By Valentine Ozigbo
My beloved Ndigbo,
I write to you today with a sober heart and a renewed conviction. In the last few weeks, the Lord has taken me on a deep journey, a journey of reflection, rediscovery, and spiritual awakening.
Three profound moments have stirred my spirit and compelled me to speak now.
1. My visit to our brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the thoughtful and far-reaching conversations we held, some of which I hope to share in due course, and the reactions that followed the court’s pronouncements concerning him.
2. The deepening insecurity across our nation, which has placed Nigeria in international headlines for reasons that trouble every conscientious citizen.
3. A series of deep engagements with respected leaders, one of which prompted me to pick up and begin reading the remarkable book, The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano. The opening chapters alone shook me in a way I did not expect.
All these encounters, along with the deep stirrings within my spirit, have made it clear to me that we have entered a very consequential season in our collective story.
Before I go further, let me state clearly:
I do not come to you as one who claims perfect knowledge, nor as a man seeking to speak from a lofty place. I speak as your brother — an Igbo man, a Nigerian, and a citizen who longs to see our story redeemed in our own lifetime because I believe, unshakably, in the possibility of our collective renewal. I write because the burden within me has grown too heavy to keep unspoken, and if these words strengthen even one soul or awaken one conscience, then they have served their purpose.
My people, these are not ordinary days. We have stepped into a prophetic hour, a sacred season in which heaven begins to reorder the destiny of a people who have carried pain with dignity, endured hardship with courage, and yet, by the mercy of God, remained standing when many expected them to fall.
1. Understanding God’s Seasons
The Holy Scriptures remind us that God moves with purpose through times and seasons. When Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years, even the intercession of Moses could not shorten that appointed journey. God may comfort us within a process, but He never acts outside His own timing.
This is why Jeremiah 29 speaks with unusual relevance in this moment.
Jeremiah addressed a nation living in exile, a people wounded and confused, surrounded by voices that promised instant deliverance. Yet God’s message through him was unmistakable: Their season had a divinely established duration of seventy years.
No rebellion, no emotion, and no impatience could alter what heaven had ordained.
But restoration was assured. Their pain was not abandonment. It was preparation.
Jeremiah 29 teaches us a profound truth: Nations also move on divine calendars, and when the appointed hour arrives, no empire and no opposition can stand in the way of God’s redemption.
2. Who Are God’s People in This Hour?
God’s covenant people are all who believe in Him and choose to walk in His truth. They include both the natural heirs and those adopted into grace, united not by ancestry alone but by faith, obedience, and alignment with His will.
Yet when one studies our history with spiritual clarity, a pattern becomes unmistakable. Through years of migration, resilience, hardship, and remarkable preservation, the Igbo story carries the imprint of a people with a distinct covenant identity.
A people scattered but never shattered.
A people wounded but never defeated.
A people misunderstood but continually preserved.
Our journey echoes that of ancient Israel in ways too profound to ignore. We resemble the prodigal son, still heirs, still loved, still destined, finding our way back to identity, responsibility, and purpose. Every renaissance begins with such rediscovery.
3. Our Prophetic Timeline
From independence until this very moment, we have lived through cycles of promise and heartbreak. Many have discerned that we are travelling through a prophetic season, a time of refining, awakening, and quiet preparation for something greater than we have yet seen — a new chapter in our national story.
I cannot claim certainty about the moment of God’s intervention. But in my spirit, I sense that Nigeria, and especially the Igbo nation, is at the threshold of a divine realignment, a sacred turning point.
My own journey, marked by trials, moments of miraculous deliverances, profound spiritual awakenings, and the steady hand of providence, has taught me one enduring truth: when we align spiritually, morally, politically, and culturally, we create the conditions for a new era of healing and national renewal.
4. Prophetic Witnesses Confirming This Season
God has never left His people without a witness. Across generations and across nations, He raises voices that help us discern the moment.
In this season, several respected spiritual leaders have spoken words that echo with unusual clarity.
Pastor Paul Adefarasin, before the 2023 elections, declared, “Saul came before David. Saul will come, and David will come after.”
Pastor David Ibiyeomie, speaking directly to the Igbo question, affirmed, “What is happening to the Igbo man in Nigeria is not normal… it is spiritual… but the Igbo will soon see the light.”
Bishop David Oyedepo, calling our nation back to unity, reminded us, “No tribe owns this country. We own this nation together.”
Prophet Tomi Arayomi, speaking on divine timing, announced, “Nigeria has five years until the next divine visitation.” And in a personal conversation with him, he reiterated something that resonated deeply in my spirit: that the Igbo carry a strategic part in God’s unfolding plan for Nigeria at this moment in history.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, and Professor PLO Lumumba have each, in their own distinct voice, acknowledged the remarkable contribution of the Igbo to African civilisation. Their affirmations echo what history already records: the Igbo spirit of enterprise, resilience, creativity, and moral courage is one of the great gifts God has placed within the African story.
Recently, I had a deeply enriching conversation with Reverend Ladi Thompson, who spoke with clarity about the continental responsibility carried by the Igbo. This responsibility becomes visible whenever we rise to our highest selves. Our discussion stirred something within me, and it was through his counsel that I returned to the extraordinary story of Olaudah Equiano.
