… Says report seeks to cause disaffection between the Igbos and the Yorubas
The Association of Igbo Maritime Practitioners In Nigeria, ASIMPIN has debunked a media report credited to its National Secretary, Prince Okey Egbuchulam claiming that the President General of ASIMPIN, HRM Eze Amb. Damian Emeka Obianigwe has directed him (Prince Egbuchulam) to appeal to Maritime/Aviation Practitioners of Igbo extraction who have registered licenses to ensure that they cast their votes for aspirants of Igbo descent in the coming chapter elections of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA in the Western Zone.
Recall that an online news medium (not Primetime Reporters), had on Monday carried a report with the headline, “Igbo Maritime Practitioners direct members to boycott Yoruba Chairmanship candidates.”
The purported directive which the report said, was in retaliation to the instruction passed by the Oba of Ijora that “the Igbos should not be allowed to occupy Chairmanship positions in the forth coming ANLCA Chapter elections in Western Zone, no matter how hard they have worked and how much they have spent.”
However, in a statement signed in Lagos on Tuesday by Mr. McAnthony Onuoha, Head of Special Duties, ASIMPIN Headquarters at the instance of the President General, ASIMPIN, the apex Igbo Maritime group described the media report as a misleading information aimed at ridiculing the long existing healthy collaborations between the Odua Maritime and the Ndigbo Maritime Practitioners.
According to the statement, the leadership of ASIMPIN strongly debunked the report and disclaimed the source as the directive did not emanate from the office of the President General.
“ASIMPIN hereby dissociate itself from the source, it is mischievous, misleading, and was sponsored by detractors and enemies who have resolved to blackmail the revered royal father and esteemed leader of Association of Igbo Maritime Practitioners in Nigeria – ASIMPIN.
“It is unfortunate that Prince Egbuchulam played into the hands of these mischief makers without recourse to prompt consultation.
“However, it is instructive to note that the President General of ASIMPIN is a man of celebrated maturity, and a very strict adherent to the principle of ‘LIVE AND LET LIVE.’ As a leader who has unstrained understanding of leadership, he knows that to be free to choose and not be chosen, is an inalienable ingredient in what makes human beings human and that the beauty of governance is allowing a people to make their choices of who governs them.
“ASIMPIN hereby denounce, dissociate, disclaim and roundly condemn the source of this misleading and a deliberately calculated report aimed to cause disaffection between the Igbos and the Yoruba, thus, promoting silent ethic differences in the sector.
“As such, the ASIMPIN wishes to advise those whose stock in trade is to pass wrong information, and those who are desperately trying to blackmail the President General of ASIMPIN to have a rethink about their sinister plans, because His Royal Majesty, Eze Amb. Damian Emeka Obianigwe KSM, JP does not subscribe to pettiness, and can never condescend so low to join issues with unscrupulous elements who are not comfortable with his unique leadership qualities”, the statement warned.
While urging the maritime community and the general public to jettison the malicious, misleading and unauthorized report intended to cause disaffection, it emphasized that ANLCA as a foremost freight forwarding association was a national association that thrived on the principles of national inclusiveness.
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