The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Anambra youths

  • Anambra youths train in taekwondo to combat crime

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has reiterated his administration’s commitment to clamping down crime.

    Obiano, who spoke at the graduation of eight officers of the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA) brigade team, said he would not rest until criminal elements in the state were shown the way out.

    According to him, the establishment of the agency and other related government agencies was to assist the government in halting activities of miscreants.

    The governor, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Primus Odili, praised the vibrancy for which the agency was known for, stressing the need for it to be intensified.

    He pledged the government’s continuous support for the organisation, even as it urged the officers to reciprocate the gesture by living up to the essence for its establishment.

    He said: “The governor can’t create this organisation and allow it to fail. It is his interest to see you succeed, because your success is his. But he also needs to see you put in your best.”

    Managing Director and Superintendent-General of the agency Mr. Pat Obiefuna described the training as timely, saying it was targeted at disarming miscreants who constitutes nuisance to the state.

    He said: “Your acquisition of this special skill is coming at a period we are consolidating on the gains of intensive operations which this brigade has participated.

    “The training has equipped you to face the criminals, including illegal toll collectors and street traders, indiscriminate refuse disposers, among others.”

    Obiefuna praised the trainees for their interest in the skill, assuring them that the training, which was the first of its kind, would be a continuous exercise.

  • Anambra youths protest against Senate’s comment on IGP

    YOUTHS numbering over 300 yesterday in Anambra State staged a peaceful protest against the Senate’s declaration of the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Ibrahim idris , as an enemy of democracy and one who is unfit to hold public office.

    The protest was done by youths under the aegis of Anambra Youths Forum. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Garba Umar, passed a vote of confidence on the IGP. The Senate’s pronouncement on the IGP, followed his continued refusal to honour the lawmakers’ invitation to explain the spate of killings in the country and the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to the Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye.

    The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions like: “Is Senate for crime”, “Senate: the public is watching you”, “Vote of confidence on IGP,” among others. The youths asked the lawmakers to go ahead to enjoy their huge take home salaries and leave the IGP alone.

    They said they were satisfied with the level of successes he had recorded since he assumed office,especially in Anambra State, “where kidnapping and armed robbery had become a thing of the past.” Addressing reporters yesterday, the leader of the group, Anthony Ogbu, wondered why the Senate was taking the case of the IGP and that of the embattled Senator Melaye personal. According to him, “The IGP is the Chief Security Officer of the country after the President. They should allow him to perform his duties. The Senate should be more concerned in promulgating laws. “The IGP has no time. His hands are full fighting all manner of criminality everywhere- Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, armed robbery, kidnapping, among other crimes,”he said.

  • Anambra youths seek panel of enquiry on lawyer’s, expectant wife’s murder

    The United Anambra Youth Assembly (U-AYA) yesterday urged Governor Willie Obiano to set up a Commission of Enquiry to probe the death of a lawyer, Barnabas Igwe and his pregnant wife.

    They were killed in 2003. Since their death, their killers remain at large.

    In the statement signed by its Vice President, Hon. Ogochukwu Egolum,  and Hon secretary-general, Chieleoka Okoye, the group issued a 21-day ultimatum.

    The statement reads: “If our clarion call for the probe of Ken Emekaiye  is not heeded, Anambra Youth will embark on protest that will last for 7 days until our voice is heard.

    “It is unthinkable that since this incident happened, both past and present administrations have not paid much attention to reveal the truth behind the gruesome murder of an activist and a legal icon and his pregnant wife.

    “It is our collective believe that if anything has been done on this regard, then it was not properly followed. As a result, no matter how long it takes for the truth to emerge, the truth remains the truth.

    “In the light of the above, it is very necessary, to make the probe very open to enable all Anambrarians to know what actually happened to their son and wife.

