The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • Motorists rue poor roads in Aba

    Motorists rue poor roads in Aba

    Motorists and pedestrians have lamented the poor state of federal and state roads in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.

    They expressed the fear that if nothing urgent is done to fix failed roads in the city, road users might find it difficult to move around or go about their normal businesses when the rainy season sets in.

    Some of the residents who spoke to our correspondent said the condition of major roads connecting the commercial town with its neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom and Rivers states may cost the city its fame.

    They expressed the view that if nothing was urgently done by the federal and state to fix the dilapidated road network, economic activities and volume of trade in state would drop severely.

    “Everybody knows the importance role Aba plays in the sustenance of the state and Nigeria’s economy. Aba and Onitsha are the two markets we Igbo can boast of. Abia State and Federal Government should not allow our roads to degenerate more than it is now.

    “Aba-Ikot-Ekpene and Aba-Abayi-Ohabiam roads are two major entry and exit points into and from Aba which generates a lot of revenue for the state and the Federal Government. We are really suffering because of the situation of these roads. Business is seriously nose-diving in Aba.

    “Most of our customers are now going to nearby cities of Onitsha and Akwa Ibom to buy their goods to avoid the stress associated with these roads,” a resident told our correspondent.

    Investigations revealed that motorists and commuters coming in and out of Aba from Akwa Ibom State and Port Harcourt were subjected to harrowing situations as the entry points to Aba from the two neighbouring states are heavily flooded, making it inaccessible for motorists and commuters.

    It was also revealed that youths in some of Abia communities along the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road collect toll fees from drivers for making use of their local roads, a situation that has been condemned by motorists.

    An electronic dealer at the Orie Ohabiam market, who identified himself as Joseph, lamented the hardship traders experience on the road. He disclosed that some of the traders now board public vehicles instead of using their own vehicles because of the poor state of Aba-Abayi-Ohabiam Road.

    A resident of Uratta Junction said: “Port Harcourt Road has become a source of anguish and sorrow for most residents in the area. There was a time the state government rehabilitated the road. We were happy, but our happiness was short-lived because the road collapsed in less than a year after its construction. “It became bad that we started questioning the quality of job that the contractor carried out. If the state and Federal Government will come to our aid, it will be a welcome development.”

    A motorist that plies Aba to Port Harcourt lamented: “Roads in Aba are in a sorry state. Expressway from Aba to Port Harcourt is also in a sorry state. Sometimes we wonder if the state and Federal Government have abandoned us to our fate. They should come to our aid.

    The Director, Federal Ministry of Works in Abia State could not be reached for comments on the matter as he was not in his office when our reporter visited their Amakama Office near Umuahia, the state capital.

    However, a staff of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) who spoke to our correspondent in confidence because he was not competent to speak to the press on the matter said before the rains, they had started what he described as palliative work on the two roads to reduce the sufferings of road users.

    The source also stated that soon, a contractor will be mobilised to the two sites, as arrangements were being made to ensure that commuters drive in and out of Aba on good roads.

    Recall that Abia State government had recently called on the Federal Government to immediately commence work on the reconstruction of all federal roads in the state, especially the Aba/Ikot Ekpene and Port Harcourt.

    It was learnt that the Commissioner for Works, Hon. Emeka Longman Nwachukwu was quoted to have said that the deplorable state of federal roads in the state which serve as links to other neighbouring states were not only causing embarrassment to the state government, but also affecting commercial activities in the state, adding that the huge sum of money expended by the state government on maintaining the roads are yet to be reimbursed by the Federal Government.

    Nwachukwu said many roads are being constructed in Aba, even as he warned Aba residents to stop the habit of building structures on drainage system.

  • NGO rescues indigent patients in Imo

    NGO rescues indigent patients in Imo

    Their agony has come to an end. They took ill and were admitted to hospital where they were treated and certified strong enough to ho home. But they could not pay their bills, so the hospital management held them back until they came up with the money. And they remained on bed for months.

    Help has come. The 11 patients, stranded for several months at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, can now go home, thanks to a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Divine Care Global Community Initiative. The organisation paid the hospital bill which amounted to N858,153 and they were let off the hook.

    The patients who had been discharged after being certified cured of their ailments, were however prevented from going home because they could not afford their hospitals bills were living in open places within the hospital premises after they were ejected from the medical wards.

    To quite a number of the patients, the hope of going home had become elusive, having waited endlessly for relatives to come to their aid until the NGO which is in collaboration with the Ken Ojiri Foundation, secured their release after paying 70% of their outstanding bills.

    One of the released patients, Mrs. Ngozi Amaihu, who was delivered of a baby girl through a cesarean operation, could not hide her emotions as she shared her ordeal amidst tears.

    According to her, “after I had the operation, my husband could not pay the bill of N237,000 after the initial deposit and I have been here for the past three months with my baby but I thank God for the NGO that came to our rescue. I am grateful to them for their kind gesture”.

