Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, will this Friday, November 21, lead other prominent Igbo leaders to the public presentation of Igbo centenary book titled 100 Years of Amalgamation; Igbos What Hope in Nigeria? The event is scheduled to hold at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos,

The book, to be presented under the auspices of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Southwest Zone, is written by an Igbo journalist, Peter Anosike, with Foreword by Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezife, former Executive Governor of Anambra State.

Other distinguished personalities expected at the event include First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr. Gary Enwo-Igariwey, President of Ndigbo Lagos, Prof. Anya O Anya, and former Lagos Military Administrator, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd.).

Others include Prince Arthur Eze, Chief Chidi Anyaegbu, Chief Alex Otti and Chief Uche Ogar.

News Express learnt that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Southwest Zone would also use the occasion to give cheques to the 12 maiden beneficiaries of its N100 Million Education Endowment Fund for indigent Igbo students in tertiary institutions living in the South-West part of the country.

Speaking on the centenary book, President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Southwest Zone, Prince Nathaniel Uzoma, described it as a bold attempt by an Igbo journalist to present the story of Ndigbo in Nigeria from Igbo perspective.

According to him, the reason why Igbos are being treated as if they are the black leg of Nigeria is because their stories have been told from the perspectives of non-Igbos.

“With a lot of research and clear logic the book has set the record straight on many vices being ascribed to Ndigbo,” Prince Uzoma said. “For instance, the January 15, 1966 coup which the media dubbed as Igbo coup was in fact an anti-Igbo coup staged against the Igbo meritorious dominance of the political, military and other professional spaces in the country then. Again, the so-called counter-coup was nothing but the continuation of the first coup by the same anti-Igbo forces. There is no vice that has plagued Nigeria since independence that Igbos originated but because our stories have always been told from the perspectives of non-Igbos we are always given the black label to the extent that instead of Igbos being seen as rare gift to Nigeria, we are seen as a curse. The worst of it all is that some Igbos have swallowed these lies hook, line and sinker.”

Prince Uzoma noted that the book even revealed that in Igbo etymology, words like corruption, thief and beggar were non-existent because these nefarious acts were alien to Ndigbo going by the fact that one cannot give names to actions that were not in his intellect. He said that the words appeared in Igbo lexicon after non-Igbos had popularised these vices.