By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)@CeleOkaf11
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Igbos of southeast Nigeria, including their Igbo kits and kin in diaspora states of Nigeria, have begun an early mobilization exercise towards unity and oneness among their ethnic members, in their collective aspiration to clinch the Presidency of Nigeria, which slot is expected to be filled by the South East, in the next presidential poll.
This bold move, NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER Newspapers gathered on Sunday, is being held under the socio-ethnic umbrella platform known as 'Umunnabuike - Igbowuotu', which means (Patrilineal family is the greatest because Igbos are one and the same everywhere). the newspaper also learned that this coalition group had been engaged in clandestine group meetings and mobilization drive with the aim of bringing Ndigbo across the geopolitical lines in Nigeria into one "Igbowuotu" fold, in clear furtherance of their political aspiration in 2023.
Umunnabuike -Igbowuotu Coalition currently has its operational base in Owerri, the Imo state capital. Among the core objectives of the new outfit, NEWS-LEADER Newspapers found out, is to entrench the philosophy of all-inclusiveness of every Igbo, no matter where they reside. Umunnabuike - Igbowuotu is also a grassroots coalition platform to mobilize Igbos whether they are ordinary Igbo citizens, Ndi Eze (titleholders and kings) as well as heads of Igbo based socio-cultural groups or unions, etc.
According to one of the prime coordinators/facilitators of this broad-based Igbo coalition body and a former Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Cletus Enebe, he told NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER Newspapers at the weekend, that the Umunnabuike's motto which is Igbowuotu, signifies that the strength of the Igbos or any organization in Igboland (Alaigbo) derives its authority from the "Umunna" concept. Enebe identified among the group's objectives as the deliberate protection of the collective interest of all Igbos within the context of unity in Nigeria.
Membership of the coalition group is tentatively drawn two persons each from all the states in Nigeria that have Igbo-speaking people. It's steering committee meetings, it was learned, have been held five times in Abuja and thrice in the South East, to agree on the coalition's strategy. Presently, the technical team is said to meet in Abuja every week to analyze critical issues of common interest to the body and also to analyze social media campaigns and agree on various machination strategies, often in the group's political clinic center somewhere in Gwarinpa, Abuja.
Umunnabuike - Igbowuotu Coalition is said to gear towards a total mobilization and take over of Igbo landscapes. It has also sufficiently raised requisite consciousness among many Igbo indigenes, traditional rulers, Igbo town unions, associations, professional groups, and churches, etc, and has equally secured approval of a team of traditional rulers to confer titles only to the very deserving members of the Igbo Umunna in the South East and elsewhere.
NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER Newspapers' checks reveal that the coalition has recorded very impressive achievements so far. The group has held several sensitization meetings at the zonal levels. It has also set a process in motion towards the launch of its online media mobilization platform called "Ikoro Igbo".
The group is however ready to host its mass unity summit known as the OHA summit in conjunction with the Global Peace and Sustainability Network. They are getting speakers from the seven states of Igbo ancestral homes, starting with Anambra, Enugu, lmo, Abia, Ebonyi, Rivers and Delta states. The summit will host an eventful inauguration of wards and LGA coordinators of Umunnabuike - lgbowuotu Coalition. NNL.
