In Enugu, 78 cheers for Eze Igbo Gburugburu
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Forget that he’s still on his sick bed in a London hospital; the position of former Biafran leader and Ikemba of Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as the undisputed Igbo leader, remains intact.
Little wonder his people, led by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) decided to celebrate the Igbo leader’s 78th birthday even in his absence.
That birthday celebration for Dim Ojukwu Igbo leader last weekend in Enugu lived up to expectations. It was actually a celebration of a true Igbo son with an undiluted Igbo spirit.
Even from the London hospital, Ojukwu has continued to command the respect of a people who have found it difficult to unite and speak with one voice.
The array of clerics, led by the Enugu Anglican Bishop, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, and Professor Obiora Ike of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, who led the interdenominational prayer session, was perfect for a ‘General’ who battled coma for six months and finally defeated it.
It was a day family, friends, associates, well wishers and the Igbo nation decided to honour their leader, and they came out in their numbers. Among prominent Igbo sons at the Ojukwu’s Enugu residence were Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, his Anambra State counterpart, Peter Obi, former governors of Imo and
Anambra, Chief Ikedi Ohakim and Dame Virgy Etiaba, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Dr. Chris Ngige and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
Others were former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, chairman, South East Traditional Ruler’s Council, Eze Cletus Illomuanya, Imo State deputy governor, Jude Agbaso, National Chairman, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh and the MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, among others.
The expansive, well-decorated compound of the Eze-Igbo Gburugburu was enlivened, as different music and dance groups, among them the Ohafia war dance group and the Felix Ndukwe Gospel band, entertained guests.
The sermon, by Professor Obiora Ike, dwelt on the historical development of the Igbo in Nigeria and how the people have found themselves at a disadvantaged position in a country they have contributed so much for.
The catholic priest, who described the Igbo as one nation and one people, urged them to rise again and take their rightful place. Said he: “We are blessed and should stand on our feet and ensure that our people are by no means oppressed.”
He noted that the Igbo people made a clear point with the civil war and urged them to come together and see themselves as brothers. Professor Ike berated the government of Abia State for sacking non-indigenes from the state civil service, stating that there is nothing like non-indigenes in the South East. He criticized prominent Igbo sons and those in positions of authority who rather than build industries to create employment in the zone prefer to invest in hotels. He warned that such will not help the human development of the people.
Beyond the question of unity which has remained unanswered in the Igbo struggle, Senator Uche Chukwumerije raised another issue when he questioned the Igbo spirit among the present Igbo leaders. He went on to explain the meaning of Igbo spirit. “The spirit of never say die; the spirit of keeping your head high; the spirit of saying come rain come sun, Ndi-Igbo must rise again in Nigeria. That is the spirit we are talking about. “Let me tell you why I think Ojukwu is the unhappiest man today. He is very unhappy because the greatest casualty of the civil war is not those killed. It is not the property destroyed, but the death of the spirit of the Igbo man.
“Forty to fifty years after the end of the war, the Igbo man can’t rise up with courage and say, this is my right. Let me claim it back. And this is what the spirit of Ojukwu is telling you today. Wherever he is today watching you, he will recover tomorrow if he knows that you are going to rise as one person to reassert once more the preeminent position of Ndi-Igbo in Nigeria.” Chukwumerije described Ojukwu as the only Igbo man “who, come rain, come sun, come what the whole world is saying, stands for the Igbo people and speaks for the Igbo people.”
The senator from Abia State was actually repeating what Ojukwu himself said way back in September, 2007 when he received the MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike who had just been released from prison.
Ojukwu had praised Uwazuruike for playing his role and paying his due in the Igbo struggle. Ojukwu had said: “I never knew it would be like this. You have cleaned our shames from our faces. The Igbo are behind you.”
Ojukwu who said that people have been asking who would replace him when he is gone, described the MASSOB leader as a true Igbo son that has all it takes to play the same role he has been playing for the people.
Although Uwazuruike himself who received all the accolades, especially from Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu for initiating and organizing the birthday ceremony refused to speak at the ceremony, he certainly has not forgotten those words from his idol four years ago.
The three Peoples Democratic Company (PDP) governors of the South East, Chief Martin Elechi, Ebonyi, Sullivan Chime, Enugu and Theodore Orji, Abia were conspicuously absent at the function. But this did not in any way affect the ceremony. It, however, provided an opportunity for the two APGA governors in the zone to make a case for the Igbo to have a party of their own. In their separate speeches, both Governor Obi and Okorocha reminded the Igbo that the other major ethnic groups in Nigeria have their political identities.