    “Now, Anambra State is blessed with a very vibrant administration under the watch of Governor Willie Obiano, who is an expert in protecting lives and properties, we therefore urge the on-going administration to recall all the files associated with this case mentioned above and call all the parties involved and other interested parties for public hearing while we urge the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and other relevant security agencies to ensure that justice is made to the above request. We look for forward to a quick implementation.”

  • Anambra youths seek Uba’s prosecution

    A Youths from Anambra State, under the auspices of Anambra Youths Movement (AYM), have asked that Senator Andy Uba be banned from contesting elective offices. They also asked for his arrest and prosecution for ‘certificate forgery’.
    The youths, who blocked the National Assembly in protest, demanded the “immediate retrieval and cancellation of the certificate of return given to Uba after the 2015 elections, and banning him from contesting any elective post in Nigeria.”
    A petition to the Inspector General of Police, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Senate President, signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Comrade Austin Okeke, asked that his Certificate of Return be withdrawn and “an open and clinical investigation into the falsification of his WAEC result”.
    The petition reads: “Anambra Youths Movement (AYM) officially writes to demand an immediate withdrawal of the Certificate of Return issued to Mr. Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba (Senator representing Anambra South), for deceit, forgery and perjury, as regards his representation during the 2015 general elections.
    “AYM is a coalition of active and actionable grassroots-based youth organisations in Anambra State, who are ready to defend and fight against impunity, corruption and injustice.
    “In our continued efforts to prevent injustice, and assist law enforcement agencies to bring culprits to justice, AYM is, hereby, notifying you of a case of deceit, forgery and perjury concerning the aforementioned individual, which was perpetrated to deceive the public.
    “By his actions, Mr. Uba has willfully contravened Sections 463 of the Criminal Code (which provides for three years’ imprisonment for forgery) and Sections 362 to 364 of the Penal Code, which stipulates up to 14 years imprisonment with option of fine or both.”

  • Scholarship for Anambra youths

    Many keep their pile of cash to themselves. Not Mr. Barth Nwibe, an engineer. Over 70 students in Anambra State are said to have studied and graduated from several tertiary institutions at the instance of his organisation, Ugo Ukwu Foundation. That is not all. Primary and secondary school pupils are also said to have been drawing from his scholarship scheme for 11 years.

    Neither is his philanthropy limited to his Igbo Ukwu community in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.

    TheNation gathered that about 250 primary school students and over 200 others in secondary schools across the state are studying under his scholarship scheme.

    Last weekend at the Ekwulobia township stadium in Aguata council area, the foundation awarded more scholarships to 40 students from primary to tertiary levels.

    Besides, the foundation presented over 10 laptops to some of the students to help them in their academics.

    The state governor Willie Obiano  was represented at the event by the Commissioner for Education, Prof Kate Omenugha.

    Obiano described the likes of Nwibe, the financier of the foundation, as success stories.

    He noted that the scholarship grants was one way of supporting the gain made by his administration in the education sector.

    For Prof. Uchenna Nwosu, who was the chairman of the event, Barth Nwibe is a rare breed, who attained success through hard work.

    He told the students and their parents that the key to success is  education, which, according to him, is also the basis of progress in any society.

    Apart from the laptops to the students and the scholarship to the new 40 students, textbooks, exercise books in cartons were presented to the students.

    Speaking with the Nation, Nwibe, a strong believer in APC and major financier of the party to some of the contestants in different positions in the party, said it was his own way of giving back to the society.

    He said the 40 students emerged through a careful, meritorious selection process, adding that the process had been ongoing for the past eleven years which had become a yearly ritual.

    Nwibe, therefore, commended the foundation for the progress made so far, adding that it was just the beginning, nothing that there are more to come.

    For Nwoye Valentine of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, and Okafor Kosi of Holy Child Secondary School Isuofia in Aguata council Area, two of the beneficiaries, it was a dream come true.

    The duo thanked the foundation for giving them opportunity of being like other students, adding that they would put up their best in making sure they come out in flying colours in their different disciplines.