22nd July 2025, NewsOrient, Opinion, Column, News
By Emeka Nwosu, PhD.

Last week, the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti had an audience with the leadership of the State chapter of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organization whose responsibility is to promote Igbo language, culture and moral values.

The restoration of the lost moral values of the Igbo ethnic nationality in Nigeria was the focus of the discussions between the Governor and the Ohaneze delegation led by the chapter President, Dr. Chukwuemeka Okwuonu.

Governor Otti lamented the gradual erosion of the sacred and pristine values that made Ndigbo great and defined our world. He tasked the Ohaneze, as the umbrella socio-cultural organization of the Igbo worldwide on the need for moral re-armament and a return to the path of rectitude and fellow-feeling which at the time of Dr. Michael Okpara, former Premier of Eastern Nigeria was known as “onye aghala nwanne ya”.

The Governor told the visiting delegation that the responsibility of bringing back those values of honesty, hard work, resilience, dignity, integrity and respect for elders for which Igbos are known, among others now rested on all Igbo leaders. He challenged Ohaneze and all well-meaning Igbos to rise to the challenge and help in restoring our values and reviving our culture and language.

“The responsibility of all of us is to bring us back to those good old days. We must ensure that our society returns to that we were brought up with.
“Where people were, even in their poverty, they remained dignified. They were proud. There were things you couldn’t associate our people with. We are not thieves. And that’s what I tell people.

“Why we are focusing on creating an enabling environment is that our people are not people who are used to begging or handouts. Our people are very hard-working people. So, once you create the enabling environment for their businesses to thrive, they don’t need you to survive.

“So, the new culture where people don’t speak their language, where people don’t know their culture, where people don’t care, is part of the reason you have a very high level of crime and insecurity”.

It was against this background that Governor Otti urged Ohaneze to embark on programmes and projects that will inspire collective ownership, involvement and contributions of all Igbos in helping them actualize their vision and mission for the people. He noted that through such measures that everyone will have a sense of belonging.

The call by Otti for a return by our people to the path of moral rectitude could not have come at a better time than now when many of our youths and indeed the Igbo society have largely embraced values that have continued to project us negatively to the rest of the world. It is distressing to note that criminality and fraud and all kinds of iniquitous acts have become the order of the day in our various communities.

Our people now seek the short cut to success. Wealth is celebrated without the society questioning the source. This has made a lot of our people to embrace the get-rich-quick syndrome as the dignity of labour is no longer seen as a valued virtue. Young people engage in all kinds of heinous crimes such as internet scam known locally as “yahoo yahoo”, kidnapping, ritual killings, cultism, human trafficking, prostitution and the like, all in the blind pursuit of materialism.

The dominant value in our society toda is materialism. The norm now is seeking material acquisition without requisite hard work. We seek to achieve greatness without due sacrifices. No successful society in human history has ever been built without such virtues as hard work and perseverance.

The erosion of those pristine values that held the Igbo society together has brought untold consequences to the land today. The sanctity of life is no longer sacred and respected. People kill in the name of money-making. The elderly in the community are no longer treated with respect by younger elements who have through dubious means become the nouveau riche. What we have on our hands is a society whose social fabrics have completely collapsed.

The call for moral re-armament by Governor Otti is most timely and resonates well across the land. I dare say that the task for the moral rejuvenation of Igbo land is not only a task for the Ohaneze alone, it is a collective responsibility for every Igbo, including all the agents of socialization in the society. Our cultural values, once held in high esteem, are currently under threat. We must all commit to retrieve our beautiful land and culture from the grips of fraudsters, scammers, ritualists, gun men and evil doers by embracing values of good conduct and civilized behaviour. That is the clear message of Governor Otti.
May Ala Igbo prevail!

Dr. Emeka Nwosu, a Public Policy Analyst, writes from Umuahia.
Email: cdnwosu2@gmail.com

~ Published By NewsOrient Network

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