According to Peter Obi: “You have seen how the various ethnic groups are doing their things; the Hausa people have where they belong, the same with the Yoruba. But it’s not the same with the Igbo.”
Okorocha, in his speech, said: “No matter the party we find ourselves, no matter the association we find ourselves, let every Igbo man first of all be an Igbo man before joining any political party. Political parties must never divide us. That’s why we have prompted this issue of APGA. APGA is not a political party; it’s a culture, it’s a tradition. You talk of PDP. I am more PDP than most PDP people. I will say, let’s hold our own. Let us be the Igbo man that we are.”
National chairman of APGA, Sir Victor Umeh acted as choirmaster as Governor Okorocha sang an APGA song in praise of Dim Ojukwu. He made it clear that the initiator of the ceremony was Ralph Uwazuruike. “We are mainly supporting him to make this possible,” he stated. “Those of you who followed the journey of his sickness right from December I, 2010 know that many people doubted that Ojukwu will be alive to mark his 78th birthday. Ojukwu is a special creation by God and nobody can take away his uniqueness as a human being. Even in sickness, he has shown he is a brave man.
“Nobody can explain it that somebody could be in a coma for nearly six months and eventually make it.“My prayer today is that God will rekindle in all of us the spirit of love for the Igbo nation that nobody has demonstrated than Dim Ojukwu. We expect his return and when he does come back, all of you will be here again.” Mrs. Ojukwu, in a vote of thanks, praised the MASSOB leader who she consistently referred to as Okenwa (great son) for organizing the birthday ceremony.
She expressed gratitude to Governor Peter Obi who she recalled made arrangements for Ojukwu to be flown abroad in December last year. “Up till today, he has made sure that every month he comes to London to see him. He has been the one paying his medical bills.
“It is a miracle that after one year, Ojukwu is still alive. It is something to celebrate. Despite his sickness, he remains a true General. He has stared death in the face many times, and on many occasions he said, ‘by the grace of God, it is not my portion.’ We should thank God for his life.”
Source: Sun, 7th November 2011.
Enugu - Port Harcourt Express: Federal Highway to Early Grave?
BY STEVE OKO, UMUAHIA.
|
|
The deplorable state of the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway is no longer news, but what is perhaps of serious concern is the heavy loss of lives, goods, and property that is being recorded almost on daily basis on this near impassable road.
Constructed over 30 years ago, the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, has not undergone any known major rehabilitation except during the better-forgotten regime of the late Military junta, General Sani Abacha, when a lane of the dual carriageway was haphazardly patched after it almost collapsed , thus making it extremely difficult to lift petroleum products from South to the North.
This highway, till date, remains the only expressway in the old Eastern Nigeria traversing through the major cities of the former region and linking the South East/ South South zones with Northern Nigeria through Nsukka.
The economic importance of this very busy highway can never be overstressed as it still remains the only road through which tankers ferrying petroleum products and other industrial goods from Port Harcourt, Aba, Calabar, Uyo, and Yenegoa access different parts of Northern Nigeria.
Similarly, millions of tons of food items and agricultural products from the North to South East and South South are all transported through this road, thus making it one of the busiest highways in Nigeria.
The amount of heavy traffic on this road can only be likened to the Lagos /Benin Expressway which has also remained a nightmare until very recently when it began to undergo major reconstruction.
The current sorry state of this highway particularly between Awgu in Enugu State and Okigwe in Imo State; Okigwe and Umuahia in Abia State; and between Umuahia and Aba; as well as Aba and Obigbo in Rivers State; appears to be the worst so far in the history of the road.
Almost on hourly basis vehicles plying the road are either trapped in the mud at these impassable axes or get broken down at various deep potholes on the road, while the unlucky ones especially lorries fall completely and beyond repair in most cases.
A visit to these axes particularly between Okigwe and Umuahia leaves one with the horrific sight of burnt tankers, broken vehicles, and fallen lorries with littered goods by the road sides.
Human casualties resulting from accidents on this road have also been on the increase in recent times, while men of the underworld take undue advantage of this misfortune to prey on innocent commuters and motorists.
