The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • Ebonyi speaker assures NULGE of support for local govt autonomy

    Ebonyi House of Assembly Speaker Francis Nwifuru told members of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Ebonyi chapter, that the state government supports local government autonomy.

    Nwifuru spoke in Abakaliki when NULGE members marched to the assembly complex to seek the lawmakers support for local government autonomy, already endorsed by the National Assembly.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that for the National Assembly endorsement to sail through, it must be endorsed by the houses of assemblies of two-thirds of the 36 states.

    According to Nwifuru, besides the Assembly being in support of local government autonomy, Gov. Dave Umahi, is also highly in support of the autonomy.

    According to the speaker, the governor endorsed the autonomy in a letter for constitutional amendments he sent to him as required by all State House of Assembly speakers.

    “The speakers were invited to Lagos on the issue of constitutional amendments with relevant sections to be amended and asked to present the letters to their governors.

    “My governor fortunately voted in support of the autonomy and told me that we should try them and leave Nigerians to see and deal with them if they fail,” he said.

    The speaker advised NULGE not to hold him responsible for the outcome of the assembly members’ votes on the autonomy, but to immediately consult with their constituencies’ representatives before resumption from recess.

    “You watched the National Assembly voting process during the constitutional amendment and you saw that the Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives did not vote.

    “They will only vote when there are contradictory situations to ascertain whether the issues will scale through or be rejected.

    “Go and discuss with your representatives so that when we reconvene by October 3 and start debating on them, you must have given them inputs to support the autonomy.

    “You should dialogue, educate and give them clear explanations on the merits of local government autonomy because it is what all of us needs and can be achieved through unity,” he said.

    Mr Leonard Nkah, Ebonyi NULGE President, noted that autonomy would ensure that local government chairmen would stop blaming state governors as excuses for non-performance.

    “It will curb the excesses of the chairmen and abolish issues like bloating of workers and teachers payroll with its attendant vices and consequences.

    “Autonomy will also enable the local governments bounce back with activities and replicate the state tier of government in areas of road construction, agricultural enhancement, revenue generation, among others.

  • Abia police chief: strategies on security yielding positive results

    The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Abia, Mr Leye Oyebade said the strategies introduced to combat crime and criminality in the state was yielding positive results.

    He said this when he briefed newsmen at the Police Officers Mess in Umuahia on activities and achievements recorded by the police command in the state.

    He said the command arrested 30 criminal suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, car snatching, cultism and other security breaches in different parts of the state.

    He restated the command’s commitment to crime reduction, adding that “my officers and men are prepared to make Abia uninhabitable for hoodlums.

    “We have recorded substantial successes and reduction in crime wave and that is because of the different proactive measures and strategies we have put in place.”

    The police boss attributed the successes recorded to cooperation from the public, saying “they have been assisting us with useful information.

    “But I am using this opportunity to appeal to great people of Abia not to rest on their oars; they should continue to volunteer information to us to enable us to serve them well.”

    The list of suspects included Chigozie Akpara, Ndubuisis Nwoko and Nnamdi Kanu, said to have broken into Oza Secondary School, Asa, where they allegedly carted away eight computer sets donated to the school by the Niger Delta Development Commission.

    Others were Sunday Agu and Chinagorom Nwaobwugwu, allegedly arrested in possession of three stolen 200-AMP trailer batteries.

    Some of the items recovered from the suspects included pistols, double-barrel guns, AK47 rifles and other dangerous weapons.

  • Traders agonise as Imo govt demolishes Eke-Ukwu market

    Traders agonise as Imo govt demolishes Eke-Ukwu market

    History was made in Owerri, the Imo State capital, recently with the relocation of the Eke-Ukwu Owerri market by the state government after decades of futile attempts.

    Previous administrations made spirited efforts to relocate the market from its location at Douglas Road in the very heart of the capital city to make way for the expansion of the critical road to check traffic congestion and criminal activities.

    But the efforts were resisted by traders who hid under clannish sentiments.

    The battle line was once again drawn between Governor Rochas Okorocha and the traders in the ancient market when he announced his intention to relocate the market.

