BNW FACE-2-FACE: OHANEZE ON THE "HOT SEAT" - PART I

On June 19, 2002, the Honorable Emmanuel Okocha, Publicity Secretary for Ohaneze Nd'Igbo, took the BiafraNigeriaWorld "hot seat" and spoke at length on issues including the 2003 presidential elections, MASSOB, the Biafra movement, and efforts to mobilize Nd'Igbo for 2003 and beyond. Hon. Okocha took the opportunity to respond to Ohaneze's critics, while shedding light on the candidacy of John Nwodo. He also talked about his own bid for the governorship of Delta State under the APP platform, and much more. Hon. Okocha is the author of the book, Blood on the Niger, and publisher of the USA Africa magazine.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: BiafraNigerians would like you to introduce yourself, give us a little background, tell us a bit about yourself and let's start there.

Hon. Okocha: I am Honorable Emma Okocha. I am orphaned. I was orphaned during the civil war. My parents suffered. They were victims of the genocide that was carried out by federal troops when they entered into Asaba on October 7, 1967. Asaba suffered the greatest casualty figures amongst civilian victims during the Nigerian Civil War. Following the recapture of the former mid-western states from the Biafran soldiers by the federal troops. After the civil war I was able to finish my school, secondary, high school, university by scholarship which was offered to us by the then mid-western government under Sammuel Ogbemudia and since then I've had this passion to ask the questions "why should my people be killed?" And it is with the same passion we're able to go into politics, free journalism, engage in sports. As I was telling you I used to play soccer for Nigeria. I was also a tennis player -- involved myself in satellite tournaments -- Jamaica, Europe, New England States and occasionally in the Washington area where I lived some ten years back. Since then I've been in Nigeria and been into government, now I'm going to run for an office.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Which office?

Hon. Okocha: I hope EI will run for the big one. Directly we don't know yet because in our coalition we believe the people determine what the candidate will run for. I started as a councilor in local government; been a delegate representative in the constitutional assembly. So I've run elections since I returned from the United States. I've been running elections and winning. I haven't bee demanding any money or giving anybody money and this time I want to try my luck among the big constituents.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So by the "big one" you mean the presidency?

Hon. Okocha: No. The big one in Delta State. I stopped at that.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: What's the big one in Delta State?

Hon. Okocha: There's the governorship, gubernatorial elections; there's the Senate especially being a western Igbo we have seen a lot of regret. Those who have gone into the national assembly have squandered the years. This is the end of the Senate tenure. Our representative, our own Senator has not even moved one single bill and our people are suffering under the hegemony of other nationalities who ultimately were part of the people that won the civil war. The western Igbo in Delta State is considered a non-citizen. It is like South Africa during the apartheid -- the western Igbo is not considered a core Deltan. The western Igbo cannot easily be assimilated in the civil service, or democratic institution of Delta State. We don't have permanent secretaries and this is the area we used to prosper when we were in the Nigerian Federation in the old mid-western region. The western Igbos produced a lot of top civil servants. P.C. Asiodu, C.C. Mordi, etc. So this time we're not there. We're not in the bureaucracy, we're not in the political top echelons, we're not in the sports, yet we produce the Keshis, the Victor Oduas. Seventy-five percent of those J.J. Okochas, those are the western Igbos. Yet in the offices we're not there.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So what's the obstacle? Why aren't you there? What do you see as the stumbling block?

Hon. Okocha: There is the standing state policy that once you're Igbo, whether you are western Igbo you must be degraded as second-class citizens. So what is happening to Igbos in general in Nigeria is being accentuated in Delta

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So what's going to be the impetus for change?

Hon. Okocha: That's why we think this is the time. The time is now because we think people are so disenchanted with the present situation that anybody that raises the issues -- like I know I know the issues. I don't care about how much money you have but I know I can talk more on the issues than any other candidate, any other human being of my generation in that part of the world.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: From what I understand, your goal is to get an Igbo into the presidency. Is that correct?

