Category: SouthEast

The end of year brings people back to their homeland. In Achina, Anambra State, the returnees revive their traditions, complete with vibrant masquerade displays. NWANOSIKE ONU reports

At the Yuletide, home is always irresistible to those dwell far away. There is a lot to catch up on. A lot to eat and drink.

In Achina, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, there is more to the season. It is a time to celebrate the Idegwu festival amid much fanfare.

This season, the community also celebrated what it calls the mass return of their sons and daughters from far and near, which happens in every three years.

Achina community is made up of three large quarters, namely Eselle, Umueleke and Umuezeiyi and the community is equally known for its historic war exploits.

The celebration of the community’s founding brought home all their professionals, businessmen and women, and scholars from the academia, among others.

The traditional ruler of the kingdom, Igwe Godwin Nnaemeka Obiora, the Eze Idegwu III of Achina, also marked his Ofala with a display of assorted masquerades.

The Amaiyi field, Achina was filled to the brim with different uniforms especially from women and cultural displays from them during their ‘Itu-nya dance‘.

The monarch used the ceremony to confer chieftaincy titles on some of the illustrious sons and daughters of Anambra, including the former Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University UNIZIK, Prof. Boniface Egboka, who is from a neighboring community of Umuchu.

Before the event which climaxed on the eve of the New Year, the traditionalists, led by 84-year-old, Nze Nnebelam Onyetusionu, had called out all the masquerades numbering over 100 at the Oye market for rituals.

The rituals were performed at the Eze-koro shrine, where women are forbidden to enter, located inside the Oye market square.

The Chairman of the organising committee, Nze Modestus Umenzekwe told The Nation that the ceremony was to herald the birthday of the community and nothing fetish in it.

He said the community is planning to make it a seven-year interval instead of the triennial arrangement to give their children both home and abroad enough space to prepare.

The event attracted dignitaries from far and near including the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Sen. Andy Uba, representing Anambra South senatorial zone.

Also, Hon. Chidi Duru, former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Hon. Eucharia Azodo and Minister of power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola SAN, who was represented by Engr. Ajayi were in attendance.

The Special Assistant to Anambra State Governor Chief Willie Obiano on Political Matters, an indigene of the community, Hon. Anayo Okpalaeke, told The Nation that it is an event where their people celebrate their culture and traditions.

He said the ‘Iti omu‘ (masquerade parade) started long ago in the area, adding that the difference between Achina and other areas in Nigeria in such occasions is that they don’t kill anyone.

Secretary, Idegwu Day celebration, Mr Sylvester Umenduka, said what was celebrated was Igbo heritage, inherited from their forefathers.

“It is our own way of showcasing Achina community to the whole world, to show the people our rich culture and traditions in our community,” he said.

For Nze Emma Nzekwe (popularly called Nzeakonobi) from Umueleke clan, there is no form of evil in the practice of their culture, bequeathed to them by their forefathers.

The Administrative Secretary of the community, Okpala Augustine, told The Nation that the 2018 edition of Idegwu festival was special to the community in many ways because, the organisation was different led by Nze Modestus Umenzekwe. Again, according to him, it coincided with the Ofala festival of their monarch, the mass return of their people and the assemblage of masquerades from far and near.

Also, The Nation gathered the invitation of dignitaries from far and near including the President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, made it unique for the first time.

All thanks according to the community should go to Umenzekwe, who attracted such heavy names to the community as the chairman of the organising committee, the epoch making event featured differnt stages of programmes, cultural exhibition, award recognition and pageantries.

Fashola in  his speech described Achina community as  sophisticated with socio-cultural and political system which they have  successfully used for develo-pments. He also used the event  to appeal to government to  create a good road networking in the community Igwe Godwin  Obiora appealed to Achina people to always maintain the peace and love that had existed among them and to always be a shining armour anywhere they found themselves.

Miss Okpara juliet was given an award for her outstanding performance in West African Examination Council and the best result in Achina.

