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Tag: Anambra Government

  • Anambra Government tackles APC over alleged politicisation of deposed monarch’s death

    Anambra Government tackles APC over alleged politicisation of deposed monarch’s death

     

    The Anambra State Government has chided the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly politicising the death of a former traditional ruler Chief Alexander Edozieuno.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG gathered that Edozieuno and his driver was killed on Friday by unknown gunmen.

    TNG reports that Edozieuno was one of the 12 monarchs suspended by Governor Willie Obiano last year, for accompanying an oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze, on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, without permission.

    However, during an interactive session with journalists in Awka, Anambra state capital, on Sunday, state chairman of APC, Chief Basil Ejifike, and Director General of Andy Uba Campaign Council, Mr Paul Chukwuma, said the murder of former Igwe Alex Edozieuno was political motivated and designed to intimidate APC.

    They said the the former Igwe Edozieuno, last month joined the party and since then he has been a trusted party member.

    In a swift the Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C.Don Adinuba, in a statement said it was ridiculous for APC to point accusing fingers at the state government.

    Read full statement below:

    The APC Effort to Politicize Chief Edozieuno’s Tragic Death

     

    1. The Anambra State Branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday held a press conference where its leaders attempted to politicize the brutal murder on Friday, September 10, 2021, of the former traditional ruler of Mkpunando community in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area, Chief Alexander Edozieuno, alongside his driver who was simply identified as Chukwuemeka. The APC leaders alleged some Anambra State Government officials and a member of the House of Representatives, The Honorable Chinedu Obidigwe, had a hand in the murders, adding that the persons had been sending threatening messages to APC members.

    2. Though the journalists who attended the news conferences took the allegations with a pinch of salt, like the rest of ndi Anambra who heard the accusations, it is important to remind some politicians that it is asinine and callous to attempt to politicize the death of any person. To allege that the murders were preceded by threats and text messages without proof is preposterous. As the common saying goes, whoever alleges crime has to prove it.

    3. APC’s evidence is that the late Chief Ezediuno, who was deposed as a traditional ruler alongside three others last December for conduct that could not be reconciled with their position as traditional rulers, purportedly joined their party a month ago. APC officers have to think again. Why is no one threatening the other three former monarchs?

    4. Rather than politicize the ex-monarch’s death, the APC should provide whatever it has about the crime to the Nigeria Police Force. After all, the APC is the Federal Government party which controls not just the police force but also the Department of State security. The people and Government of Anambra State are satisfied with the action of the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Tony Olofu, who personally went to the crime scene immediately he heard of Chief Ezediuno’s unfortunate death and set in motion the machinery to arrest the persons responsible for the murder and their motive.

    5. Anambra people are proud that their state has in the last seven years become the most peaceful in the whole country. The level of social harmony we enjoy is unprecedented since the state was created 30 years ago. The last two major elections in the state were the most peaceful in the country, with practically no incidents. Every Anambra person has a moral responsibility to make the November 6 gubernatorial election in the state equally peaceful.

    6. It would seem, however, that the APC in Anambra is unable to reconcile itself to the new order in the state. It is guilty of what psychologists call projection. Because its prominent members have a well-established record of violence, they assume that the leaders of other parties have the same proclivity towards violence and murder. The people who unleashed three days of mayhem in Anambra State in November, 2003, which saw the burning and destruction of the Anambra Broadcasting Service, the Governor’s Lodge in Onitsha, the Judicial Complex building in Awka and the House of Assembly complex in Awka are now in the APC. The persons responsible for the kidnap of the sitting governor, Dr Chris Ngige who is now the Minister of Labour and Productivity, and had taken him to the Okija Shrine in the dead of the night to swear an oath of perpetual and uncritical allegiance are now APC leaders. The people involved in the monumental heist called the irrevocable standing payment orders (ISPOs), through which billions of naira of Anambra people’s wealth were paid to a handful of so-called godfathers regardless of contracts executed on behalf of the state government, are now in the APC. The persons who gave police and presidential cover to the arsonists of Anambra State, which made it impossible to arrest the culprits, let alone prosecute them, for their heinous crimes against our people, are now APC leaders.

    7. Despite the machination of some politicians who are allergic to peace, order and enlightened values, the people of Anambra State are committed to a culture of harmonious living. May God continue to protect, guide and bless Anambra State, the Light of the Nation.