    For another beneficiary who did not want his name mentioned, the gesture of the NGO is commendable and exemplary, “I never thought that things like this still exist it is like a dream. Having spent up to five months in this hospital I had lost all hope but thank God today the trauma is over and I promise to live the rest of my life serving humanity I must contribute my quota to alleviate the plight of the indigent people in the society”.

    The National Coordinator of the NGO, Mr. Dandy Odii, called for collaborative efforts between voluntary agencies and the various tiers of Government in the country to cushion the excruciating economic conduction of the masses.

    He stated that the organization is worried that life might completely become meaningless for the average Nigerians without input from organizations, corporate bodies and wealthy individuals to complement that of the government.

    According to him,  the  NGO established  in 2006  with the major  objective of taking care of the sick and the less privileged got the  information that some discharged patients at the hospital  were stranded as a result of their inability  to settle their bills and had to intervene immediately.

    He said, “Divine Care Global Community Initiative is an NGO which provides succor  to the needy and the less  privileged without  any religious or political undertone. We go out and look for indigent members of the society who are in need for assistance and intervene wherever necessary and possible”.

    In his words, “It takes a heart full of compassion to serve, not just ordinary heart, because the art of charity is from the heart not the head, it is highly irrational not rational. We thank  Almighty God who is the owner of the job Divine Care is doing, and who had made it possible for all  to gather to do this compassionate service.  We also thank the management of the hospital for waiving 30% of the total bill otherwise the NGO would have paid more.

    “The NGO’s routine visits to hospitals are aimed at encouraging the sick, praying for them and presenting them with gifts  after observations were made that some patients, who had been discharged, were held back because of their inability to pay. Desirous to solve this problem, the members of Divine Care, who had been giving care and succour to the needy approach individuals and group that have willing hearts for partnership. Hence, the collaboration with Ken Ojiri Foundation in settling bills of indigent patients at FMC, Owerri”.

  • Obiano rallies communities for peace

    Obiano rallies communities for peace

    A new leadership of the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) has been inaugurated and Governor Willie Obiano is hoping the association will be a veritable instrument of peace and harmony in the state.

    The governor has since made it clear that his administration wants community leaders to play an active role in achieving peace in the state.

    St Peter’s Catholic Church Amawbia grounds were packed with people as the new leadership took office. The association was without leadership for eight years since the previous executive was dissolved.

    Governor Obiano has continued to appeal to the town union executives to bring their vantage positions to bear on the peace process in the state. He has also sought to push through his peace plan with the help of three commissioners, Commissioner for Town Union and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sir Godfrey Muotolu; Commissioner for Local Government, Lady Azuka Enemuo and former Commissioner for Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Dubem Obaze.

    The new leadership of the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) led by Dr. Jude Okolo was inaugurated in Amawbia-Awka, Anambra State by the association’s Board of Trustees chairman, Chief Demian Afam Okeke- Ogene.

    Before the ASATU executives were inaugurated, a new nine-member Board of Trustees of the association derived from the three senatorial zones of the state led by Chief Demian Afam Okeke-Ogene was also inaugurated by former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Dubem Obaze. The board members are to play an advisory role to the Anambra State fourth tier of government.

    Shortly after his inauguration, the board chairman, Chief Okeke-Ogene in his speech thanked the ASATU members for finding him worthy to serve in that capacity even as he lauded the entire members for remaining in unity despite divergent political views and interest.

    Okeke-Ogene who is one of the founding members of the association in 1996, explained that the major goal of the association is to unite all the 177 communities in the state by ensuring intra- and inter-communal peace. He stressed that, “any government in power ought to give ASATU 100 per cent support”.

    Okeke-Ogene was Special Adviser to National President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Rt Justice Eze Ozobu; Representative of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Europe for four years; former President General of Nanka Patriotic Union; pioneer member and pioneer PRO ASATU and Second elected National President of ASATU. He was also the Director of Community Mobilization during Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife regime.

    Chief Okeke-Ogene thanked the former Anambra governor, Mr. Peter Obi for making ASATU the fourth tier of government and for approving the award of  contract for construction of a befitting ASATU secretariat in the state, arguing that it is wrong for government to sack elected Town Union presidents without due process and verifiable evident.

    “Such development,” according to him, “ will no longer be tolerated in the scheme of things of ASATU”.

    Some of the newly inaugurated ASATU executives include: Dr. Jude Okolo, President; Ambassador J.U Ubah; Mike Nnakwuzie and Ignatius Ilo, first to third Vice Presidents, respectively. Others are: Peter Nwagu and Christian Okafor, Secretary and First Assistant Secretary. Chuka Ogbonna, Financial Secretary; Basil Onwuzume, Treasurer; Mike Anierobi, First Auditor; Oliver Okafor, Publicity Secretary, among others.

    While inaugurating the new board members, the former Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Commissioner, Chief Dubem Obaze congratulated the new board of trustee members as well as the newly elected Executives of the association.

