THE Director-General of Apex Association of Anioma Indigenes (AAAI), and Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the upcoming South-South, South-East Cultural, Heritage, Tourism, and Business Summit, Apostle Patrick Nwanze, has offered an insightful overview of the summit’s objectives. Set to take place on November 29-30, the event aims to celebrate the rich cultural heritage, language, and traditions of the Southern regions of Nigeria.
With coordinators from across 11 states and a focus on fostering unity, cultural exchange, and tourism, Nwanze emphasizes the summit’s role in educating the younger generation, addressing regional disparities, and promoting friendship. He also highlights the financial backing and logistical preparations underway, with prominent figures and academics participating. Nwanze’s commitment to the Anioma cause, national unity, and addressing insecurity through dialogue adds depth to his leadership in this cultural initiative. Excerpts:
We would appreciate it if you could give us a brief on what you have done, and what you are planning to do? If possible, the achievements that are recorded here and there, the mileage, and where there are hiccups.
Thank you. I just want to say that I appreciate this session. It’s a highly important session. I am Apostle Patrick Nwanze. I am the Director-General of Apex, Association of Anioma Indigenes.
At the same time, I am the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Chairman of the South-South, South-East, Cultural, Heritage, Tourism, and Business Summit that will take place on November 29, and 30 this year; all things being equal.
Firstly, I want to say that this summit is aimed at meeting the needs of the southern end of Nigeria. I want to put it that way; the South-South, South-East geopolitical zones. Why do we say we aim to meet their needs? This is a region in Nigeria that is very rich in mineral resources, rich in crops and artifacts, rich in cultural values, with diverse dialects and languages as it were. The South-South, we know, is on this side of the Niger, with Anioma being part of it. And the South-East is on the other side of the Niger.
Now, by coming together to host the two regions, we are going to encourage our young generation to know more about our values. If you don’t know who you are, where you are coming from, and how you came here, you will miss the direction.
We believe that by a display of our culture, by the panelists coming together to talk about our heritage, and about the wealth of the two regions, we will be able to educate our younger generation and also encourage friendship between the two regions. There is no way friendships will not be encouraged and developed after a cultural interaction between the two sections of the region. Now, what have we achieved so far? First, what we have achieved is that we have been able to set up 11 coordinators for the 11 states that make up the two regions.
We have professors, we have retired permanent secretaries, and we have barristers coordinating these 11 states. So, we are confident that we have good hands in coordinating the 11 states. We have been able to reach all the governors with our correspondences. We have been able to get all the Commissioners for Culture and Tourism. We are in the right direction to promote tourism. There are a lot of tourism centres in these two regions that are not known and they are not properly put to use.
And this is why I was thinking, let us put energy into the area of language, tourism, and heritage discussions, and then we are going to attract our foreign friends. We have the diaspora coordinators as well.
Are there areas of convergence between these two regions in terms of cultural disparities? How do you intend to blend both regions?
It is simple. It’s like asking a question, how do you organize a football contest? The first thing is having a picture of what you want to achieve. Bring together every community that can attend. They’ll come with their values. They’ll come with their tradition. You want to showcase them. You want to showcase your culture.
We’re going to have about six or more panelists with the moderator. They will be picked from different regions to talk about heritage, language, the differences in languages, and where they have similarities. Now, this summit is going to have one of the best brochures.
One of the best? Yes, because it’s going to be in booklet format. That’s right. The content will be historical facts of various communities. The Odogwu of Asaba, Chief Nwanze Oduah is one of our members.
He’s one of the members of this LOC. We have a professor in the Itsekiri axis, and a historian, too. He is the chairman of the historical body in that zone. I have been talking to a lot of national leaders such as the Obuzo of Ibusa. So, these are some of the eminent personalities that form the LOC.
Now, in your recent remarks, you mentioned panelists. One would want to know, what are the kinds of personalities that are coming to do justice to this event?
If I have professors as coordinators, as state coordinators, recently retired permanent secretaries, not old permanent secretaries, as coordinators for various states that will give you a picture of what I’m looking at as people that will be the panelists. Now, why I will not be able to give you names now is because we have a group of people that we are going to interface with, and be sure that they have what we want to present to the community.