     

    Signed

     

    C. Don Adinuba

    Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment.

  • Anambra Government confirms killing of deposed traditional ruler, driver; tells police to go after killers

    Anambra Government confirms killing of deposed traditional ruler, driver; tells police to go after killers

    The Anambra State Government has reacted to the killing of a former traditional ruler in the state, Chief Alexander Edozieuno and his driver.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG gathered that Edozieuno and his driver was killed on Friday by unknown gunmen.

    TNG reports that Edozieuno was one of the 12 monarchs suspended by Governor Willie Obiano last year, for accompanying an oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze, on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, without permission.

    However, in a swift reaction, the Anambra State Government in statement on Saturday by the Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba said Edozieuno’s death was shocking and sad.

    Adinuba said Governor Willie Obiano has directed security agencies to fish out the murderers of the former traditional ruler.

    Read full statement below:

    Violent of Death of Chief Alexander Edozieuno

    The Anambra State Government has received with shock the news of the death of Chief Alexander Edozieuno, the former traditional ruler of the Mkpunando community in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area.

     

    He was killed yesterday together with his driver, simply identified as Chukwuemeka, while driving on Ezu Bridge, Otuocha, Anambra East LGA, according to reports.

     

    On learning of Chief Edozieuno’s death, Governor Willie Obiano directed the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Tony Olofu, to use all resources available to him to fish out those behind the murder. Mr Olofu’s visit to the crime scene and subsequent actions show the seriousness with which he is treating the murder.

     

    It is disheartening that Chief Edozieuno should die this way when violent crime has been reduced to its lowest level in Anambra State since its creation in August, 1991, making Anambra Nigeria’s safest state despite recent organized attacks.

     

    We regret that there are still elements who have little regard for human life, let alone the dignity of the human person. This is in spite of the sustained efforts of the current administration to make our society more caring and more humane.

     

    We extend the condolences of the people and Government of Anambra State to the Edozieuno family, the Mkpunando community, the friends, relatives and associates of Chief Edozieuno.

     

    May Chief Edozieuno’s soul rest in peace.

     

    Signed

     

    C. Don Adinuba

    Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment.

  • Anambra Government to offset hospital bills of accident victims, decries jungle justice

    Anambra Government to offset hospital bills of accident victims, decries jungle justice

    The Governor Willi Obiano led Anambra State Government has promised to offset hospital bills of all the accident victims which which occurred on Friday, June 4, 2021, at the Akwata Junction in Awka.

    This was revealed in a statement by the Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba on Saturday.

    According to reports, the accident happened after the driver of a truck filled with cows lost control of his vehicle and, in the process, killed eight persons and damaged some vehicles.

    Read full statement below:

    Anambra Government to Offset Hospital Bills of Accident Victims and Decries Jungle Justice

    1. The Anambra State Government will pay the bills for the medical treatment of all the victims of the accident which occurred on Friday, June 4, 2021, at the Akwata Junction in Awka when the driver of a truck filled with cows lost control of his vehicle and, in the process, killed eight persons and damaged some vehicles. Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has directed a team of top government officials to ensure that the victims receive proper medical attention and, if necessary, take them to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka, or any other hospital in the state for superior attention.

    2. Governor Obiano has also directed the high-powered team to visit families of the deceased victims as well as the owner of the cattle involved in the accident, Mr Cosmas Chibuike of Umunnachi, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, and condole with him for not only the death of the animals in the accident but also the later killing of some of the animals by the mob. Mr Chibuike has obviously suffered double tragedy.

    3. The Government and people of Anambra State abhor jungle justice and all manner of mob behavior. Such behavior has no place in any civilized environment. Like in every decent society, there are laid down procedures which aggrieved citizens and people take. Persons found guilty of irresponsible conduct in respect of the tragedy of last Friday will face the consequences of their action.

    4. Chief Obiano has, in addition, directed the high-powered team to visit the truck driver and any persons with him in the vehicle when the accident occurred, including Mr Muhammed Ndaji from Taraba State who is receiving treatment in a top orthorpaedic hospital in Awka. Many cows in Anambra State are jointly owned by indigenes of the state and experts from the Northern part of the country in a business arrangement popularly known as agbate eke which spells out not just the ratio of ownership but also the ratio of sharing both profit and loss.

