Ohanaeze Battles Extinction Of Igbo Language, Endorses Ahiajoku Festival

The president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, has announced the support of the socio-cultural group for the Ahiajoku Festival, saying that it would elevate Igbo cultural visibility.

He stated this during the visit by the planning committee of the Ahiajoku Festival at the Ohanaeze Secretariat in Enugu.

The 2025 Ahiajoku Festival, which includes a lecture, is a gathering of intellectuals, especially of Igbo descent, where they take stock of their efforts and chart new frontiers.

The Ahiajoku lecture, scheduled for Friday, September 26, in Owerri, will be delivered by Most Rev (Prof) Godfrey Onah, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, themed, “The Future of Igbo Economy Amidst the Challenges of Insecurity: A Call for Paradigm Shift.”

Senator Mbata said that the festival remains an avenue for deep conversations among Ndigbo on issues of culture, language and survival but lamented over UNESCO’s report which said that the Igbo language is endangered and appealed for urgent measures to avert such cultural erosion.

He revealed that his administration had instituted professorial endowment chairs in tertiary institutions to drive research in Igbo history, tradition, and language.

The Ohanaeze president-general tasked the organizers to deliver an excellent festival that would elevate Igbo cultural visibility, adding that they would play their role gladly for Ndigbo to be heard.

“We are encouraging studies and research on Igbo language and culture. We have set up a committee for that. Any role we are expected to play, we shall gladly play it at the Ahiajoku lecture.
Our people must be heard,” he said.

Earlier, the director-general of Ahiajoku Centre and Secretary of the Planning Committee, Nze Ray Emeana, traced the origin and evolution of the Ahiajoku lecture festival. He recalled that the festival was inaugurated in 1979 by the late governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe, as a platform for Igbo introspection and projection of the Igbo worldview.

Emeana highlighted the stature of intellectuals who had delivered the Ahiajoku lecture to include Professors MJC Echeruo, Chinua Achebe, Ben Nwabueze, Donatus Nwoga, Adiele Afigbo, Laz Ekwueme and the 2025 edition would mark the 45th anniversary of the festival and the 25th lecture in the series.