By Tony Ogbechie
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has set aside Wednesday, September 29, for the 2021 edition of Igbo Day celebration which is scheduled for Enugu State.
The apex Igbo socio cultural organisation said the day offers an opportunity for sober reflection as the people remember and mourn the killing of about 30,000 Igbo people in northern Nigeria on the same date in 1996 in addition to other massacres and injustices against Ndigbo. It is also a day to celebrate the Igbo resilience, ingenuity, entrepreneurial skills and frontier spirit.
A statement by Chief Chiedozie Ogbonnia, national publicity secretary of the group said the Igbo would rather celebrate than mourn on that day because of God’s love and kindness towards the ethnic nationality.
He gave the theme of the celebration as: “Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya” translated to mean “Do not abandon your own”
“This is an ethnic group that has suffered various kinds of injustice, alienation and relative deprivations, and have remained afloat in the academia, corporate world, transportation, tourism, commerce and industry. Instead of mourning, we have chosen to celebrate the God’s love and kindness towards the Igbo. We celebrate the innate capacity and perseverance in the Igbo to break physical boundaries and achieve results where most fail.”
The statement said the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor was optimistic that this year’s Igbo Day Celebration would be very unique in several ways.
Obiozor has set up a Central Planning Committee (CPC) led by the traditional ruler of Olo community and Chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu as chairman and Chief Chiedozie Ogbonnia, national publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide as secretary.
Events to mark this year’s Igbo Day prayers would start in all churches in Igbo land on Sunday, September 26, while a public lecture is slated for International Conference Centre, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu on Tuesday, September 28 to be delivered by Prof. Osita Ogbu of University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
There would also be creativity display by Igbo actors in Nollywood, while the activities would be rounded off at Michael Okpara Square, Independence Lay Out Enugu, on Wednesday September 29, under the distinguished Chairmanship of Chief Allen Onyema, Chairman/CEO of Air Peace.
The event which would offer a unique opportunity for individuals, captains of industry, groups, companies, universities and states to showcase and advertise their local produce and innovations would also witness a match past of cultural troupes from states and communities in Igbo land.