It was reliably gathered that Emergency wards of hospitals in Okigwe now swell as a result of the soaring increase of road accidents around this failed portions of the highway.
Currently, vehicles going to Enugu from Umuahia have to avoid the ‘valley of death’ between Umuahia and Okigwe , by passing through Seven and Half/Umelemai / Ihube Old Road, thus making a journey that would have ordinarily lasted for one and half hours to now take up to three or four hours depending on the fitness of the vehicle.
The agony and trauma of users of this road are unimaginable as many families have been thrown into perpetual sorrow following the loss of their beloved ones usually the bread winners in the case of traders particularly those engaged in trades between North and Southern parts of the country.
This reporter’s personal experience some years back anyway, is a constant reminder of the hell people engaged in this type of long distance trade pass through as they are exposed to all kinds of dangers and harsh weather on the back of lorries mostly trailers and 911 trucks popularly known as ‘’Gwongwolo’’.
Today, a number of families mostly Ndigbo who dominate this type of business have lost their means of livelihood as a result of poor-road –induced accidents with no one showing concern over their plight. Is this a systematic genocide against a people who lost an attempt for self rule?
For reasons best known to the Federal Government, the Enugu/Port Harcourt highway has been inhumanly left to deteriorate despite its pivotal role in the economy of the country.
Since after its construction, successive administrations in the country both civilian and the military, have watched with keen interest, crude insensitivity and unexplainable animosity perhaps against the South East region which is the worst hit of the deplorable state of this road, the deterioration of the highway over the decades.
Analysts have adduced many reasons to this wickedness and orchestrated genocide against Ndigbo in particular, and prominent among them is that the Federal Government perhaps, may have considered it a punishment for the South East for attempting to secede from the country during the 1967 Nigeria/ Biafra war.
The above school of thought may not be far from the fact, otherwise how else can one explain the continuous blind eyes of the Federal Government over this road despite various calls by the people as well as numerous recommendations by groups and associations including the National Assembly that the road be given immediate attention.
Just in 2009, the Senator Heineken Lokpobiri – led Senate ad hoc committee on the transport sector which undertook a tour of all federal roads in the South East zone, recommended that ‘’ from what we have seen so far from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states, this zone is the worst in terms of federal roads’’.
Since this recommendation was made, the zone has not received any federal intervention on these collapsing federal roads except further deterioration and its attendant soaring human and material losses.
Similarly, Commissioners of Works in the five South Eastern states have recently after their emergency meeting in Umuahia, called on the Federal Government to declare all federal roads in the zone a national disaster, and commence their immediate rehabilitation.
It is no overstatement to submit that the continued elephant - skin posture of the Federal Government to the plight of the users of these roads which can be better described as valley of death amounts to criminality against the Igbo nation in particular, and millions of other Nigerians who ply them.
President Goodluck Jonathan will have no pardonable excuse and may indeed not be forgiven by history should he fail to totally rehabilitate this crucial road beginning from Enugu to Port Harcourt before the expiration of his tenure.
As a matter of fact, the Federal Government has no justifiable reason not to fix this road which leads to the treasure base of the nation, and nothing short of complete overhauling will be acceptable.
It is only a statement of fact that the constant collapse of this road is traceable to the heavy- duty trucks mainly tankers that ferry petroleum products from Port Harcourt to Northern parts of the country via this highway.
There is no better way President Jonathan will compensate the people of South East for their overwhelming support for him during the last Presidential election than to get this important highway fixed once and for all.
Contract for immediate rehabilitation of the road has to be awarded to a competent construction firm with proven integrity for quality job, and not to self- seeking political associates who are only after their pockets.
No amount spent to permanently fix the highway can be considered too big considering its economic importance to the country.
Lamenting the deplorable condition of the highway recently during a fact-finding tour of federal roads in her constituency, Senator Nkechi Nwogu representing Abia Central Senatorial Zone expressed disgust that the contractor who was awarded the right lane of the expressway had long abandoned the project for yet to be established reasons, and called on the Federal Government to force him back to site.
‘’Another thing of concern is that one side of the expressway from Enugu to Port Harcourt which was awarded to CCC has long been abandoned by the contractor who, to our greatest surprise has been given a letter that he has concluded 95per cent of the road.
‘’ But we have seen the condition of that road, that that road has not even attained five per cent completion,’’ she fumed.
