Otti urges Igbo to prioritise collective interest

UMUAHIA — Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has urged Ndigbo to place collective interest above individual differences in order to build a more prosperous future for the Igbo people.

Otti made the call in Umuahia during the 2026 World Igbo Day celebration, where he stressed that unity did not require uniformity of opinion.

The governor said the Igbo could disagree on issues while remaining committed to their shared aspirations, urging them to draw on the courage, resilience, enterprise and communal values inherited from their ancestors.

He said, “Unity does not mean unanimity of opinion on every issue, but a consciousness that our individual desires cannot be superior to the aspirations of the majority.”

Otti urged the Igbo to replace discord and acrimony with peace, understanding, sincerity and cooperation.

He identified education, apprenticeship and the traditional ‘Omugwo’ system as important channels for transferring knowledge, skills and values across generations.

In his remarks, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, said the Igbo must interrogate and define the future they want for themselves and Nigeria.

Azuta-Mbata said the Igbo Charter developed and presented to Ndigbo provided a roadmap for maximising the potential of the Igbo people.

Stressing that unity remained the spirit of “Njiko Ka,” the theme of the 2026 Igbo Day celebration, he said a cohesive front was required for Ndigbo to take their rightful place in Nigeria and the world.

“Our people must bind together. We must deliberately move together so that we can take our rightful place in Nigeria and the world.

“We may disagree on politics, we may disagree on religion, we may disagree on strategy, even in the interpretation of our history. But beneath these differences is a shared identity, a shared responsibility. We must lay a solid foundation for the generations that must come after us,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, retired General Ike Nwachukwu, urged Igbo sons and daughters at home and in the diaspora to recognise their roles in building the Igbo nation.

Nwachukwu, who described the spirit of enterprise as a major strength of the Igbo people, stressed the need to deliberately invest in young people, inculcate moral values and make them understand that they were not only leaders of tomorrow but also leaders of today.

He urged Igbo youths to embrace their culture and pursue excellence in their various endeavours.