Onyeche Wofurum Igwe
Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has clarified his previous claims of being an Igbo man, stating that it was a political stance rather than a genuine reflection of his ethnicity.
In a recent interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time, Amaechi explained that his identification as an Igbo man was a form of protest against the mistreatment of Igbos in Nigeria.
He emphasized that he is an Ikwerre man from Rivers State, but his disdain for the way the Southeast region was treated led him to claim Igbo identity. He added that his affiliation with the Igbo tribe was a way to make Nigerians address the issues faced by the Southeast.
According to Amaechi, his actions were driven by a desire to highlight the injustices faced by the Igbo people. He wore Igbo traditional attire and publicly identified as an Igbo man to draw attention to their plight.
He stressed that his intentions were not to win votes from the Igbo people but to bring attention to the issues they faced. He emphasized that his identification as an Igbo man was a form of protest, rather than a genuine claim to Igbo heritage.
The former governor acknowledged that the majority of Ikwerre people would disagree with the notion that Ikwerre people are Igbo. However, he noted that there is a small minority, including himself, who might identify as Igbo for various reasons.
He said: “I’m an Ikwerre man, if you ask an Ikwerre man who are you? He will tell you that I’m an Ikwerre man.
“So, what you can say is that is an Ikwerre man an Igbo man? There are divergent views, the majority will say no, but there is a very tiny minority which includes me.
“Why did I take that position, it’s political but not to win the votes of the Igbos. I didn’t like the way Igbos were being treated at a particular point in time – in protest against the Igbos I began to wear the Tiger head cloth with the red cap.
“I wore it in protest asking Nigerians to address their problems. Again, I made it public that I’m an Igbo man in protest.”
Recall that while speaking before a crowd of supporters at the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign in Aba, Abia State in 2015, Amaechi said: I am a bona fide Igbo man.