Continuing, she said: ‘’ I know that the rainy season is there but it is not a total excuse for abandoning such important road’’, while advocating the award of road projects in the state to competent construction firms.
‘’ It is not good if we keep repairing our roads every six months because as we were driving , we saw that some of the roads were done about six months ago , but today they have been totally washed off. ‘’Therefore, we require the type of contractors handling road contracts in Abuja and Akwa Ibom to also take road projects in Abia.
‘’The Federal Government should not give us quasi contractors again’’, she warned, expressing fear that the N6 billion voted in 2011 budget for the repair of the highway might not be implemented.
It is only ridiculous that successive governments in Nigeria find it difficult to maintain roads built by the colonial masters and our founding fathers many decades ago.
If the Federal Government could construct the highway about 30 years ago with little or no resources at its disposal, how much more now that the country’s revenue base has swollen courtesy of the ‘oil money’? Now is the right time for action to avoid further carnages on this highway.
Source: Daily Champion, 5th November 2011.
Enugu agog for Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s 78th birthday
FROM LAWRENCE NJOKU, ENUGU
|
|
EVEN in ill-health, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s 78th birthday celebrations this Friday in Enugu will be marked with pomp and pageantry as all is now set for the event.
Already, his Government Reserve Area (GRA) residence in the state is wearing a new look while friends and well-wishers are putting final touches to the preparations for the event, which would attract notable dignitaries from across the country including wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan.
Briefing the media at Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s residence in Enugu yesterday, organiser of the event and leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, said that Mrs. Jonathan had already confirmed her participation in the event.
Also expected are governors from the South-East, led by their chairman, Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra, former governors Ikedi Ohakim and Chukwuemeka Ezeife; chairman, South-East Traditional Rulers’ Council, Eze Ilomuanya; Senator Ben Obi, Prof. Charles Soludo, serving members of the National Assembly and other eminent Nigerians.
Uwazuruike said though Odumegwu-Ojukwu would not be at the event in view of his health challenges, the event was being put together as a mark of honour and respect for his contributions to Igbo land and Nigeria as a whole.
Source: The Guardian, 1st November 2011.
Enugu workers kick as police arraign leader for attempted murder
FROM LAWRENCE NJOKU, ENUGU
AN Enugu magistrate court, yesterday ordered that the Chairman of State Workers’ Forum, Mr. Osmond Ugwu be remanded in prison custody pending commencement of his trial for attempted murder of a policeman.
Magistrate Phil Nwankwo, who presided over the court ordered that Ugwu be remanded at the Enugu prison when the labour activist was arraigned, after he was arrested on Monday in Enugu during a prayer meeting at the workers’ secretariat.
During the court’s sitting yesterday, soldiers and policemen fully armed occupied all the entrances and available places in the court premises, apparently to ensure that the workers are not allowed into the complex.
Ugwu’s arraignment on Tuesday had been aborted by hundreds of workers who besieged the court to protest his detention, leading to the magistrates fleeing the court.
The court therefore yesterday sat as early as 8.00 a.m, when none of the workers, journalists and defence counsel had reported.
Magistrate Nwankwo ordered that Ugwu and one Elobuike Raphael be remanded in prison custody until the views of the state Attorney General are known.
He explained that the accused have constitutional right to seek for their bail at the High Court, stressing that he lacked jurisdiction to try the matter or grant bail.
The chief magistrate ordered the prosecuting police officer to transmit to the office of the Attorney General exhibits recovered in respect of the charge and a copy of the proceedings of the court, while CSP Ewah Bassey, the second in command, Operation and Training, Enugu State Police Command; Superintendent Opara Slyvanus; Sergeant Emeobong Ndon; Inspector Oliver Okpe; and Sergeant Felix Osayamen are to appear.
The Prosecuting Police Officer, Inspector Felix Okafor told the court that Ugwu, Elobuike and others at large on October 24, 2011 at GRA, Enugu conspired to commit felony: murder and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 494 of the Criminal Code cap. 30 Volume 11 of Enugu State of Nigeria.
The charge reads: “That you, Osmond Ugwu, Elobuike Rapheal and others now at large, on 24th day of October, 2011 at the GRA, Enugu beside Civil Defence headquarters in Enugu North magisterial district did unlawfully attempt to kill one Sgt. Emebong Ndon attached to the State Intelligent Bureau by hitting him with a hard object on the head and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 27 (a) of the criminal code cap.30 vol.11 laws of Enugu State of Nigeria 2004.”
