The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Sen. John Azuta-Mbata, has said the Igbo people are yet to fully translate their individual brilliance, enterprise and resilience into collective development.

Azuta-Mbata made the statement on Monday in Umuahia while delivering his welcome address at the Igbo Day Lecture and Dinner organised by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

The event, themed “The Igbo Charter and Development of Ala Igbo,” was convened to explore ways of harnessing the collective strength of Ndigbo through a unified development strategy.

Azuta-Mbata said the Igbo Charter for Strategic Engagement for National Development, prepared by more than 67 Igbo technocrats and business leaders, provided a framework for engaging the Nigerian state and the international community.

He said the charter also proposed measures to preserve Igbo culture, particularly the Igbo language, including making the language compulsory in primary and secondary schools across Igboland.

“Despite their individual brilliance, enterprise and resilience, Ndigbo are yet to fully achieve their collective potential,” he said.

The Ohanaeze leader also called on the Federal Government to seek a political solution to the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained Biafran separatist leader.

Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Onyema Ugochukwu, urged Ndigbo to work together towards developing Ala Igbo.

He called for a shift from complaints about perceived marginalisation towards taking greater responsibility for the development of the region.

The Abia State Governor, Mr Alex Otti, said his administration was repositioning the state from conventional trading towards digital commerce.

Otti stressed that technology and digital delivery would play a major role in the future of global business.

In his keynote address, delivered virtually, the Chairman of the Igbo Charter Committee for Strategic Engagement for National Development, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, said the charter should remain separate from partisan politics.

Moghalu described it as a non-partisan development roadmap that should be driven by merit, accountability and measurable targets.