The General Officer Commanding 82 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Emmanuel Kabuk has decorated eight senior officers who benefitted from the recent 2018 promotion exercise.

In his remarks at the occasion, Kabuk charged them to be professional, decisive and responsive in the conduct of their responsibilities in line with the Chief of Army Staff’s vision for the Nigerian Army.

In his remarks at the event, the GOC congratulated the promoted officers and charged them to work very hard to justify the confidence reposed in them even as he described promotion to be an act of God.

“Promotion, he said, “comes from God and only Him alone can promote anyone. You must therefore thank COAS for finding you worthy to be so elavated. You must continue to work harder in line with the COAS vision to justify the promotion.”

Thanking the COAS for finding Officers of the Division worthy for the promotion, the 82 Division GOC, assured COAS of the Division’s determination in executing its constitutional roles in line with his vision for the NA.

Among the newly promoted officers included Colonels Yahaya Abdulhamid and Enoch Albara decorated to the rank of a Brigadier General.

The Commander 14 Brigade, Commander 82 Division Garrison Chief of Staff, Deputy Directors and Principal Staff Officers of the Division as well as family members and friends of the newly promoted officers graced the occasion.

The newly promoted officers and their family members while thanking the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Buratai and the 82 Division GOC for giving them the enabling ground to work, stating that the promotion reminds them of the need to work harder.

Seven senior officers were decorated including two Colonels to Brigadier General, three Lieutenant Colonels to Colonels. Others were three Captains that were promoted to the rank of Major.

The event attracted many senior military officers, invited guests and relations of the beneficiaries took place at the 82 Division Officers’ Mess.

A non-governmental organisation, Healthcare Educational Liaison Project (HELP) based in the United States has given free medical treatment to residents of Amaigbo-Edda, Afikpo South Local Government Area and its environs.

The NGO carried out the health outreach because the  community is located in one of the remotest part of the community with a difficult terrain to access making it difficult for the people to have access to quality and constant health care.

Speaking to our reporter, Dr. John Kalu Ijem, a US-based heart surgeon who led the team of medical doctors during the programme, said the programme has become a yearly ritual he started to give back to the community of his birth.

“We are here to provide free medical care to indigenes of Amaigbo Edda free of charge. The programme is organised by Healthcare Educational Liaison Project, HELP, based in the United States. It’s a non- profit organisation, that provides free medical care for undeserved areas”.

“I am from the area so having excelled in what I am doing overseas in the United States there is what we call giving back and so this is a way giving back to the people of my community”.

The medical practitioner advised wealthy members of the community to imbibe the habit of sharing with the less fortunate members of the society.

“It is not how much you have but how much you are willing to share with those who are less fortunate than you are. I am not the richest person in the community but I have enough for myself and I think I could share with other folks who are less fortunate than myself.

“As you can see we have over 250 people here right now who are here to receive the free medical care. Many more are still coming. We have four resident doctors who have come to help us to try and provide the free medical care to the people. So, it is not how much you have but how much you are willing to share and care for those who are in need. The total cost of this project is about 30,000 US dollars,” he said.

The cardiologist said the programme has had tremendous impact on the health and well-being of the people of the area and promised to sustain the programme.

“The programme has been tremendous. Last year I saw a person who I put in a pacemaker about 7 years ago. She saw my mother and was thanking my her. That her son was able to save her live after many years that she was going from one hospital to the other. She is still alive today. It has been tremendously successful. Most of the people here are farmers, so they do lots of hard work and it comes with some serious pains. We give them a lot of pain medications to alleviate their pains and so they are always looking forward to our coming”.

The Nigerian facilitator of the programme, Mr. Ijem Sunday Ogbonna commended Dr. John Kalu for coming up with the programme which he said has help to alleviate the health challenges of the people.

“The programme is a lofty one. As you can see the number of people here is much. We thank God who has helped him to come this far and to remember where he comes from. So that yearly like this he comes to see his people to tell them yes, I know that you people are suffering this is the little I can do for my people.