Ugwu’s counsel, Dom Ezeani was still not present when the ruling was given, but one Barrister G.O Nwokeiwu later announced representation on his behalf.
Ugwu, who has been on the forefront of agitation for full implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage by the state government was earlier in the month sacked from service allegedly on the orders of the state government for abandonment of duty.
However, he was at the workers’ secretariat on Monday where workers were holding a prayer meeting apparently to seek divine intervention in the dispute between the labour unions and the state government, especially the position of Governor Sullivan Chime that he would not pay September 2011 salaries to workers in the state who took part in the strike as the government is insisting on implementing the “No work No pay” rule.
A fight was said to have ensued between the workers and policemen who had come to arrest Ugwu, leading to several people sustaining injuries.
Reacting to the development, state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nze Chukwumaife, said: “We have advised government to release them. Their arrest was ill-timed”.
But the state Attorney General, Anthony Ani told The Guardian yesterday that the case file was yet to be forwarded to his office.
Source: The Guardian, 27th October 2011.
Expulsion irks Ohaneze, Enugu House
By Tony Edike, Enugu
The decision of the Abia State Government to lay off non-indigenes in her civil service has been flayed by Ohaneze Ndigbo and the Enugu State House of Assembly who say that it can jeopardize unity among the people of the Southeast.
The Igbo socio-cultural organization strongly condemned the disengagement of the non-indigene workers from Abia State civil service saying that the development was not in the interest of unity and progress of the Igbo nation.
The Enugu State House of Assembly on its part is urging the Forum of the South East Governors headed by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State to wade into the matter with a view to getting the Chief Theodore Orji-led administration to rescind its decision.
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Engr. Ralph Ndigwe who made the position of the organization on the issue known, said it was unbecoming of governors to ask non-indigenes to return to their states, now that the apex organization was doing everything possible to sustain the unity among Ndigbo.
Noting the efforts by Ohanaeze to resolve the dispute between organized labour and governments of the South Eastern states over the minimum wage, he said that the expulsion of non-indigene civil servants would jeopardize the efforts of the organization.
The Ohanaeze spokesman said: “I am assuring you that we will look critically at this development, which is unjustifiable. Ohanaeze has been begging workers to go back to work. We have also been asking government to look into the issue of minimum wage. But I think this dimension of asking workers to go back to their state is not right.
We are going to investigate it. “Do you know that if you are sacking a non-indigene, you are sacking him and his family and all those dependent on him? Ohanaeze is going to meet to investigate this negative tendency because it is capable of impacting negatively on the unity among Ndigbo to which Ohanaeze is very much committed.”
On their part, lawmakers at the Enugu State House of Assembly unanimously condemned the forceful transfer of non-indigenes in Abia State civil service back to their home states. They maintained that the burden of the N18,000 minimum wage, which had become a national issue, was not a justifiable reason for laying off the workers.
The legislators urged the Abia State Government to retain the services of Enugu indigenes in its workforce in order to encourage mutual and sustainable corporate co-existence and peace in the South East zone.
Contributing to the motion brought by the Leader of the House, Sunday Ude-Okoye on the issue, the lawmakers called on both Abia and Enugu state governments to set up a committee to discuss the modalities of absorbing their respective workforce in terms of civil servants who are not indigenes of each state.
While urging the Abia State government to reinstate the displaced workers “since virtually all the states in the South-East and beyond are represented in Enugu State civil service”, the lawmakers, however, alerted the South East Governors’ Forum on the likely dangers and inconveniences that might result from the retaliatory actions of other states in the zone.
Moving the motion which he brought under a matter of urgent public importance, the House leader noted that Enugu state indigenes affected by the action of the Abia state government “do not in any way merit the way and manner Abia State government had thrown them out of their workforce hiding under the canopy of four unacceptable, irrational, reiterating and unconstitutional reasons.”
He pointed out that Enugu state indigenes resident in Abia state before her creation had lived there very peacefully, contributed immensely in various areas towards her development and assisted in moving the state forward in terms of commerce, social and political growth, adding that their children had education and became gainfully employed by the state government.
