General News
Ohanaeze @50: Otti urges Ndigbo to preserve history, renew institutions
Our Reporter
Gov. Alex Otti of Abia on Tuesday urged Igbo people to preserve their history while continuously renewing institutions created to advance their collective interests.
Otti gave the advice on Monday at the public presentation of a book: Ohanaeze at 50: The Burden of Memory, The Politics of Relevance.
It was authored by Mr Kalu Onuma.
Otti served as the event’s chief host.
He said the 50th anniversary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo provided an opportunity not only to celebrate its longevity but also to examine its relevance to present and future generations.
He said the book’s emphasis on memory and relevance was significant because institutions must learn from their history while adapting to changing social realities.
“Memory tells us where we are coming from. Relevance challenges us to ask where we are going.
“An organisation that forgets its history will struggle to understand its present, but an organisation that becomes too attached to its history without responding to the demands of the present may gradually loses its relevance,” Otti said.
He said Ohanaeze emerged in 1976 from the need to provide a platform for Igbo people at a difficult period in Nigeria’s history.
He said that the circumstances that produced the organisation had changed significantly.
Otti said the new realities required institutions representing Igbo people to create a greater space for young people, women, professionals and the growing Igbo diaspora.
He commended Onuma for undertaking what he described as an important examination of the history, experiences and future of Ohanaeze.
The governor urged members of the public to read the book, saying that its value would be measured by the conversations and actions it would generate.
“You cannot correct what you refuse to acknowledge. You cannot improve what you refuse to examine, and you cannot build the future if you are afraid to learn from the past,” he said.
The author, Onuma, said the book was not written to praise or condemn Ohanaeze, but to examine what the organisation had achieved, where it had struggled and what it could become in the next 50 years.
Onuma said the book was an independent work and not a commissioned history of Ohanaeze.
He said: “If it provokes questions, then it has done something useful.
“If it generates debate, then the conversation has begun.
“If the conversation leads to renewal, then the purpose of the book would have been achieved.”
The royal father of the occasion and Obi of Onitsha and Agbogidi, Nnaemeka Achebe, performed the traditional breaking of Kola at the event.
Achebe said the breaking of Kola symbolised fellowship and goodwill, urging Igbo people to strengthen their bonds while preserving their cultural heritage.
The reviewer of the book, Prof. Okey Anueyiagu, described the publication as an attempt to interrogate an institution rather than merely celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Anueyiagu said the book examined Ohanaeze’s history, leadership, internal dynamics and relevance to contemporary society.
He urged the public to read the book critically and note the questions it raised about the future of the organisation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ohanaeze Ndigbo, established in 1976, is an apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation representing the collective interests, unity and cultural heritage of Igbo people.
The organisation emerged six years after the Nigerian Civil War in an effort to rebuild Igbo communal institutions and provide a platform for collective representation.
NAN reports that the book examined five decades of the organisation’s evolution and pointed out the challenges and possibilities ahead. (NAN)
Abu Umar
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday reserved ruling on the no-case submission filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in his ongoing trial over alleged unlawful interception of a telephone communication.
At the resumed hearing, the prosecution and defence lawyers adopted their respective positions on El-Rufai’s no-case submission.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, told the court that the business of the day was for El-Rufai to adopt his no-case submission.
Counsel to El-Rufai, Mr Akinyemi Aremu, who announced that the defence team was led by Mr Paul Erokoro, SAN, told the court that Erokoro had prayed for the matter to be stood down as he was still on his way to court.
The trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, however, refused the request, saying, “I do not do stand downs”.
Aremu subsequently sought the court’s permission for his co-counsel, Mr Ekere, to handle the proceedings.
Ekere then moved a motion seeking an extension of time to deem the defendant’s no-case submission properly filed and served.
The judge granted the application and deemed the processes relating to the no-case submission properly filed and served.
Ekere thereafter adopted the no-case submission and urged the court to uphold it and discharge the defendant.
Aladedoyin, however, opposed the defendant lawyer’s prayer and asked the court to overrule the no-case submission and order the defendant to enter his defence.
He argued that the defence, in making their no case submission, had evaded Exhibit B, which he said was the defendant’s confession.
“If they had averted their mind to it, they won’t make the ‘no case submission’, so I urge my lord to invite the defendant to open his case,” he said.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter until Oct. 26 for ruling.
Our Reporter
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly will consider the State Police Bill transmitted by the National Assembly when it resumes plenary on Monday, Sept. 28.
Dr Danladi Jatau, the Speaker of the House, disclosed this on Tuesday in Lafia while speaking with journalists.
Jatau said the bill was received from the Clerk of the National Assembly on Friday, Sept. 18.
“Yes, we are in receipt of the State Police Bill from the Clerk of the National Assembly. We received it last Friday,” he said.
He said the lawmakers would scrutinise the bill and take the necessary legislative action.
“We will go through it when we resume on Monday next week,” Jatau said.
The speaker assured that the Assembly would give the bill the necessary legislative attention.
“We will look at it and do the needful,” he said.(NAN).
Our Reporter
The Osun House of Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution supporting the establishment of State Police to complement existing security agencies in combating insecurity in the state.
The resolution followed the transmission of the proposed constitutional amendment by the National Assembly to the State Houses of Assembly for consideration and approval.
The National Assembly had on June 24 passed the constitutional amendment Bill seeking to provide for the establishment of State Police.
The motion for the resolution and passage of the proposed State Police amendment was moved by the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Mr Babajide Kofoworola, and seconded by Mr Tajudeen Adeyemi, representing Ifelodun State Constituency.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Adewale Egbedun, directed that the resolution and amendments approved by the Assembly be forwarded to the National Assembly for further consideration.
The Assembly later dissolved into the Committee of the Whole to consider the Osun State Park Management System Bill, 2026.
The Assembly considered corrections and amendments to the Bill, with the agreed changes incorporated into the proposed legislation.(NAN).
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