    For more than two years, the statement engaged the Owerri indigenes who see the market as an ancestral heritage on the need to demolish the market. But they will not have any of that. To them the market is a sacred institution for which they are emotionally attached.

    This defiant position, which was further strengthened by political incitement, emboldened the traders who vowed to resist any attempt to relocate them from the market.

    Another reason advanced for the refusal by the people of Owerri to allow the relocation of the market,  was the easy monies made by the youths and elders through the collection of multiple levies in the market.

    But the government had insisted that the market, which has spilled into the Douglas road, is constituting nuisance and security risks in the state capital.

    The muscle flexing between the government and the Owerri leaders continued for about two years. To throw spanner in the wheels of the State government’s plan,  the Owerri indigenes, sought and obtained a Court Order restraining the government and any other person from trespassing into the market.

    But at last the government ran out of patience with the adamant traders after they had ignored countless directives to evacuate their wares from the market.

    So penultimate Saturday, before the break of dawn, the once sprawling market has been reduced to rumbles. Caterpillars roared, traders scurry in confusion as they dashed into the falling structures to salvage anything they can.

    The atmosphere was tense, tears rained, traders recoil in anguish as they watched from afar as the rampaging machines devour the buildings.

    When the government issued the last 48 hours directive to quit the market the traders as usual waved it off as one of the usual feeble attempts. Some of halfheartedly tried to evacuate their merchandise, while many others began the mother of all protest by barricading the entire market on Friday night and setting bonfire on the Douglas road.

    But there was massive mobilization of security men including Mobile Policemen, Army, Department of State Security (DSS), as well as the State security outfit, Imo Security Network by the government in anticipation of violent resistance by the traders.

    The exercise was led by the Deputy Chief of Staff (operation) to the governor, Engr. Kingdley Uju and heads of the various security agencies in the state.

    Stranded traders, who could not evacuate their goods before the deadline given by the State government, defied the hail of bullets fired by the security operatives to disperse Owerri youths who had mobilized to resist the demolition exercise as they scurry to salvage their merchandise.

    Scores sustained wounds, a ten-year-old boy, Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, was killed by stray bullet allegedly shot by the soldiers deployed to the market for the exercise.

    As the caterpillars pulled down the shops, there was massive looting of goods as suspected hoodlums took advantage of the chaos to cart away millions of naira worth of goods, mostly expensive phones and other electronics.

    Some of the traders, who were watching the demolition from afar, lamented that they were not given enough time to evacuate their goods before the demolition.

    They accused the security men of colluding with hoodlums to loot their goods, adding that, “how can they be shooting at traders who are trying to evacuate their goods. As we speak, over five traders have sustained bullet wounds”.

    The President-General of the market, Felix Ngoka, had during a press briefing on Friday, vowed that the traders will resist the demolition of the market with their lives, adding that they will not tolerate the defiance of an existing Court Order by the state government.

    He also claimed that “our ancestors had warned sternly against the relocation of the market and we will not succumb to any pressure to relocate the market because if we do calamity will befall us. It is better we die resisting it”.

    A trader, Mr. Uche Kamsochi, whose shop was among the first to be demolished, said

    Meanwhile there were pockets of confrontations as protesting Owerri youths feebly tried to resist the exercise. They were tear gassed and those that were unlucky to be caught were beaten up and whisked away by waiting Police vans.

    Meanwhile, some hoodlums attempted to loot the popular bureau de change popularly known as ‘Ama Hausa’, when they set it ablaze and chased away the bureau de change operators before soldiers arrived and cordoned off the entire area.

    The state government described the exercise as peaceful and successful.

    In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the state government said: “The action was a peaceful one and with the relocation of the Market to a better area, the government will now go ahead to rebuild Douglas road and realize its lofty dream of making Owerri a befitting city”.

    According to the statement, “this is to inform the general public that Ekeukwu Market Owerri has finally been moved from its current location at the centre of Owerri, the state capital, to its new location at Ohi near Owerri amid jubilation by patriotic residents. The relocation of the market is in line with the Urban Renewal programme of the state government.

    “The market was moved Saturday morning and for almost two years the state government has announced its good intension to relocate the market to a more conducive site in the spirit of its Urban Renewal pursuit.

