L-R: President of Aka Ikenga, Agbalanze Chike Madueke, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Arise TV & Thisday Newspapers boss, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide President Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and Sen Mike Ajegbo, Ede Obosi at the Awards.
Aka Ikenga, the Igbo Think Tank, last Sunday, December 17, assembled the cream of Ndigbo greats and members, to mark its end of the year activities. The occasion which witnessed huge attendance, also heralded the Aka Ikenga Awards where some of their exceptional sons and daughters were celebrated as front leaders of the Igbo transformative commitment to Nigeria and their nationality.
Setting the tone for the evening, the President of the Think Tank, Agbalanze Chike Madueke, in his welcome address, stated that part of the group’s central mandate as an organisation was the uncompromising advocacy for turn- around leadership and good governance for Nigeria, where equity, fairness, obedience to law and order, remained the development cornerstone amibst irrepressible diversities.
Said he: “Our deliberate fellowship with one another at times like this, helps to strengthen the bond that defines our Nigerianness in our best universal attributes for industry, resilience and enterprise”.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu CFR, President of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, who was there in full compliments as the special guest of honour, underscored his message of unity and peace amongst Ndigbo wherever they are, saying it had been their major unique contributions to this country that needed them so much for development and prosperity of all. He emphasised that the national challenges were not peculiar to any ethnicity, and should therefore not be isolated as a tag for denial or mistreatment of any either.
Noted he: “We are one Nigeria, but we are also one Igbo nationality, that deserves all sense of inclusion, commonality of purpose and rights of citizens everywhere as protected by the law of our land”.
The Chairman of the event, Senator Enyinna Abaribe capped it in his usual bluntness, that if for whatever reason Nigeria chose to hold Ndigbo down politically or otherwise, such strategy was bound to fail, because the common saying is apposite, that if you hold someone down, you stay down too, to keep him company.
Stated Abaribe: “The liberties and freedom of our people everywhere should not be class calibrated, but rule governed by our grundnum, the constitution transparently”.
The awards which the president noted was to encourage those who won, and others that would subsequently, was their non pecuniary philosophy, that when you commend one who has done well, he will do more. Amongst the stalwarts who stood to be counted, were the first female Managing-Director of Fidelity Bank PLC, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, titan of Journalism, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, techpreneur, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, Air Peace founder, Dr. Allen Onyema, and transport Magnate Chidi Anyaegbu.
Others were, Emzor CEO, Dr. Stella Okoli, Innoson Motors’ Dr. Chukwuma, AFRINVEST Dr Ike Chioke, United Airlines boss Prof Obiora Okonkwo, Dr Chris Ngige, Sen Mike Ajegbo, Prof Pat Utomi, Engr David Umahi, the current Minister of Works, and the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu.
