The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the leading socio-cultural organization for the Igbo people, has raised a formal alarm over what it describes as the continuous mistreatment of Igbos living in the diaspora. The group has directly accused the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, of “derogatory, demeaning conduct and neglect” toward Igbos. In a statement released on Thursday, the group claimed that Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa’s actions have contributed to a culture of insensitivity and bias against Igbos both at home and abroad.
In a strong-worded statement from its Deputy President General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Ohanaeze Ndigbo expressed deep concern over the NIDCOM chairman’s use of social media. The group highlighted Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa’s alleged dissemination of “bigoted and defamatory posts” on her X (formerly Twitter) page, which they claim have “portrayed a caricature of the Igbo nation to the world.” This accusation is part of a broader criticism of the NIDCOM office, which the group says has consistently failed in its constitutional mandate to protect Nigerians abroad, especially those of Igbo descent.
The group stated that their concerns are not merely based on isolated incidents but are part of a documented pattern of behavior. According to Isiguzoro, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has “meticulously documented her alleged ethnic profiling and biased treatment towards Ndigbo in the Diaspora over the years.” They claim to have received “numerous complaints and petitions” from Igbos living in various parts of the world, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, detailing instances where they were seemingly “abandoned by the very office constitutionally mandated to protect them,” particularly when they faced hardship, adversity, or wrongful incarceration.
The allegations from Ohanaeze Ndigbo come at a time when Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa is already under public scrutiny for a separate incident involving a derogatory post on social media. The NIDCOM chair had been previously criticized for appearing to endorse a post with ethnic slurs against Igbos, an incident that had already sparked widespread outrage. The latest statement from Ohanaeze Ndigbo intensifies the pressure on her to address the public’s concerns and to demonstrate impartiality in her role as a public official.