    He enjoined the new leaders to strive at all times to work as a team, cooperate with the government and restrict the framework of ASATU to ensure peace and harmony among the 177 communities in Anambra State.

    Obaze said no other state in Nigeria has a formidable and united Town Union as Anambra State. He stated that he fought against autonomous community as a commissioner because he suspected that it could lead to communal crisis and clumsiness in governance as is being currently witnessed in other neighbouring states in the South-East.

    Obaze therefore, charged the Board members not to derail in their advisory role which according to him will enable the new executives to pursue a common goal of simultaneous development in the State.

    He insisted that Chief Willie Obaino demands nothing from them more than peace and unity to move the state forward as no meaningful development could be achieved in the state without peace.

    Obaze concluded: “There is nothing greater than peace and what our governor wants from them is peace in our various communities and nothing else for him to work and people to see that he is working because with crisis whatever you do will be swallowed. I am not saying only peace in ASATU but peace in their various communities and with peace in the communities there would be peace in Anambra’’.

    Head of Local Government Administration of Idemmili North, Chief Chike Obuekwe had this to say: “I am happy the way they all came together for a peaceful transition despite that they came from different political parties but they are mindful of the peace and development of the state. They forgot their selfish desires and pursued the collective interest of Anambra people and that is what true leadership should be. I am not afraid of the capability of those entrusted with the leadership of our communities and their board of trustees chairman Okeke-Ogene. I can only but wish them well.”

    Anambra State Woman Leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo , Mrs Patience Enemuo , former President General Oraifite Town Union , Sir Raphs Nwike  and former Assistant National Secretary of ASATU who doubles as President General Ebenebe Town Union , Prince Cletus Osieme described the transition as laudable and appealed to the new leadership to ensure the peace and unity of purpose found in Anambra that enabled it to be the center of attraction in Southeast and Nigeria at large is not lost in their administration.

    In his acceptance speech, the new National President of ASATU and President-General, Oraifite Town Union, Dr. Jude Okolo promised to uphold the integrity of the 4th tier of Government in Anambra state.

    He beckoned on the out-gone EXCOS not to abandon them, promising that his administration will leave up to the expectations of the founding fathers, saying, “we will not clash with the government. We shall assist the government in securing lives and properties of the citizens. As we forge ahead, there will be capacity building for members on the code of conduct. So, if we play our role well, the work will be easier for the government”.

    In her goodwill message, the State Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs Azuka Enemmuo admitted that ASATU has made its mark in all the communities in Anambra State. She thanked them for maintaining peace in all the communities during Gov. Peter Obi’s administration and urged them to extend greater support to the incumbent Governor, Chief Willie Obiano.

    “You were instrumental to the transition from Obi to Obiano and from Agulu to Aguleri,” she said.

    Earlier, Okolo’s immediate predecessor, Dr. Innocent Onwubuya in his eight-page valedictory speech, x-rayed ASATU, tracing its early days in 1996 and the bearing of former governor of the state, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, the late Chimezie Ikeazor (SAN), the late Chief John Nwadiogbu, Igwe Gibson Nwosu and Chief Demain Afam Okeke-Ogene, among others.

    Chief Onwubuya enumerated the achievement of his administration in ASATU including pushing for and consolidating the position of ASATU in Ohaneze Ndigbo among other sundry benefits, expressing optimism that Obiano’s administration will still maintain the cordial relationship between the former governor, Chief Peter Obi and ASATU.

    He said: “We are confident that the present administration of His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano will not relent in ensuring the close relationship between ASATU and the State Government’’.

    The new face of leadership of the 177 communities in the state has just begun and time will tell how their support to Chief Willie Obiano , Governor Anambra state will shape his administration.

  • Abia councillors honour Transition Committee chair

    Abia councillors honour Transition Committee chair

    Aba South Transition Committee (TC) Chairman, Hon. Otumdi David Kalu has bagged the Abia State Councilors’ Forum Leadership award.

    Hon. Okechukwu Iboko, Chairman of the Councilors’ Forum speaking during the occasion at the Aba South Local Government Town Hall auditorium said that the award was not in any sponsored or paid for, but was giving to the recipient based on merit and sterling performance since he assumed office as the TC chairman of the local government.

    Iboko said the councilors after painstakingly assessing the performance of all the 17 local government chairmen in the state, the award recipient was rated best among equals through his giant strides in and around the local council.

    He expressed hope that the award which was initiated by the group would spur many TC chairmen to work hard and do more people oriented project that would spread unequal dividend of democracy to various rural areas in the state.

    He also used the opportunity to thank immensely, Governor Theodore Orji for appointing them and also giving 303 PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) councilors the opportunity to serve the state in their local governments, pledging their continued unalloyed loyalty to the governor.

