The National President of Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU), Chief. Titus Nnabuike Akpudo, has explained why the association appointed the President-General (PG) of Umueri General Assembly, Chief Johnny Chukwudi Metchie, as the Prime Minister (Onowu) of the State.
Metchie, who is the African Director of the International Association for Peace Advocates, was officially inaugurated as ASATU Prime Minister following his appointment by 179 PGs, representing all the communities in the State.
The occasion took place at ASATU Secretariat, Government House, Awka, with Governor Chukwuma Soludo, represented by his deputy.
Briefing newsmen, Akpudo, who is also the National Vice President of the Southeast Association of Town Unions, said the process of selecting a Prime Minister was painstaking.
He said the body took many things into consideration, in order to appoint the most deserving.
He described Metchie as an outstanding personality who has used his office, wide contacts and personal resources to change the story of Umueri within the short period of his leadership.
“We appointed Chief Metchie as ASATU Prime Minister because he deserved it. He has demonstrated exemplary leadership and unprecedented development to Umueri, the kind we have not seen before in the community. He has also assisted ASATU in many ways. And this just for the few months he has been in office.
“Apart from his philanthropist gestures and ingenuity, Chief Metchie has proved himself to be a motivator.
“For example, we were waiting for the government on community policing but Metchie moved on to install CCTV to cover the entire Umueri community which has made the area very secure and almost crime-free. We considered that alone as an outstanding achievement, in view of the precarious security situation in the country.
“He assisted his people in upgrading health facilities and attracted so much attention that the state government has just approved the renovation of Umueri General Hospital, among two others.
“Metchie has constructed roads in some villages in the community, he is constructing a new market and carrying out weekly sanitation, giving scholarship to indigent members of the community and have secured health insurance cards for the elderly in Umueri for free treatment,” Apugo said.
Metchie who holds the titles of Ezi of Umueri and Ozoigbondu, bestowed on him by Eze-Enugu Aguleri, thanked ASATU leadership for finding him worthy of the position of Prime Minister, adding that recognition comes with the twin sense of humility and motivation.
He said: “I am humbled by the award because, barely seven months in office as the President General of Umueri General Assembly, it is a rare privilege that the entire members of this Association, made up of great leaders, could consider me for the honour, the first person to be so recognized.
“The award is a motivation to me because, I see it as a challenge to do more, to further expand the frontiers of our humble efforts towards tackling the basic issues affecting our people. I see the award as a motivation to work closer with the state government, ably led by the Governor, His Excellency, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, for our people, this time, not only Umueri, but the entire 179 communities that make up Anambra State.”
According to him, whatever he had done for the community and others was inspired by God and support from his people.
“Within these past seven months, God has been lavishly benevolent to me and the entire Umueri community, especially by giving us the illumination to see clearly, areas of need and the resources to provide basic interventions for the betterment of our people.
”On security, our community’s local vigilante has been officially recognized by the state government while modern security gadgets have been provided for the personnel. We also donated vehicle for border patrol to ensure peace and better relationship with our neighbours like Aguleri and others.
“We commenced and completed the inauguration of new executive members of the Nigerian hunters and forestry security service, Umueri and recruited 100 able-bodied men to strengthen their capacity.
“We commenced and have completed the installation of Solar Powered Street Lights in Umueri including the IDP camp.”
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Metchie paid tribute to former Governor Willy Obiano for constructing what he described as a legacy project and commended Soludo for his commitment to building a livable homeland for the state, expressing the hope that Soludo’s administration would further provide more needed facilities at the airport.
