenes of our host state was to make peace with the Lagos royal family, quelling the misgivings which arose during the 2015 general elections.
We paid a courtesy visit to the Oba of Lagos. We were accompanied by Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (Retd), a former Chief of General Staff under General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime; Prof. George Obiozor, former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Cyprus and Israel among others.
We started reaching out to other traditional rulers in Yoruba land including the Ooni of Ife. All these steps were aimed at building good relationship between Ndigbo and indigenes of our host communities.
And it’s yielding results as the activities of miscreants (area boys) and security operatives in the market places have reduced. The markets are now conducive for business.
The Lagos State government is running an inclusive government, carrying all ethnic nationalities including the Igbo along. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in Lagos State recognises Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos as the umbrella organisation for all Igbo and keeps relating well with us.
The government invites Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership to key functions in the state. The government of Lagos State supports our empowerment programme for widows.
Some of these women have been given teaching appointments by the government, while others got financial support for their trades. Recently, the governor channeled Igbo share of Covid-19 palliatives through Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos.
My vision for Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos is to have an organization that grows from strength to strength, catering for the well-being of Ndigbo. We are planning to erect a seven-storey permanent secretariat for the organization.
The seven-storey counts for the seven Igbo states of Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers. Our present secretariat is a rented apartment, so we are working towards acquiring a permanent structure for the organization.
The project will be sponsored by some well meaning individuals who believe in my leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos. There are people who I always call upon and they respond positively. These are the people we are going to rely on to make this dream a reality.
Born into the family of Chief Aguene Okorie of Onicha Igboeze in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, he spent the early part of his life, assisting his parents in farm works. His father was a farmer and traditionalist in the old Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.
“My father was a traditionalist and lover of art works. Remember, African Traditional Religion uses artworks especially pottery and carvings to illustrate different deities and spirits. I grew up appreciating African arts,” he affirms with a lucid sense of dignity in an earlier interview.
For the love of arts, his office has a semblance of a mini art gallery, stylishly decorated with expensive art works depicting different values.
The office is also adorned with photographs of many notable Nigerians, with Aguene standing confidently beside them in each of the photographs. This class of Nigerians represents his clients in the art business.
“My core business areas are arts collection and sales plus real estate development. I have attended over 2,000 art exhibitions and auctions in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.
“I collect and sell art works especially African arts. I have over 3,000 masterpieces of African arts in my collection. I develop sell, lease and rent both residential and commercial buildings,” he stated.
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