    On the emergence of T.A Orji as the Chairman, Southeast Governors Forum (SGF), Iboko said it was going to further foster the relationship of the state and indeed the southeast with the Federal government, urging other governors in the southeast to rally behind the Abia State governor as he pilots the affairs of the SGF.

    The award recipient, Hon. Kalu, thanked the Governor of the state for appointing him Aba South TC Chairman and Abia Councilors forum for finding him fit for the award. He vowed to continue using his might in the service of humanity, the state and the local government in particular. And dedicating the award to councilors and the LG staff who he said gave him their unalloyed support in executing some of his programmes successfully.

    Earlier, the chairman of the occasion and a former elected chairman of the local government, Chief Simon Eme thanked the councilors for finding Hon. Kalu fit for the award of excellence and the governor of the state for appointing him as the local government chairman.

    He urged the TC chairman to continue to see the award as a further call for more commitment to serve the people of Aba South, the state and the governor by further initiating projects that were going to outlive him as Aba South TC.

    He also called on staff and councilors to continue in their support for the chairman in order to make his job easier and simpler.

  • Erosion cuts off Imo communities

    Erosion cuts off Imo communities

    Devastated residents of Obinugwu, Ntueke and Umuogbom communities in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State are looking up to Governor Rochas Okorocha to save them. Their communities have been cut off from the rest of the state as the only road linking them to other parts of the  council and the state has been devastated by gully erosion. The people say the disaster happened because the contract to build the road was abandoned.

    The Okorocha administration awarded the contract as part of efforts to open up the rural communities.

    The traditional ruler of Ntueke Autonomous Community, Eze Kerian Uchenna Chinedo lamented that the people of the communities have been cut off from their kinsmen in the other neighboring communities.

    According to the monarch, the first contractor handling the road abandoned it immediately after excavating red earth from the road. He noted that due to the poor performance by the first contractor, the road was re-awarded to a second contractor who also abandoned it after constructing 100 metres of drainage.

    He added further that,  ”while other contractors had returned to site in other areas, the road in our community has been left for erosion to swallow the houses and electric poles, thereby causing grievous danger to our people.

    “The erosion has gone out of control and the remaining portion of the road has been completely washed off, making it impossible for both pedestrian and vehicles to travel on; even the roads leading to our farms have been totally damaged, and as a result we cannot harvest our farm produce”.

    The traditional ruler appealed to the state government to come to their aid by calling back the contractor or reassigning the road project  to a more serious contractor to save the people from threat of the rampaging erosion .

    Also speaking, the Chairman of Elugwu Ntueke Community, Elder Clement Nnoham said that the people are facing serious challenges as a result of the inability to access their farmlands to harvest their products, “we have been starved of food of as a result of lack of access to our family lands to harvest our crops. The road was manageable before the project was awarded but after damaging the road, the contractors left us to suffer untold hardship”.

    The story is not different in some other communities where the abandoned roads have become sources of worry for the residents who accused the state government poor monitoring of contractors handling the projects.

    A resident of one of the affected communities in Ogbaku,  Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state Mr Anaele Akachukwu,  maintained that if the state government truly paid the contractors as claimed, adequate monitoring should have been followed to detect fraudulent contractors .

    “That is why the people are blaming the state government, how can you tell me that after releasing money to them, a contractor would fail to do his own part”, he said.

    Akachukwu noted that most rural roads in the state said to be under construction have been abandoned despite the claims by the state government to have paid the contractors.

    Akachukwu called on the state government especially now that the rainy season is about to commence to ensure that the roads are fixed to avert impending flood disaster in the rural areas.

    Governor Okorocha, it would be recalled last week ordered for the arrest of failed contractors in the state who could not justify the money paid to them.

    Following the poor performance of most of the contractors handling the rural roads in the state, the Governor, after his tour of the communities, sacked all the contractors and revoked the contracts.

    Okorocha noted that, “it is criminal to collect money for contract and abandon the work after receiving over 80% of the total contract sum”.

    The Governor who stated this during a meeting with members of the Executive Council, Transition Committee Chairmen, Traditional Rulers and Ministerial Heads at the new Banquet Hall, Government House, Owerri, said he was shocked at his findings during his tour of Local Government Areas where most contractors either did a skeletal work or totally abandoned the jobs after collecting huge amounts of money.

    He also dissolved all Committees previously set up to supervise all road contracts, stating that, “I don’t want to leave any of my projects uncompleted before December this year. No more awards of contracts, we shall now do the roads through Direct Labour in order to get the works done so that new roads can be embarked upon; I am in a hurry to make all roads in the State motorable”.

    The Imo governor also called on well meaning citizens of the State to work in synergy with the government to discourage and discipline people of dubious character who squander public funds meant for developmental projects.

    “If we don’t fix Imo State now, it will be difficult to do so later; we must sacrifice to better the lives of our people and the state,” he warned.

