By Emmanuel Iheaka
The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, has commended Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, for reviving the Ahiajoku Festival.
Azuta-Mbata gave the commendation when the Planning Committee of the 2025 Ahiajoku Festival visited him at the Ohanaeze secretariat in Enugu. He assured that the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation would fully participate in the cultural event.
He emphasized that the festival provides a vital platform for deep conversations among Ndigbo on culture, language, and survival, urging the organisers to deliver an excellent outing that would further elevate Igbo cultural visibility.
“I hereby endorse the 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture Festival on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. We shall cooperate to ensure a successful festival. I will be there in person. Any role we are expected to play, we shall gladly play it. Our people must be heard.
We are encouraging studies and research on Igbo language and culture. We have set up a committee for that,” he said.
The Ohanaeze leader lamented UNESCO’s report classifying the Igbo language as endangered, stressing the need for urgent measures to avert cultural erosion. He disclosed that his administration had instituted professorial endowment chairs in tertiary institutions to drive research in Igbo history, tradition, and language.
Earlier, the Director General of Ahiajoku Centre and Secretary of the Planning Committee, Nze Ray Emeana, traced the festival’s origin to 1979 under the late Governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe, who envisioned it as a platform for Igbo introspection and the projection of Igbo worldview.
Emeana also highlighted the contributions of prominent intellectuals who have graced the Ahiajoku podium, including Professors MJC Echeruo, Chinua Achebe, Ben Nwabueze, Donatus Nwoga, Adiele Afigbo, Laz Ekwueme, and Barth Nnaji, noting that their works helped establish Ahiajoku as Africa’s premier cultural festival of ideas.
The 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture, scheduled for Friday, September 26 in Owerri, will be delivered by Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese.
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