    “The government has taken this noble action to equally recover Douglas road that connects the state with other neighbouring states which has remained a refuse dump for the traders in the market and to deal with once and for all the prevalent criminal activities in the area like robbery, cultism and kidnapping”.

    It concluded that, “the governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and the Rescue Mission Government which he heads, commend the traders and the people of the state in general for their cooperation and understanding. By the peaceful conduct of the traders, they have shown that they appreciate government’s intension to make Owerri and enviable state capital”.

  • Importation of vegetable oil killing local industries, says industrialist

    An industrialist in Aba, Abia State, Chief  Emma Obi, has decried the continued  importation of banned Olin (vegetable) oil into the country.

    Obi, the immediate past chairman of Industrialists Association, Aba (IAA) and managing director of Polema Industries Ltd, said: “Government should check if the importers are paying duties at all for these goods because we are sure that if they pay 35 percent duty on all these goods (vegetable oil), they can not sell at the cheaper rate they are presently selling them thereby trying to close local industries, particularly the agro allied industries today.

    “The duty for palm oil is 35 percent, Olin is totally prohibited, but what they are doing now is to front their importation with palm oil, but in actual sense, palm oil will not be more than 5 percent of the total goods and they would now bring it in. Even at that, with the 35 percent duty, the price they are selling it now shows that they are not paying the duty because if duties are paid, they couldn’t be selling at the price they are selling today.”

    Advising the Federal Government, the industrialist said: “Government should go back to cross check all the documents importers of palm oil present in recent past because a ship loads of oil is about N2bn and if you check 35 percent duty on it, it is N700m. So, if they had paid it, there is no way they would have been selling below the global price here in Nigeria. They are only doing that because they cut corners to bring the goods into the country.”

    Obi  went on: “Government should understand that the cheapness of goods that are imported from outside is not the actual price at their country of origin. Their governments give over 15 percent subsidy to make sure that the private industries are working because what they are aiming at is not for profit, but for the industries to retain production and continuously employ and pay their workers, but here we don’t see unemployment as anything.

    “What we have had over the years is a situation whereby imported goods are cheaper than those manufactured in the country and this is killing local industries and creating serious unemployment. Government should make it attractive for people to invest their money in production, but if those who have invested in this sub sector are being frustrated through high electricity tariff and making the country a dumping ground for foreign goods, it means it will not be attractive for others to enter.”

  • I won’t go on exile, Nnamdi Kanu tells supporters

    I won’t go on exile, Nnamdi Kanu tells supporters

    Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader and Radio Biafra Director Nnamdi Kanu has dared the Federal Government to re-arrest him.

    He is threatening that anyone who attempts to arrest him will be crushed. Kanu spoke yesterday at the Boys Technical College (BTC) on Faulks Road in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia State.

    The IPOB leader, who is being accused by the Federal Government of breaching the bail conditions,  was received by members of IPOB Faulks Road Zone I and some of the group’s sympathisers.

    Describing Aba as the “Spiritual Land of Biafra”, Kanu reassured his supporters that he would not go on exile. He urged them and believers in Biafra  to be strong and resolute.

    He used the forum to reiterate that there would not be election in Anambra in November or any part of “Biafra Land” even in 2019, unless the group’s clamour for referendum got the blessings of government.

    Kanu who paid tribute to those reportedly killed at the National High School in Aba by security agencies said: “Where we are is Biafra land. Aba is the spiritual capital of Biafra land. We started in Aba in 2015 at CKC (Christ the King Catholic Cathedral). That day, heaven authenticated our move that IPOB will restore Biafra and that’s what we’ve come to do. We died in Aba at National High School.

    “They shot and killed us in other places in Biafra land when they were protesting for my release. As our people rest in the grave, we’ll never rest until Biafra is restored. I don’t care what they say in Abuja. I don’t give a damn what they say in Lagos.

    “I’m a Biafran and we are going to crumble the zoo. Some idiots who are not educated said that they’ll arrest me, and I ask them to come. I’m in Biafra land. If any of them leaves Biafra land alive know that this is not IPOB. Tell them that’s what I said.

    “Tell Buhari that I’m in Aba and any person who comes to arrest Nnamdi Kanu inBiafra land will die here. I’ll never go on exile, I assure you.