Hon. Okocha: My goal is not necessarily to get an Igbo, but as you premise this discussion on the theory that guarantees safe federations all over the world like Signapore, Malasia, Switzerland, United States of America, every federation according to the expert analysis of professor J. C. Way. Every federation must cooperate, coexist, co-exert and coordinate. If these four indices of a federation are lacking the federation will not function. The Nigerian federation does not have room for parity of forces as a super position of powers. And then we don't coexist, we don't cooperate. The Igbos are left to play crumbling rolls and at this point in time there is just a lack of good leadership. They don't have those types of characters that used to co-exert, people like Nnamdi Azikiwe, M.I. Okpara, Akanu Ibiam. These are our forefathers. How come that the present generation are only after blue chip jobs? The best jobs are in the United States. Because these Igbos are brilliant, they go to the United Nations, the top most lady among the African division at the World Bank is Dr. Iwuala, she is an Igbo leader. The same thing in the United Nations, all over the world, Igbos prosper. But in their politics suddenly there is a lack. We have around us charlatans. So these are our challenges, to take over, see what we can do. So that these federations that must depend on these co-exerting factors, coexisting factors like I told you as Switzerland, if the canons of Switzerland cannot cooperate, the Swiss federation will collapse. In Nigeria, it is in the interest of Nigerians that they should allow certain roles for Igbos to play, not only in the East but in the Western part of the nation.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So what if you can't do that? What then is the solution for the Igbo if you cannot achieve this goal?

Hon. Okocha: There is nothing from the history that guided the Nigerian Federation as played by the Igbos. Igbos from history because during the independence war they were at the forefront, they performed. Once they get mobilized, once somebody breaks the issues down to them to see, Igbos will join forces. That's what we are doing. We are now interested. Like you asked me 'what do you want to be'? That is not the immediate question. We are now in the period of mobilizing, getting the issues aggregated, getting our interests defined. For the first time we have been able to define the Igbo interest.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Isn't it usually better to have a goal in mind then you plot your course carefully so you can achieve that goal. You have to have an ultimate goal in mind. You can't just define issues in a vacuum without having a direction. So I just want to know what is the destination?

Hon. Okocha: You know you're very right. But in politics what you call goals I call political interests. The core goals in psychology or career setting or agenda whatever is different but in political practice, goals are defined as interests. What is your interest? Morgenthau, on the Politics among Nations. America defines their interests in the Middle East ...

BiafraNigeriaWorld: But whatever you call it, isn't it still the same thing?

Hon. Okocha: That is what I'm saying. Those goals are what EThis is the first time since the civil war, since before the civil war, the Igbo man's goal was the Nigerian goal. Get something from Nigeria, make Nigeria good. We have invested in Lagos, we have invested all over the country. The other groups, the Yoruba groups, they were not interested in Nigeria, they were interested in their Western enclave. The Northerners were interested in spreading the Sharia, getting Nigeria to be a Muslim country. But we are managing, trying to manage these forces to get a Nigerian ideal, but now it has failed. There are groups that don't even want to see Nigeria anymore. Those are the Biafran resurgimento groups. But those of us in Ohaneze said, we agree. Nigeria has been a major disappointment, in spite of its resources. But can you change Nigeria? We started to have oasis of hope. That's why we said why not define for the first time, the Igbo interest, the Igbo goals your own words? Once you get it defined the leadership will emerge. But when you come and say I want to be governor, I want to be president, there is no mobilization, there is no socialization of the people, there is no followership. It is going to be difficult. But now we are mobilized courting our group, defining our interests like now the major interest of the Igbo man is to check the erosion explosion in Igboland. If that erosion is not checked, we may not see an Igboland in the next ten years. I don’t know where it comes from but I know in every village, every second it's collapsing before my eyes. It's modern, the states, the local government, take a look at the Nigerian nation, where an Igbo man becomes the president, is from that platform, will solve those problems.

Second interest, if you like, getting the Igbo language as the number one form of communication for the Igbos all over the world because they are speaking very great English, but it is not Eyou know this is a culture among Igbos, they speak good English, good Spanish, good French. The Yoruba man doesn't care, they speak their language.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: You know that's a really interesting point. There's a recent article published at BiafraNigeriaWorld on that very topic. If you have time, please take a look at it. But I'm curious, what was your trip here about? What are you doing in the United States?

