2023: South East Town Unions Meet Ohaneze Ndigbo

By The Nigeria Voice
Phot credit: Vanguard News
Phot credit: Vanguard News

The Association of South- East Town Unions (ASETU) held a closed-door meeting with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, in Enugu on Saturday, to strategise and plan for the Igbo to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.

The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, was preceded by a meeting of the National Executive Committee of ASETU.

The National President of ASETU, Chief Emeka Diwe, who spoke on the outcome of the meeting with the leader of the Igbo apex sociocultural organisation in his Enugu residence, said they discussed other issues affecting the Igbo’s interest and welfare.

Diwe said, “Part of the reason for the meeting was to douse the tension in the land; there is too much tension and suspicion.

“Ndigbo will remain in Nigeria and get what is due to them in Nigeria.”

On Igbo presidency, he said, “We are still consulting, the coast is not clear yet, but we want to see how to first address the rising tension and suspicion in the country and we feel it’s necessary to send the signal that Ndigbo will remain in Nigeria to get their due.

“The meeting we had with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is an outcome of the brainstorming we had before we moved to the residence of Chief Nwodo for a closed-door meeting with him.

“There are a lot of eye opening revelations obtained from our consultation with Chief Nwodo, and that will lead us to further seek more interrogations and consultations from other Igbo quarters and hierarchies.”

The ASETU chief said the union had become a formidable platform to articulate the interest and welfare of Ndigbo and galvanise them towards a particular direction which should be viewed as the metamorphosis of the defunct Igbo Union.

“The Association of Igbo Town Unions is a continuation of Igbo Union; it is not a recent development. Ohanaeze is the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation with elitist colouration,” Diwe said.

The group a fortnight ago ended a retreat in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, where, among other things, they agreed to set up a joint community-based Vigilante Outfits and Security Trust Fund to check the rising cases of insecurity and invasion of Igboland.