These affirmations point us to one truth:
The Igbo are not merely an ethnic group.
We are a civilisational force, creative, unbreakable, resilient, and essential to the rebirth of Africa.
And running through all these voices is one divine whisper:
“Ndi Igbo, you are seen.
You are valued.
Your sacrifices are known.
Your contributions are undeniable.
But your future must be reclaimed with humility, purity, and wisdom.
Rise to the responsibility of destiny.”
5. Lessons from Olaudah Equiano
Born in 1745, kidnapped from his home at 11, sold into slavery, and later freed at 21, Equiano rose to become one of the most influential abolitionists the world has ever known. Yet beyond the arc of his achievements, what moved me most was his grasp of divine providence.
He saw God’s hand guiding every chapter. Each hardship was a classroom. Each season of pain was preparation. Through the seasons of his life, he believed that he was always exactly where God needed him to be. He understood that his journey was never about personal triumph, but about divine purpose unfolding through him.
One of his most powerful reflections reads, “Trials and disappointments are sometimes for our good. God might have permitted this to teach me wisdom and resignation; for He had hitherto shadowed me with the wings of His mercy, and by His invisible hand brought me by a way I knew not.”
Equiano’s life offers a prophetic echo of who we are as a people: Kidnapped yet preserved. Oppressed yet unbroken. Dismissed yet essential to history’s unfolding. Scarred yet lifted by God to shape the destiny of nations.
His life teaches us that adversity is not the end of purpose. Often, it is the very soil in which destiny takes root, and those who endure the night with faith are often the ones trusted with the dawn.
6. We Are the Judea People of Today
The arc of our history bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Judeans. We have walked through seasons marked by pogroms, war, displacement, misunderstanding, and astonishing resilience. We have been scattered yet productive, wounded yet unstoppable, diminished yet never erased.
And just as Judea rediscovered itself when its prophetic time was fulfilled, so too are the Igbo approaching a moment where our identity, our history, and our divine assignment converge. What looked like loss becomes preparation, and what felt like exile becomes the pathway home.
7. Davids and Samuels — A Generation, Not One Man
It is essential to understand that the David we await is not a single heroic figure, nor is the Samuel of this time a lone prophet with exclusive access to God. Heaven is summoning a generation that carries both courage and discernment.
He is raising Davids who are courageous, humble, pure in intention, and ready to serve. He is raising Samuels who discern with accuracy, speak with truth, correct with love, and carry the fire of the Spirit without fear.
God does not recruit through lineage or privilege. He looks for purity.
Whoever purifies the heart can become an instrument of change in this hour.
8. God’s Formula for National Healing — 2 Chronicles 7:14
Nations do not stumble into renewal. God has already revealed the pathway:
“If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.”
This is not a poetic flourish. It is an instruction, a covenant, Heaven’s contract with Earth. If we embrace humility, repentance, righteousness, and purity of heart, God Himself promises to step into our story, cleanse our wounds, and heal our land. It is guaranteed by the One who cannot lie.
9. Destiny Requires Purity and Responsibility
Umunnem, ihe na-eme anyi si anyi na aka. (Our hands determine our destiny.)
Our greatest need today is to return to our Chi — our God — as the centre of our individual and collective lives.
Our wealth is not the problem.
Our creativity is not the problem.
Our ambition is not the problem.
The problem begins when these blessings start to substitute for God, becoming idols of pride, excess, or vanity.
Prosperity is not a sin. Idolatry is.
Wealth with purpose is God’s desire.
A blessed Igbo nation is needed for Africa’s renewal. Our influence becomes spiritual power only when it is surrendered to God.
10. A Word to Fellow Nigerians from Our Sister Ethnic Nationalities— You Too Are Special
Every tribe in Nigeria carries a unique grace. Each tribe, each region, each culture brings its own brilliance to the national story.
My message to Ndigbo is not a declaration of superiority, but a reminder of a sacred responsibility, to call us back to our highest selves. The renaissance of the Igbo nation should be a gift to Nigeria’s common good, not a cause for anxiety. When Ndigbo flourish, we strengthen the federation we all share.
Unity in diversity must become our collective strength.
11. Returning to Our Source
Let us return to God our Father; Jesus Christ our Redeemer; the Holy Spirit, our Guide.
And let us continually seek the covering of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Nothing can stop a people anchored on God. To them who believe, nothing shall be impossible.
12. A Call to Ndigbo
My people, we are closer to restoration than we realise. But destiny does not come to a divided or impure people.
The hour calls for CUSP: Courage. Unity. Strategy. Purity.
And a rising generation of Valiant men and women
This is our moment, and we must embrace it.
CLOSING PRAYER
I urge every ezigbo nwafo Igbo reading this letter to kneel and pray:
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for Your mercy, Your timing, and Your plans for Ndigbo.
Purify our hearts.
Cleanse our land.
Raise Davids.
Raise Samuels.
Make us a people You can trust with destiny.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Daalu nu, Umunne m.
With deep respect and in service,
Valentine Ozigbo
2025 Anambra Governorship Aspirant
Founder, VCO Foundation
Founder, The Valiant Movement
Immediate Past President & Group CEO, Transcorp Plc
Recipient of Seven Stars Leadership & Governance Excellence Medal 2025
