Raphael Ede, Enugu
President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, has called on those agitating for the restoration of Biafra as a sovereign nation to refrain from name-calling, fighting, quarreling or insulting one another, as those could not lead to the actualisation of Biafra.
Nwodo said that the restoration of Biafra can only come through ‘political diplomacy’.
The Ohanaeze chief stated this, on Wednesday, at a lecture series organised by the Student Affairs Department of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), College of Medicine, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, with the theme: “Excellence in Character and Learning as a tool for Restoration of the Dignity of Man.”
Nwodo, who was the chairman of the first excellence lecture series delivered by erudite scholar cum politician, Prof. Pat Utomi, believed that things could be changed through the ballot box and urged the students to participate in the electoral process.
According to Nwodo, “We cannot get Biafra by fighting and insulting people. We cannot get restructuring by shouting, we can get it through political diplomacy. I must tell you the truth.”
The President-General who had recently accused INEC of secretly plotting to disenfranchise Ndigbo from participating actively in the forthcoming 2019 general election by not making it possible for them to partake in the Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, urged everybody, especially Ndigbo, to obtain their voters card and be part of the electoral process.
Speaking earlier, Nwodo counselled the students and management of the College of Medicine to use the knowledge they acquire to effect changes in the society, pointing out that most of the influential people in the world are not the brightest of students but those that pursued their objective to conquer.
He said for instance that he was to be trained a medical doctor but he read Economics instead which his father did not sanction but that did not deter him from pursuing excellence. “The gift of God is different. Discover your gift and use it to serve humanity,” he challenged.
Delivery the lecture, Prof. Utomi challenged the students to be committed to anything they are doing and never to lose focus in order to achieve their dream.
Prof. Utomi who described Nigeria as a country with a collapse of culture where you don’t do anything without bribery, said “building relationship the pressure to give bribe in the future will reduce”.
“If we do things with commitment, there is no stopping us. With the will to dare, if you can dream it, you can make it. Seize every opportunity. Do not procrastinate. Nothing is impossible. It is only you will that can stop you,” Utomi encourages the students.
He pointed out that he had wanted to be a pilot but ended up an academic and intellectual and urged them to blend character with learning to be a wholesome man which in the long run would make for a wholesome society.