“We thank God who gave him such an opportunity. The programme is not only for Amaigbo people, it is for all of Edda. As many people as we can reach we try to help them. People from all the neighbouring communities are here that is why the number is overwhelming”, Mr Sunday added.

A beneficiary, Mrs Rose Orji Ndukwe said she was there to get treatment even as she confirmed the efficacy of drugs given to her in previous editions of the programme.

“I have serious fever and chest pain and high blood pressure. I also have pains all over my body. It is as if someone used iron to hit me all over my body. It also comes with serious cough. I came to get treatment because I heard that Dr. John is giving free treatment again. I was here last year when I hear similar problems and he gave me drugs and I was well again. But after the drugs finished it started again, so the drugs are very effective and I hope that he will help me to get better again. May God continue to bless him for all the good works he is doing”.

A member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Imo Kalu, who benefitted from the outreach last year said the programme has been of immense help to the people of the area.

”Last year, while I was in my final year, I was deeply sick. They told me that there was one man here that was giving free treatment. I came and was totally healed. I was at my place of primary assignment in Aba, Abia State when I heard that he was around again, so I decided to come and show my appreciation by volunteering to help organise the programme for this year. I am helping to organise the people and do the necessary documentation like writing down their names so that they will go in and be attended to in an orderly fashion”, the corps member said.

The people of both Okai and Amokwe Item in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State are in a joyous mood as Dufil Prima Food Plc, maker of Indomie Noodles, has laid the foundation stone for the building of a vegetable oil refining industry in the two communities.

It is a known fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given a time limit to all companies that use refined vegetable oil as raw materials, to cease forthwith on its importation from Malaysia after the grace period which will soon expire.

The directive by the CBN also advised such affected industries to either set up plants locally to produce their raw materials or in the alternative source same from within, this had made the Dufil Prima Foods Plc to seek out Item for their factory. Speaking at Amokwe Item during the sword turning ceremony for the two factory sites, the President-General (PG) of Item Development Association (IDA) Chief Kingsley Ogba Nwokoro said that Item people are happy with the company for siting their project in their place.

Nwokoro said that with the coming of the company into Item that the people will support them and ensure that they and their materials will be given all the security and protection they require to succeed.

The PG said that their coming into Item will go a long way to ensure that Item has a pride of place in the comity of communities that could be counted as being one of those that has gone into modern day production of refined vegetable oil.

He said, “With the coming into our communities by Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of renowned Indomie noodles and power oil, we will be more known as one of the leading communities in the country were vegetable oil is produced in commercial quantity”.

“It could be recalled that palm industry is one of the main businesses the people of Item are well known for, as our people had embraced palm oil since ages and which could be rightly described as our heritage, we have demonstrated a great deal of resilience and mastery with a huge deal of investment and success in that area”.

“Historically, the palm industry has been the source of wealth and progress of the people of Item as we have developed skills in managing and promoting this precious resource and invested a great deal in it before the advent of crude and petroleum oil”.

“As far back as 50s, Item people who dealt in palm oil organised themselves into a cooperative society called ‘Item Merchants’ who were noted for the wealth and success this produce can give”.

“Item people were also known to have produced renowned merchants in produce business such as late Chief Ugoji Eke, Elder Egesi Akwari among others while the foremost produce inspector of the Eastern Region Sir Herbert Ukaegbu Osoka was from here”.

Nwokoro thanked the initiator of the project and proud daughter of Item, Mrs Nnenna Ejekam, who he said leveraged in her many years of cordial relationship with the organisation and worked assiduously to convince them to invest in her homeland.

He used the forum to confer on three directors of the organisation Item Merit Award as a way of extending the warm traditional reception of Item Okpi people to the organisation and also to show the preparedness, “Of our people to partner them and assured them of the safety of their investment in our homeland”.

In her response at the occasion, Ejekam said the last days of 2018 could be said to be the best period for the people of Item as it is the dawn of new era which will boost palm tree and its oil which has been the wealth of the community.