Hon. Okocha: I will answer to give our discussion direction. I was talking about mobilization, to identify those interests so that those leaders after the mobilization they will then I came here as part of a mobilization exercise. We have our people with different groups not talking to themselves. We've been able to within this trip get those groups talking to themselves. We cannot totally unify people once they have their different platforms, once they have their different methodologies and their goals. Even in your own family, I don't think you have the same unity of purpose. You know we don't believe in that utopia. All we have done now is to admit that we cannot be the same unified train but we can identify similar interests, similar goals so that those of them who are on the other side can as much as possible merge with other groups who are thinking alike. My visit here is to identify those groups who are thinking like us. Can we produce for the benefit of assuaging those interest of an Igbo president using the resources we have in America. We've done that in Houston because we have identified Houston as having the greatest number of Igbos. Been to Texas, been to New Orleans, been to Kansas. We went to Kansas to speak to the Anioma Igbos, those are the western Igbos some never believed they were Igbos. So after talking with them in Kansas I was very pleased and for the first time they decided to join their kith and kin in the Eastern flank. And as I am talking to you, Ohaneze for the first time is to have their monthly meeting in Asaba the capital of Delta State, which has never happened before. So my visit here is to identify those groups, get them together, and the seek the resources because we believe, profession by profession, especially the new profession, when you are talking about the new profession, we are talking about medical scientists, those transplant liver surgeons, we're talking about the insurance, the computer technology group, the banking finance group, those are what we consider the new professions, as opposed to just lawyers and education group. We have the majority of them in Nigeria. So these are where we thought the Igbos have a lot of professionals in America no longer coming home. Or I've graduated I'm going to come home, no more. They are here. They're going to remain here and they've become very serious opinion molders on the American side. So if America decides that the next Nigerian presidency could go to the East, we have made it. Because it was America that got a prisoner Olusegun Obasanjo through the Baptist mission as proposed by Baptist faithfuls like Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young from Atlanta. Those are the protagonists of the idea that Obasanjo, then a prisoner, should be made the president of Nigeria, despite the fact that he lost his deposit in his local government. So where can we use our own resources, the Igbo resources that could measure, could be even more awesome than any India, Chinese or European resources here. What are they doing for us to convince the American opinion makers and get us the presidency as they did during Obansanjo's Ekwueme contest.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Have you identified anyone within the American government that could be approachable?

Hon. Okocha: That is the job of these resources. That is their job.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Even coming from Africa you should still have an idea of whom you need to bring into the fold?

Hon. Okocha: Yes, we tend to leave that job to our brothers who are more Ewho deal more directly with them. They are in the NASA, some of our brothers are lobbyists in the Congress, one is a Mayor in Cleveland, he is an Igbo man. I can tell you I've identified but I know they will do a better job because they are here. We’ve given them that function.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So you mentioned bankers and IT professionals, what do you do for a living?

Hon. Okocha: I'm a journalist, at present I'm the executive editor of Post Express the first Nigerian newspaper in the Internet and I'm a sports promoter. I intend to bring the William sisters to Nigeria to tour West Africa. I'm talking to the EI was in the Nigerian government. Before now, I was a Commissioner, and then right now I'm back to journalism.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Post Express seems to be offline. What happened?

Hon. Okocha: We are going to restore it. What happened is that there is a change in management. We are going to reorganize the place.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Let's get back to Ohaneze the organization. How did it come about?

Hon. Okocha: Ohaneze was founded by seven gentlemen, K.O. Mbadiwe, Akanu Ibiam. These were former Igbo leaders who were prominent in the struggle for Nigeria's independence. After the Nigerian Civil War with the total isolation of the Igbo interest away from the Nigerian Federation Ohaneze was formed as a lobby to bring Igbos back to the mainstream. These gentlemen are K.O. Mbadiwe, he was a former minister under Belewa, Akanu Ibiam, former governor of Eastern Nigeria, when Western Cameroon was part of us, D.V. Osadebay, my uncle. All these people are late. He was the former premier, the first and last premier of mid-western Nigeria. The former sponsor of Ohaneze then was this man from Umunze, , the Balitete of Umunze, Chief Ugochukwu, owner of Ugochukwu tires, Dr. Pius Okigbo, a reverred Nigerian economist and then special advisor to the federal government. Those are the people who founded Ohaneze.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: When did they found the organization?

