Why Ebonyi Deserves a Leader with a Bigger Vision, by Obasi

A MEMBER of the G-57 and a governorship aspirant from the Diaspora, Dr. Obasi A. Obasi spoke with ADAMU ABUH on electoral reform and how to solve the communal clashes Ebonyi State.

Assess the performance of Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi?

Well Governor Elechi may have good intentions, but assessing him based on the promises he made during the campaigns will be difficult. Most of those promises have not been fulfilled. But the motive may be there, meaning that he could have intended to fulfill those promises, but certain things were perhaps not in place and these may include finances and the right atmosphere. He has done his best but I am sure that the people of Ebonyi State don't think so.

It is certain that he will seek a second term in 2011 poll...

Age is not so much on his side. He is an elderly statesman and I am convinced that perhaps it will be in his interest as well as that of the state for him to support a younger man who has the vigour to drive those changes that need to be made in Ebonyi to move the state forward. We need to move from the present condition of subsistence existence and complete dependence on monthly allocations from the Federal Government to a state of self sufficiency where opportunities are created for the people of Ebonyi to put their God given commercial prowess to good use in small and medium scale enterprises, which will in return pay taxes to the state coffers and bring about a quantum leap in the state. Ebonyi should aim to be self-sufficient on the same level with states like Lagos.

How do you think that 10 years of democracy has touched the lives of the average citizen in Ebonyi?

It is certain that the wellbeing of top-level civil servants as well as the political class has improved. But this class of people constitutes less than one per cent of the population. When we look at the masses, the ordinary people in Ebonyi, it is doubtful that their lot has improved. It is not difficult not measure that. When we consider that school enrollment has dropped, violent crimes have increased to frightening levels, then it is obvious that the people are not having a good time. The state of things does not mean that Ebonyi people are bad; it only means that they are suffering from deprivations that fuel poverty-induced crimes. These crimes are driven by the condition of the people. If you take Americans and subject them to the same conditions as the people of Ebonyi are being subjected, we will get the same results. In conclusion, the wellbeing of the average Ebonyi man or woman has not improved and their conditions of life need to be improved and quickly too.

What kind of people do you expect to contest the 2011 elections in the state?

I expect to find achievers; people who have something to offer the state. I expect to find people who have achieved something in private life and want to provide value driven governance. There are many people out there with something to offer. Personally, I am proud of where I am coming from. I went to the U.S as an immigrant over 28 years ago with just about a $100 in my pocket; today I have built a business that contributes millions of dollars to the economy of the state of California. I have created wealth out of nothing and that is what I will want anyone who aspires to lead Ebonyi should aim to do. We should not look for people who want to lead the state because of what they can get out of it. They should lead Ebonyi out of her present state whereby people who have the commercial prowess are left to wallow in poverty because they lack access to education, jobs, credit facilities to start up small and medium scale enterprises. Most importantly Ebonyi should not suffer as a result of not having a leadership that is creative enough to make something out of nothing. I keep using Lagos State as an example because it is a worthy one. Look at the state Governor Raji Fashola is doing. He could have been satisfied going to the Federal Government every month to collect his revenue allocation, but he was creative. He increased Internally Generated Revenue to the extent that it surpasses what the state gets from the Federal Government. And then he put these funds to use in developing infrastructure that will assist the people of Lagos in their commercial and social activities. That is what government is all about. Government should not make you wealthy, but it should provide the basic platform that would enable you put your individual ingenuity to work and make something out for everyone. That is what Ebonyi lacks.

Do you think an opposition party like the Action Congress (AC) has a chance against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi?

That is why my political associates and I in the G-57 have been fighting for electoral reform. If there is a free and fair election, anybody can win an election. However, without reform, what you have is a situation where godfathers impose their choices on the people and then when their choice becomes governor, the godfather and godson start to fight and the people are the worse for it. But when the people are your godfather how can you fight them? If electoral reforms are carried out and there is a free and fair election, an opposition party can win and we saw it recently in Anambra State where the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) won against the machinery of the PDP even with reputable and respectable candidates like Prof. Charles Soludo.

What I can categorically say is that I intend to provide leadership for the people of Ebonyi. While it is easier if you are in office as a governor, there are other means by which you as an individual can provide such leadership and my ultimate goal is to provide leadership for the people of Ebonyi state irrespective of platform or office.

So what do you make of the talks of the mega party?

The 2011 election is not about mega party, it is about electoral reform. If the Federal Government listens to the appeal of the G-57, of which I am a signatory along with Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Chief Olu Falae, Balarabe Musa and Mallam Nasir El Rufai, and implements electoral reform, even a minor party can win election much less a mega party.

What is your reaction to the criticisms against the performance of the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC)?

Albert Einstein once said that it amounts to insanity to do the same thing and expect a different result? If Nigerians have lost faith in the INEC after the conduct of the 2007 elections and the Federal Government has not reformed INEC even after President Musa Umaru Yar'Adua promised during his inauguration to reform INEC, how can anyone have faith in the same INEC to conduct the 2011 elections? It is a good thing that the Acting President has promised to structure the electoral commission ahead of the 2011 elections. We can only hope for the better. Restructuring the commission could be the start of a viable electoral reform.

I subscribe to the recommendations of the Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee and I support every agitation that it should be implemented. Actually, I can say on Uwais reforms I stand.

The communal clashes in Ebonyi between the Ezillo and their Ezza neighbours has been a cause of concern...

It is caused and sustained by poverty and lack of deterrence. There needs to be a change of leadership style or a change of leadership because if the leadership cannot first of all arrest the master minds of the clashes, try them and bring them to book there will be no deterrence and if there is no deterrence then there will be a continuous breakdown of law and order. That is one. Then simultaneously, a leader has to also address the fundamental issues of poverty and lack, which is the real root of the clashes by providing the people with basic infrastructure like boreholes, schools, and medical facilities. Then you have to restore the people's livelihood by repairing their farmlands, which you can only do by replacing the top soil and providing them with access to fertilisers. This has been done in Israel and they have turned a desert to a garden. These people have lost their traditional means of livelihood, which was farming and this is fundamentally why their neighbours' lands look attractive to them. What the leadership has to do is to think win, win by healing their land so they can return to their age old way of living, which ensured that they were their brother's keeper.
Source: The Guardian, 16^th April 2010.

I'm indifferent to Elechi's second term bid—Nwambam

Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki

Achieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State Chief Onwukike Nwambam, popularly known as "Lastborn' has stated that he is neither in support of nor against the on-going campaign for the state Governor Chief Martin Elechi to return to office for a second term in 2011.

Answering questions from journalists at the weekend after receiving a chieftaincy title of 'Nwachinemere' (a man of destiny) 1 of Amagu Ikwo, in Ikwo local government area of the state, Nwambam said it was still early to talk about 2011, stating however that in the meantime he was pre-occupied with his legal contest at the Appeal Court Enugu to reclaim his 'stolen' mandate as the person who ought to be representing Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Nwambam debunked the rumours making the rounds that he had left the PDP for the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) saying that though his political friends cut across party line, PDP still remains his party.

"Like I always said, when it is time for us to talk about 2011 we will talk about 2011. I'm neither against the governor (Elechi) nor supporting the governor. I'm a neutral person as far as the politics of the state is concerned. At the appropriate time, we shall talk about politics. If the governor is going for second term, it is not merely saying it on the pages of newspaper, people making noise; when the chips are down we will come to the table and discuss. I'm a serious stakeholder in the politics of this state and there is no joke about it," he said.

On whether he has a governorship ambition, Chief Nwambam who was former General Manager Ebonyi State Environmental Protection Agency and also a one time council chairman under the former Governor, Dr. Sam Egwu, philosophically noted that "time is still pregnant" besides the point that he was still in the Appeal Court Enugu contesting his alleged wrongful substitution as the candidate of the PDP for Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency in 2007 general elections.

On the traditional title conferred on him by his traditional rule, His Royal Highness, Eze Dominic Akam Aloh, Nwambam said that he was elated and at the same time challenged by the honour as it imposes on him more responsibilities especially in doing those things that made the people honour him in the first place.

He said that he had established a foundation called Lastborn Humanity and Development Foundation in 2006 through which he had been assisting widows, awarding scholarship to incident students and generally contributing to the development of the community.

Also speaking, one of the chieftaincy title recipients, and former Presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria Peoples Party and now a chieftain of the PDP, Chief Rochas Okorocha pledged to assist in the socio-economic development of Amagu community through his Rochas Okorocha Foundation.

Chief Okorocha an indigene of Imo State, who bagged the title of "Nwanne di na Mba ( a good friend in the Diaspora) 1 of Amagu Ikwo, prayed for a time when Ebonyi State will be governed by an Amagu man in order to uplift the living condition of the rural community.