     

  • Agony of Igbos in Benue

    Agony of Igbos in Benue

    They are torn between two worlds. Being of the Igbo stock, their soul is in the Southeast, but their bodies and homes are in Benue State, in the Northcentral. That is not all. In Benue, where they are quartered, more for political considerations than for cultural reaons, they lament their lack: no roads, no water, hardly any sign of modern life.

    They are Igbos of the Ezza, Izzi and Effium stock. Their kith and kin are in other parts of the Southeast, particularly Ebonyi State. They claim they are not fewer than one million scattered in four local governments of Benue State. And for close to 50 years since they were excised from their kinsmen, they have been living primitive lives.

    Their pathetic plight is that the authorities in Benue, from the state to the local governments, have not seen them as part of the state ostensibly because they speak Igbo. On the other hand, the Ebonyi State government where they should have rightly belonged is helpless as they are not under its area of administration and authority.

    The people allege that since their inclusion into Benue State they have not felt any government presence. None of their people were considered for employment in any of the two tiers of government. Indeed, in their lamentation, they are not in the scheme of things as far as government business is concerned in Benue.

    “We have been on our own. No roads, no water, no electricity, no employment. We just wander about to help ourselves in our own way,” an octogenarian, Pa Nwankwo Aloh said, clutching a bucket in search of water.

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam is said to have acknowledged their existence and concerns, even promising to address them, but that was during his first term in office.

    Also, Mr Ogbu Igelega, spokesman of Ado Local Government Area, one of the councils where the Igbos are found in Benue, told our reporter on the telephone that one of the obstacles to the development of the Igbo-speaking areas of the state is their difficult terrain. Igelega said this makes access difficult, adding that the few places which do not present such challenges get government attention.

    The spokesman cited the example of Etenyi which has 90 per cent Igbo population, saying the community “is being electrified at the cost of N17m”. He also said the Igbos occupy “important offices” in the council, adding that the assistant head of Revenue Development is Igbo, while the Senior Special Assistant on Inter-ethnic Relations is also Igbo.

    The reporter met with the president, Benue Igbo Development Union, Nweke Cedrick Ifeanyi who narrated their ordeal. He said all they want is for the Benue State government to accept them since fate has lumped them together. He is of the view that if they can be given a sense of belonging, they would all wholeheartedly join in the effort to develop the state.

    Ifeanyi does not expressly condemn their inclusion in Benue State, be he said if the other ethnic groups do not want them in Benue, the Federal Government should set up a machinery immediately to return them to their kith and kin in the Southeast, particularly Ebonyi State.

    He sent a save-or-soul message to the Senate president, David Mark and Governor Suswam to come and save them from “this ignoble plight”, adding: “We are neither here nor there.”

    In Nweke’s words: “The Igbos in Benue State particularly those in Ado, Oju, Obi and Okpoku LGAs of the state were in existence before the advent of Christian religion in Nigeria.

    The Igbo found in Benue are:  Umuezeokoha, Umuezeoka, Oriuzor, Umuoghara, Amaekka and Amaezekwe all in Ezza communities, Izzi, Ezzamgbo and Effium, these are the people who would have been in present-day Ebonyi State but due for the fact that the Nigerian government then carved us into Benue in order to use our population to suppress our Eastern population. Apart from the Ezza-speaking clan, particularly the people of Umuezeokoha that has over 300 villages, if you are to calculate the number of Igbo-speaking villages, you find out that we are more than 600 villages because three of the biggest markets in our area are all in the Igbo-speaking part.

    The markets are as follows: Inikiri Ichari, Iddah, Iduokpe.

    ”But in all these places, we have been facing a lot of deprivation of our fundamental human rights to the extent that we do not have any project attracted by the government, be it local, state or federal. In fact we have become the rejected part of the country because local government identification letters are not given to us any longer.

    “Before now we used to witness governmental attention in everything during and after colonial administration but since after the civil war we were dumped by the successive governments just because of our language difference.

    “We do not have any drinking water, our source of water here is a dam which Fulani herdsmen do carry their cow to drink at the same place with us because the water is not covered.

    “In the process of stopping them from coming to the water with their cow, it later resulted in the loss of five lives.

    “We have no representative in local, state and federal levels. Mosquito nets that were given free of charge to roll back malaria have been sold to our people at the sum of N6,000 each. We have become slaves to our brothers because of language difference. No hospital, let alone health centre, we are seeing hell here in Benue State because of our language. I do not know whether it is a curse for someone to have fallen under a particular tribe like Ezza, Izzi, Ezzamgbo and Effium.

    “Our women are dying every day during labour. Also our children are dying for lack of polio immunisation programme and other medical treatment needed to be given to a child at  a tender age.

    “Our roads are not passable. We have contributed so much not only to the development of Benue State but Nigeria at large. At least a place with over one million people in population has no primary school. We are therefore as a matter of urgency calling on federal government, our Southeastern brothers and any other corporate  bodies to rush to our aid before water will come to our neck.

