Dear fellow members of Igbere Community:
I was not planning to say more on this IPAI crisis until the current developments following the Board Vote on the matter last Sunday surfaced.
Following the fallout we are witnessing from the IPAI Board of Directors vote last Sunday, I , in good conscience, as the Chairman of the Independent Panel (IP), a Founding Member of IPA Texas who hosted the IPA Texas inaugural meeting in my house, and a former President of the IPA Texas that gave birth to the IPA International, wish to make the following remarks:
In its mandate to the Independent Panel, the IPAI Board of Directors stated the following uniting theme:
“IN YOUR DELIBERATION, THE BOARD ANTICIPATES YOU WILL HAVE, AS A PARAMOUNT CONSIDERATION, THE IMPACT OF YOUR RECOMMENDATION ON THE UNITY OF IGBERE PEOPLE, THE STABILITY OF IPAI AS AN ORGANIZATION AND, OF COURSE, HOW HISTORY WILL JUDGE OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE ROLES IN RESOLVING THIS MATTER”
The above theme was the guiding principle that occupied the hearts of members of the Independent Panel who were bent on finding a resolution that would bring peace to Igbere and deliberated intensely and frequently from November 2016 to February 2017 to reach a resolution that would give both Chief Esse and Mazi Elesie an equal chance (50-50) of becoming the President of IPAI. The final vote of the IP was 5-3 in favor of the resolution.
I am waiting for someone to convince me that the IPAI Board Vote on the election dispute, last Sunday, is in line with the IPAI theme in caps above. Until then, I have the following statements:
- If those who voted to maintain the status quo which was the very reason IPAI found itself in a crisis mode because of the manner in which the elections were conducted did so with a conviction that what they did would bring unity to Igbere people and stability to IPAI as an Organization, the opposite appears to be the case now. Any perceived victory from the IPAI Board Vote has, for Igbere as a community, become a pyrrhic victory. May God spare Igbere from the “unintended” consequences we are seeing now.
- If those who voted to maintain the status quo did so knowing that the outcome of their vote would not bring unity to Igbere or stability to IPAI as an organization which would be contrary to the unity and stability theme given to the IP by the Board, may God have mercy on all of us.
As children of God, whatever we do, we should do so with the fear of the Lord. Matthew 5:9, has the following well-known Message from God: BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS; FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD. We should all have the courage to do God’s work and dump the courage to do man’s work that goes against God’s work. It is only in times of stress, as IPAI has witnessed, that the true character of each of us has been brought to the fore.
Yours in Community Service,
Engr. Emmanuel O. Ukandu, P.E.
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