The event which was attended by friends of Okorocha and Nwambam across the country also witnessed the conferment of similar titles on other prominent indigenes of Ikwo community by HRH Eze Aloh who used the occasion to mark his 62nd birthday and 18th year anniversary on the throne.
Source: Daily Champion, 16^th April 2010.

Ebonyi Council Poll: Anyim, Others Demand New Chairman for Ivo Council

Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki

Stakeholders in Ivo local government area of Ebonyi State including the former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, the Chairman Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Anyim Ude, and the Chief Whip of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Orji yesterday urged the people of the area to support a new candidate in the on-coming local government congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking during the public presentation of the new candidate to the people at Girls Secondary School Ishiagu, in Ivo council area, the stakeholders stated that the council had been under the control of 'notorious cabals' in the past 13 years and needed a change in order to bring development to the people.

The leaders specifically demanded the replacement of the incumbent Chairman, Chief Celestine Eze with a new person, Mr. Chinedu Makwe even as they accused the council boss of ineptitude and lackluster performance.

In his peach at the mini-rally, the former Senate President, Chief Anyim stated that Ivo local government area was one of the most endowed local governments in the country in terms of human and material resources but regretted that the incumbent chairman and his predecessor in office lacked the development initiatives and drive to harness the rich potentials of the council for the benefit of the people.

Anyim who was represented at the occasion by one of his aides, Chief Emma Mbechina stated that a man who had been taking a particular medicine for an ailment for 20 years without any effect need not be told to change his medicine, stressing that one can only tell a blind man that there is no oil in a soup but not that there is no Sault in it.

On his part, the Senate Committee Chairman on Aviation, Elder Anyim Ude who was represented by Chief Osita Ude, popularly called Ogbanta, stated that the current ugly situation in Ivo local government area, where crisis, lack of development and political brigandage had become order of the day in the last 13 years was contrary to what the founding fathers of the council had envisage, a called on the people to rise for a change.

"Since the creation of the council, except for the pioneer Chairman, Mr. Jackson Nwachukwu, the successive leadership had fallen into the hands of notorious cabals and political vampires. Ever since, it has been harvest of crisis and pursuit of selfish agenda. Chinedu Makwe is the only peace formular; and we have taken the message to (PDP leadership in) Abakaliki," he said.

Other speakers including the Chief Whip of the State Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Orji, former Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation in the State and currently the Secretary of PDP Elders Committee in the State, Chief Chris Okereke, former member of the House Of Representatives, Eusebius Aroh, former member of the State Assembly, Barr. Ray Akanwa and former President-General of Ishiagu Community Development Union (ICDU), Chief Cletus Ike-Nga while pledging their support for the second term bid of the Governor Martin Elechi, pleaded with the leadership of the party in the state to allow them effect a democratic change in the council in the coming local government party primaries.
Source: Daily Champion, 16^th April 2010.

Ebonyi and Abuja Politicians' Syndrome

Our Reporter

Over time in Ebonyi state there has developed a pattern of behaviour among a certain group of people which qualifies to be labelled a syndrome. This disease is called Abuja Group Syndrome or AGS. It is an infectious, malignant and debilitating disease just like others we know. This is because it nearly always results in death and destruction. It is the disease of those who want to hijack power, without the support, consent or love of the people. Like every case of hijack it causes pain and trauma and many times death. It is a mental imbalance. The disease of cannibalism. The sufferers grow stronger as a result of the oppression and suffering of the people. The more confusion, hatred and mayhem they are able to cause, the more important they appear to be. The possess nuisance value but have no electoral value.

One may ask what is Abuja Group syndrome. To understand this term very well, it is important to define those referred to as Abuja Group. The term Abuja Group in Ebonyi State was first coined in Ebonyi State in 2001. It refers to elected politicians, political office holders, their hangers on, families, ex this and ex that, including PA's and PA's to PAs who live and operate in Abuja or at the federal level.

The term Abuja Group was coined when Senator Pius Anyim as president of the senate, number 3 citizen, assembled all Ebonyi politicians in Abuja and tried to use federal might and connection to wrestle the control of the machinery of the ruling party in the state PDP from the control of then Governor Dr Sam Egwu.

The Abuja Group headed by Senator Anyim then wielded so much power and caused so much confusion in the state. Each time Anyim and his Abuja Group was to visit the state, hundreds of federal police in truck convoys laid siege on the state capital causing terror in the state.

In the confrontation between the Home Group and the Abuja Group, many lives were lost and a lot of resources wasted not to mention the creation of deep enemities amongst erstwhile friends and families. Anyone then who felt he was wronged by Egwu or was not remembered in the distribution of power in the state, joined the Abuja Group. Among them is a certain Adol Awam. Awam then chairman of Ebonyi Local Government Area was accused of corruption and abuse of office, investigated by the House of Assembly and eventually removed from office. He joined the Abuja Group. To demonstrate his loyalty and preference to Abuja Group, Awam named his 1st son after Pius Anyim in a lavish naming ceremony. In the end, Egwu won and most of the Abuja Group then poured themselves into the ANPP to contest the 2003 elections. They poured themselves back into the PDP soon afterwards when they all lost the elections.

It is the repeated behavioural pattern of the Abuja Group over the years that has qualified it to be called Abuja Group Syndrome. The single desire of the group is to wrestle the control of the party machinery from any incumbent Governor for the purpose of installing one of them as Governor of the State.

Abuja Group Syndrome although it first manifested in Ebonyi State is not a disease peculiar to Ebonyi State. All through the country, those elected as senators, or appointed as minister etc like the chameleon, keep one eye turned to their current post and the other eye on the Governorship seat of their respective States or its control.

In deed the Abuja Group Syndrome is so prevalent that every State Governor stands strongly opposed to the positions of senate president, deputy senate president, speaker of the HR or deputy speaker coming to their states.

Once a senator or a representative is elected as president of senate or speaker etc, they forget instantly that their position really is a federal position not speaker of Nigeria or President of Nigeria, but just principal officers of federal legislative bodies. Just recently, the Governor of Ogun State Otunba Gbenga Daniel was quoted as saying that Dimeji Bankole the speaker of the House of Reps, is a curse to Ogun State.

In truth the president of the senate is a senator of 1/3 of his state not 1/3 of Nigeria. This forgetfulness is what is referred to as Abuja Syndrome. There is hardly any state of the federation where a principal officer of either the senate or the House of Reps come from where there is any love lost between such officer and the Governor of his state.

The syndrome has again surfaced in Ebonyi State as groups begin the political sex dance. Those who have been infected by this disorder are beginning to manifest the symptoms of the syndrome some in even new and very strange dimensions. An Ibo proverb says that he who is dancing does not know how his backside is moving.

Recently in Ebonyi State full blown cases of Abuja syndrome are beginning to manifest. One of the sufferers of that syndrome Adol Awam mentioned earlier, has manifested full blown symptoms. A few weeks ago, Adol Awam and his fellow AGS sufferers called a press conference in Abakaliki. In that press conference, Awam like a true AGS sufferer, announced that he was taking over the PDP in Ebonyi State and stated that the PDP State Chairman was from ANPP and was not a true PDP man. Sickening and ignorant utterances from AGS diseased minds. He was so ignorant, he didn't even know that Ogbulafor the current PDP National Chairman was the APP (now ANPP) Governorship candidate in Abia State in 1999. He was so ignorant he had no way of knowing that Saraki the Oloye of Illorin was a presidential aspirant on the platform of APP or that Rochas Okorocha was a presidential aspirant of ANPP in 2003. How do you explain that such people like Awam will come out and disgrace Ebonyi people by claiming any form of leadership role in the state when they cannot grasp ordinary daily happenings around them?

Why is Abuja Group Syndrome able to foster and survive? It is simply as a result of our weak federal structure. This fact is at the base of our political suffering. The party at the centre decides which person will be candidate for the party in a particular state, whether they stood for the primaries or not. That's why people who have no political structure, no political history and no love or affinity with the people are brought to rule over them. So Amechi won the primaries, but Abuja gives it to Omehia; so senator Ararume won the primaries in Imo State but Abuja says we have no candidate in Imo State. That's how Soludo the PDP Governorship candidate of one of the richest and most industrious states in African was selected in Abuja. Utterly despicable practice! Those in Abuja like lords think they know better what the people of a particular area need and what their needs are. So like the Queen of England, like Emperors or colonialists they merely send their envoys to be Governors of the states not Governors of the people.

