Iweala in a Press Statement signed by her media Aide, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu said headlines in some sections of the media suggesting she is under investigation by the anti-graft agency are misleading. The former Minister said from eye witness accounts at the Budget 2016
presentation of the EFCC, the Chairman of the anti-graft agency never said her activities as Minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration are under scrutiny. But Hon. Razak Atunwa, a member of the House of Representatives Committee who inquired about the probe into the petroleum sector, said: “I said EFCC has recovered a lot of money for Nigeria and he (Magu) mentioned that, in that regard, more sectors of the economy is likely to come under Investigative activity.
“I said it includes petroleum sector? He said yes. And I said would it include investigating the following people: Diezani Allison-Madueke,
Okonjo-Iweala and Kola Aluko, and he said yes. Those people are already under their investigative radar.”
However, Iweala’s press statement reads:
ALLEGED EFCC INVESTIGATION OF OKONJO-IWEALA: MEDIA HEADLINES ARE MISLEADING AND UNTRUE
We want to clarify that some of the media reports alleging that the EFCC is investigating former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are
misleading and untrue. This is clear from eye witness accounts of the Budget 2016 presentation by the EFCC at the House of Representatives and gaps in the reported stories. The headlines are a misrepresentation of what the EFCC Chairman actually said during the event.
While the headlines claimed that the EFCC Chairman, in response to a question by an APC, member Hon Razak Atunwa, stated that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is under investigation, the actual words quoted in the same reports told a very different story.
His words:
“Very soon we will go into the petroleum industry. Such investigation requires that we have to build capacity, we have to bring in experts to
enable us tackle what we are doing properly and the investigation must be conducted properly. We have internal lawyers and external lawyers. We have to pay insurance…”
The words said to have been spoken by the EFCC Chairman cannot support the lurid headlines that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is under investigation by the EFCC. The Nigerian media plays an important role in our democracy and we urge them to be fair, balanced and factual in their reports.
Paul C Nwabuikwu
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthri
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthri
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-s
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-s
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI.
The unbridled quest for money and the attitude of “only money counts” in
all Igbo affairs, came under severe attack Tuesday, when the Catholic
Bishop of Nsukka, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, delivered
the 33rd Public Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri,
FUTO, titled “Intellectualism and the Development of a People”.
According to the fiery Catholic cleric, the toll Igbo people have paid
in values for this, has been enormous, adding that money and what money
can buy seem to be all that matter to Ndigbo.
“Even our proverbial egalitarianism and republicanism seem to have
disappeared as the super rich became the owners of the community and
their praise singers remind those who were in doubt that the community
or town, indeed belonged to some people”, Professor Onah lamented.
Tracing how the Igbos degenerated to the present level, the Bishop said
that before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the intellectual was the pride of
the Igboman, pointing out that it was a pride to be referred to a
doctor’s mother or father.
“Then came the war, the blockade, the starvation, the surrender, the
humiliation and the economic emasculation. Despite the beautiful slogan
of no victor, no vanquished, there was and still is, a clear plan to
crush the presumably rebellious Igbo spirit and, thus, shatter the myth
of the resilient Igboman”, Onah said.
Continuing, the erudite cleric recalled that at the end of the war, the
foremost battle of Ndigbo was for survival in a Nigeria that neither
wanted them in its fold nor would it let them go, “having been stripped
to the bare skin of all the material wealth they had acquired before the
war by the post war Nigerian government”.
According to the cleric, a careful scrutiny of the way most political
office holders were selected in Igboland and what they do with the
common patrimony when they are in office, will confirm that Ndigbo have
collectively sold their birthrights to those who have the hard currency
to spray.
“Before long, the only money counts attitude found its way into the
precincts of the churches and, through harvests, bazaars and the
unending fund raising programmes for the innumerable church projects, it
gradually moved into the sanctuary”, Onah said.
The Bishop also reasoned that from the sanctuaries, the money virus
exploded like a petrol tank on fire, spilling it’s content into massive
open air rallies, crusades and fanfares of the miracle industries and
mega markets, where the insecure wealthy class, the distressed youths
and miserable victims of the reckless pillage of our national wealth by
an unscrupulous political class collectively fund the extravagance of
some self appointed redeemers.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/ndigbo-have-collectively-sold-their-birthrights/
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