The Chancellor Gregory University Uturu, Prof Gregory Ibe has reacted to online publication in which he was quoted to have said that leaders in Abia North took kolanut oath with elders of Ukwa/Ngwa to support Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu’s re-election in 2019.
In a statement signed by ProGIMA, Prof Gregory Ibe Media Associates maintained that the oath said to have been taken in a meeting with Ukwa/Ngwa leaders was in line with Igbo culture and not the fetish kind of path.
Read the full response below….
Our attention has been drawn to a trending online publication with the above-mentioned headline, and sequel to the buzz created by the story we hereby write to make the following clarifications;
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1. That the story was built around a telephone interview granted by Prof Gregory Ibe to a popular radio station in Umuahia on Tuesday 9 February 2021.
2. That in response to a question posed by the interviewer he narrated an incident that took place in 2019 when selected Elders of Ukwa Ngwa visited their brethren of Abia North block to solicit their support for the re-election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in that year’s general election.
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3. That while narrating the story of that historic visit, he mentioned that after receiving their guests with traditional kolanut, the Ukwa Ngwa Elders went ahead to reciprocate their gesture by presenting them with their own basket of kolanut.
4. That this gesture of representing a basket of kolanut to a host, after receiving his welcoming kolanut, is a customary act that symbolizes cementing of agreements and signifies enactment of covenant in Igbo tradition.
5. Therefore, that the ‘oath-taking with kolanut’ alluded to in the said online publication is not a fetish activity but a simple but potent traditional technique deployed by the Elders present at the meeting as a way of cementing their agreement.
6. That the terms of agreement reached by the two parties during the meeting stipulated that while Abia North guaranteed support for Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s re-election, Ukwa Ngwa on the other hand pledged to return the favour by supporting the bid for power rotation back to Abia North in 2023.
7. Finally, for the avoidance of doubt, that Prof Gregory Ibe remains a devout and committed Christian of the Catholic persuasion, whose dislike for fetishism is legendary and subsequently can never be party to any such unholy and unwholesome practice
ProGIMA- Prof Gregory Ibe Media Associates.