    “Some people talk about restructuring; are we doing restructuring of Nigeria now? Are we doing fiscal federalism? Are we doing devolution? What we want is Biafra!

    “Forget all the nonsense they write about us. We are not slowing down and no man born of a woman can stop us. They thought we are joking and God gave us a simple message that no one can stop us. The movement to restore Biafra is unstoppable.

    “God sent me to you, Aba people and I am giving you His message. Our veterans here, your own message is that you’ll see Biafra alive, not in death.

    “The message of heaven is what I bring to you. Don’t be afraid. The plans of our enemies are not going to be actualised. The enemies are planning, but we are formidable.

    “We are going to boycott Anambra State election. After Anambra 2017, in 2019, there’ll be no elections in Biafra land. Signed and sealed. My message is that there’ll not be election in Biafra land ever again until they give us date for referendum.”

    Some of IPOB members who spoke to reporters at the venue said that they shunned  church to listen to their leader and a man that God destined to use to liberate the people of the Southeast and the old Eastern Region from the hands of corrupt and insensitive leaders.

    They, however, vowed to join hands with Kanu to ensure that Biafra was realised, no matter how long it would take.

    But two political leaders said that Kanu, like other Nigerians, cannot be above the law.

    Chief Chekwas Okorie, the national Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP) said

    “Kanu is a citizen of Nigeria, who is equally entitled to the freedom every citizen enjoys. But as far as the law is concerned, he cannot resist arrest if the need arises. He cannot say nobody can arrest him and no citizen of this country can say so as well. As a citizen, he deserves his freedom which is equally guaranteed under the law, but that is not to say that he is above arrest when he acts against the state. ”

    His National Chairman of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) counterpart Prof. Bankole Okuwa said:  “Again, I think Kanu is ignorant of the law. He can be arrested if he is a trouble maker. He can be arrested if he is going to cause trouble in the country. The Federal Government can order his arrest. What the government needs to do is to get a court order. Kanu statement came because people don’t obey the law.

    “They don’t follow what the law says, I must say that politicians create all the problem because most of the politicians are lawless. The government can get him arrested, the Attorney-General can get that from the court and he would be arrested. “

  • Relief after road nightmare

    Relief after road nightmare

    Once one of the smoothest and most important in the Southeast, the Onitsha-Owerri Road is in terrible disrepair. But there is respite as remedial work starts, OKODILI NDIDI writes

    It used to be a pleasure to drive on the 90km stretch. In under an hour, from Onitsha, the business hub of the Southeast, you are in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    Not anymore. The Trunk A road is in a terrible state of disrepair. No fewer than 11 travellers died in crashes on it in the last three months. The Owerri-Onitsha Road is a nightmare.

    Relief has come. The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has started repair work on it.

    The road is significant. It links Abia, home to the famous Ariaria international market, and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where the nation’s second largest port is located.

    A portion of the road at Mgbidi, in Oru East Council Area of Imo State has been washed away by rainwater, resulting in avoidable accidents. Motorists plying the road also incurred huge losses, from damaged vehicles to destroyed goods, as vehicles keel over, spilling their consignments. Goods worth millions of Naira are lost on the road.

    Building owners by the roadside are also counting their losses as floodwater on the failed portion of the road gushes into their compounds.

    But at last, there is something to cheer as FERMA has started palliative repairs on the road, especially the reopening of the blocked waterways, which caused the flooding of the carriageway.

    A FERMA engineer in Imo State, Emeka Maduagu, who flagged off the repair amid jubilation by motorists, blamed the damage on the road on indiscriminate blockage of waterways by residents who erect illegal structures on them.

    Speaking to newsmen, Maduagu decried the unwholesome practice, stating that the agency had earlier warned residents to steer clear of waterways and to avoid other practices that are capable of damaging the roads.

    He said, “Why this particular portion of the road failed is because the waterway, where the whole water collected around here is supposed to flow through into the canal was deliberately blocked by the owner of a petrol station, who built his fence on top on the waterway”.

    He continued that, “as a result of that, the water, since it has no other place to flow to, gathered on carriage way and with time it washed off the coatings, resulting in deep potholes, which was gradually eating up the road.

