Barrister Chima Onah was elected as the Youth Leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo State. The election which held at Adamasingba stadium in Ibadan Oyo State on Saturday December 14th has been described as peaceful, transparent as Igbo residents in Oyo state turned out enmass to vote for executives for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo State .
The positions contested for are President, Vice President , Public Relations Officer , Treasurer, Financial Secretary, General Secretary, Youth Leader, Legal, Provost , Welfare, Publicity and Woman leader .
Following the withdrawal of some contestants, positions eventually contested for are that of the PRO, Treasurer , President, Youth leader and Women leader.
Barrister Onah expressed gratitude to the people and to God for his victory at the poll.
He speaks of his goals as the Youth Leader “I am a youth and I have a lot of plans for the youth in the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo state. To ensure the unification of all the Igbo youth in Oyo state. One of the things that unify people is football. There is already an Igbo league on ground and I will improve on that. At the moment, its only traders that are playing but we will bring everyone on board. People from Eruwa, Saki,Ogbomosho etc. we want to scout for talents there are a lot of talents . There are a lot of our children, apprentices that are talented and we want to fish out this talent by giving them the avenue to showcase the talent for the world to see. It is catching them young. You know that a lot of the Igbos boys are apprentices, because we are traders does not limit you not to play football.
Barr. Onah also calls on the youth to embrace legitimate work, shun cultism , vices as he urged government to provide conducive environment for the youth and business to thrive. He said
“My advice to the Igbo youth and the Nigerian youth is that they should not engage in vices, they should find something legitimate to do and be patient. We are there for them to nurture them. All these get rich fast syndrome should not be their option, like yahoo, yahoo. Even if they will enjoy that it is very brief but they need to do something that will last forever and give them a good name. They should Engage in legitimate businesses, go to school and if you can’t go to school, then enter trade. They should avoid cultism, armed robbery, and other vices. Government should make environment conductive. We Igbo are enterprising, what we need is conductive environment. Government should give the youth scholarship and bursary, for parents, they should nurture their children in the right way”
High Chief Engr Benjamin Okorie the out going President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo state while commending the electoral process said ” Today’s event is a climax of various actions and activities organized by Ndigbo towards a streamline transition from my position as the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo State and all the other officers under me into a new executive of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo state . Anybody that is here can see a very peaceful atomphere, the transparency ,and the manner of all Ndigbo Oyo state, from the various zones coming together to produce the executive . I want to say that the national leadership of Ohanaze Ndigbo is aware of what is happening here today. Until 12:10pm today, I was in touch with the national president’s office and they are all aware of what is happening here . To God be all the glory. What is happening is wonderful . The turn out is massive, never seen before in Oyo state . the zeal is to have a peaceful co existence . We have series of problems over the years but this time around, the Igbos have come together that they want peace in Oyo state. Secondly, this is an all encompassing election in Oyo ,people came from Oke-ogun, Ogbomosho, Sakin, Igboho, from Oyo igbeti “.
Urging the contestants to continue to embrace peace and unity , High Chief Okorie said ” The aspirants have done very well in their campaigns and there has been no issues or acrimony .It has been about the love for the Igbo community. Losing is not a lost but to give you another opportunity to perform what you want to do another time . I am begging those who did not participate in the election to come together. We have the strength and we need to harness all our talents towards the betterment of Ndigbo in Oyo state”.
Also , commenting on the peaceful conduct of the election, His Royal Highness Eze Okafor James Nduka JP, the Eze Ndigbo of Ibadanland and Yoruba land said ” Today is a great day. Since 2011, Igbos for the first time converged in Ibadan to elect thier executives. There must be an opposition but we can see that the turn out is 90 percent as testament to the peace and unity Igbos in Oyo state want . From all the nook and crannies of Oyo state, from Ibarapa, Eruwa, Oyo among others , the offices are zoned so that all the zones are carried along. We appreciate the executive governor of Oyo state . My advice to the contestants is for the winners to embrace the losers and form an alliance for the betterment of the Ndigbo in Oyo state and the society at large”.
A 75 years old man who cast his vote during the election said the election was transparent and Nigeria should emulate the electoral process the Ohanaeze Ndigbo under the leadership of High Chief Engr Okorie conducted. He says ” My name is Bernard Nwake. I am 75 years old. The election is a great one , if the election is like this in Nigeria, then Nigeria will be great”.
At the conclusion of the voting process, Mr. Okechukwu Ume was elected the President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Oyo state while Mr. Michael Chibuzor Okafor the Chief Executive Officer of Real Access Property Limited was elected as the Publicity Secretary
RESULTS OF THE OHANAEZE NDIGBO OYO STATE 2024 GENERAL ELECTIONS HELD ON DECEMBER 14, 2024
1. Okechukwu Ume…… President
2. Patrick Ezenwuba….. Deputy President
3. Barr. Promise Ajah ……Gen Secretary
4. Emmanuel Ogbonna….Asst. Gen Secretary
5. Orji Peter Innocent…… Treasurer
6. Okpara Emeka Udoka….. Fin. Secretary
7. Charles Obasi…. PRO
8. Mike Okafor….. Pub. Secretary
9. Mr Aghaulo…… Asst. Pub. Secretary
10. Barr. Chima Onah….. Youth leader
11. Evang. Ijeoma Uchendu…. Women Leader
12. Barr. Uche Amajo…. Legal Adviser
13. Christopher Odoemena… Chief Welfare Officer
14. Victor Osemeka… Welfare Officer
15. Onwe Mike Kalu…. Welfare Officer
16. Solomon Friday Nwaji…. Welfare Officer
17. Semion Chukwu….. Chief Provost