Ejekam said that with the ground breaking ceremony by Dufil Prima Foods Plc, “It will eliminate poverty, criminality and make the youths to be gainfully employed and also bring wealth for the people of Item.

She told the people of both Okai and Amokwe Item communities that the organisation is the maker of Indomie noodles and power oil, stressing that the project has three sides such as acquiring virgin land, the mill and leasing of palm trees from communities.

The legal practitioner said that before their own palm trees will start fruiting that they will be using the leased palm trees from the communities in Item to service the oil mill and urged the people to ensure adequate security for the mill and its workers.

The high point of the ceremony was the ward of Item Merit Award on the three directors of Dufill Prima Food Plc which include Chief Operating Officer, Madhukar Khetan;  Executive Director Production, Adhi Narto  and Lim Saradosa including Mrs. Nnenna Ejekam.

The conferment of an honorary doctorate on the Alake of Egbaland, His Royal Majesty Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo by the Alex Ekwueme University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State added colour and impact to the event, reports OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE

It was not just another convocation ceremony. A king was involved in it.

And it was not just another king. It was the Alake of Egbaland, HRM Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Okukenu IV.

The third convocation ceremony of the Alex Ekwueme University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State was a special event

It held on December 18 amid much fanfare that reverberated through the state.

Unlike the two previous ceremonies which held at the institution’s temporary site ceremonial ground, this year’s edition was held at the ultra-modern Convocation Arena constructed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba.

Indeed the university has recorded many landmark achievements since the coming of Prof Nwajiuba and another was added to the long list on the day with the award of the institution’s first and second honorary degrees.

The first was awarded deservedly to the institution’s Chancellor and a first-class traditional monarch in the country, the Alake.

Speaking on why the institution conferred the awarded to the Oba, the institution’s orator, Dr John Otu while reading the citation of the Oba, said the Alaka’s reign as the paramount ruler of Egbaland has been characterised by peace and prosperity for his subjects.

As the Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland and Chairman of Ogun State Council of Obas, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo has undertaken numerous projects to uplift the people of Egbaland which include Egbadotun Poverty Alleviation Fund; upgrading to world standard the annual Lisabi Festival; modernisation of the Ake Palalce and provision of sports facilities including squash court.

“He has also created awareness for the underprivileged in the society, children with special needs and improvement of leper’s colonies”, the University said.

Conferring the title on the Oba, visitor to the institution, President Muhammadu Buhari represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, NUC, Victor Onuoha said the award was a well-deserved one.The President urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to suspend its ongoing strike in the interest of the country.

The President said his administration appreciates the importance of education in the nation’s march to economic prosperity.

According to him, education will continue to receive its deserved attention from government in the budget and through other interventions like TETFUND despite other competing national needs and dwindling resources.

“These may not even be adequate but I assure that government will never waver in its commitment to the sector and will continue to do the needful’

“Consequently, I ask the Academic Staff Union of Universities to suspend its ongoing industrial action in the overall interest of the country”, he said.

The President also congratulated the university and felicitated with the graduating students for completing their university education. While urging the graduates to be good ambassadors of the institution, he said, “These fresh minds represent our hope for a better future as they are expected to invest their time and intellectual resources in the development of our nation and the world at large.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is determined to provide the requisite environment for teaching and learning in the university system. This result is one of the reasons for the energising education programme we have started and the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, is one the nine beneficiaries in the first phase.

“Universities have critical roles to play in nation building. They must justify this through excellent, innovative ideas and empowering the youth with right mental attitude, functional knowledge and saleable skills to be globally competitive and develop our nation.

“Nigerian universities should ensure that students are provided with capacities to discover their innate qualities and use same to impact positively on the global economy,” he added.

Speaking after the conferment of the Honourary Degree on him, Ìbá Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, appreciated the institution for the award on him and promised to continue supporting the institution to greater heights.

He dedicated the award to the government and people of Ogun state who he noted have been of great assistance to him since he ascended the throne.

The Alake of Egbaland used the opportunity to call for the completion of some abandoned projects in the school by the NUC and Federal Ministry of Education.

