Speaking during an interview with Punch on Sunday, Okwukwu said that the Ikwerre people are Igbos, and that they have said it at different times that they are Igbos. He added that Ikwerre land is Igbo land.
He said, “Illustrious Ikwerre sons, more prominent than Dibia, had stated clearly that they are Igbo. Chibuike Amaechi who is the former governor of Rivers State, former speaker of the House of Assembly, Rivers State, and first Nigerian Minister of Transportation, says he is an Igbo man. The question I ask is, why are people not reporting it?”
He said that the first provost of the Rivers College of Education and first Ikwerre minister, Chief Emmanuel Aguma, said that he is an Igbo man. He added that the first Ikwerre poet, Okogbule Wonodi, who was also a one-time registrar of the University of Port Harcourt, said that he was an Igbo man.
He added, “The Ikwerre are Igbo, and from time immemorial, the Ikwerre have remained in Ohanaeze. From 1939, the Ikwerre were members of the Igbo State Union which existed from 1939 to 1966 when the military proscribed it. Since the formation of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 1976 with Akanu Ibiam as President General and Jerome Udorji as first Secretary General, the Ikwerre were members of Ohanaeze.”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
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