Special to USAfricaonline.com

Address by the Chairman of the World Igbo Congress (WIC), Dr. Sir Festus Okere, at the Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, August 28 – 31, 2025.

I am pleased, privileged and honored to welcome all of you, on behalf of the Executive Council, Board of Directors (BOD), House of Delegates (HOD), Affiliate Chapters’ Presidents, Council of Elders and all WIC functionaries to Boston.

It is a historic city where revolutions were born, not just in words, but in actions.

Boston is renowned for its outstanding accomplishments in education, innovation, distinct cultural hospitality,
including its famous role in American Historic Revolution, the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

I must not fail to appreciate our Igbo distinguished sons, and daughters, who traveled far and near, at all costs and discomfort, to participate in this 2025 Convention.

Your valued sacrifice has renewed confidence and relieved anxiety. To our friends and well-wishers, thank you for coming.

Most importantly, I want to congratulate
the Convention Planning Committee Members, led by our able Executive Director, Chief Livinus Madu. I give special thumbs up to our exceptional host Affiliate, Igbo Organization of New England (IONE), for
their strong heartedness in this remarkable achievement.

The WIC family remains grateful for your leadership.
Ndi Igbo, The Theme for this convention: KOKOROKOO! IGBO BILIE N’URA, is a clarion call that’s very hard to ignore.

This is not just the cry of a cock, it is the call of history. It is not merely a sound that announces the dawn, it is a summon to consciousness, it is a cultural code engraved in our bones.

“It is daybreak, wake up!”
And, to this, I say to all Umu Igbo, at home and in the diaspora: Wake up! Time is running out. Enough of “Sit down de look” attitude!

A real Igbo person and great friends of the Igbo arr not known for being subservient. Our ideal,
generational politicians and leaders of blessed memories, such as the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. M.I. Okpara, Sir Francis Ibiam, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Dr. Sam Mbakwe, General Emeka Ojukwu, and General Phillip Effiong, did not kowtow in their political behaviorism.

The story and history of who we are, including our identity, history, culture, and values, should not and will not vanish in our generation. From ancient and modern, “The chains could not hold the Igbos: Not then; not now; and never will be” (Billy Gram. N.A.).
Our journey may be interrupted but must not be erased.

Those who set themselves apart from who we are, culturally and otherwise, including induced name changes, are detaching themselves from our ancestors with dishonor.

There is no superior or inferior Igbo. There is only One Igbo! However, those of us who sell us out, betray us, or have become willing tools to destroy us, should always remember that, ultimately, they are
still Igbos and are seen and ultimately treated as Igbos by their new friends/masters.

Again, our collective survival, as Ndi Igbo in Nigeria, is under siege. Igbos must
resolutely unite to own their destiny in the continued threats facing us in the Nigerian polity.

The continued, deliberate exclusion of Ndi Igbo from the highest levels of governance of Nigeria, since after the Biafran-
Nigerian War of 1967-1970, has remained a contemptuous and disrespectful disregard for the Igbo who continue
to contribute more than others to Nigeria’s existence and development. This “Okereke, ibu onye”
syndrome must stop.

Igbo bilie n’ura! Our culture demands that when one person suffers, all must be concerned.
Those who abandon their culture will be enslaved again.

We need to re-define the paths of our future and determine our faith with unwavering resolve.

Your Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the World Igbo Congress, the organization of and for
All Igbos in the Diaspora, once again, make the global appeal to you to Release our son, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

May I reiterate the fact that the Nigerian Courts and other courts in other countries have found him innocent and unlawfully renditioned.

Your history as a pro-democracy activist is well known. Releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu would cement that history for the
Igbos. Mr. President, Sir, please free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as other similarly situated non- Igbos activists have been freed.
For Nigeria to survive, triobalism must die. Equity, Justice, and Fairness should prevail. Let true peace reign all over the country and let everyone have a genuine sense of inclusion. Thank you!

Our WIC administration is firmly determined to uphold the Onye Aghala Nwanne Ya – Igbo identity. Igbo
was, Igbo is, and Igbo must be- ad infinitum!

We call on and welcome all Diaspora Igbo organizations
that have not yet registered with WIC to come on board.

We salute our eminent fathers, title holders,
committed leaders and other Igbo stakeholders who could not be present today but are always with us in
unity. The time for neutrality is over.

The time for excuses is gone.
Under this WIC administration, we are focused on protecting and promoting Igbo interests, especially in
the Diaspora, while collaborating with Igbo organizations in the homeland. We are launching the Igbo
Credit Union—our own financial lifeline, beginning in the USA. Let all hands be on deck to accomplish this goal. We are erecting the Cenotaph to honor Biafran heroes and heroines who died during the Nigerian
Civil War, not just for land, but for identity.
Therefore, the WIC reiterates its call on the government of Nigeria, to declare
a National Holiday on May 30th of every year—not to divide Nigeria, but to remind it of the horrors of war!
It is overdue.
Folks, let this gathering echo not just the songs of our survival but the thunder (??) of our resurgence. We are
gathered here not just to reflect, but to react. Not just to remember, but to reclaim.

Let us leave this
convention not with folded hands but with flaming hearts.

Let us not leave as guests, but as guardians of our heritage. Let us leave not as dreamers – but as builders of destiny.

I urge you all to participate fully,
share your thoughts effectively in all the discussions and events carefully earmarked for deliberations and
actions during this Convention.

If we do not wake up now, our children will not inherit a legacy, but
lamentations.

If we do not rise now, we will be remembered not for what was done to us, but for what we failed
to do for ourselves and for our prosperity.
As Chinua Achebe said, “There is no place to hide.”

I must not fail to thank our wives, mothers and especially my precious wife, Lady Roseline Okere, for their
firm support in our services for Ndi Igbo.

Again, thank you for being present. May God grant you safe journey to your respective destinations and be
with us in our quest to reclaim our natural dignity! Blessings!