OYC Urges Boycott Of Obi Cubana’s Businesses Over Anti-Igbo Remarks

The apex socio-cultural youth organisation of the Igbo race worldwide, the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), under the leadership of Comrade Igboayaka Igboayaka, has urged Ndigbo to cease patronising the businesses of Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana.

The Council noted that Iyiegbu, recently appointed City Boy Movement Coordinator for the South-East, made a public statement claiming that Ndigbo lack knowledge while urging them to support Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Comrade Igboayaka warned Iyiegbu to first educate himself on Nigeria’s political history before making what he described as unguided and derogatory remarks about Ndigbo.

He recalled that in 1964, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the Action Group (AG), rooted in the Western Region, sent a delegation to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, leader of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), a dominant political party in Eastern Nigeria, to negotiate the position of Minister of Finance.

At the same time, Awolowo also dispatched another delegation to Ahmadu Bello, leader of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), to negotiate the same ministerial position he had offered to Azikiwe.

“Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was in a meeting with Chief Awolowo’s delegation when he received a phone call from Ahmadu Bello, who informed him that Awolowo’s representatives were at his residence offering him the position of Minister of Finance.

“Azikiwe, in response, informed Bello that the same delegation was with him making an identical offer.

“Upon returning to the meeting, he remarked: ‘Umunnem agwo anyi na ya no nwerekwara isi abuo’ (the snake in our midst has two heads).”

Igboayaka further stated that before making derogatory remarks about Ndigbo, Iyiegbu should reflect on the experiences of the late Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, particularly during the 2022 APC presidential primary.

He noted that as leader of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2013/2014 merger, Onu played a significant role in the party’s formation.

He added that the Southwest bloc, led by Bola Tinubu under the ACN, secured the vice-presidential slot in 2015, while the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) produced the presidential candidate.

According to him, the Southeast was marginalised in 2023, with the ACN bloc securing the presidential slot, and was further excluded from key National Assembly positions, including Senate President and Speaker, in the current dispensation.

Igboayaka criticised Iyiegbu’s comments, questioning his political standing and credibility to make assertions about Ndigbo, and described his remarks as insulting to the Igbo nation.

He further stated that Iyiegbu lacks the integrity, credibility, competence, and character to influence the political direction or voting decisions of Ndigbo at any level.

While acknowledging Iyiegbu’s constitutional right to support any presidential candidate, the OYC maintained that insulting Ndigbo should have consequences.

The Council, therefore, called on Ndigbo in Nigeria and the diaspora to respond by withdrawing patronage from his businesses as a form of non-violent protest.

However, videos circulating online indicate that Iyiegbu has since apologised for his remarks and offered clarifications.