    “We have been sensitising the community heads to educate their people on the dangers of blocking the waterways but they don’t seem to heed the advice. But what we are doing today is to open up the blocked waterway and after that the water that is collected on the carriage way will flow into the canal before we can repair the failed portions, once that is done, the road will be good again for motorists and other users”.

    Commending FERMA for the intervention, a commuter, Okechukwu Simon, said that, “we are happy that FERMA has commenced the repair of the bad portion of the road. Actually, we had suffered untold hardship on this road. Take for instance, before the road went bad, we used to drive from Onitsha to Owerri in less than one hour but now it takes about one hour thirty minutes or more.

    “That is not the only challenge. In the last three months we have recorded over 20 ghastly motor accidents on this spot, which claimed the lives of over drivers and travellers but we are happy that finally the government has heard our cry”.

    Nze Obinna Okoroafor an octogenarian, who owns one of the flooded buildings by the roadside, blamed the poor state of the road to the negligence of property owners who build on waterways.

    He said, “After Julius Berger constructed this road in 2009, the waterways were clearly demarcated but soon after they left, some individuals ignored the signs and started building on the waterways. The most painful aspect is the impunity with which they do it as if we don’t have any law in the country.

    “But I also believe that the government has a lot to do in monitoring the highways to ensure that people do not engage in activities that can damage the roads. Take for instance when the man who built that petrol station on the waterway was still constructing it, I reported to the community leaders but nobody did anything, today we are all suffering as a result of that singular act. I know how many people that have died in ghastly accidents caused by that failed portion of the road, not only that, most of our compounds, especially those by the roadside, have all been flooded, with its attendant consequences.”

  • Race for Ikpeazu’s chief of staff’s successor intensifies

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has described his late chief of staff Chijioke Nwakodo as the engine room of his administration who gave everything for the state.

    Governor Ikpeazu said this when he paid a condolence visit to Nwakodo’s family at Ndume Ibeku in Umuahia, the state capital.

    Meanwhile, the race to succeed the fallen chief of staff has begun in earnest with his kinsmen staking their claim.

    Governor Ikpeazu, who was received at the family house by Chief Obidike Nwakodo, expressed sadness at the death of his friend and associate who died at a United Kingdom hospital on August 10.

    “The news of the demise of my brother and friend came as a shock to me. I never imagined such at this time,” he said.

    He described the death of Chief Nwakodo as “a very damaging blow to Abia State government and people, Ndigbo and all progressive-minded individuals in Nigeria”.

    According to Governor Ikpeazu, “Chijioke was committed and fearless in the fight for those things he considered fair. He was there for the common people. His efforts to write good stories are well known to everybody.

    “He threw in his money, resources and intellect to support this present administration. He was an engine room upon which this administration came on board. The bullets I could not take, Chijioke fought like a lion to his last breathe. He died for the state.

    “We will mourn and cry because there is a big vacuum to fill. It is difficult to duplicate his courage and vigor in fighting for the things he believed in. But there is hope here after.  I will not tell anybody not to cry but whatever be the circumstance, he has left responsibilities on all our shoulders.

    “The only way to immortalise him is to do all those things he would’ve wished to be done if he were alive.”

    Signing the condolence register, Governor Ikpeazu wrote: “This will perhaps be my most difficult assignment as a governor; to have to write this for my brother, friend, leader, and compatriot. A man so pure and hearty. So loving and caring. Chiji, you gave your all for our dear state and I assure you that your effort will not go in vain. My Caesar, my Cicero, my hero is gone, when will another come.

    “You live in our hearts and on behalf of Abia State and my family, rest in the bosom of your maker, who you loved and served. Adieu Nwannem”.

    In his response, Chief Obidike Nwakodo thanked the governor for all he did for their late brother including taking care of him while he was ill and showing confidence in him all through. He expressed the sadness of the family and assured the governor that “we will all work hard to ensure that the legacies left by Chijioke are not erased”.

    Meanwhile, The Nation gathered that there is great lobbying going on in the circles of the government as many people eyeing the position have started lobbying and meeting people that matters in the state to influence the governor’s choice for the position.