I posit that this lopsided and totally anomalous political situation, has created this ridiculous scenario. It has allowed people who came to Abuja to build and acquire house and chase after contracts and who have lost touch with the masses to wake up with their money and because they attend PDP National Caucus meeting at Wadata House and perhaps drank tea with the party's national officers to dreamily wake up and caste their gaze on the seat of Governor and begin to bully those that are really in charge of the welfare of the people. How many of these AGS sufferers can win an election unaided by their Governors?. It is why candidates instead of looking for support amongst their people carry bags of Naira (I hear then now only accept dollars) and chase after party national officers for support! Bizarre!

Personally, I think it is a matter of state security for a person to just wake up, drink a cup of ogogoro or whatever they drink and announce they have taken over a political party. That is akin to a coup and all those that do that actually have coupist mentality. I say that it is a matter of state security because experience shows that such declarations usually lead to bloodshed and loss of life and the destabilization of the state. What else is the work of the SSS if not to quickly arrest these kinds of people.

Let them all be arrested and prosecuted. Perhaps in court, they can plead as their defence that they are suffering from a disease of the mind otherwise called AGS Syndrome. I suggest that this will be a complete defence. The only snag is that upon conviction, they will be kept in a state penitentiary at the pleasure of the Governor.

Finally, as a way of curbing this disease, let the National Executive of political parties be responsible only for presidential candidates and let the state party structure present all other candidates.

Anthony Oka Esq.was the APGA governorship candidate in Ebonyi in 2007
Source: Daily Champion, 12^th April 2010.

EFCC Arrests Fake Traditional Ruler For $2430,000 Fraud
By Olawunmi Ojo

OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have picked up a 38-year-old man, Chief Sam Nwankwo (alias Barrister Nwankwo, Hon. Nwankwo, Governor Brother), for defrauding a 57-year-old man identified as Collins of $243,000.

The commission said in October last year that Nwankwo, who claims to be the Ogbuefi of Opokssi from Ohozarra in Ebonyi State, allegedly travelled to Abidjan, Cote d' Ivoire to meet members of his syndicate namely Michael Adekunle (alias Doctor), Kadjo Aneje (alias Jean De Baptist) and sold a dummy to the victim who had been living in that country for over 20 years.

In a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, EFCC spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi said the suspect went to the victim with a proposal to help him secure a soft loan to expand his business. The victim who deals in petroleum products reasoned with them and agreed to collect the loan from Adekunle who was introduced to him as a United States of America-based physician.

The introduction, Babafemi said, was done by Kadjo, a long time friend of Collins. To make the loan offer irresistible, Adekunle promised to give the victim a $2.5million facility at the low interest rate of five per cent.

"After the victim had accepted to take the loan, Adekunle told him that he had already secured it. To convince his prey, he showed him documents he purportedly used to secure the loan. But he said the victim could only access it if he agrees to pay the sum of $23,000 as commitment fee. The victim promptly paid."

But after payment, Collins did not get the loan and Adekunle told him that the money was in Swiss vault and that since the money was idle, the victim had to pay $100,000 as demurrage before the money could be released to him.

In his desperation, Collins paid the money. The suspects were not satisfied and demanded an additional $60,000 and promised that the expenses would be deducted from the loan.

Adekunle later told Collins that the fund belonged to one Chief Sam Nnamani and that for Nnamani to release the money, the victim must pay another $60,000 as agreement; assuring that within two days the money would be paid to him. Again, Collins complied.

Instead of paying the money, the story changed. Adekunle told the victim once more, that the money actually belonged to one late Justice Okeke (nee Nnamani), the sister to Chief Nnamani and that the judge was poisoned because she used Nnamani as her next-of-kin.

"At this juncture the suspect, Chief Nwankwo emerged from the shadows, to play his part in this brazen script of trickery. He introduced himself as a younger brother to Chief Nnamani and late Justice Okeke and promised to use his influence and connection in influential circles to help him secure the loan. After visiting the victim in Abidjan and extorting some money in hard currency from him, he invited the victim who hails from Delta State to Nigeria ostensibly to facilitate the release of the loan. But as he was about to collect more money from the victim, he was arrested by operatives of the EFCC.

"When confronted with these facts, the suspect claimed he only took $3,900 from the victim in two instalments and that the money was meant for his transportation to Abidjan. He confessed that he promised to introduce Collins to one Alhaji Attah who would have given him the loan but regretted that the victim could not meet the condition for granting the facility. He explained that he was to be paid $7,500 as commission for introducing the victim to the said Alhaji Attah.

"When his house was searched, framed computer generated photographs he claimed to have snapped with prominent Nigerians like Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro and others, were recovered. During interrogation, Nwankwo who lives in Enahoro Street, Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos confessed that he showed the photographs to the victim in order to convince him that he was well connected and influential.

On how he came about the photographs, he claimed that the one he snapped with Okiro was taken in 2006, when the former police boss was honoured at a reception in Night Shift Coliseum, Ikeja, Lagos; while the one with Babangida was purportedly taken in 2006 when he went with his group, Nigeria Youths Organisation to persuade IBB to contest the presidential election in 2007. But looking at the photographs critically, it was discovered that he super-imposed his picture on those of the prominent Nigerians."

Other items recovered from the suspect include multiple identity cards with different names and titles. In all the identity cards, he was decked in wig and gown, suggesting that he was a practicing lawyer. He even identifies himself as Barrister Nwankwo. In his ECOWAS passport, he wrote legal practitioner against the column for profession. In yet another of his identity cards, he called himself Honourable Sam .N. Nwankwo and the organisation he represents as Sustainable Nigeria Youth Coalition.
Source: The Guardian, 10^th April 2010.

Ebonyi Crisis: Elechi Denies Involvement in Trial of Arrested Politicians

By Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi has denied any hand in the listing of those who were invited to Abuja for interrogation, detention and trial by the Inspector-General of Police over their alleged sponsorship of the Ezza-Ezillo fratricidal war which has claimed the lives of 16 policemen, three soldiers and more that 200 civilians.

Addressing a news conference in Abakaliki yesterday on behalf of Chief Elechi, the State Commissioner of Information, Mr. Egwu Chima stated that that the Governor should rather be commended for his extra-ordinary, maturity and patience in the way and manner he handled the Ezillo/Ezza Ezillo crisis thus far, despite "obvious provocations against government by those who after promoting the crisis go behind to accuse the Chief Elechi-led government of leadership inertia".

Chima state that the executive council of the state after its meeting on Thursday, commended the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State and other security agencies for the way and manner they used their security and intelligence ingenuity and discretion to identify, without reference to the state, those they invited to Abuja for necessary questioning on matters connected to the crisis.

"Exco pleaded with all Ebonyi indigenes and non-indigenes to remain patient, law-abiding and resolute as the end to the crisis appear to be in sight with the recent take over of its management by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Office of the Inspector-General of Police," he said.

He stated that the exco set up the State Council on Public Procurement in line with the laws establishing the Public Procurement Bureau.

He said that the five-man Council is made up of commissioners for Finance and Economic Development; Works and Transport; Public Utilities; Lands, Survey and Housing as well as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

According to the Commissioner, Mr. Nwali Paul is to serve as the Secretary to the Council, which he said has no permanent chairman as this will be rotatory depending on the item being procured in each case and provided that no Commissioner presides over the case of any item of procurement under its ministry or parastatal.

Chima noted that the exco revisited the investment options available to Government-owned Landed Property outside the state and authorized the Committee charged with the responsibility for identifying all these Property outside the State and its Investment options headed by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to go ahead and advertise these property in some of the National Dailies in order to enable interested parties to identify with the investment possibilities of these Landed property.
Source: Daily Independent, 4^th April 2010.

Police Won't Give Up On Ebonyi Killings

MALACHY UZENDU, Deputy News Editor, Abuja.

Even as hoodlums last Monday killed no fewer than 16 police officers drafted to restore peace in the troubled Ezza/Ezzilo communities which had engaged themselves in fratricidal land dispute, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, yesterday said the police remain undaunted in restoring peace in the area.

Onovo who spoke in a telephone interview explained that though his men were ambushed and killed by some hoodlums operating in the disputed area, "I have instructed the Commissioner of Police to immediately send reinforcement to the area and rid the place of hoodlums and other undesirables operating in the area".

Onovo explained that he was down cast by the latest killings but said he was not demoralized by the activities of the hoodlums whom he said would soon be fished out for prosecution.

He noted that some leaders of the disputed area, including one Mr. Ben Bright Mkpuma, an Abuja-based journalist, have been charged to court for matters connected with the Ebonyi crises, saying they could not arraigned for their pleas to be taken because the Federal high court judge sitting in Abuja, before whom the matter was assigned to, did not sit last Tuesday.