Hon. Okocha: It was founded during the first election after the civil war. I don't know the exact date -- around late '70's. So it was founded to take care of these Igbo interests. Midway, it was involved in partisan politics. That time Igbos had a party they called NPP, Ohaneze was used. Most of the Ohaneze people were in NPN. Ohaneze was used to fight NPP and it was a losing battle. So Ohaneze was given a knock out punch because NPP took over Igboland. So after the deaths of all these men, because at that time they were septuagenarians, Ohaneze was resuscitated in this era, especially during the Oputa panel, during the killings in the North, Kaduna riots, during the institution of Sharia as a religious mission in the North, so Ohaneze came out to play certain roles. We challenged the Sharia. Ohaneze wrote a petition, organized witnesses to appear in the area, both in Enugu and Abuja. Ohaneze since then has been regarded as the Pan-Igbo cultural leader. And now, two years ago in Enugu, at the Enugu presidential address, Ohaneze rose from a meeting in January 2000, made a declaration that no more would an Igbo man play second fiddle, we would never accept the vice presidency anymore. The Igbos will contest the presidency, 2003. So that is the situation right now.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: How is the organization structured in terms of its leadership? How do you as the Publicity Secretary fit into the organization? How did you become the Publicity Secretary?

Hon. Okocha: I became the publicity secretary after playing a role as the chairman of publicity during the Igbo Day celebrations and the incumbent publicity secretary was voted out of office so and then I belonged to a think tank, what they call Nkpuke. What you talk in Nkpuke you don't say it out at the open assembly. So we enter into Nkpuke and I'm the smallest boy there. People were 70, 60, 50, they are probably former justices, ministers, there you present papers and because of my book and coming from Delta, this is the area, what they call federal character. That's why I'm a member of Nkpuke and I lead the Young Turks because most of the time people criticize Ohaneze of being too conservative. So we want to change how we react. We were the first group that admitted the MASSOB, admitted the Bakassi, people like our Secretary General, Nwabueze is a constitutional lawyer, a Nigerian expert in constitutional law, he teaches the constitution, he is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He was teaching there. He wouldn’t like anything unconstitutional. So we damned that. We said we need to control our own area. Without Bakassi and MASSOB, we cannot control the East so we had to admit them. It took a lot of lobbying and a lot of talking for them to accept that. So, they are now part of us.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: MASSOB was forcibly excluded from your last "Igbo day" celebrations in Enugu. Why?

Hon. Okocha: What happened was that before the last one, in 2001, we had to bring them in, and Uwazuruike really pulled the crowd. Ohaneze does not discriminate. Once you are an Igbo man you are a member of Ohaneze. The Ohaneze we are talking about is just the executive cabinet. But once you are Igbo you are an Ohaneze child. So for MASSOB to say they were excluded or not excluded is not the issue. The issue was that certain Esome leaders of Ohaneze would not like to relate with MASSOB. And then those of us, Ohaneze's younger members, told them that things had to change. We need this group, just like we need groups like Aka-Ikenga, World Igbo Congress Group, whether they're of conservative bent or radical movement, once they are Igbo, they are Igbo. So nobody would say MASSOB or Bakassi is not accepted. Nobody. What happened was that they should come in there, part of the program and in the 1 million march, we are going to organize in Aba. MASSOB will be represented and we don't discriminate. It is not anything official except there are some leaders like I told you who are either afraid or because of Abuja relationship, they would not like to be related.

The details of the march, the symbolism of the march is to teach, that Igbos are now together. This is an election year. If anybody says he is against the Igbo interest, let him be excused from the march, but I know that most probably everybody, including those who were in the Obasanjo camp, they will all run to Aba to get some media attention. Because if we are really going to really have a 1 million march, not only the men this time. Remember the historic position of Aba in Nigerian history. In 1929 Aba women went on riot. They were the first Bostonians. Boston went to riot because of federal taxation. The Aba women are savvy, in 1929. They broke and had their first strike against tax. So we're going to reincarnate that effort. They are moving the women. We are looking for the best world. We are looking at an Igbo language to produce for us what should be the theme of that march. Women and men, oshimili umu nwanyi na umu nwoke, something like that to give it impact.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Earlier you mentioned the Ohaneze cabinet. Could you describe the Ohaneze cabinet?

