October 14, (THEWILL) – The departed President of the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, will be buried on November 1, 2024, a National Burial Committee inaugurated last Friday in Abuja by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has said.
Judging by the deluge of tributes that greeted the news of his passing on July 25, 2024, it is obvious that late Chief Iwuanyanwu was a man of many parts, an achiever of enormous proportions, a patriot and a member of Nigeria’s hallowed societal elite.
A man of peace, Iwuanyanwu spent a greater part of his life relentlessly in pursuit of the unity and development of Nigeria.
Reacting to the news of Iwuanyanwu’s demise on behalf of the Southern Governors’ Forum in a statement, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State recently wrote, “Chief Iwuanyanwu was a remarkable leader, statesman and patriot who dedicated his life the unity, progress and well-being of the Igbo nation and Nigeria as a whole. His contributions to fostering inter-ethnic harmony, peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding between the diverse people’s of our country was huge.”
As a businessman, Iwuanyanwu was once described as one of the richest men in Africa, with investments running into billions of dollars. He had investments in agriculture, construction, shipping, aviation, insurance, media, hospitality and manufacturing. In fact, like most entrepreneurs of his ilk, he had his fingers in many pies.
To a large extent, Iwuanyanwu’s contributions, impacted the Igbo and Nigeria as a whole. He was also a notable philanthropist whose generosity was felt all over country.
There is no doubt that the late statesman ranked among titans in his life time, but it is difficult to tell exactly where exactly his strongest point lies.
As a politician, he had a distinguished career at the regional and national levels. He produced several chairpersons of local government areas, especially in the South-East, legislators, ministers, ministers and State governors.
Iwuanyanwu made three attempts at the presidency, first as a running mate to Adamu Ciroma on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), but then the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) under former military President Ibrahim Babangida (retd) nullified the party’s presidential primary and dissolved the party.
Undeterred by the twist, he joined his political associates in founding the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), which was later registered by Babangida’s successor, late General Sani Abacha, alongside four other political parties.
Iwuanyanwu wanted to run for president on the platform of the UNCP, but he was forced to change his mind midway into his campaign due to the prevailing circumstances of that time.
After the death of Abacha, another opportunity came, but he decided to support Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP’s aspiration with his political structure and that contributed largely to Obasanjo’s emergence as President of Nigeria in 1999.
Iwuanyanwu held several political offices for the Federal Government. He was Chairman of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC); Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA); and Chairman, Raw Materials and Research Development Council (RMRDC), among others.
Also, he was the proprietor of Champion Newspapers, a national media company and Chairman of the famous Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football Club, now renamed Heartland FC.
According to the Vice-President, South-East, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, Iwuanyanwu had an unfinished mission, which was to unite all the ethnic groups in Nigeria together. Such a patriotic agenda!
It takes a truly patriotic Nigerian to understand that there is only one key to solving the many problems afflicting the country: the unity of its people. And this was Iwuanyanwu strove to achieve all his life.
