By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
Business and economic activities owned and operated by Ndigbo across the South-East and in other parts of Nigeria will be temporarily suspended for three hours on Saturday, January 30, as Igbos observe a special day of prayer and thanksgiving to mark their survival of the Nigerian civil war.
The observance, marking about 55 years after the end of the 1967–1970 civil war, is part of an event known as the ‘World Igbo Day of Adoration and Thanksgiving’.
It is being organised by Ohanaeze Ndigbo in partnership with Igbo religious leaders and is expected to hold simultaneously in churches across Igboland and in Igbo communities outside the region.
Addressing journalists at a press briefing in Enugu, the Archbishop of the Enugu Ecclesiastical Province of the Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Sosthenus Eze, explained that the initiative was born out of the need for the Igbo people to consciously thank God for their survival during the war.
According to him, the civil war was designed to wipe out the Igbo race, yet they endured despite severe hardship and suffering.
“That war was planned to exterminate the Igbo nation completely, but we survived as a race, despite all that we passed through. In response to this, God has been speaking through various people about this. This burden has been shared and agreed upon,” Eze said.
He further noted that the struggles of the Igbo people did not end with the cessation of hostilities, pointing out that many suffered losses and continued marginalisation in the post-war era.
“We know that it was not only the war that took place. Since the war, the Igbo man has been denied his place. His property was destroyed and his rights denied. Sometimes freedom is not achieved by war. It can be achieved by adoration and praise,” he added.
The cleric also stressed that the survival and continued existence of the Igbo people was by divine design, urging Nigerians to uphold fairness and equal treatment among all ethnic nationalities.
“The existence of the Igbo man is not by accident. God ordained it, and it is for the Nigerian people to allow for equal rights of all,” he said.
The briefing was attended by several prominent religious leaders, including former Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Obi Onubugu; former Bishop of the Oji River Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Amos Madu; and the Archbishop of the Presbyterian Church, Enugu, Most Rev. Ezichi Ituma.
Organisers of the event explained that the brief shutdown of businesses is meant to enable Igbo people to fully take part in the prayer and thanksgiving programme, reaffirming that the Igbo nation remains eternally grateful to God for His mercy and preservation.
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