Ohanaeze Youth Council Gives Imo Gov Uzodimma 48 Hours To Apologise Over ‘Igbo Minorities’ Comment
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has demanded that Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma apologise to Ndigbo within 48 hours over his comment referring to “Igbo minorities” and “Igbo majorities.”
The youth group, in a statement issued by its National President, Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka, described the governor’s remarks as divisive and urged him to retract them.
Uzodimma had, while delivering an Independence Day message on October 1, questioned why “Igbo Minorities” were being presented as the majority in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The governor was also quoted as arguing that minorities within the Igbo population were being presented as the group representing the wider Igbo majority in the Tinubu government.
Reacting to the remarks, Igboayaka said there was no distinction between “Igbo minorities” and “Igbo majorities,” insisting that the Igbo people constituted one race.
“There are no Igbo minorities or Igbo majorities existing in any part of the world. The Igbo race is one. There is no lesser, greater or superior Igbo anywhere,” he said.
He warned Uzodimma against what he described as the use of ethnic sentiments in pursuing personal political interests.
Igboayaka urged the governor to “desist whipping ethnic sentiments when waging his personal political war, which has no benefit with Igbo collective interest.”
He also criticised what he described as divisive comments by some Igbo politicians, accusing them of prioritising personal political interests over the collective interests of the Igbo people.
“It’s very unfortunate that many Unuseful Igbo politicians are busy making divisive comments to glorify their selfish political interests,” he said.
Igboayaka further challenged Uzodimma to focus on attracting infrastructure and development projects to the Southeast rather than making what he described as divisive remarks.
“Gov Hope Uzodimma should wake up and attract the dredging of Ose-Akwa Ihiala and Ose-Motto Ugota natural deep Sea in Nigeria that has only 18 nautical miles to Atlanta Ocean, than his poor outing and rhetoric divisive comments against Igbo Unity,” he said.
The OYC leader also urged the Imo governor to emulate Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, whom he said had proposed and attracted the Gateway Deep Sea Port in Ogun Waterside.
According to him, the project is a $7 billion development being undertaken in partnership with DP World and is slated to begin construction in November 2026.
Igboayaka said Uzodimma should retract his reference to “Igbo minorities” and “Igbo majority” within 48 hours.
He warned that failure to do so would “face the wrath of Ndi-ichie, Ndi-egede, Ndi-okpu and supreme Almighty God.”
He also cited the Jewish people as an example, arguing that despite the existence of 12 tribes among the Israelites, there were no “minorities or majority Jews.”
The OYC president further criticised the state of leadership among the Igbo, saying the remarks had diminished the dignity of the group.
“It’s quite a historical remark that today Ndigbo have lost value of leadership and are being represented or governed by mediocre, incompetent street urchins and political Profiteers who reason from their anus,” he said.
Igboayaka said Uzodimma had “thrown the value and dignity of Ndigbo to the mud” through what he described as an anti-Igbo and divisive remark.
He maintained that an Igbo person living in states outside the Southeast should not be regarded as a lesser member of the ethnic group.
“If Yorubas or Hausas have minorities and majority of the same tribe among them, there is no such thing existing among the Igbos,” he said.
“An Igbo indigenous person in Benue, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kogi, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River is not a minority or lesser Igbo to an Igbo indigenous person in Imo, Anambra Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu, no inferior or superior to Igbo person anywhere,” he added.
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