“Despite its developmental strides, the university is still confronted with some challenges ranging from non-completion of projects started in 2012 when it started academic activities and the pressing need to compensate the owners of the land where the university was built to ensure lasting peace with its host community”

The Yoruba monarch pledged the sum of N5m as endowment fund.

“We will continue to add more money to the fund in the years to sutain the fund so that it will assist the university produce more quality graduates that will help to develop the country”, he said

The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba said the graduating students were 355.

“Of these 355 graduating students, 15 of them emerged with first class honours, 188 with second class honours, 145 with second class honours lower division and 7 with third class”, he said.

The VC expressed regret at the destruction of school properties by some of the land owners who are still leaving within the campus which he noted is hampering the development of the institution.

“Our faculty of Agriculture has suffered frequent a wanton destruction of its crops on farms used for teaching and research. Contactors working on roads and buildings have also faced resistance”, he lamented

“We are pleading that this responsibility of resettling the residents be discharged with dispatch”, the VC said.

For the first time in the history of our young institution we shall be awarding twp honorary doctoral degrees. The Senate of our university resolved to honour our Chancellor HRM Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland and Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike.

There were also award of prices to best graduating students in various faculties and overall graduating student.

The epoch making event was attended by the Wife of the Oba, Olori Dr (Mrs) T. Gbadebo and members of the Oba’s council of Chiefs including Barr Lilian Omotunde.

The Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Bishop Callistus Onaga has described Christmas as a feast that celebrates the incarnation of the fullness of God’s unfailing love for mankind.

The Bishop said the birth of Jesus is the greatest work or act of God because it was the manifestation of the supreme love of God for us.

Bishop Onaga, in an interaction with select journalists for his Christmas message, said: “The salvation, the sanctification and the eternal happiness of the whole human race depend totally upon the Incarnation of the Word. That is, Jesus, the Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, made flesh, is the one source of our salvation, of our sanctification, of our hope of eternal life with God.

“Without Jesus we would not be able to call God, “Our Father!” We could not love God in a fitting manner as his children. Saint John, the beloved Apostle, reminds us that, because of Jesus, we are to “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so indeed we are” (1 John 3.1). The great preacher, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, said:

I think God must have said to Himself: Man does not love Me because He does not see Me; I will show Myself to him and thus make him love Me. God’s love for man was very great, and had been great from all eternity, but this love had not yet become visible … Then, it really appeared; the Son of God let Himself be seen as a tiny Baby in a stable, lying on a little straw.

God, in his love and mercy, sent his Son, Jesus, as an absolutely free gift to make salvation possible for humanity. John 3:16 reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

“The absolute giftedness of God is always meant to be a model for us humans. Therefore, Christmas is meant to be a model par excellence of the human disposition towards life.

Thus, rejoicing in the love of God that characterises Christmas, we must try our best to share the love of Jesus with the world, to make ourselves, our families and society fully alive in love. Filled with God’s love, we should explore new and life-giving ways to share the gift of Jesus with others. Little wonder Christmas has remained a special time for “giving” and “receiving”, resulting in the notion of gift-exchange: we receive love, we must give love. The Magi greeted the infant Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

“This Christmas, let us make the gift of ourselves in love. We do this by dealing with one another in love and charity, embracing civility and not letting our differences hide the dignity and beauty God has given each of us as his children. And when we share God’s love with others, we are able to reflect in faith and in our social interactions, a more wholesome understanding of the reason for Christ’s coming into the world.

Therefore, in the light of all that our loving God has done for us, Christmas challenges every Christian, every person of good will, to show love to all; to cultivate a ‘civilisation of love’ to the advancement of humanity, to the growth of families and homes, to nation building, and to the growth of God’s kingdom on earth. Love must be present in and permeate every social relationship.  I believe that adopting a love-centred Christmas disposition can be the answer to the many challenges and problems which plague our world today.

“The coming of Christ brought new hope to fallen humanity. And so, Christmas is also a celebration of Christ our hope, our hope of survival in this world and the next. He is the prophet whose presence gives us hope and vision to lead our lives with great joy and confidence in the midst of the difficulties of life.