    It is obvious that if we are speaking the same language with them we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this forbidden and undeserved situation like this one we are now.

    An area with over 50 polling units, but we are benefiting nothing even on every of our market days they do come and sell their ticket (tax). We have been regarded as slaves in the country of our birth and our fore-fathers, we are also calling on our able president of the senate David mark to come to our help because after God we also contributed in making him what he is today and even Gabriel Suswan.

    We can never regret why we are Igbos or deny being Igbo people before we are recognized in the country of our fore-fathers.”

  • Anambra marks International Women’s Day

    Anambra marks International Women’s Day

    Thousands of women from over 177 communities of the 21 local government areas of  Anambra State have marked the International Women’s Day celebration. They also witnessed the first major outing of the wife of the state governor, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano since her husband took office.

    The women turned up to interact with the new governor’s wife, and also with one another. This year’s theme, “Equality For Women, Progress For All” is “most appropriate and speaks to our commonly shared aspirations,” Mrs Obiano said.

    The women were happy and never disappointed as they went home with various equipment to enable them start up co-operative societies and those already doing one to energise their society to be more viable. Empowerment of the women was the watchword and equipment worth millions was distributed to the women.

    Some of the beneficiaries, Lady Virgy Nwankwo of Ezinwanne Cooporative Society and Lady Chinwe Egbuna from Onitsha North council area commended Obiano’s wife for the gesture for distributing the empowerment equipment to the women  including, oil processing machine, garri processing machine, palm oil processing machine, motorized grinding machine among others even when she is not up to two weeks in office.

    They prayed her to continue to remember the rural women and empower women more than her predecessor Chief Mrs Margaret Peter Obi who changed the lives of rural women in the state and influenced such in South-East and Nigeria at large. They said their support to her and husband is unflinching and unencumbered.

    With the sea of women it was glaring that the society is anchored on women and  the values of our Igbo society are equally anchored on women even though our society and our values have changed.

    The day was important and valuable to the women as they were set to reevaluate and recommit to upholding womanhood and women empowerment and enfranchisement as well as all rights and privileges due to women;  starting with equality.

    Billed to lead the pack of prominent women in Nigeria to the event was the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Mrs Patience Jonathan, though she failed to make the trip. But the Director General, National Council for Women Development, Lady Onyeka Onwenu may have spoken her mind.

    Onwenu described women as care-givers, adding that any nation that fails to empower women is already doomed.

    She called on Obiano’s wife to emulate the legacies of wife of President Jonathan in ensuring that the 35 per cent affirmative action is achieved as well as setting  a good example for the children.

    She urged women to be proud of themselves and redouble their efforts in the fight against violence on women in Nigeria.

    The event was at the Women Development Centre, Awka  where Mrs Ebele Obiano emphasised the salient responsibilities of women in the society but frowned deeply at the recent killing of school children by Boko Haram insurgents at Buni Yadi in Yobe State and the kidnap of 18 school girls.

    Thegovernor’s wife confirmed the promise of her husband in the area of access to finance through cooperative society, skill acquisition through vocational education and promotion of children and aged people’s health through free medicare.

    Chief Mrs Ebele V. Obiano stated: “Actually I had planned after the Inauguration, to reach out to the various groups who played major roles in ensuring the success of my husband, His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano and our great party APGA in the last gubernatorial elections. But they came calling before I could get on the road, and for that I am grateful. I must thank you all for your good works and dedication to duty at various levels of governance, the success we have achieved so far came as a result of hard work and most importantly, your prayers.

    “My predecessor, Her Excellency Margaret Obi, whose exemplary leadership alongside her husband set the tone for the new Anambra State we are building today, thought me well. And I assure you that the interest and welfare of Ndi Nne Anambra State is very important to me and I will continue to work and you are carried along this journey.

    “On this International Women’s Day – a day of awareness for women rights, we are confronted with many challenges confronting women in our society. The issues of poverty, rape and violence and trafficking readily come to mind. First, we must pause to reflect on the conditions of women in our various communities whose major challenge is that of daily subsistence. Although we cannot remake the world completely, we must always look around us to identify the pervasive nature of poverty on women who incidentally are our neighbours. I urge you to stretch out in your little corner and assuage the needs of neighbours whenever you can, onye ayana nwanne ya!

    ‘’Also we can no longer ignore the prevalence of rape and violence against women and the girl-child in the society; everyone should be concerned at the increasing wave of reported cases of rape and violence these days. We recognize the effort of various women groups and NGOs, just as we charge you to redouble efforts in monitoring, observing and reporting such abuses to the authorities. We are open to collaboration with groups to proffer solutions on how to tackle the menace once and for all.

