• As Gov Peter Mbah of Enugu State shared his thoughts on the issues affecting the South-east region.
The Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has reiterated its call for restructuring of the country and the creation of additional states in the South-east.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu made the call during the Ohanaeze Ndigbo retreat on Wednesday in Enugu.
Mr Iwuanyanwu, who said Ohanaeze was not happy with the 1999 Constitution as amended, called for the restructuring of Nigeria where power would devolve from federal government to state governments.
This, he said, would help the states have a reasonable autonomy to develop at their own pace without any hindrance from the federal government.
“It will enable us to build our own seaports, railways and other infrastructure to develop the zone,” he said.
While calling for the creation of an extra state in the region, the Igbo leader lamented that the South-east had lost trillions because of inadequate states like in other geopolitical zones.
He threatened to take legal action against the federal government if it failed to give the region an additional state equivalent to other zones in the country, saying “We are assembling Igbo lawyers to pursue it”.
He added that they would allow the state anywhere it was created in Igboland.
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The Igbo leader also kicked against merging of Project Development Institute (PRODA) with another science Institute, stressing that the institute was borne out of the experience of the Nigeria Civil War.
“Ohanaeze is in full support of the implementation of the Oronsaye report, but will request all Igbo anywhere to ensure that PRODA is not merged with any other institutions,” he said.
In a remark, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, represented by the Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai commended Igbos serving in various capacities for their sacrifice and support.
The governor said the region needed to work towards economic integration of their business and people.
He said the economic team in Ohaneze had a huge task to engage political leaders across the South-east to work towards creating a common market that attracted investors to the region.
“It beats my imagination that Onitsha and Oguta ports in Imo State are not working. We should act in a way to liberate ourselves.
“Enugu is known for coal and from what I heard from an engineer, if coal is heated 1000 degrees it will melt and if you pour it on the road, will last more than bitumen and asphalt we use in road construction,” he noted.
In a paper presentation titled “Education: Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Igboland” the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nnenna Oti, called for new hope, equal opportunities, technological and entrepreneurial development in Igboland.
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She called on the Igbos to identify who they were and pursue their dreams for greater exploits.
Earlier in a welcome address, the chairperson of the event, Allison Madueke, a retired rear admiral, said it was time for Igbos to step out and make a move for the betterment of the region.
“When you move without wisdom, you get injured,” Mr Madueke said, stressing that it was time for Igbos to ask themselves questions about where they went wrong and make amends.
Some Igbo leaders at the Ohanaeze Ndigbo retreat held in Enugu on Wednesday
While commending Mr Iwuanyanwu for organising the programme, Mr Madueke said “We need to change our tactics and approaches with the wisdom given to us”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by Igbo leaders, their prominent sons and daughters both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.
Nkwuda Vincent, a 42-year-old man and native of Ndiogbu in the Ndieze community in the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has allegedly slit his cousin’s throat, Mr Nkwuda Chukwuka, for demanding some branches of a tree, which fell on their family land.
It was gathered that the incident occurred on Monday, the penultimate Monday, when the suspect, Mr Nkwuda Vincent, an Assistant Catechist of St Samuel Station Ndiogbu in Ndieze autonomous, cut down a tree standing on the boundary of their land.
According to the victim, Mr Chukwuka, who spoke to our correspondent on Friday in his hospital bed at Sudan Missionary Hospital Iboko in the council area, trouble started when he met his cousin, Mr Vincent, on the family land cutting some branches of trees.
He explained that the suspect had briefed him that his father had asked that they cut down the tree so that it would be used to stake their yam.
Narrating his ordeal, “It was on the weekend that I went to our land, where I met my cousin cutting sticks from a particular tree. Seeing that the tree was standing on our own land, I enquired about who had asked him to cut down the tree.
“According to Mr Vincent, it was my father’s directive. When I inquired further about an equal share of the stick, he retorted aggressively, resulting in an exchange of words.
“When it became obvious that he was planning to attack me with the cutlass, I used a log of wood to defend it and to my chagrin, he landed the cutlass on my throat, which is by the grace of God that I survived.”
