Six things Nigerians may not know about the late Ohanaeze president general Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu

The President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has died.

Iwuanyanwu died on Thursday after a short illness.

He is 82 years old.

The deceased’s son, Jide, confirmed his death in a statement.

The statement read: “The Iwuanyanwu family of Umuohii Atta, in Ikeduru Local Government Area of ​​Imo State, announces the passing of our patriarch, Chief Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Iwuanyanwu-Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo.

“Chief Iwuanyanwu died on Thursday, July 25, 2024, after a short illness. “He was 82 years old.”

As a farewell, Ripples Nigeria brings together some things that citizens, especially the younger generation, may not know about the late elder statesman.

– The Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970 interrupted Iwuanyanwu’s studies. During the war, he was recruited to the Biafran Research and Production (RaP) Directorate headed by a nuclear physicist, Prof. Benjamin Chukwuka Nwosu

– He graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as an engineer and became a member of the Chartered Engineers Council of Nigeria on April 12, 1972.

READ ALSO: ‘My daughter married a Yoruba man, so I can’t call them political scoundrels’, Iwuanyanwu insists

– The deceased was the leader of a conglomerate consisting of more than 20 companies, namely Hardel and Enic Construction Company, Enic Advertising Limited, Magil Industries Limited, National Post Newspapers, Sunrise Insurance Brokers, Oriental Shipping Lines Limited, Paradise City Hotel, Calabar and Oriental Airlines, and Daily Champion Newspapers.

– Iwuanyanwu was the National Chairman of the Nigerian National Congress (NNC) which later merged into the National Republican Convention (NRC) when former military president Ibrahim Babangida lifted the ban on politics in 1990.

– He has run for the country’s presidency three times in the past. First under the NRC in 1991. He later emerged as the vice presidential candidate for the late Adamu Ciroma. However, the presidential primaries of the NRC and his rival Social Democratic Party (SDP) were annulled by the then Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) over allegations of fraud in 1992. The other elections were in 1995 and when the country returned to civilian rule in 1999.

– This elder statesman founded one of the greatest football clubs in Nigerian history, Iwuanyawu National (now Heartland of Owerri).

– The club dominated Nigerian football in the mid-80s and early 90s alongside the now defunct Leventis United of Ibadan and Abiola Babes of Abeokuta.

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