    Obiano’s wife continued: ‘’The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals as it applies to women is task we must continue to pursue. There is the 35% appointment ratio for women which am told Anambra State is doing well at. Nonetheless, in our traditional African society, issues surrounding gender equality and women empowerment will remain a constant source of debate. In fact the former American Secretary of State, Mrs Hilary Clinton said that it “remains the great unfinished business of the 20th century.” But I am optimistic that as long as we continue to do what is right and encourage others to do same, the future is bright for women and the girl-child in our ever improving society.

    ‘’Ndi nne, as we commemorate this day, let us be reminded that we cannot afford to dither in our duties of nurturing the family, shaping the community and the building of our state and the nation. We must recognize that there is greater work ahead; that the delivery of good governance to the people of Anambra State is a task for all and following the lead of the Governor, it is very clear to me that the women have greater roles to play.

    ‘’I enjoin you to immediately identify with the goals and aspirations of the present administration by taking responsibility wherever you are for the good of the family and our state. Like His Excellency Governor of Anambra State Chief Willie Obiano charged a group of stakeholders recently, “we have set out on this journey to return Anambra State to a well-deserved glorious path; we can hardly make any progress if we do not win with the people. So, I expect you to continue to play the role of mobilizing the critical mass of our people to accept our programmes and projects.”

    The governor’s wife concluded: ‘’The challenge of security is central to the peace and progress of our State. My husband the Governor, told me to extend this appeal for cooperation on the security of the state whenever I find the opportunity. As we all know the armed robbers and kidnappers that bring a bad reputation to our dear state live among us; they are our brothers and members of our communities but they are enemies of our happiness and enemies of the state. As part of measures to combat and stem criminal activity, we are all advised to report suspicious characters to relevant authorities, verbally or in writing which we can put in a drop box at Women Affairs Ministry.

    “Above all, I urge our women to try and improve their lot by joining various cooperatives to learn new ways of growing their trade and businesses. We must never lose sight of the fact that economic advancement, prosperity and increased opportunity for women leads to the growth of the society because once a woman is empowered the family benefits.

  • NGO’s relief materials for the less-privileged

    NGO’s relief materials for the less-privileged

    A non-governmental organisation, Reality Organisation Worldwide, has distributed relief materials worth over N200,000 to no fewer than 24 less-privileged homes across the state.

    The items donated included bags of rice, beverages, bags of garri, toiletries, detergents and bags of iodized salt, among other items donated.

    Some of the homes that benefited from the philanthropist’s magnanimity are SOS Village, Amuzukwu, Asaga Ohafia motherless babies’ home, psychiatric Hospital, Mgboko, Helping Hands Disabled Association, Igbere, among others.

    In an interview with newsmen, the founder and the leader of the group, Elder Mrs. Eunice Uzor Kalu, mother of the former governor of Abia State Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, said the event which has become yearly since the it was initiated, provides the group with the opportunity of touching the lives of the needy in various destitute and motherless homes in the state, no matter their location.

    She said: “I would have given more than what I donated today. I will continue to do this as long as I live and as much as my resources can carry and as God keeps blessing me. This programme has come to stay and we will make sure that the aim of the programme is not defeated. We will continue to make sure that we put a smile on the faces of the less privilege in our communities and the state at large.”

    Elder Eunice also used the opportunity to call on public-spirited individuals, churches, private and corporate organisations in the state and country to channel some of their resources for the support of the needy as a measure of putting a smile on their faces.

    One of the sons of the donor and a one-time Chief of Staff to Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Mascot Uzor Kalu, said the annual event has become part of the family, describing his mother’s gesture as one of her legacies.

    He said: “It is a big event. It is an event that my mum has done every year for up to twenty years to the less privilege. It is a legacy event that we would want to keep. Reality Organisation will outlive her.”

    Responding on behalf of the benefiting homes, Uchechukwu Nwaokere of SOS Village Amuzukwu-Ibeku, Umuahia North Local Government Area thanked the donor for her philanthropic gestures and further called on government and other well-meaning individuals to come to their aid.

    Highlights of the occasion was the presentation of the items and handing over cash donations to the benefiting home by Elder Mrs. Eunice Uzor Kalu.

  • NUJ President makes case for public schools

    NUJ President makes case for public schools

    President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Garba Mohammed, has called on both state and federal government to ensure that adequate funds are provided for the smooth running of public schools in the country.

    Mohammed during a courtesy call on the board members of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba stated that, despite numerous efforts the president has made to improve education in the country, the issue of funding tertiary institutions, primary and secondary schools owned by government has remained a very serious challenge in Nigeria.

    “I am very much aware of the efforts made by government especially by the president to ensure that there are interventions in our educational sector. The TETFund (Tertiary Education Trust Fund) projects are visible in most of our tertiary institutions (universities and polytechnics) and I am sure that there are quite a number of projects that are executed by TETFund in this polytechnic. It is therefore pertinent for me to mention here that polytechnics owned by the state government and federal governments have to be properly funded, as we should not rely on university education.