Ude-Okoye further stated that since the affected workers had spent their prime service period working for Abia State Government and most of them were about to retire while the rest have few years to retire, “these great patriots deserve to be paid retirement benefits, when they retire from Abia State Government service and disengaging these group of workforce is forcing Enugu State Government to inherit payment of service rendered to another state.”
While calling on Abia State government to rescind its decision on the non-indigenes, the lawmaker described the action as a violation of section 42 (sub-section 1, 2 and 3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, which stipulates that “a citizen of Nigeria shall not be discriminated against.”
Speaking on the development, the Speaker of the House, Eugene Odoh, however, called for caution assuring that the matter would be taken before the South East Governors’ Forum in order to seek amicable way of resolving it.
However, while pressure is being mounted on the Abia State Government to withdraw the sack letters already issued to the affected workers, the South East Governors had been seriously criticized for failing to take a firm position on the issue.
Source: Vanguard, 26th October 2011.
MY SEX SCANDAL STORY – GOV CHIME
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Enugu State governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, has at last broken his silence on the rumour that he had an affair with his wife’s younger sister and got her pregnant. He said that nothing like that ever happened.
According to the governor, “no girl is nursing a baby for me.”
Chime spoke on this as well as the contentious minimum wage issue, among other things, in a chat with newsmen in Enugu.
There’s a rumour that you impregnated your wife’s sister. What do you have to say?
Well, you can see I am here; you did not even finish the story; that was not the only thing they wrote. They wrote about the non-existing female Permanent Secretary living behind the Government House. I have tried to find out if there is anybody that fits into that description; no such human being exists. But they have written about it. They wrote how I was beaten up mercilessly. When you hear such stories, you don’t even come here to ask me questions; you go and verify.
The young lady they talked about, if you are interested to know, I am sure you will be seeing her around. I can tell you sitting down here that she is one of the most decent human beings I have ever seen. Why they chose to rubbish her, I do not know; if they had written about, maybe, some other people, it will make sense, but not that particular girl. I am not talking about myself; they can write anything about me; after all, you were there when I came to seek your support to be the governor. So, everything is not siren; they can say all sorts of things about me. But the truth is that no such thing happened; nothing resembling it happened; nobody had any baby boy for me. As a matter of fact, the young girl being talked about is getting married this December; she is getting married to an Onitsha man and was actually staying with the young man when they alleged she was in my home in the village nursing a baby boy for me. So, it is all nonsense.
I also learnt that I bought Piccanto cars for all the girls in Enugu; I don’t see Piccanto in Enugu; the car is not popular in Enugu; and they have not been able to point at least one such beneficiary; I will like to know them. You stay in Enugu and hear such stories; the first thing you should do is to look around; you look for the Piccantos, know if they exist. Some even said it is Piccanto Jeep. I don’t know of any car like that. They are just writing all sorts of nonsense; taking advantage of the Internet to publish nonsense.
It’s unfortunately and regrettably that some local magazines have published those articles. My lawyers are at work on those ones we can reach. You can write anything on the Internet. You are on your own. That is the price we pay for occupying such offices; so whenever you see me, try and make me happy because so many things make us unhappy.
Workers in your state are saying that they were not paid last month. What’s the true position?
First, on the observation that some workers have not been fully paid for September, I don’t know if you also investigated to see if the workers worked fully for September. No responsible government will pay you for work not done; no responsible government, nowhere in the world will do that. In Enugu State, the labour leaders and their workers called for strike for no reason; they were alleging non-payment of minimum wage and we paid minimum wage, not minding that they were even on strike at the time. We used the skeletal services we had at the time and made sure we paid on the 25th of the month, as usual. It’s on record that throughout the South East, and I make bold to say, apart from a few who had been paying that before, maybe throughout the country, Enugu State was the only state that paid minimum wage, as agreed in August; we are not talking for August; we paid for August in August. We did not just stop there; we also agreed with labour that we will have up to October to pay the arrears; but because of what you may call windfall, we felt we had enough to pay the arrears and we felt there was no need waiting for October to pay the arrears. We paid all the arrears in August. What we got in return was for the national leadership of NLC, TUC and whatever names they answer, to come here and take our workers for a ride. Meanwhile, these people come from states that have not paid the minimum wage and they all came here and the workers were hailing them.