The victim, who said he had no premonition of such unruly behaviour from his cousin, called on family members and community leaders to investigate the matter to ensure justice and penalise the suspect.
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“I’m happy. I am alive to tell the story and believe that both of us are owned by the community and family, who should ensure that justice is done on the matter and punish the offender for serving as a deterrent to anybody trying such aberration in the future.
Confirming, one of the family members, Mr Nkwuda Jude, described the incident as horrific, adding that they are still treating the victim to ensure that he recovered from an injury sustained during the attack.
While clarifying the family’s stand, Mr Jude noted that the matter had been reported to the security agents, adding that the Iboko Divisional Police Station had equally taken records of the incident and reiterated that the offender would be punished according to the tradition of the people.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the accused person had proved abortive, as his phone number was switched off as of Friday when this report was filled out.
Also, the Ebonyi Command of the Police Force said an official report had yet to be received to that effect.
The Command’s spokesman, DSP Ukandu Joshua, said he would contact our correspondent after confirming the incident from the Police Divisional Officer in the area.
•SDP gov'ship candidate, Murtala Ajaka and Governor, Usman Ododo
The Kogi Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has adjourned the petition filed by Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka until May 13 for adoption of final written addresses.
Ajaka is challenging the election victory of Gov. Usman Ododo of All Progressives Congress (APC).
The three-member panel of justices, headed by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, fixed the date after the APC, the 3rd respondent, closed its case on Thursday in defence of Gov. Ododo’s victory.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) and Ododo had, earlier, closed their defence in the petition jointly filed by SDP and Ajaka (the petitioners).
The petitioners are challenging Ododo’s victory in the Nov. 11, 2023 governorship election in Kogi.
In the petition, INEC, Ododo and APC are listed as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
SDP and Ajaka, through their lawyers led by Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, closed their case on April 5 after calling 25 witnesses against their initial plan of calling 400 witnesses.
Also, INEC, on April 16, closed its case in defence of Ododo’s victory at the poll.
The commission’s counsel, Uchenna Njoku, who held the brief of Kanu Agabi, SAN, said after tendering the electoral documents against the SDP’s petition, they did not intend to call any witness having assessed the case of the petitioners.
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The tribunal had, earlier, adjourned the petitions of Action Alliance (AA) and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) against the INEC’s declaration of Ododo as validly elected governor of Kogi in the governorship poll, for adoption of final written addresses.
It would be recalled that SDP, AA, PRP and Action Peoples Party (APP) filed separate petitions against Ododo’s victory.
However, the tribunal, on Feb. 20, struck out APP’s petition following its withdrawal by counsel for the party, Daniel Edeachi.
The APP had filed the petition on Dec. 1, 2023, before the tribunal.
However, in its motion on notice dated and filed on Feb. 15, the party gave eight-ground of argument for the withdrawal.
APP said though it filed the petition to challenge Ododo’s victory, the party said upon the re-evaluation of the grounds and facts of the petition, it was not reasonably convinced about the sustainability of the grounds of the petition as constituted before the tribunal.
According to the party, the withdrawal of the petition is based on the perceived unsustainability of the grounds of the petition and to avoid overburdening the tribunal with numerous petitions. (NAN)
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed three persons dead and two injured in a three-storey building collapse incident at Kuntau Quarters, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.
NEMA Kano Territorial Coordinator, Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi, confirmed the incident and casualty figures to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kano.
“We received a distressed call today at about 9:20 a.m from a good Samaritan that a three- storey building under construction collapsed at Kuntau quarters.
“On receiving the information, we quickly sent our rescue team to the scene.
“So far, five persons were rescued and taken to Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, out of which three were confirmed dead, while two victims sustained injury and are receiving treatment” Abdullahi said
He noted that the search and rescue operation was still ongoing to rescue those trapped.
“NEMA rescue team, Kano State Fire Service, Police, red Cross, NSCDC and SEMA among others are still at the site of the incident to ensure removal of other trapped victims,” Abdullahi said. (NAN)