It was learnt that the presiding Justice K. Kolawole had adjourned sitting to Thursady though he did not give reasons why he had to do so, forcing the Police to take the suspects back to the cell, while the suspects who were granted administrative bail on self recognition went back to their homes.

The police boss noted that he was disappointed that all entreaties made to the warring parties in the dispute have fallen on deaf ears, but wondered why land disputes should degenerate to killing innocent passers-by, who have nothing whatsoever to do with the crisis.

He said he would leave no stone unturned at restoring peace in the area and assured motorists and residents of the affected area that "we are up to the task and I can assure you that very soon calm would be restored in the towns".

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Emmanuel Ojukwu who also spoke on the matter said they would stop at nothing until they restored peace to the area and cleared the federal highway which had become death spot of attack by hoodlums.

It should be recalled that for over two weeks, commuters had boycotted the Ezza/Ezzilo portion of the Enugu – Abakaliki highway due to unprovoked attack by some aggrieved persons on unsuspecting passengers.

In one of such attacks, a Director-General in the Akwa Ibom state administration who was passing by the road unfortunately fell into the firing pellets of the warring parties, forcing the police top hierarchy to invite leaders of the two communities for talks and subsequently charging them to court.

The Ebonyi state government has also said the crisis has taken its toll on social and economic activities in the state and had expressed disgust that all its efforts at arresting the crisis have so far failed.

Sectarian crisis in Jos, Plateau state has led to the killing of over 1,000 persons, with the matter taking dangerous ethnic dimension, similar to what is gradually unfurling in Ebonyi state
Source: Daily Champion, 1^st April 2010.

IG Arrests Senator Ucha, 40 Others Over Ebonyi Crisis

Written by By Chizoba Ogbeche, Abuja

Worried by the intractable crisis which has enveloped the Ezza-Ezillo communities of Ebonyi State since May 10, 2008, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, ordered the arrest of Senator Julius Ucha and 40 other stakeholders from the state.

The inspector-general gave the order during a meeting on his instance with the stakeholders cutting across political office holders, government officials and leaders of thought at the force headquarters yesterday in Abuja.

Onovo, who traced the origin of the crisis to land dispute between the Ezzas and the Ezillos, said it was one that has caused concern to everyone in the region, noting that two committees comprising of clergies, traditional rulers and other stakeholders had been set up to resolve the issue.

These committees, which the IG said had used both conventional and traditional methods of settlement and negotiations, had failed in resolving the issue, noting that police and military intervention had also failed.

He decried the fact that the police had already lost 16 personnel and other private citizens, including a director from Cross River State who was killed while travelling through the state during the week. Onovo added that police stations had been burnt in the course of the crisis and police armed personnel carriers destroyed.

The police boss accused the stakeholders of sponsoring the crisis for selfish reasons as intelligent report had revealed that the perpetrators of the crime could not afford to buy the arms and weapons they employ.

According to him, he was not interested in discussing settlement with the group; rather, he had invited them to Abuja to facilitate their arrest and enable his men move in to the state, pointing out that they would be detained until peace was restored in the area.

While apologising for the inconvenience of keeping them in detention, Onovo said the police must do what they have to do as the people had proved over time that they understand only the language of force.

He wondered why since inception in office, he has had the greatest challenge from the South East and was ready to use force to restore peace to the region.

The dispute between the communities is believed to have been hijacked by politicians who are alleged to have armed youths and other hoodlums in the state to attack members of the public and create insecurity to score political points against political opponents.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND's checks revealed that 15 of the arrested persons, including a serving senator, Julius Ucha, two local government chairmen, two commissioners and an Abuja-based journalist representing the state association in the FCT, were however granted bail on personal recognition.

When contacted, Senator Ucha told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND that he was not arrested as he had gone to the meeting at the Force Headquarters on his own volition as they were seeking a lasting solution to the lingering crisis.

According to him, he left the inspector-general's office after the meeting, but would not acknowledge if the IG had ordered the arrest of all present at the meeting.
Source: Leadership, 27^th March 2010.

Ebonyi Lists Condition for Council
Chiefs' Re-election

ABAKALIKI—EBONYI State Government has given condition under which incumbent local government chairmen in the state would be returned for a second term in office come, July 10, local council elections in the state.

The state government said that only performing chairmen, who discharged their duties creditably well with accountability would be returned. The state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Mathias Adum, had therefore, cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to ensure that only the council chairmen and councilors, who performed creditably well, would be return for a second term.

Adum, who dropped the hint during a PDP rally at Ugbodo Ebonyi Local Government Headquarters, said that in actual sense, some council chairmen and Development Centre Coordinators had done the party proud by embarking on developmental projects. He commended the state government and the PDP for the efforts they are making for the rapid development of Ebonyi Local Government Area and requested that action be intensified on the Abakaliki –Ugbodo Road, which is under construction before the rainy season steps in.

Addressing party faithful at the rally, the chairman, PDP, Ebonyi State, Engr Dave Umahi, announced that there is no automatic ticket for any aspirant, but that the people and stakeholders of a particular area, were free to choose who will represent them.

Engr Umahi further said that in their bid to enhance gender equality and encourage women to come into politics, intent forms for women aspiring to elective positions in the forth coming council elections was free of charge, adding that the 30% of the positions given to women in the council elections slated for July 10, had come to stay.

He charged the stakeholders to make sure that the election was free and fair, warning that anybody who in one or the other, involves himself in violence or carries placard against anybody would be disqualified from aspiring for any position on the platform of PDP in the state at any level.
Source: Vanguard, 26^th March 2010.

Council Polls Set Ebonyi Politicians, Parties on Edge
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki

THE council polls in Ebonyi State scheduled for July 10, 2010 could be the test for politics in the state ahead the 2011 elections. The election has raised the tempo of political activities and is playing up the Egwu versus Elechi rivalry in the state.

Also political parties like the Congress for Democratic Change, (CDC) and the Progressive Peoples Alliance, (PPA) are trying to show how much grassroots support they have to debunk the claims of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) that there was no opposition in the state. The PPA stated that it would contest the election based on its strength as, "to be on the ground does not flow from much noise making." It stated that it aims to make the party an election winner after the change in leadership. The state PPA chairman Chief Cyril Obasi and the state secretary Michael Nnachi were selected as members of the Caretaker State Working Committee. This followed the dissolution of the former EXCO headed by Anselem Okwy Enigwe.

At a brief ceremony to formalise the change of guards, the PPA National Scribe, Alhaji Dahiru Musa Abdullahi, disclosed that the former state executive led by Mr. Anselem Unigwe, was hamstrung by persistent leadership tussles. He pointing out that the appointment of a caretaker committee was to ensure that there was no absence of leadership. Abdullahi said the party national leadership acted the way it did to meet the challenges ahead especially the 2011 elections.

Obasi pledged to organise the PPA in Ebonyi so it would win elections. He said that his immediate task was to reconcile the party with the aggrieved members and "then plan how to win elections, which is the main objective of any party." He dismissed the allegation that members of the past executive were proxies of some PDP faithful. Obasi explained that if the "essence of his appointment is to win elections."

He noted, "the issue of being on ground or not being on ground is when you go to the polls. The electorate will tell who is actually on ground. It is not my duty to remove the incumbent; it is the duty of the electorate to say whom they want. The PPA door is open for anybody and whoever wins the primary will take the mantle of leadership."

Alluding to the lack of internal democracy in the state PDP, the PPA state woman leader, Princess Frances Mgbada, said that the "PPA respects transparency and accountability unlike what is obtained in other parties. We are not going to impose people on members."

The State Chairman of CDC, Ogbonnaya Itcha, said that the lesson from the Anambra State governorship election is that the people are interested in the quality of candidates and not parties. He said: "What is needed is a level playing field. Our style is to allow the party do its best but during campaigns we tell the people what they know and how we shall do things differently. We have seen that those who do not have ideas or feasible plans are the ones who see elections as a do-or-die affair."

In the meantime, the mood in the PDP is that of intrigues and suspense. Most of the council chairmen who were angling for a second term in office were when the state Governor Martin Elechi talked of a zoning format. He is believed to have caved in to demands by some communities that the zoning arrangements should apply to candidates for the council positions.

The governor said that there should be rotation of positions to achieve balance and eschew bickering. One of the areas where agitation was in frenzy is Ivo council, where James Aroh Nweke the godfather of the incumbent chairman, Celestine Eze, wants a second term for his ward. While majority of the people in Ivo want the council chairmanship to rotate between Ishiagu and its Akaeze brothers, Nweke, who is also the Commissioner for Inter-Party Dialogue, insists on Eze as chairman.

