Sanwo-Olu’s cousin given Igbo name at festival

Jermaine Sanwo-Olu, Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora and Foreign Relations to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been named Ifeanyichukwu at the 2019 Igbo Festival of Arts and Culture (IFAC).

The festival ended on Saturday night in Edmonton, London with over 110 cultural groups and organisations from Nigeria and parts of the world in attendance.

In a tweet on Sunday about his time at the festival, Mr Sanwo-Olu, a cousin to the governor of Lagos, said he assured the Igbo people in diaspora of the governor’s willingness to work with them.

“I was invited to the Igbo Festival Of Arts & Culture.I had fun & was even called “IfeanyiChukwu”(nothing is impossible with God). I meet the Congress of Igbo Leaders UK/Ireland & expressed the willingness of Gov.@jidesanwoolu to work with Igbos in the diaspora,” he said.

Speaking at the festival, Coordinator of the Congress of Igbo Leaders (CIL), United Kingdom, Obi Okoli called on the Igbo worldwide to be ready at all times to confront challenges facing civilisation and the Igbo in the 21st century.

“Today, as we battle the balance of civilisation, our culture and religion, we must be careful not to allow our people to lay in waste, dissolution and ambivalence to falsehood.

“We must do all within our powers to pass all gifts that make us special to our children and generations unborn.

“Ndigbo must begin a careful journey of regression. This journey must review all we have embraced, imbibed to see if they are necessary, beneficial and relevant to our existence and survival,” Mr Okoli said.