    5. This business model has been in existence for several decades, and there are hardly complaints of cheating or fraud. This business relationship should be promoted in the interest of both parties as well as in the furtherance of national economic growth and unity. It is, therefore, regrettable that certain unpatriotic elements have been using the social media to impute all manner of meaning into the accident of last Friday, capitalizing on the current frayed ethnic, sectional and religious nerves in the country to cause mind poisoning.

    6. Without prejudice to the findings of the work of the panel which will look into the causes of the accident, the tragedy has underlined the critical need for big truck owners and drivers to constantly check the state of their vehicles before they set out every day with them on the road. They must also adhere to road safety rules like speed limit, especially in towns, cities and other places with high populations and economic activity. Drivers should also avoid stimulants like alcohol and drug.

    7. The Anambra State Government thanks security officers, Anambra State Fire Service officials, Anambra State Traffic Maintenance Agency as well as ordinary citizens who raced to the scene of the Akwata Junction accident and did their best to maintain law and order and take victims to different hospitals. Most Anambra people always live up to the true meaning of our shared humanity and our shared values.

  • Give High National Honours to Air Peace, Innoson Motors Chairmen, Anambra Government tells Buhari

    Give High National Honours to Air Peace, Innoson Motors Chairmen, Anambra Government tells Buhari

    The Anambra State Government has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to bestow commensurate national honours on two indigenes of the state in appreciation of their “path-changing contributions to national development”.

    According to the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, the government made the request for the conferment of high national honours on the chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyeama, and the chief executive of Innoson Motor Manufacturing Company, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, in a letter which Governor Willie Obiano sent to President Buhari this afternoon.

    Commissioner Adinuba explained that the government’s recommendation to Buhari was against the background of the second Embraer plane from which Air Peace acquired recently out of the 13 it ordered from the Brazilian manufacturer to boost its local and regional operations and the honorary doctoral degree which the University of Calabar conferred on the Innoson chairman at the weekend.

    “These two gentlemen are deserving of everything in gold”, Governor Obiano wrote in the letter to the president.

    “They have changed the narrative of Nigeria’s development for the better.

    “The whole nation remembers with nostalgia how Chief Onyema sent his wide-bodied aircraft to South Africa two years ago to bring back free of charge hundreds of Nigerians stranded in the country when South Africans launched xenophobic attacks on our fellow countrymen”.

    Chief Obiano stated that if not for Chief Onyeama’s intervention since 2014, the Nigerian civil aviation industry would have collapsed or been in a comatose state.

    “He invested a fortune in it and ensured that Air Peace maintained the highest standards in the world in terms of the state of the art equipment, safety, staff training, as well as ground and in-flight services”, he said.

    The governor commended the carrier for reviving and developing airports across the country like Akure Airport in Ondo State which, he noted, were practically abandoned for years.

    H also praised Air Peace chairman for his decision to build a hanger for the repair and maintenance of various aircraft at Anambra International Cargo/Passenger Airport which is nearing completion and for his role in the effort to get Embraer to build its maintenance facility for the African region in the state.

    “These two projects”, he argued, “will go a long way to make our airport a truly air transportation hub in Nigeria, if not the whole of West Africa, as envisaged by the government which has ensured that it is the most modern airport in the country and the airport with the longest runway in Africa.
    “The world’s biggest planes can land there easily”.

    Governor Obiano described the Innosson chairman as a revolutionary in the country’s quest for industrial development.

    “Not even the colossal government failure to sustain motor assembly plants in Nigeria over the decades could deter this entrepreneur, who went into business with modest means as motorcycle seller, from dreaming big and building the nation’s first motor manufacturing firm.

    “Only a tough-minded, visionary and patriotic Nigerian could venture into industrialization on a large scale as Chief Chukwuma has done, considering the poor state of infrastructure in the country like electric power and the high cost of funds, to say nothing about hypercometition from Western and Asian automobile multinationals.

    “The constant and remarkable improvements in Innoson vehicles have added to their competitiveness; they compete on both quality and price.

    “Today Innnoson motors are sold all over Nigeria and beyond, thus flying Nigeria’s flag in different countries, just like Chief Allen whose airline operates into different African countries and into the United Arab Emirates with plans to extend flights to the United Kingdom, China, India, United States, etc.

