The president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State chapter, High Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, has disclosed his intention to properly hand over to the incoming president of the group, High Chief Sunday Ossai at the appropriate time after connecting him to some very important persons that will help him to succeed.
Both men met at an occasion recently hosted by Eze Ndigbo Mainland, Eze Diorama of Mainland, where Aguene revealed his plans for Chief Ossai and advised him on how to avoid some of the challenges himself passed through before he started recording success.
Recall that Chief Aguene and Chief Ossai had been contending over the rightful person to preside over the affairs of Ohanaeze in Lagos state.
But speaking on the development in a chat with The Unique Model Magazine recently Chief Aguene who spoke at his Ikoyi office explained what actually transpired:
“There is no elected officer that will handover at a garden, or in a farm, one cannot handover any elected officer in a farm. I was invited to Mainland for the New Yam Festival of Eze Ndi Igbo of Mainland. The invitation was also extended to Chief Ossai, who eventually came before me. My youths and those waiting for me at the occasion had called me to know if I was coming and I said yes! They informed me that Chief Ossai was at the occasion, and I said yes, I know he is an Igboman and should be there as well.
“Anybody can buy a dog and name it George Bush, that doesn’t mean that he is the president of America that is what I told my youth, no fight.
“And I came there, and was sitting down; they called me out and presented a goat, with some yams to me as the President of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo Lagos State. And I went back and sat at the canopy of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo as their leader, and Chief Ossai also has his own faction, who sat over their own table in the same field at the occasion.
“The M.C. wanted to cause trouble and announced that the current president in the occasion is Chief Sunday Ossai, I made no comment when I heard the announcement, then after a while, I took the microphone and said to everybody’s hearing, first, I called Ossai out to meet me, I told him that, “You are to be working with me side by side, let me take you round, since you want to be president of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo Lagos State, that those that brought you out did not know the meaning of Ohanaeze, they just brought you out to rob you.
“And you have been robbed because you have not achieved anything in Ohanaeze, you either fight everybody, and you are like a brother to me. I know you over 15years before I became Ohanaeze President, you used to come and pay allegiance to me every December.
“You give me yam, so that I don’t know what you people are doing. You have to be following me and let me give you contacts so that you will also go into protocol list, it is only me that they know in the protocol list.”
Asked further if he was really going to show him all contacts that supported him during his tenure, he said, “Yes, I will show him, I told him, he does not have an office, if he proposed a meeting at Old School Hall in National Stardom, and another person had paid for the hall, that meeting will not hold.
“Where do you choose as Ohanaeze Secretariat? A Divisional Police Officer is in the station, and he will have police station. If there is no police station, there wouldn’t be anybody that will locate him there as Divisional Police Officer. No DPO that will tell you that he has no office.
“Now you are president of Ohanaeze and you don’t have an office, it is very bad, but I will teach you the work, I have gotten the experience. Why I am coming out to advise you is because they want to impeach you, the same way they planned against me. You’re the person I will hand over to at the appropriate time since they have elected you after the court had given judgment not that election before court judgment.
“I will parade you everywhere and connect you to people that will help you. The Ohanaeze Ndigbo have no allocation.”
Also reacting to this development in a telephone interview, Chief Ossai confirmed it, describing it as the happiest day in his life.
“That day was the happiest day of my life, since attaining Ohanaeze leadership, it was my best day.”
Speaking further, he urged Ndigbo to always be law abiding wherever they find themselves.
According to him, “We must obey the rule and the law anywhere we are, court has given judgment, Uzodimma is ruling by judgment, Peter Obi did the same thing in Anambra, Tinubu as well, listen to court judgment and others.
“It is always the opposition that want one thing or the other from tribunal and nobody or tribe is above Nigeria constitution or those in Lagos State cannot be bigger that Lagos State constitution.”