So, the workers went on strike for no reason. Thank God they have seen reason to go back. They wasted September; the earnings we ought to have made in September, we did not make; so we had no money to pay them. You work and you get paid; so no sentiments about it and we made it clear before they embarked on the strike; so it did not come to them as a shock. We had precedence. We begged them not to go on strike; we warned them of the likely consequences, but they chose to go on strike. So, if tomorrow the labour leaders ask workers to go on strike, I expect the workers to ask a question, like, why are we going on strike? They have wasted one month; nothing has come out of it. Now, they have gone back to work; if they like, let them continue with their strike. It is the press that encourage them; when they do something you hail them; when they came here we try to prevent them from holding a rally because, one, it’s illegal; secondly, as the chief security officer, I think I have the right and the powers to stop rallies or even any gathering that will cause any kind of breach of the peace. So, we tried to do that; unfortunately they saw themselves as heroes; some television stations were showing how they were being held hostage; so they had their way, they went to address whoever they wanted to address and they went on strike.
When they sneaked out of town, we did not know, until after causing the trouble. So, it is quite unfortunate; you and I must come together to make this country what we desire it should be. Labour, unfortunately, most regrettably went on strike in Enugu for no reason and thank God they have found reason to go back. I hope they continue to work and see Enugu as their state.
You were said not to be interested in paying the minimum wage, but you just said you paid…
The minimum wage Act is straightforward; you don’t need to be a lawyer to understand it. It’s a very short law, you go and read it, and we have implemented what the law says. You ask us to increase using the same percentage for every other person’s salary; the least paid worker in the state before earned about N8, 500; now he or she earns N18, 500; that’s over 100% increase; and you want us to increase every other person’s wage, maybe including mine; we cannot afford it and no state can, not even the Federal Government. So, the minimum wage Act has fully been complied with; I am a lawyer. I can’t do anything that is illegal, I assure you.
Federal roads in the South East are in deplorable condition. What are you doing about it?
We have always complained openly, not just myself as a governor but also my colleagues in the South East. We’ve complained; we’ve complained; we’ve complained. The ones we can do, we are doing with our state funds, with hope that we will get a refund. We’ve done a lot of federal roads, to make sure that our people at least move. We made attempts to see if they can give us concessions to build those big roads and then we will be paid later, but it didn’t work; so what do you do? We have limited resources and we can’t take over those roads, unless you want to waste your money there. So, it’s unfortunate but we are not relenting; we are still talking to the authorities and we hope they will improve on it. The Enugu/Onitsha road is very sad because as they are working, it’s failing and they want to repair it; they just built on the nonsense already built, instead of scrapping the whole thing; so it’s quite sad.
What have you done in the area of housing?
I want to start by reminding us that immediately I took over for the second term and in forming my cabinet, we established a full-fledged ministry of housing, to show how seriously we are taking the issue of housing. It’s no longer housed by the ministry of land; so we are taking housing very seriously; we are currently in the process of acquiring lands for the purposes of building new estates. The Maryland Estate, I don’t know if you have been there; we have been working round the clock to make sure that place is fully developed. From one uncompleted building we met in 2007, about five have been completed and each has about 36 flats; so we are building; I think there are nine of them and in no time we should be able to complete the remaining four; so we are working.
The housing corporation is also acquiring land, while the ministry of land is making land available to the ministry of housing; so we are taking it seriously. We certainly envisaged the influx of people, not because of Boko Haram, but we knew, from the outset, that making Enugu habitable would attract our brothers and sisters; they will want to comeback and stay here.
What of security?
We are taking the issue of security very seriously. This is the ember period and people want to make more money to enjoy Christmas, but I can assure you that no stone is being left unturned; we are doing everything possible and God willing and in no time, we shall be able to restore that peace that Enugu is known for. So, I am assuring you that we will have a very peaceful Christmas.
You have been accused of handpicking chairmanship candidates for the local government election. Why should it be so?
The process that produced our chairmanship candidates was transparent; it was so transparent, to the extent that we didn’t shut out anybody; it was openly done. I personally went to vote for my own candidate. It happened in all the local government areas. There had to be a repeat in the few local government areas we received complaints from. So, these things were done openly. I don’t see what can be more transparent than that. It is not me sitting here in the Government House and telling you that I did not handpick anybody or whatever, but the process was so transparent; we held consultations; we met ourselves; some people, on their own, withdrew from the race; others fought till the end, until they lost. I mean this is democracy; it happens everywhere in the world; it’s democracy; no single candidate was handpicked and if handpicked, I will like to know who handpicked them and these things are very verifiable. It is a bit sad that people you stay with hear story about you and they believe what they hear from outside, rather than what they observe. So, no candidate, chairmanship or councillorship, was handpicked by anyone.