Hon. Okocha: The Ohaneze cabinet has a chairman, an executive chairman, a retired chief justice, Ozo Ozobu, it has a secretary general, as I told you a constitutional expert, the best in West Africa, his name is Dr. Ben Nwabueze, it has a treasurer from Abia. Nwabueze is from Anambra, justice, the chairman is from Enugu state, the treasurer is from Abia, the deputy secretary, Dr. Nwogu, is from Imo. I myself am from Asaba, that's Delta, the publicity secretary. I'm the last. So you see they made these appointments to satisfy the different states that make up the Igbo nation.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So you did that to make sure that all the people are really represented within Ohaneze?

Hon. Okocha: Right.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So are these people elected, selected or appointed? How did you and the others in the cabinet attain your positions? Or how did you make your selections?

Hon. Okocha: These were positions that were there before I came in. I don't think they were really elected. They were appointed based on their achievements because Igbo rules accept achievement because it’s a functional rule that operates on meritocracy. When I talk about constitutional expertise in Nigeria, Professor Nwabueze is number one, that's why they appointed him secretary general to make sure we don't enter into constitutional faux pas. He's a conservative. There are others who are chairmen of committees, chairman of political committee, chairman of strategic and planning committee, like comrade Uche Chukwumerije and a member of the planning committee also. But the executive is not elected, there is a proposal to make sure that future elections are carried out to usher in new members. The proposals are there because a constitutional amendment has to take place for that to happen, its on the ground.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: So there is a constitution?

Hon. Okocha: Yes.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: What does the constitution say right now about how these officials are to be picked?

Hon. Okocha: When it started, it started as a small thing? But because of the issues that it has treated, it has exploded into something very big. Now that people want to come in and they're asking for constitutional amendments, so that next time around when these elderly fellows leave office, there will be elections. I think its on the ground right now, we're looking forward to it.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: You also said that one of the goals of Ohaneze was to bring the Igbos into the mainstream of Nigeria and then you also mentioned that there were some members of the cabinet who are conservative and are not as radical as for instance some members of MASSOB, so there is a bit of conflict---

Hon. Okocha: Standoff!

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Okay, standoff between them. Why did you choose to call the group Ohaneze? Why not Oha Nd'Igbo?

Hon. Okocha: Ohaneze means the whole people plus the chiefs. What we did on a daily basis with the chiefs, for us to control the crucial constituents, that's our people's towns, the chiefs must be there, the traditional chiefs. That's why we say Oha. Oha takes care of the Ndigbo. Na eze, do you understand? So for every meeting to take place there must be a chief that must chair. Every time we are in Enugu, there must be an Enugu chief. Last time I went to Abia, an umuahia chief was the chairman. Ohaneze cabinet, none of the members could chair the sessions, there must be a traditional chief. That is how it works out.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: One thing that needed to come out of that was that was the question, why not "Oha Nd'Igbo" since Igbo regard themselves as Republicans and it is agreed generally that "Igbo enwe Eze"? Most of the younger generation tend to see Ohaneze as an insular and feudal group of "Ezes". If Igbo enwe Eze, why did you name this thing that is supposed to bring all Igbo together "Ohaneze" when eze suggests that there is now a hierarchy? Igbo base things on achievements, so that no one who has not achieved can rise above another. How does the name Ohaneze highlight that reality about Nd'Igbo?

Hon. Okocha: Igbo enwe Eze is a historical fallacy because inasmuch as we say Igbos enwe Eze, remember Onyemeneke who had empires, remember the Aros. The eze in the Igbo traditional set-up is not a dictator, it is not like the Oba of Benin, or the Ashanti head of the Ashantis. Igbos enwe Eze means the eze had its limitations. In the republican set-up, you still had to depend, you still had to debate with the igwes, the lesser obis. The age groups had rules. The Igbos throughout their history, they had their own type of chiefs. But when those chiefs got out of hand they got the boot. So the Igbos have always had their chiefs. So the people who formed this, they didn't go to every village asking for their opinion. On their own they decided to call it Ohaneze. That's how it started. It was not very popular at that point. But I told you at a certain stage, the popular party NPP (ebe esere madu) beat them to it. Remember, it was later when they had nothing to look forward to, the military governed the whole place, Ohaneze started resurging, it was a resurgimento and that is why Ohaneze stuck. You might as well say why is it not called Igbo nile whatever. We had all sorts of names but Ohaneze was how they started it those founders of the Ohaneze group. As far as we are concerned, there are chiefs, traditional chiefs in Igboland who have certain powers except that they were being controlled by their constituents.