This initiative is beautiful but it requires a lot of money for its organization. Bring us up to speed on the area of finance.
We have partners. We have commissioned some agencies, professional agencies, which are into finance promotion to interface with a lot of corporate bodies for support. I also believe that the state governors will be involved.
As we speak now, the Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism is working on the budget; he is seriously working on the budget. Our budget is N200m. We are using the Doom Event Centre in Asaba.
We cannot mention South-South and South-East in today’s Nigeria, considering the political undertones, without the state creation question. What is your position about the proposed Anoima state?
I said here that I’m the President-General of the Apex Association of Anioma Indigenes Incorporated. That tells you that I’m 110 per cent Pan-Anioma. And I’ve done articles on this subject. I believe that Anioma should exist. It’s long overdue. If not for the coup of 1983, Anioma, as a State, would have been in existence as we speak today.
Do you think Anioma would fit into the Eastern Bloc, or remain with the Southern Bloc?
I like your question. And I’ll put it this way. The Federal Government knows best for this nation. I want to believe they will do their best to give Anioma the full independence, or the full identity that it requires.
And don’t forget this, my brother. Before the Ekumuku War, Anioma included our brethren on the other side of the river. It was after the Ekumeku War that the British Government used the Niger to create a boundary. And that led to the petition by some traditional rulers.
How do you think the government can intervene in the development of tourism in Nigeria with so many moribund tourist sites littered across the country?
This is a take-off project. I thought you were asking me what would happen after this project. Now, I’m a business development consultant. I know that after the cultural dancing, after the historical information, we are going to have a history in bits. Now, I’m going to thereafter set up a powerful committee that will pick up from the communique of the event, to have a drawing of what we are going to do with the content we discovered from the event.
It’s not just a fun-fair thing. That’s why I pulled together intellectuals and people in academia. We want a communique of this summit. Dancing is the social part of it.
How will the Isoko man be willing and ready to go as far as Opobo or how will the man from Mbano go to Itsekiri or Urhobo when we are yet to fully understand our identity as one people? Now, that is to say, what informed your choice of a venue, the Dome, in Asaba for this summit?
When a woman is pregnant, what is expected is delivering? By science, you can have an idea of the delivery date but that is not exact. She can give birth even in the river. My brother was born in the river. You see, there must be a venue. I cannot take it to Enugu. I can’t take it to Itsekiri. I can’t take it to Udu. It has to begin from my base. Man by nature thinks self-first then he spreads. By the time we are done with this summit, the Isoko man will see the need to start considering the Abiriba man as a brother and as a friend. Friendship begins in a day.
Are you also looking at addressing the issue of insecurity that has further polarized both regions? I want you to speak to the insecurity situation plaguing particularly the south-south and the south-east that you represent.
I’m privileged to be exposed to international politics as a student. The first step to reconciliation is Dialogue. The Nigerian insecurity problem cannot be solved in one day. Now, by the time we have this summit one, or two times we would have increased the measure of acceptance among the people. I have a youth wing of this committee. A mix from all the 11 states. And in every one of the meetings they have had, I have attended online and I have dropped the message of unity being the bedrock of progress. And this communication will continue. In fact, in my address by God’s grace on that day this issue will be touched because I have been a victim of this insecurity issue. I deal with area boys. I don’t do my pastoral work just on the pulpits. I go to the suburbs. I go to the where they have the clubs. I seek out those who need salvation. Not just salvation. They need to know they are part of the community. One of their reasons for reacting is that the community has called them imbeciles. They’ve called them no-good. They have been condemned. Somebody must give them hope. And I have found that ministry interesting. So I can understand area boys. Bring one of them here. I can analyze them and know who to address and get them to do what I want. So, I can tell you something, my brother. At the end of the day, what the country has been finding difficult to achieve, through this summit, through this interaction, we will achieve. Do you know the power of drama? Drama changes your mind. And when two people come dancing together, there is a social relationship. There will be a hug. There will be an exchange of contacts. There will be networking and people’s worries and fears begin to come down.