Our hope in Christ generates the confidence of possibility of overcoming evil and attaining good, of building a better world. Christmas calls us once again to focus on the spring of hope, when the birth of the Child Jesus assures us of the triumph of light over darkness, of God’s righteousness over human sinfulness, and of the healing power of God over the brokenness of our lives.

As Nigerians, our celebrations this year take place against the background of a seemingly hopeless condition:

“Fear, instability and following lack of peace and security in Nigeria: insurgency and banditry in the North, widespread kidnapping, ritual killings, cultism, and armed robbery in the South, and, across the country, heightened national tensions as a result of the forthcoming 2019 General Elections. Our hearts go out to all the victims of violence and mayhem in the land.

Notwithstanding the recent state of emergency declared in the education sector, our universities (nay ASUU) are currently on strike; the polytechnics (nay ASUP) have issued their own ultimatum to join soon. The scandal of sex-for-marks in our tertiary institutions is on the rise.

“A number of our health institutions are also on strike, coupled with their lack of equipment.

Nigeria was recently dubbed the “poverty capital of the world” due to the dehumanizing and unenviable level of poverty, unemployment, and high rate of inflation in the land.

The Government and Labour Unions are still having it tough over the proposed new minimum wage.

“Just recently, with the Yuletide around the comer, the oil marketers threatened to go on strike if the Federal Government fails in seven days to pay them in cash the accumulated debts of over 800 billion naira.

“Virtually all of the above problems are occasioned by bad governance and primitive embezzlement of public funds by corrupt political office holders. My message to all Nigerians, therefore, is that corruption, whether by leaders or the led and no matter where it occurs, is evil and its practice will not fulfil our hope for a bright future; it cannot engender peace, unity and progress in Nigeria. We should therefore repent and put an end to all that hold us down by acting with integrity in all our endeavours. Let us all try to correct our sinful ways so that we can enjoy the love, peace, and hope that the Child Jesus brings to us at Christmas.”

The newly elected traditional ruler of Ogbogidi/Ozara in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, High Chief Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu is building a 20-bed cottage hospital for his community.

Asadu until his elevation to the traditional stool was a nurse in Dallas Texas for over 24 years before the community bestowed on him the traditional authority of Ogbogidi/Ozara autonomous community.

Laying the foundation stone of the hospital in the community, the chairman of Nsukka Local Government Area Chief Patrick Omeje represented by Mr. Chinedu Aniche administrator Nsukka West Development centre said that the cottage hospital embarked by the Igwe-elect of Ogbogidi/Ozara community was a restoration of human dignity, adding that sacred human life is centred on healthy situation and environment.

Omeje said that the cottage hospital will be of immense assistance to the community and beyond, noting that the singular act of the traditional ruler elect was to complement the state governor, Ifeannyi Ugwuanyi’s developmental strides across the three geo-political zones of the state.

“For a traditional ruler-elect to embark on a hospital project for his community to ameliorate health challenges shows commitment and care for the community. The project will save the cost travelling long distances for medical attention. Communities in the state should not wait for government to do everything for them. This was the reason why High Chief Asadu embarked on the cottage hospital to augment the state government efforts in the communities.

“Recently the state government disbursed N5 million to every community in the state to embark on any project of their choice to bring governance closer to the grass root. The new autonomous communities are yet to benefit from the state government gesture while High Chief Asadu did not wait for the state government gesture and took the bull by the horn erecting 20-bed space cottage hospital for his community,” he noted.

Omeje called on donor agencies, philanthropists, and NGOs, among others, to emulate the kind gesture of Asadu and embark on any project in their various communities and change the type face of the community to assist government efforts on infrastructural development Speaking at the occasion, the donor said the project ýwas a divine call from God to put a permanent structure for the community than the annual merriment of food, drinks and gift items.