PDP chieftains like Senator Anyim Ude, former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, former member of House of Representatives, Eusebius Aroh and Chief Whip, Ebonyi House of Assembly, Uchenna Orji support the idea of an Akaeze person as chairman. Nweke counters that the arrangement could only come after the incumbent had served two terms in office. Orji, who like Nweke, hails from Ishiagu said that it was not correct to say that prominent members of Ishiagu in government are against Akaeze taking the position of Ivo council chairman. "The capital of the council, Isiaka, was derived from a combination of the first three letters in the names of Ishiagu and Akaeze, because the council was carved for the two communities. It is therefore equitable that after nearly 14 years of its creation, an Akaeze person should serve as council chairman for once," Orji said.

He noted that the desire for a second term ticket has engendered a climate of unease in the fold of Ebonyi PDP. A source revealed that, "it was the concern that the quest for second term could destroy the internal cohesion of the party that the governor asked that communities should respect the zoning arrangement and asked stakeholders to trash such issues where they exist." But others said that Elechi was reacting to issues raised by a faction of the party led by Sunday Adol Awam on the lack of internal democracy in the choice of the party's candidates.

At a press conference in Abakaliki, Awam, passed a vote of no confidence on the state executive committee headed by David Umahi and accused it of causing disaffection within the Ebonyi chapter of PDP. He said that the caretaker committee, which was headed by Umahi was sworn in on July 26, 2007 on the understanding that elections would be conducted within six months. But in the first quarter of 2008, the caretaker committee was coerced into a permanent executive under an arrangement between the former governor, Dr. Sam Egwu and Elechi without input from other stakeholders. "I regret that more than two years after, Ebonyi PDP remains divided. Umahi and his Executive have continued to discriminate and rule with an iron fist," Awam said.

The press conference caused some unease in Ebonyi PDP. Elechi disclosed that members of the National Working Committee pointed out that no serious attention was being paid to the upheaval. Since then, party leaders have continued to deny the factionalisation of the party in the state. Umahi alleged that Awam is not an authentic member of PDP and that after he left to contest the governorship in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), he never rejoined the PDP officially. The allegation that Awam contested for governorship under ANPP has been described as false and the opposition has continued to point to that lie as one of the many instances of ineptitude against Umahi in his running the party. The state chairman is accused of not paying attention to the party and it is against this background that Elechi asked the party leadership to strengthen the party structure as he favours internal democracy.

In what is seen as a last ditch effort to build consensus and garner grassroots support for the council elections, the state PDP has begun a statewide rally expected to take it to the 13 councils. The party also set up an elders committee charged with building consensus and uniting the aggrieved members preparatory for the council elections. Shortly after the start of the rallies witnessed by the South East Zonal Vice Chairman, Olisa Metuh, at Nkwegu Primary School, Abakaliki council; the party held its State Executive Committee, (SEC) meeting during which Senator Anthony Agbo moved a motion for a vote of confidence on Elechi. A member of the House of Representatives, Darlington Okereke, seconded the vote, which was unanimously adopted. Metuh inaugurated the Elders Committee, with Okeagu Ogada, one-time chairman of the party as the chairman. Chris Okereke is the Secretary and most of the influential politicians in the area Senator Ofia Nwali, Agbo, Anyim, and Ambassador Frank Ogbuewu are members.

Metuh described Umahi, as the best state chairman in the zone saying that opposition, which he noted is a necessary element of democracy, must follow laid down procedures. He added described him as a man of integrity "and knowledge to our great party." Metuh expressed confidence in the administration of the party in Ebonyi and praised the record of achievements by the PDP-led administration, saying that there are no reasons for a parallel executive of the party in the state. He remarked that any aggrieved persons should follow due process or resign his membership if the results of the due processes were unacceptable to him or her.

In his address, Umahi, disclosed that the forum was an expanded one since according to him, the party got the approval of the SEC to accommodate other members as observers through a due motion, pointing out that it was obligatory for the party leadership to brief the stakeholders on the progresses and other issues affecting the party. While denying insinuations in some quarters that the party does not plan to hold governorship primaries in the state, Umahi stressed that some people misconstrued the many memoranda from various communities and groups in the state to the party adopting the incumbent governor as the candidate for the 2011 race, as the adoption of the governor as the sole candidate by the PDP. He declared that the party would go through all due process in the choice of its candidates at all levels even as he echoed the sentiments of the zonal vice chairman that there was no parallel executive of the party. He admitted that the party was ready to address genuine complaints from its registered members or those who seek to join the party. Umahi said the newly inaugurated Elders Committee would entertain matters as could be directed to it, noting however that it would not function as an adjunct executive.

Source: The Guardian, 26^th March 2010.

Anyim Donates N10m to Ebonyi PDP

ABAKALIKI—Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim at the weekend, announced a cash donation of N10 million to the Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, adding that come 2011, Governor Martin Elechi, by God's grace, shall be returned as Governor of the state for a second term.

Senator Anyim, who in recent times had become prominent in the activates of Ebonyi State Government, had reaffirmed peated his support for the Elechi-led government, explaining that the donation was part of his personal contribution to the party in appreciation of its laudable achievements.

He said that PDP has achieved a lot in repositioning and strengthening the present democracy in Nigeria.

Anyim, spoke at Isiaka, Ivo Local Government Area of the state, when the state PDP took its on-going local government rally to his home town in Ivo.

The former Senate President observed that the occasion was not just a rally, but a day to champion a new course to consolidate the gains of democracy for the people of the state, adding that his home council, Ivo, is intact for PDP.
He said, "in Nigeria, there is no other party.

PDP is the party of my pride. I was made by PDP and by 1999, we did not know that PDP will put Ivo in an important position in Nigeria. Ivo has therefore resolved that today is a day for Governor Elechi. There is absolute peace in Ivo and indeed in Ebonyi State. The expectation of Ivo people is that in 2011, there is no alternative to Elechi and we shall guarantee and protect our votes," he added.

The Ebonyi State chairman of PDP, Mr. Dave Umahi vowed that nobody can truncate the second term bid of Governor Elechi, expressing delight at the level of mobilization of the people for the rally. He said the chairman of the council and coordinators of the Development Centres in the area had also done the party proud, by the projects they already have on ground.
Source: Vanguard, 22^{nd March 2010.}

Ebonyi Communal Clash Claims More Lives

By Chinedu Eze

The communal clash between the people of Ezillo clan who are the aborigines and the Ezza settlers over struggle for land has claimed four prominent people from Cross Rive State. The quartet were burnt to death during the week on an emissary to the troubled community.

Report said mercenaries allegedly employed by the Ezzas killed and burnt to death the victims who were on their way to Ogoja through the Enugu-Abakaliki highway that cuts through the warring community and that their four-wheel-drive vehicle with the number, LN 304 AAA, belonging to a director in the Federal Civil Service who was also killed in the incident, was also burnt down.
THISDAY learnt that Cross River State Government sent a delegation to Ebonyi State Government on Tuesday, protesting the killings and the state government is striving to end the crisis by any possible means.

Besides the aforementioned, other killings have been taking place along the highway and in the various villages of the community.
According to eye witness account, the crisis is still on-going in spite of all the efforts to end it because the Ezzas who have dominant population in the state refused to resettle in portion of land given to them by the state government, while the Ezillo people defiantly insisted that the Ezzas, known as Ezza Ezillos must leave the community.

The clash which started on May 10, 2008 has claimed more than 600 lives with property worth more than N1 billion destroyed.
A senior official of the Ebonyi state government told THISDAY that efforts made by the state government to reconcile the two warring clans ended in futility as political interests seem to have suffused the major reason why the crisis started, which is the resistant of the Ezillos against alleged plan of the Ezza settlers to take over the community by their superior population and overwhelming wealth.
But the Ezzas have dismissed the fears, alleging that the Ezillos had always wanted to force them out of the community, which became their home way back in the 1930s, when their great grand fathers were invited to help Ezillos fight their neighbours in the enduring struggle for land.
A prominent son of Ezillo and a public servant in the state told THISDAY at the weekend that Ezillo people are eager to make peace, complaining that Ezza people have engaged in guerilla warfare to exterminate the Ezillos, adding that to make peace both parties should make sacrifices.

THISDAY also gathered that the Ezzas who rejected the place given to them in the community by the state government, arguing that it was a stream of land that lies in the boundary between two communities, requested that one half of the community should be allocated to them, while the Ezillos reject such request, insisting that they could only concede what government has already given to the Ezza Ezillos.
"Government moved from the initial 52.5 hectares of land given to them and enlarged it to 306. 29 hectares; this is additional landmass of 253.5 hectares as contained in the broadcast of the governor, Chief Martin Elechi," a source told THISDAY.
But Ignatius Nwali from the Ezza clan told THISDAY that his people decided to continue to launch attacks because in the past whenever a truce was agreed on the Ezillo people would break it and they would be caught unawares, noting that until their own conditions are met they would not stop the fight.

