Michael Okpara

“The Living Legacy of Dr M.I. Okpara Rekindled in Senator Austin Akobundu”

“Dr. M.I Okpara was a phenomenon - an austere, visionary leader whose agrarian and industrial revolution transformed Eastern Nigeria into the fastest-growing economy of its time. His policies and institutions outlived him, and his leadership ethos became a benchmark for generations. But for decades, the region and the nation yearned for another of his kind - someone who not only remembered the legacy but lived it.”

“Although Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara died almost 42 years ago, the mention of his name in Nigeria today evokes memories of the agricultural and agro-industrial revolution in Eastern Nigeria in the 1950s and ’60s, during his days as the Premier of the former Eastern Region.”

“I think we are all almost unanimous in thinking that it was an unwise step by the Ghanaian government: we hold the view that religious leaders should condemn practices that they consider to be irreligious, although of course we are opposed to religious politics: by that we mean the religious organisations setting up, campaigning openly or covertly to win candidates in any election.”

“We hold the view that religious leaders are entitled to state when an organisation is becoming anti-religious or is going against their religious principles; I think that is what Bishop Patterson has done. I know the man well, and any Government that expels a man like that, well that Government should really begin to think seriously where it is heading.”