Igbo Elders Council has endorsed Sir Mike Okiro for President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo. According to a statement issued on behalf of the Organization, Nze Uchechukwu Enweremadu said Okiro is the only living retired senior police officer to have worked with nine heads of state and Presidents of Nigeria including General Mohammadu Buhari, GMB in 1983, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1985, Gen Sani Abacha in 1990, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1998, President Olusegun Obasanjo, OBJ in 1999, President Musa Yar’Adua in 2007, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ in 2010, President Muhammadu Buhari, PMB in 2015 and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT when he was the governor of Lagos State and Sir Mike Okiro was his Commissioner of Police.
“Okiro had a track record of solving the nation’s problems time and again without using bullets or WMD” Enweremmadu said. As a police officer, he was able to handle the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC problem in Lagos State that could have resulted in much more serious economic losses to Lagos, but his handling of that crisis saved Lagos State and the Southwest region of Nigeria from serious breakdown of law and order and helped repositioned the entire region to become the best regional economy in the country.
Niger Delta Amnesty Program: Sir Mike Okiro came up with the idea of amnesty for the Niger Delta militants so there wouldn’t be bloodshed of Nigerian youths in the Niger Delta region. That action saved the lives of tens of thousands of Nigeria’s Niger Delta youths from what could have become the greatest tragedy of our time from Nigeria’s own military onslaught on Nigeria’s youths. Apart from saving lives of Niger Delta youths, that action also saved the lives of many security services personnel because they didn’t have to go onto an all out war with the militants which could have resulted in huge casualties on both sides.
This very action also helped Nigeria grow economy because in Just 24 hours after Sir Mike Okiro returned from the creeks after meeting with the militants, thousands of guns were surrendered, the militants stopped their attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure and Nigeria’s crude oil output jumped from 600,000 BPD to 1.6 million BPD. We can all thank Okiro for taking the risk to visit the militants alone in their hideouts deep in the creeks. The militants didn’t hold him captive because of their trust and confidence in Sir Mike Okiro.
Without any doubt, even a layman in the street could see the connection between Sir Mike Okiro saving the economy of the Southwest then from collapse as a result of the activities of the OPC and the Niger Delta Amnesty Act engineered by Okiro as the most patriotic act by any Nigerian in our recent history as a nation.
Why is Sir Mike Okiro the best candidate for the position of Ohaneze Ndigbo? With his track record of helping to bring about peace and economic stability to two geopolitical zones of Southwest and South south of Nigeria, we believe he can replicate same in the Southeast of Nigeria and indeed all Igboland by ending the isolation of Igbos in Nigeria. Sir Mike Okiro is loved, trusted and respected far beyond the bounds of Igboland and the borders of Nigeria. This is the kind of leadership we the Igbos need to lead us at this critical time where building bridges across various divides has become imperative to achieve collective Igbo and national development.
Signed:
Nze Uchechukwu Enweremadu,
For Igbo Elders Council