"The area that Ezza people want is on this side of Ebonyi River . Due to the good relationship and good co-existence our grandfathers had with their grandfathers they agreed to live together. But since they want to flush us out or eliminate or prevent us from enjoying the fruit of the labour of our grandfathers, we have requested that we live at one side of the community. The land where we live before, we are ready to forfeit— those land at the other side of Ebonyi River is what we want. That is what we want now."
Dr Onyekachi Eni, Chief Press Secretary to the Ebonyi State Governor told THISDAY, "Since this crisis broke out, Governor Martin Elechi has left no stone unturned to resolve it. He has been personally involved in the various peace building initiatives of the state government.
Source: This Day, 21^st March 2010.

Ebonyi to Spend N3.8b on Federal Roads
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki

THE Ebonyi State government has resolve to award the contract for the dualisation of a portion of the Enugu -Abakaliki Expressway following what it described as the lukewarm attitude of the Federal Government towards a collaborative effort on the trans-African highway.

Addressing journalists at the end of the rescheduled weekly State Executive Council (EXCO) meeting in Abakaliki at the weekend, Special Assistant to the Governor on Media Matters, Mr. Abia Onyike, disclosed that the council approved the award of the contract for the dualisation of the section of the road that runs from the state Universal Basic Education Board headquarters unto the Onuebonyi River.

Onyike said the total distance of the road to be constructed is 21 kilometres in double lanes, 1 metre drainage and a sidewalk for pedestrians, adding that the contract was awarded to three construction firms at the total cost of N3.8 billion.

The construction firms according to the Special Assistant are Patan Nigeria Ltd, Brass Engineering and Construction Company Ltd and Unity Construction Ltd.

"Government's decision to dualise the road arose from the need to give a strategic facelift to the entrance to the state capital," Onyike noted, pointing out that the road was designed to have a median of three metres, about 1.5 metres shoulder, 1 metre drainage and a sidewalk for pedestrians as well as two bridges and two relief culverts.

The governor's aide explained that efforts made by the state government to get in touch with the Federal Ministry of Works did not quite yield positive result, stating that the state government cannot continue to wait ad infinitum more so when the project is one accorded very crucial consideration towards the improvement of the state capital in terms of its image and public relations.

On other issues tackled at the meeting, Onyike disclosed that "council endorsed the plan by the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Housing to embark on the demolition of illegal structures at the foot of the juju hills area in Abakaliki metropolis. The demolition is to commence next week after the expiration of the notices given to illegal squatters in the affected areas".

He said that following the provision made in the master plan of the OchoUdo city for a community residential layout, government has equally directed the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Housing to provide access roads in the community layout, adding that community leaders in the area were called upon to cooperate with the staff of the Ministry in the discharge of their duties.

Council, he went on, "has directed the Task Force on the implementation of the ban on the use of commercial motorcyclists in dualised roads in the metropolis to reactivate their operations". According to him, "the decision followed reports that commercial motorcyclists have started flouting the ban by using the dualised roads, thereby causing a breach of the law."

Onyike added that the council also endorsed the measures being taken by the secondary school education board to sanction school authorities indicted by the report of the audit committee that looked into alleged illegal collection of excess fees and levies from external students sitting for Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, (SSCE).
Source: The Guardian, 9^{th March 2010.}

Bloodbath in Ebonyi
From GODDY OSUJI, Abakaliki

The Ebonyi State governor, Chief Martin Elechi has expressed surprise at the wanton destruction of lives and property at Ezillo-Ezza area of Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State by armed militants. Elechi, who visited the war-torn area last Monday saw firsthand how innocent travellers on Enugu-Abakaliki expressway became victims of the brutal attack by the militants.

The area which has suffered many casualties as a result of the communal crisis has known no peace since the outbreak of hostilities between the Ezillo indigenes and the aborigines of Ezza. Over 200 lives have been wasted in the communal war.
The renewed hostility which took a different dimension a fortnight ago has seen no fewer than 100 lives being wasted all of whom were innocent travellers on Enugu-Abakaliki federal highway.
Many are worried that since the crisis started, it was only last Monday that Governor Elechi deemed it wise to visit the area engulfed in the bloody war.

Elechi who expressed surprise at the level of wanton destruction of life and property along the road also inspected the Ezillo Water Scheme, a multi-billion naira facility located in the area, which the militants had attempted to blow up.
No fewer than five corpses, including that of two policemen, a pregnant woman and a little girl were earlier removed from the roadside by officials of the Ebonyi State Environmental Protection Agency (ENSEPA).
A total of 15 vehicles, including five Hilux vans were either riddled with bullets or completely burnt even as the entire scene was still oozing out acrid stench of human decay.

To further strengthen the security of the area, a large number of regular and mobile policemen were to check the activities of the militants, who now operate in a guerrilla fashion, from unleashing further havoc along the road.
Traffic movement on the road which was totally stopped because of the attack on travellers along the road resumed gradually with heavy duty trucks while commercial drivers still afraid to ply the road now go through Okigwe-Afikpo-Abakaliki road, a journey that usually takes one hour now taking about four hours.
The governor, who was dazed at the destruction, described the invasion as a war on the entire state in the guise of communal crisis, assured that the militants and hoodlums will never win the war.

"This is an attack by unspecified persons. They are now fighting all Ebonyi State, that is what it is; to have attempted to destroy the water that we all drink, to have killed and maimed innocent passengers on a federal highway, to have killed people whose identities are unknown, who were simply going about their businesses; we can't say this is land dispute any more. It is criminality in its highest form…. As far as we are concerned, they shall never and can never win this war, they are wasting their time and they shall have a date with the history of retributive justice," Elechi said.

He commended the military men guarding the water scheme and the police personnel along the road for their gallantry, saying that their labour shall never go in vain.
The newly posted Commissioner of Police, Mr Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni, who was in the governor's entourage later confirmed to newsmen that two policemen were killed by the militants aside other civilian casualties.
Ayeni stated that the police were ready to match force with force with the militants even as he intends to adopt problem solving approach in resolving the crisis that has lasted for more than two years, adding that he had already invited stakeholders in the state for a meeting towards using dialogue in solving the problem.
Source: The Sun, 3^rd March 2010.

Elechi  Visits Ebonyi Communal Clash Scene

By Dennis Agbo

ABAKALIKI—FOUR days after the seizure of the Ezza-Ezillo disputed land by suspected hired militants, who over powered both the military and police, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, yesterday visited the war front,  where no fewer than five policemen were reportedly killed by the militants.

Governor Elechi in company of the newly posted Commissioner of Police,  drove round the communities of Ezillo, promising, however, to deal with the situation and stop the lawlessness.

He said that those perpetrating the war were criminals that must be dealt with.

The corpses that were said to be littered on the war field were, however, not seen, as they may have been cleared by the special mobile policemen that were drafted to the place. Road blocks have also returned to the war spots on the Enugu-Abakaliki highway while skeletal vehicular movements was noticed at the spot that was deserted since last week Friday, when the militants took control of the spot, killing innocent commuters and some policemen.

The communal war last Friday assumed a frightening dimension as men of the Nigerian Police Force were overran by the militants that confronted them, burnt two police vans and smashed  police armoured tanks that were recently acquired by the Ebonyi State government.

Also the Minister for Works, Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Hassan Lawal, who was bailed to visit the state could not get into the state as the Enugu-Abakaliki Road was overtaken by the militants. Police eyewitness was quoted as saying that the militants turned into skeleton, making it difficult to capture them.

Movement between Abakalik and Enugu is now frustrating as commuters use the  bush paths of Agba-Ezzagu to Nkanu areas of Enugu State. Others have opted to ply from Enugu to Okigwe-Afikpo and back to Abakaliki.
Source: Vanguard, 22^nd Feb 2010.

Communal Crisis: Corpses Litter Ebonyi Road

By KENNETH OFOMA, Abakaliki

At least seven persons including a policeman were killed on Friday as the war assumed a frightening dimension. Human bodies reportedly litter the Enugu-Abakaliki Express road at the battle spot.

Gun men believed to be hired militants burnt more than five Hilux vans and other vehicles along the road while so many commercial buses and big trucks were riddled with bullets.

The attack on the vehicles caused multiple accidents involving trucks in an attempt to escape. A driver of a tipper lorry that collided with another truck was trapped in his vehicle crying for help that never came.

Another woman with a baby strapped to her back was equally squeezed in-between two collided trucks. She was trapped while her baby died while still strapped to her back.

