The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos branch has set machinery in motion to ensure that Igbo children born outside Igboland not only speak their native language fluently but also write them as those born and bred in the South East.

Revealing this in Lagos yesterday, during a courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of The Sun by a delegation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos branch led by its president, Chief Solomon Ogbonna, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation said the action became necessary as Igbo children born outside their villages are finding it difficult to speak and understand Igbo language.

According to Ohanaeze Secretary, Chief Everest Ozonweke, who read an address on behalf of the delegation, the organisation had set up a committee on the promotion of Igbo language.

He said Ohanaeze wants Igbo children, irrespective of where they are born, to speak Igbo language as they speak English and other languages they learn.

He urged Igbo parents to not only speak Igbo language to their children at home but also to go out of their way to teach them language no matter where they are born.

Listing the achievement of Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership in Lagos, he said the current executive has opened a secretariat, wherein all activities of the organisation are coordinated from. He said the executives had succeeded in resolving the protracted Eze Ndigbo squabble in Lagos by bringing all the contending elements together for the common purpose of promoting the culture and tradition of the Igbo nation as well as the uplift of the Igbo race.

He said Ohanaeze was mobilising and sensitising Igbo in Lagos to obtain their permanent voters cards (PVCs) in preparation for next year’s elections, revealing that the organisation wants Igbo to have a say in the choice of those who govern them at various levels of government.

According to Ohanaeze, it was only by having PVCs that Igbo would exercise their franchise and decide the fate of those who seek elective offices.

•Excerpted from a Daily Sun report