    “These two Anambra sons are earning foreign exchange for the country making the whole nation proud.

    “They are eminently deserving of the national highest honours for their selfless and patriotic services which will ginger them to do more and encourage other citizens to follow in their noble footsteps.”

  • Ebonyi lawmakers’ ultimatum to Anambra government, By Carl Umegboro

    By Carl Umegboro

    The up-to-the-minute squabbles between Anambra state government and Ebonyi House of Assembly is to say the least uncalled for and trivial. The state governor, Chief Willie Obiano renamed the old ‘Abakaliki Street’ in Awka to “Club Street’ purportedly to synchronize the master-plan. Consequently, he designated another street the government considered suitable and more strategic for its swap. Unfortunately, the development was probably misunderstood, hence offensively rebuffed by the Ebonyi lawmakers leading to a seven-day ultimatum slammed on Obiano to revert to status quo ante or face their sanctions. Since then, it has become a supremacy battle, funnily through press wars with threats of sanctions if unheeded. But the question is, is a trifling issue as this amongst the reasons why lawmakers are elected into offices by the people?

    The sanctions reportedly included having all the institutions, streets and monuments named after Anambra indigenous people scrapped or renamed in Ebonyi state. However, the state government through its spokesman, C. Don Adinuba debunked malice but elucidated that the contentious area is over the years notorious as a dungeon; a slum with shanties and illegal structures where prostitution and other illicit activities triumph, and added that the government merely did sensitive restructuring exercise which didn’t erase the state’s name in the state capital as purported but a strategic swap noting that the two states are brothers and sisters that have maintained harmonious relationship over the years.

    Obviously, issues of this nature are best resolved through channel of mild communication and dialogue especially for two states under a geopolitical zone, and not by ultimatum as issued by the protesting lawmakers let alone through the media. The simple truth is that Anambra or any other state doesn’t require permission or consultation with another state to embark on restructuring exercise within its landscape especially to restructure its facilities. The appropriate action on discovery of the renaming exercise would have been to send delegation to the state government for firsthand fact-finding, explanations and motives for such action rather than dangling on assumptions.

    In structured system, to pass a resolution directing another state government to comply is alien, aberration and amounts to legislative rascality. The reason is that resolutions at plenary can only be implemented when reasonable, realistic and within jurisdiction. The worst part is the press war adopted to deal with a matter that should soundlessly be handled by the two state governors without third-parties’ knowledge. Nonetheless, as long as a new place was designated for its swap, apparently, no harm was done except a mischief could be substantiated or it could be established that the area has exceptional interests that characterize Ebonyi and its people which may be jeopardized if altered. Above all, change is always constant.

    Thus, it calls for maturity, understanding, mutual respect and cooperation. It is never an issue that should be subjected to open show of muscles or ultimatum but reverence and dialogue. To forcefully demand the governor to revert is completely out of it but a tete-a-tete with the state government. For all intents and purposes, the fight is grossly trivial as it cannot add any value to the lives of indigenous people of either state. Had the fight been tied to a dispute over control of infrastructural developments or mineral resources in the area that can impact positively in the lives of the people, it would then worth the time and energy more especially sitting allowance of the lawmakers as the people deserve value for their money. Unfortunately, it is naively a fight over mere alteration of designation. Hence, there’s urgent need for restraint and to sheathe the swords in the interest of peace, unity and stability. The two states are joined at the hip and should not be seen fighting each other sadly without clearly defined purpose. Some communal disputes had in the past originated in comparable manners and degenerated to something terrible and unfathomable. Sadly, the grass-root in all the cases ended up bearing the repercussions.

    To sum, a legislative house cannot go outside its territory to give orders and ultimatum to another government, instead should espouse diplomacy and internal dispute resolution mechanism. In addition, embrace protocol; by mandating its state governor who is the chief executive officer to liaise with his counterpart when there are external sketchy matters to deal with. The ultimatum should have been aptly directed to their governor to find out the reasons for such action by a sister state. Then, on the choice of ‘Club Street’ over a place that is already tainted, the state government may have to reconsider its position as the idea may not be a positive verdict in the long run vis-à-vis values and mores. It is akin to endorsing anomalies, oddities and deformities. Be that as it may, live and let live!

    Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and an associate of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (United Kingdom). [07057101974 SMS-only]