The gunmen engaged the police deployed to the area in a gun dwell destroying two armoured personnel carriers (APC) and killing one of the policemen in the process. The windscreen of one of the armourd vehicles was shattered, forcing the policemen to retreat.

The Enugu-Abakaliki Express road remained impassable for more than two days now. Commuters are forced to use bus parts including Ntezi-Agba- Ezama-Nkanu routes, but those who make the trip vow never to try it again due to horrible nature of the road.

Other travelers use the Abakaliki-Afikpo-Okigwe road to burst out at Enugu-Portharcourt Express road before proceeding to Enugu, which triples the distance and transport fare.

A planned visit to Ebonyi State by the Minister of Works, Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Hassan Lawal, was aborted on Friday following the blockade of Enugu-Abakaliki Express.

A convoy of vehicles dispatched by Ebonyi State government and led by the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Dr. Paul Okorie, to go and pick the minister at Enugu returned to Abakaliki as they could not pass the war zone.

The Police Public Relations Officer of Ebonyi State Police Command, Mr. Chris Anyanwu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the attack on the police, but could not confirm the number of casualties.

Five persons were similarly killed while several others sustained bullet wounds the previous weekend in the war zone.

Most of the victims are believed to be travelers plying the Enugu-Abakaliki Express road, a trans-African highway that stretches from Benin Republic through Lagos Enugu, Ebonyi to Cross River and Cameroon.

The communal crisis which erupted since May 10, 2008 over erection of GSM phone boot in a local market have pitched the two communities against the other with shooting going on intermittently since then.

However, the shooting intensified in the last two weeks with innocent travelers along the route being the worst hit as soldiers deployed to the flash points are no longer seen at any of the road blocks on the highway.
Source: Daily Champion, 21^st Feb 2010.

Ebonyi Communities Deny Anti-Elechi Charges
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki

THREE communities under the aegis of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Consultative Assembly, (NIECA) in Ohuakwu Local Council of Ebonyi State have dissociated themselves from the allegation by one of their leading members, Mr. Nwanne Ominyi, that the state Governor, Martin Elechi plans to remove some facilities and social amenities, including the School of Nursing, from their area.

The group said the charges against the government were not the position of the stakeholders of NIECA.

The communities denied that they were behind the claim by Ominyi that the state government was making moves to relocate the permanent sites of Ebonyi State University and the School of Health Technology, both of which are in Ohaukwu Local Council, pointing out that the fact that the new sites were not indicated by the accusers showed that "it is baseless and lacking in proof."

But Ominyi, former Special Assistant to Governor Sam Egwu, said he stands by the interview he granted to some reporters on the state of affairs in Ebonyi State, alleging that Elechi was pursuing a policy of privation and marginalisation against perceived opponents of his second term aspiration.

In a statement by Chief Davidson Agbo and Emmanuel Nwankwo, Chairman and Secretary of NIECA, they said the group's resolution to support Elechi's second term bid, which Ominyi used as basis to make his allegations, was based on the achievements of the governor and not attempt to make government rescind the decision.

Part of the statement read: "The attention of the respectable stakeholders of NIECA has been drawn to spurious publication by Mr. Nwanne Ominyi in some national dailies on February 2, 2010. In the said publications Ominyi claimed that the endorsement given by the leaders of NIECA for Governor Martin Elechi's second tenure 'was a premeditated plot by a few individuals to deceive and hoodwink the people of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Communities'.

"After exhaustive deliberations and deep reflections on Mr. Ominyi's ranting, we the undersigned for and on behalf of the entire members of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Consultative Assembly, (NIECA) wish to say that we dissociate ourselves from the attention-seeking ploy of Mr. Nwanne Ominyi."
Source: The Guardian, 13^{th Feb 2010.}

2011: Ebonyi South Politicians At War Over Elective Positions
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki

IN Ebonyi State, the rash and clash of ambition by political bigwigs are at the centre of the burgeoning crisis threatening Ebonyi South Senatorial zone.

There is said to be an unwritten understanding in the zone that no politician should get a second term ticket for any elective office. Consequently, some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the zone have started scheming for elective positions.

Yet, others who fear they may lose out in the likely clash of ambitions have also started making overtures to opposition parties as a fall back, in the belief that the much expected electoral reforms would sail through before the 2011 elections.

Though the one man, one term rule seems to be accepted for the House of Representatives seats, sources within PDP in the state say the same cannot be said of the state Assembly positions, since the party is toying with the idea of a mass return for the Assemblymen.

However, the positions of senate and Deputy Governorship are generating intense bickering and intrigue at the moment.

Proponents of the one-man-one-term agreement say it was only by dint of political providence that Prof Chigozie Ogbu became the Deputy Governor, first to Dr. Sam Egwu and now to Chief Martin Elechi.

Thus Ogbu, the former Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, became the only politician from the zone.

Indeed, the Consultant Pediatrician became Egwu's running mate in 2003 after the Abuja group versus Home front political battle in the state chapter of the PDP. While the supremacy battle raged and with Egwu's deputy then, the late Emmanuel Oko Isu, siding with the Abuja group, Ogbu, in his position as CMD, played the role of a conciliator.

He was said to have reached out to the warring camps with the message of peace and the need to forge a common front to tackle the many infrastructure and social challenges facing the state.

Having being a Special Adviser to the former Governor of old Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Ogbu had been playing politics from the sidelines and understood the cost of in-fighting on long-term political goals. His shuttle diplomacy and behind the scene efforts redounded to his benefit when Egwu asked him to be his running mate for the 2003 governorship election.

Many felt that Ogbu actually used the chasm between Egwu and Isu to further his political interests. But Egwu said he was deeply influenced by the Onicha-Igboeze-born medical doctor's concern for peace.

If Ogbu's emergence as Egwu's running mate and deputy was by happenstance, it was a benevolent political accident that saw him again as Elechi's running mate and deputy, though Egwu reportedly played a part.

Inside sources say Elechi was drafted into the crowded governorship race in 2006 as a compromise candidate to arrest the spectre of violence and threat to harmonious political relations of the clans within the Ebonyi chapter of PDP caused by the high number of aspirants.

Coincidentally, Ogbu was one of the 13 aspirants directed by Egwu to step down for Elechi after a rigorous and expensive campaign round parts of the state. Part of the carrots dangled by Egwu for the aspirants included a return to their former positions before their resignation to contest the governorship and the payment of some amount to defray their campaign expenses.

Only Senator Emma Azu Agboti and Ambassador Franklin Nchita Ogbu rebuffed the overtures, describing them as belated and an attempt to ridicule their political stature. Ogbu was said to have pleaded with Egwu to allow him run with the Elechi.

Following the general outcry over the conscription of Elechi, Egwu was said to have promised that a younger person would be made to run with the elder statesman. Former chairman of Afikpo North council, Mr. Iduma Enwo Igariwey, was initially penciled down to be Elechi's running mate, but the governor was said to have rejected him. It was at that point that Ogbu received positive consideration, as Elechi found him a like-mind.

So, by May 29, 2011, Ogbu would be completing two terms as deputy governor and gladiators say even the nation's constitution does not permit him another trial.

The agitation to replace Ogbu has pitched not only party faithful, but also some communities in the senatorial zone against another. For instance, the people of Edda contend that they have long lived in the shadows of their Afikpo brothers and unfairly treated in the distribution of political positions.

But observers of Ebonyi politics allege that it was in attempt to address that perceived imbalance that Governor Elechi brought in two commissioners into his cabinet from the area after the last cabinet reshuffle.

Abia Onyike, former Deputy National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Dorothy Ogonnaya Obasi, Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly are among those being tipped for the position.

But some members of the Edda community contend that personalities like Ufere Okoroafor and Egwu Nnachi should to be fielded for the senatorial seat. The people of Uburu alleged political marginalisation because one of their sons, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has been running for the governorship against winning candidates.

The state Chairman of PDP, David Nweze Umahi, believes that having been invited into party politics by Elechi, he has an edge over any other individual from the zone for the Number Two position.

Perhaps in readiness, Umahi, during the yuletide season, distributed food items, cash and scholarship grants to indigenes of the area ostensibly as part of his campaign strategy for the post.

However, while Umahi carries on with the swagger of the anointed, he was said to have been jolted recently by news that the chairman of the state Economic Review Committee (ERC), Dave Nwachukwu, has indicated interest in the position.

Sources said that prior to the entrance of Nwachukwu, Umahi was pushing for the zoning of the senatorial seat to Edda.

While Ogbu and Umahi are enmeshed in the battle of wits and supremacy in the old Ohaozara division of the zone, at the old Afikpo axis, Nwachukwu is said to be campaigning against the possible zoning of the senatorial ticket to the area.