    A group, Ibeku Youth Assembly has asked the Abia state Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu to appoint an Ibeku son or daughter as a replacement to the late Chief of Staff, Chijioke Nwakodo who died while in active service.

    It said the late Nwakodo contributed immensely to the installment of the present administration in the state, stressing that the late chief of staff should be immortalized for standing firmly on the Abia charter of equity which brought up Okezie Ikpeazu-led government in 2015.

    Ibeku Youth Assembly in a statement issued to journalists in Umuahia on Sunday by National Secretary, Mr. Ihechi Chinedu Zik, described the late Chijioke Nwakodo as Voice of Ibeku in Abia government and however condoled the family and the government  of Abia state over the sudden demise of the technocrat per excellence.

    The group warned against any move to deny Ibeku clan the office of the chief of state to the governor, as speculation is rife that the powers that be in Abia government house has settled for an Ukwa man for the office.

    The statement reads “We use this medium to condole the family and government of Abia state on the sudden death of a technocrat per excellence, Chief Chijioke Nwakodo. Late Chief Chijioke Nwakodo was a good man and hardworking.

    “We are pained over this great loss of a true Ibeku son who died when Abia state needs him in this time of crisis. Late Nwakodo would be remembered for his strong stance that power should rotate among the three senatorial zones in the state.

    “We ask Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to immortalise the late chief of state and replace him with an Ibeku son or daughter, because it will be a disservice to the people that after Nwakodo worked hard to enthrone the current government, and the overwhelming support given to Governor Ikpeazu by Ibeku clan during 2015 election, Ibeku is denied the office.”

  • ‘Igbo extinction prediction premature’

    ‘Igbo extinction prediction premature’

    An Igbo sociocultural organisation, Igboezue International, has said that the prediction by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), an organ of the UN, that the Igbo language will be extinct by 2050 was way off the mark.

    The organisation said the language will not die out. If anything, Igboezue said, the prediction has spurred the organisation to promote Igbo language.

    The President General of the group, Mazi Pius Uchenna Okoye revealed this during the launch of a N500 million secretariat and skill acquisition centre, held in Awka, Anambra State.

    “This prediction we considered as an insult, aberration, a sacrilege and we have therefore resolved never to allow this happen in this generation or in others to come. We have also remained in the vanguard for the promotion and protection of our cultural heritage. We give credence to moral values and ethos that anchor on discipline, truth, respect and patriotism, among others,” he said.

    Speaking on other roles played by the organisation and the scope of the group, Mazi Okoye cited cases where the group fought injustice, championed the cause of good governance and provided a platform to discuss the Igbo agenda and interests.

    “We are a pressure group that has taken the front burner in fighting any injustice, marginalisation and insults against Igbo ethnic nationality.

    “We deployed our media networks and fought vigorously against the activities of the Hausa/Fulani herdsmen, opposed the grazing bill; illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Chief Ifeanyi Ubah”.

    “We are seriously championing a cause for good, purposeful and visionary governance, using constitutional measure available to us”.

    “Today’s occasion is part of our mission and vision of providing credible platform to discuss Igbo agenda and interest in the entity called Nigeria, to identify the place of Igbo man in Nigeria.

    “We are equally deeply concerned about the level of gross injustice, gang up and marginalisation of the Igbo ethnic group by the federal government,” he posited.

    He further lamented the plight of Igbo youths who, according to him, are highly talented and laden with potentials but are frustrated into Biafra agitation as a means of expressing their anger.

    He assured participants and donors at the event that the proposed Civic Centre, when completed, will serve as a means of keeping unemployed youths busy and to teach them skill that will make them become employers of labour instead.

    The event which was the first of its kind attracted notable politicians, business moguls, traditional rulers and women leaders across the five southeastern states and beyond who donated various sums for the construction of the group’s secretariat and the Civic and Skills Acquisition Centre.

     

  • Quit notice: Northern leaders back unity

    Quit notice: Northern leaders back unity

    Northern traditional leaders in the Southeast and Southsouth regions of the nation gathered in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, to distance  themselves from the quit notice given to the Igbo in the North months ago.

    But more than washing their hands off the offensive directive, the leaders also pointed out that they were for a united Nigeria.

    They cited intermarriages among the ethnic groups as a major reason why no one should seek to divide the country.