If I may add, those cabinet members who are the top echelons of the Ohaneze cabinet inasmuch as by training or by profession they were conservatives, they still believed in the dream of the Igbo, that Igbo should be free from the tentacles of second-class citizens. Those are the MASSOB group. But where they differ from us is that they have different modalities according to their identity. MASSOB wants to secede, they don't want to hear anything about Nigeria. It's all over. Some members of Ohaneze believe that Nigeria is El Dorado, that there is paradise in Nigeria. After all, they created Nigeria. It was through the sweat of the Igbo that Nigeria became what it is, so why run away? At the same time, they (Ohaneze members) don't want to see Igbo being cheated anymore.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Yet, it is widely believed that a good portion of the Ohaneze are only interested in protecting their properties and investment in Nigeria. What is your take?

Hon. Okocha: You are correct. That is why I say that they may be conservative, but at the same time, those of us who are in Ohaneze who believe that it is probably not in the best interest of Igbo to secede now. Why can't we get the presidency for the first time? Let us try and get this thing and see whether there could be changes. We do not believe in being conservative about it we are out in the open talking about it. But I don't think we are ready to determine the map of Biafra from Agbor to Warri. I think that is Utopia because even though they are saying they are Biafrans, they don't even believe they are Igbo. I'm talking about Agbor from Ndokwa down to Borny, which is the riverine area. They don't believe they are Igbo even though they speak Igbo in Borny. So for now I believe that if we can use those resources, that Nigeria could be salvaged. If Igbo take over the presidency and bring back work. Because people are not working in Nigeria. The president is traveling as I'm speaking to you. Obasanjo is somewhere in Romania, going to Italy. He has visited the Pope fifty times, has gone to London until the British Prime minister is tired of receiving him at the airport, so now it’s a council member receiving him.

We believe that a working Igbo president that can log in sixteen hours a day. There is no work in Nigeria now. People just go to pillage the treasury. So I think Igbo should not run away, they should play the parity game, they should belong to the federation they worked so hard to bring about. That is our platform and that is why we are seeking the Igbo presidency 2003.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: Some in your group are said to be nursing presidential ambitions as Igbo and appear to be enjoying the support of Ohaneze. It is a matter of public record that some of these men took up arms against their own blood during the civil war. Why does Ohaneze feel comfortable in parading such men as Igbo "leaders" when the minimum of a public apology and acceptance has NOT been tendered before OHA for the abomination committed by those men? Are the Igbo that cheap and forgetful?

Hon. Okocha: Okay I would like to have the test on that question. Who were the Ohaneze who took up arms? One of the greatest members of Ohaneze is Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra, Iwuanyanwu was a soldier in Biafra, Dr. Okigbo was an administrator in Awka province. I want to know those who fought against Biafra that are Ohaneze members.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: I understand what you have to say about Ojukwu, Iwuanyanwu, Okigbo and perhaps yourself. But what about the other members of Ohaneze who actually fought against their own people during the war?

Hon. Okocha: Those in Ohaneze, the visible ones in Ohaneze, may differ, and the modalities of achieving that Igbo goal, Igbo interest Eso if you can give me one or two names that you feel betrayed the Biafran trust, that is in the top echelon of Ohaneze I'll be able to take that question.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: If you knew that somebody fought the war, for example, for the other side, would that disqualify him for leadership, in Ohaneze? Should that disqualify him from leadership of Nd'Igbo?

Hon. Okocha: If we knew that he fought on the other side, it’s a major negative on the backs of whomever that will come to seek an Igbo vote. Knowing that at the crucial time that Igbo needed sympathy and solidarity he went to the other side.

BiafraNigeriaWorld: We know, for example, that Ike Nwachukwu fought the war on the Nigerian side. He bore arms against his own people, against Biafra, and we don't have him on record apologizing for that.

Hon. Okocha: Is Ohaneze proposing Ike Nwachukwu?


BiafraNigeriaWorld: It is just an example, although his name has been bandied about as a possible candidate.


Hon. Okocha: Before now, Ohaneze had been taunted, you don't have a candidate, you made a declaration. Suddenly we are approaching zero hour, and suddenly we have about five candidates, credible candidates.


BiafraNigeriaWorld: Who are they?

Okocha answers question in Part 2
A BIAFRA_NIGERIA_WORLD EXLUSIVE INTERVIEW