Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has officially designated the last Saturday of every January as Igbo Adoration and Thanksgiving Day, urging churches both within Igbo land and the diaspora to commemorate the day as a unifying spiritual event for the Igbo community.
This decision follows a request from the Igbo College of Bishops, who opposed an earlier resolution by the Ohanaeze Imeobi to observe the day on the last Sunday of January. The bishops, after a meeting of the Imeobi on December 23 in Enugu, sent a delegation to the National Executive Committee (NEC) seeking the change to avoid conflicts with regular Sunday services.
Key figures in the delegation included Archbishop David Onuoha of the Owerri Anglican Province and Archbishop Sosthenes Eze of the Enugu Anglican Province, along with other senior clerics. The NEC accepted their appeal, overturning the previous decision, and the Imeobi will be formally notified of the change in its next meeting.
In a statement released by Ohanaeze’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, the President-General of the organization, Senator Azuta Mbata, emphasized the importance of the day. Mbata described the Igbo Adoration and Thanksgiving Day as a moment for collective gratitude to God for His mercy and blessings upon the Igbo nation, despite numerous challenges faced over the years.
Mbata called on all Igbo people to participate fully in the inaugural observance of the day on Saturday, January 31, 2026, between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, encouraging prayers, adoration, and thanksgiving during the event. He stressed the significance of the occasion in fostering unity within the Igbo community.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide calls on all Igbo people to make this day a unifying spiritual landmark for the Igbo nation,” Mbata added.