    The leaders said there was no need for hate speech and that Nigerians should live peacefully with one another.

    The northern traditional rulers said that they have lived most of their lives in the Southeast and Southsouth.

    Some of them also said that their mothers were either from the Southeast or Southsouth, adding that they could not stand and watch some persons who represent the interest of few deny them the love and happiness they have enjoyed with their maternal relations.

    Danladi, while addressing newsmen, said that the peace and unity of Nigeria is not negotiable, stressing that the traditional rulers and their subjects would not be part of any call against the unity of the country.

    Danladi said, “We are saying that we are not in support of what is happening in this country today. Our stand is that we want peace in Nigeria. Irrespective of your tribe, ethnicity and religion, we are one.

    “For instance, most of these Sarikis in south east were born here. Some of us, our mothers are from here, their wives are from here. Likewise some of our brothers from south east who are in the north, most of them were born there and also married to people from there. Some have stayed there for close to 60 years. Where will they go? Like me now, if you ask me to go, where do I go to? All my life I’ve lived it here. We want this country to be united as it was before us.

    “Number one thing, I must not fail to say is that, the quit notice our brothers gave to non-northerners in the North is wrong. We are totally condemning it and ask them to reconsider that they have people down here in the Southeast too. The hate speeches coming from both sides, we condemn it and ask our traditional rulers here in Southeast and South-south to always liaise with the government of their states. We are appealing to the 11 state governments of the Southeast and Southsouth to also work with their Sariki because they are the leaders and representatives of our people here.

    “For instance, you all know the role I’ve been playing on issues concerning herdsmen. There was a time such issues were high here in Abia, but as you can see, it’s calm now. That’s how these Sariki can also help in states where they dwell.

    “We came out here, you should know we must have done some works. We are not children. We have spoken to them and we are still begging them. We know we have elders and Emirs that can talk to them. In the North, one Emir can do what 100 persons cannot do. Unity of this country first. I repeat, we are not in support of the quit notice that was issued to non-northerners.”

    He said that they were happy that President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country healthier than he left.

  • ‘Buhari’s return shames critics’

    A Board of Trustees (BoT) member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Prince Benjamin Benedict Apugo has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s return to the country after over 100 days in the United Kingdom on medical vacation has shamed his critics who wished him dead.

    The president left Nigeria on May 7 for London for the continuation of his medical treatment of an undisclosed ailment. While in the UK, some people peddled rumours that he had become incapacitated and called for his resignation.

    Speaking at his Umuahia residence in Abia State, Apugo said it was a thing of great joy for him, his family, APC members in the state and Abians in general that President Buhari not only came back to the country alive, but also fully recovered.

    The Ibeku prince said while Buhari was away, so many things were said about his health with some saying the president was on life support machine while others said he was incapacitated and should resign.

    Apugo was of the view that the beauty of the president’s return to the country was that his critics have been silenced and put to shame.

    Describing Buhari as a man of integrity, the APC chief noted that the president’s return will oil and reinvigorate the machinery of government and called on him to re-jig his cabinet to bring in fresh blood that will better the lot of the people.

    “Buhari is a man of integrity, I have no doubt that his coming back is going to oil and reinvigorate the machinery of government. My advice is that he should do a cabinet shakeup to inject new blood into the administration for the benefit of the masses.”

    Apugo condemned the activities of the group that campaigned that the president should either return home or resign, stressing that it was insensitive and out of place to force the president home when doctors had not certified him fit to resume duties.

    Describing the group as a tool in the hands of the opposition, the APC chieftain said since Buhari complied with the constitutional provisions before he travelled out for medical attention, the group’s protests became a thing of concern to all well Nigerians.

    “It is quite unfortunate that the group, whatever their name is, did not act wisely. When someone’s father is sick and went to the hospital for medical attention, you don’t force him back home, unless you don’t love him and want him dead.

    “We know that those who embarked on the protest acted a script written by the opposition, but I’m happy that the president has returned not on the weight of the so called protest, but based on his doctors’ advice.”

    Apugo said the APC family and indeed all Abians are happy with the return of the president to the country and pledged total support for Buhari as he strives to reposition the nation for good.