As the major actors continue to prepare for the show down, they seem to have seen the need to forge new alliances and close ranks. In Uburu, for example, Umahi, who hails from a minority village, have made up with an old-time political war-horse, Onyekachi Agwu, who is seen as an independent-minded politician that could hold his own in any electoral contest.

Umahi's peace overtures were said to have paid off during the yuletide period, when Cardinal, as Agwu is known, received and even accompanied him on his visit to the former Senate President, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, to canvass support for his ambition.

Afikpo was agog recently when Delta State-born lawyer and political strategist, Mudi Erhenede, made up with his friend, Iduma Igariwey. Sources close to PDP told The Guardian that not a few politicians were taken aback by the sudden rapprochement between Erhenede and Igariwey.

"These two young politicians were part of the founding members of PDP in Ebonyi. They were responsible for the trouncing of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 1999 and the routing of the Abuja group in 2002, when Egwu and Anyim were locked in a supremacy battle over PDP structures in the state. Their coming together at this time speaks volumes of what to expect in the forthcoming elections," a source stated.

Igariwey is seen as a good grassroots mobiliser and gets his way easily in Ebonyi South senatorial zone, especially Afikpo North, where he once held forte as council chairman from 1999 to 2007.

He was Elechi's campaign coordinator in 2007 during which time he fought against his kinsman, Senator Azu Agboti, who received tactical and tacit support from Erhenede.

There are speculations that the settlement of the rift between the two friends may dictate the tempo of politics in the zone.

Onicha-Igboeze community has Ogbu as its highest political leader, in addition to the chairman of Ebonyi Council of Traditional Rulers, Ezeogo Agom Eze.

Since the turbulent intra-communal strife that led to the death of two police officers, Ogbu and his wife, Catherine, kept away from home over the wanton damage done to their country home.

The deputy governor believed that the destruction in Onicha-Igboeze was stoked by those who wanted to take his position as Elechi's running mate in 2007. But the community women have been able to make gave a change of heart.

Though a source denied that Ogbu has made his senatorial ambition public, he said that the seat was for Onicha people, alleging that Umahi was behind the rumour that Ogbu was preparing to run against Elechi for the governorship next year.

As the battle rages, the opposition appears to be waiting in the wings. Egwu had at a meeting with supporters warned that if any of them thinking he could make it under another platform outside PDP must be living in a fool's paradise, insisting that Ebonyi has always been PDP, and urged his followers to stay in the party and slug it out with anybody.

He hinted that there would be nothing like automatic tickets, assuring that primary elections would be held for all elective positions.

With electoral reform still in the works, how far Ebonyi PDP goes in containing the ambition of its bigwigs would determine how far the opposition politics could go in the senatorial zone.

Source: The Guardian, 13^{th Feb 2010.}

Ebonyi Varsity Students Protest Hike
in Tuition Fees

Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki

Academic activities at Ebonyi State University (EBSU) were partially paralysed yesterday following peaceful demonstration by the students, mostly non-indigenes to press home their grievances over the disparity in the recent increment in school fees of indigenes and non-indigenes.

The students numbering over 2000 took to the streets of Abakaliki, the state capital and marched from their permanent site to the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) campus which harbours the administrative headquarters of the university, as they chanted war songs.

The protesting students also complained of high price of private hostel accommodation in town due to non-residential system of the university, insecurity of students, inadequate social amenities in the school and alleged government interference with the activities of the Students Union.

Placards carried by the students had inscriptions such as, "say no to 10 per cent reduction in EBSU school fees", "share it 50-50", "reduce the school fees now", "say no to discrimination in EBSU" among others alleged that the school management recently increased the school fees from N19, 000 to N80, 000 for non-indigenes and N19, 000 to N60, 000 for indigenes.

The protest that started in the earlier hours saw the students blocking most of the major roads leading to the university main campus, Ezzamgbo, disrupting the on-going examination at the main campus before marching to the other campuses in the state.

At Ishieke and the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) campus of the institution, the students disrupted commercial activities in the area forcing most shops and filling stations to close their business premises while commercial and private vehicles near the area deserted the streets temporarily as the students were carrying logs, fresh leaves and chanting war songs.

The students described as unfortunate the recent increment in view of the economic hardship in the country regretting that the increment is so exorbitant that most parents are left with no option than to withdraw their wards from the school.

Some of the students who spoke to the Daily Champion on condition of anonymity criticised the disparity in the school fees of non-indigenes and indigenes urging the state government to reduce the increment and make the school fees uniform. 

 "The school authorities can not go on and increase school fees without the provision of necessary facilities that are expected to be in a higher institution. It is so unfortunate that the school does not have a single hostel, no toilet facilities; we don't even have good drinking water in the school. Now that the school fees have been increased, we expect them at least to reduce the fees and make it affordable for parents".

"The authorities should also use the proceeds to build hostels and provide other amenities in the school. This would generate fund for the school rather than increasing school fees. We call on the state government to look into our plight as most of us; our parents cannot afford N80, 000 every semester". 

When our reporter placed a call to the Public Relations Officer of the university (PRO), Mr. Larry Udu his telephone rang out. However, the Personal Assistant to the State Governor on Higher Education, Prof. Mike Otuma when contacted said the State government was shocked over the protest noting that after due consultation with the students union, the school management and the state government, the school fees was recently reduced by 10 per cent.

He urged the students to always embrace dialogue in resolving issues with the school management adding that the state would also invite the leadership of the students' union body and the school management to further dialogue on the issues.
Source: Daily Champion, 2^nd Feb 2010.

Nigercem Sues Ebonyi Govt Over
Judiciary Commission

KENNETH OFOMA, Abakaliki

THE Nigeria Cement Company of Nigeria (Nigercem), Nkalagu, Ebonyi State, has dragged Ebonyi State Government to a Federal High Court sitting in Enugu,  challenging the government's revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-0) and lease of Nigercem and the setting up of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the operations of Nigercem from 2002 to date.

Joined in the suit are members of the commission headed by Justice Adrian Orah (rtd).

Nigercem is presently owned by the Eastern Bulkcem Nigeria Limited (EBNL), the core investor that bought both assets and liabilities of the factory in 2002. Eastern Bulkcem Limited, makers of Eagle Cement, Port Harcourt is believed to be behind the suit.

Nigercem is seeking an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the first defendant/respondent, Ebonyi State Government or its agents, privies, assigns, servants or howsoever from taking over the premises and/or interfering with the operations of the plaintiff/applicants (Nigercem) on all the land and property described as Nigercem land in the notice of revocation dated October 6, 2009.

The plaintiff is also seeking an order restraining the second to seventh defendants (Chairman of the Panel and other members) by themselves or their agents, servants, privies or howsoever from conducting any inquiry into the operations of the plaintiff/applicant or taking any steps which may have the result of interfering with the business of the plaintiff/applicant pending the determination of the substantive suit.

When the matter was called up Tuesday at the Federal High Court Enugu, presided over by Justice Kafarati, the counsel to all the defendants, Dr. Jacob Ibik (SAN) said the Commission of Inquiry had concluded sitting before it was served with the court processes, noting however that he had already filed notice of preliminary objection, counter affidavit in opposition to the originating summons as well as counter affidavit to the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

In his reply, the counsel to the applicant, Onyechi Ikpeazu,  represented by Ms Margaret Oputa,  said the notice of preliminary objection and counter affidavits were served on him less than an hour before the court sitting and requested time to file a reply.

Justice Kafarati adjourned the matter to February 24 for mention.

The State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi had during the presentation of the 2010 budget to the State House of Assembly recently said  the hope for revival of Nigercem has been dashed irrevocably.

Also,  the state government through the State Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey revoked the Right of all Statutory or Customary Certificates of Occupancy, Leases, Licences or Powers of Attorney granted or deemed to have been granted to Nigeria Cement Company or Eastern Bulkcem Limited for the purpose of mining Limestone or Shale under class "E" in, under or upon all that piece of land situated at Nkalagu in Ishielu local government  of the state.

Meanwhile,  Elechi had following the Federal Government's refusal to accede to the state government's request for the revocation of the sale of the Nigercem Plc, to the core investor, Eastern Bulkcem Company Limited, in October 2009,  inaugurated a six-man judicial commission of inquiry to look into the operations of the company between 2002 to date.

Other members of the commission include; Sir Ebenezer Ikokwu, Arthur Chikwendu, Mr Benedict Attamah,  Mr. Paul Agbo who is to serve as member and solicitor, while Jonathan Nwonumah will serve as secretary.
Source: Daily Champion, 21^st January 2009.

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