    “Look at the rate of unemployment that we have in this country. Look at what happened during the recruitment exercise, it is an indication that government has to be very, very careful with the high level of unemployment we have in this country and I feel that the best way we can address this problem is by ensuring that we encourage our polytechnics so that after field studies, most of our graduates do not need to rely on white collar jobs. The problem we have in Nigeria today is that most of us are relying on government jobs. But when you have polytechnics and other institutions our youths can be trained to be self-employed. I think that is what should be given much emphasis so that at the end of it all, our youths can have the opportunity of having training.

    The NUJ president, frowning at the over emphasis on university certificate against their polytechnic counterparts said that such undermines the purpose of establishing polytechnic education.

    “The emphasis on university education is killing the polytechnics and other tertiary institutions which is the center of our education.

    Mohammed who came in the company of Sure-P monitoring team to inspect some of the completed Sure-P projects congratulated the board chairman, Hon. Christopher Enweremadu for his appointment and successes he has recorded since he assumed office as the chairman of the polytechnic board.

    He further commended the cordial relationship existing between the polytechnic community and journalists in the state, expressing hope that journalists in the state will continue to sustenance the support.

    In his response, Rt. Hon. Christopher Enweremadu disclosed that the polytechnic community has enjoyed a cordial relationship with members of NUJ in the state and thanked members of the NUJ for helping the institution to draw the attention of the state government to plight of the polytechnic community which he said has yielded positive result.

    Enweremadu urged journalists in the state and the country at large to be fair in all their reports in the interest of country first and in things which would unite than to divide Nigerians.

    According to the board chairman, “When we started asking for improved subvention, we received a lot of support from the media in getting government to see the true picture of the financial status of this place and we want to use this opportunity through you to commend that partnership between this institution and journalists across the country, most especially in Abia state.

    This institution has been very fortunate in its location, attention it has received from the visitor of this polytechnic who is the governor, chief sir T.A Orji who has continued to offer a listening ear to the demands of this institution. Recently the governor approved an upward review of the subvention due this polytechnic from N25m to N90m. This amounts to over 306% improvement in the subventions. It is a demonstration that this government is very ready to partner and improve the academic infrastructure in the state. We are also very grateful to the TETFund projects that have dotted this institution, enabled by the policies of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria.

    You can see that this place was originally a secondary school. Today, with houses, some of the most advanced infrastructures you can get in any polytechnic are all thanked to the partnership that is enabled by federal government policies to advance the tertiary institutions in particular, the polytechnics.”

  • Abandoned road finally catches Chime’s eye

    Abandoned road finally catches Chime’s eye

    After what seemed like eternity, a long-abandoned road in an Enugu State community has caught the eye of Governor Sullivan Chime, much to the joy of the residents.

    The excitement of the people of Akpugoeze clan made up of Akpugo-eze Ugwu, Akpugo eze Agbada and other Akpugo eze communities in Oji River Local Government of the state knew no bounds when construction work started commenced on the 14 km of road, which links Anambra State.

    Chime had driven on the road on a visit to Akpugo Eze and was shocked by the extent of its disrepair. Promptly, he conceded that the people of the area actually needed a good access road. He made them a promise: the road would be fixed, quickly.

    Many of the people dismissed the promise as one of those political gimmicks by politicians, more so as the governor’s fiercest opponents hail from the area. And so, it was a surprise to them, as if it was a dream, when the project was handed over to a foreign firm named Atidolf Company Nigeria Ltd for execution.

    On the occasion, Governor Sullivan Chime represented by the Commissioner for Works and infrastructure, Mr. Godwin O. Madueke stressed that the government would not relent in its efforts to meet the expectations of the people.

    He stated that Enugu State government was determined to link all the Local Government Areas and food producing communities in the state to enhance food production and economic activities.

    Madueke revealed that the total cost of the project is N1.45 billion, out of which the state government would expend 70 per cent and Oji River Local Government would contribute 30 per cent.

    The commissioner explained that the 14.1km road project starting from Nkwo Inyi market to Akpugo eze ugwu to Akpugo Agbada to neighbouring Anambra State would be completed within one dry year.

    The Chairman of Oji River Local Government Area Mr. Jideofor Onyemachi commended the state government for initiating the project and gave an assurance that the people of the area would provide good working atmosphere for the contractors handling the project.

    Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, a one time governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) during general Ibrahim Babangida still born transition programme thanked God that the project was being executed in his life time.

    The President of Akpugo eze clan Mr. Bosa Onwurah expressed gratitude to God Almighty and Governor Chime, saying that it will promote economic and social life of the people.

    The consultant of the project Mr. Greg Nnaji of Project Design Consultant said that he has done due diligence on the design and all necessary pre contract documents concerning the project and it was accepted by Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.

    He assured the state government of proper monitoring of the project, and will be ready to give solution to any technical issue concerning the design of the project.

    The Managing Director of Atidolf Nigeria Limited, Mr. Rudolf Mawad promised to complete the work on schedule and work according to standard specified on the design.