The traditional ruler-elect said that the hospital project was part of the burning desire in him to tackle the health challenges in the community and beyond, explaining that it was not

healthy for pregnant women and sick ones of the community to travel long distances for medical attention as he can afford to build a cottage hospital for the community.

Asadu explained that he was mostly touched to embark on ýthe cottage hospital having paid hospital bills for people of the community for over 20 years, adding that the cottage hospital when completed hopefully on or before August 2019 will be free medical services to the community.

The traditional ruler elect noted that he would employ and pay both ýdoctors and nurses, equip the hospital with drugs at all times to ensure that nothing lacks for the health of people of the community.

He said that the hospital was meant to contain 14 beds for adults and six beds for children with pharmacy department and outpatient bay, pointing out that Ogbogidi/Ozara community raised him and it is time to give back to the community what it bestowed on him.

Asadu said that the community meant a lot to him as he provided electricity, water and just recently built a bungalow for indigent widow of the community, adding that people should not wait for government to do everything. Philanthropists have to play a role in development.

“It is better for me to die in charity than having fat bank accounts while people wallow in abject poverty and penury. I will not pack money for my children in banks, they have to make their own money and perform more than me. If I am installed by the state government it will give me more access to issues of the community than calling on government assistance. I made my money in nursing and know what it is for people to be healthy,’’ he said.

Also speaking Nsukka local government supervisory councillor for health, Hon. Florence Chinonye Ugwu expressed gratitude for singular gesture of the Igwe elect embarking on 20 bed cottage ýhospital for Ogbogidi/Ozara community which remains second to none in the history of the entire Edem Ani ancient kingdom of Nsukka Local Government extraction and Enugu State in general.

Ugwu noted that both the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the local government chairman of Nsukka Chief Patrick Omeje have achieved a lot in the health sector on areas of child delivery system, extension of district hospitals in the three geo-political zoes of the state.

She noted that Chief Omeje recently donated his monthly salary for medical services in the locality, supporting the health sector of the council in immunisations and other health facilities and creating more health centres at various communities in the area.

Ndigbo have said there seems to be a scheme to exclude them from the Nigeria political equation, but they also stressed the need to negotiate with other interest groups, ethnic nationalities to create an enabling political structure, if they will remain relevant in the country.

The group made the submission at the Igbo National Stakeholders Assembly (INSA) Summit and Prestigious Awards 2018 in Lagos with the theme, “Ositadinma”.

Chief John Uche, INSA Convener and first president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos, said the time had come for Ndigbo to make conscious effort to ensure that they are not undermined politically.

He said, “Election is around the corner, a lot of people are jostling for political offices, making coalitions for political relevance. But Ndigbo appear to be complacent about the issue of the moment.

“We are here to tell them that we have suffered in the last four years and the next four years, we do not want to suffer again. Our businesses collapsed, we were excluded from the scheme of things, no key appointments by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Uche maintained that there would be need for Ndigbo to negotiate their votes, adding that any political party that would ask for the Igbo votes must negotiate with them appropriately, pointing out that the condition would also include assent to call for restructuring Nigeria, even as he agreed that they had not entered into any agreement yet with any political party.

The keynote speaker Mr James Ezike, a lawyer, who was represented by Okey Onuakalusi, lamented that it was 40 years ago that an Igbo man, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, attained the highest political office of vice president, while further attempt by him (Ekwueme) in 1999 at the Presidency failed because of political conspiracy.

He said there seemed to be a political conspiracy to exclude an Igbo man in the nation’s political equation, stressing that power is never donated or given, but asserted, adding that if Ndigbo want any political position, they must prepare for it.

He maintained that the task before Ndigbo would be to raise their political consciousness, where the interest of the people would be promoted above personal and egoistic interest.

Speaking through the vice president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos, Vitus Uzoh, the socio-cultural organisation made its position on 2019 election clear, saying that candidates that were not credible should withdraw from the elections.

It pointed out that the body had been able to sensitise its members adequately on the need for full participation in the elections by obtaining their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), vote for only credible candidates of their choice, even as it appealed for a peaceful general elections.