What do you have to say about the rape controversy?
This is very strange, in the sense that if you look at the age bracket of the victims, it’s quite strange. The culprits, to me, should be examined. I don’t think they are well; they should be sick upstairs. It’s not normal; why should teenagers go after 60 to 80-year-old women, except of course we are told that all the young girls have fled the community? If not, you can’t explain this. But we can assure you that government is not taking the issue of rape kindly. Of course, you know the punishment for rape; anybody caught will seriously be dealt with. It’s a life jail offence; so if an 18-year-old boy wants to go to jail for life, for playing with an 80-year-old woman, so be it. It’s unfortunate.
Source: Sun, 22nd October 2011.
Enugu to Benefit from 500km World Bank/JTFD Road Projects
Enugu State has been selected among four states in the country to benefit from the provision of 500 Km rural roads by the World Bank under the Second Rural Access and Mobilization Project, (Ramp 2).
This was disclosed by the Task Team leader of the project, Mr. Nicholas Peltier – Thiberge when members of the World Bank/Joint French Development Agency on the project paid a courtesy call at the Government House, Enugu.
In a press statement sent to THISDAY the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Chukwudi Achife, Thiberge noted that the World Bank takes the issue of provision of rural roads very seriously for the development of rural communities adding that about 200km of roads will be constructed in Enugu under the scheme
The team leader expressed happiness that the agency’s rural road project is in line with the Enugu State Government rural road development project making the project easy.
He called on the state government to cooperate with the agency for the speedy completion of the project in the state to ensure coverage of more kilometers of roads.
According to Mr. Thiberge, the four states that would benefit from the project in the country include Niger, Oshun, Adamawa and Enugu.
He also added that the project would cost the agency 315 million dollars to be financed by the World Bank and the French Development Agency. The World Bank would contribute 195 million dollars while the French Agency would also contribute 120 million dollars.
He appealed to the state government for prompt contribution of its counterpart fund to the project and appealed to it to ensure that the roads when constructed would be maintained so that they would not be easily lost.
Responding, Governor Sullivan Chime assured the mission of his administration’s readiness to partner with the agency for the success of the project.
The Governor who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi noted that road development was the priority of the state government. He recalled that on assumption of office that his administration set up a committee to identify the needs of the people in the rural areas and that road construction was the priority of majority of the rural communities, hence the government’s shifting from construction of urban roads to rural roads.
He added that the agencies intended project would compliment government’s efforts in that sector of the economy.
The Governor assured that in the selection of roads that would be constructed by the agencies that efforts were made to spread same to all zones, local governments and communities in the state. He assuredthat if completed that it would impact positively on the rural communities.
Source: This Day, 19th October 2011.
Reading culture revived in Enugu
BY HENRY AKUBUIRO
Last year, it was a literary workshop for writers. This time, it was a reading campaign. In commemoration of this year’s World Literacy Day, the group, in conjunction with the National Orientation Agency, held a one-day reading campaign entitled “Get Enugu Reading Again”.
The event, which took place at the National Library Conference Hall, Enugu, Thursday, September 29, drew participants from various schools from the state. Also in attendance were literary enthusiasts from Enugu.
The reading featured two prominent writers, Uche Peter Umez, multiple award-winning writer and author of Runaway Hero, and Chinyere Onyemaechi Agabi, author of many children books, including Nwamba.
In her address, president of the forum, Mrs. Adobi Nwoye, said the support from literary aficionados in the state and sponsors would help the forum to carry out its mandate of reviving the reading culture among young people in Enugu State, as well as sharpening the writing skills of aspiring young writers.
In the keynote address presented by Hon. Augustine Okolie, the State Director, National Orientation Agency, Enugu State, he remarked that the flag-off of the reading campaign marked a new dawn in the onward march towards reviving the reading culture in Nigeria, affirming that that “it is imperative to develop a reading culture capable of exposing individual (s) to accumulated wisdom necessary for survival in our contemporary society”.
The director iterated that NOA has a core mandate to inform, reorient, mobilize and enlighten the Nigerian masses, which informed its conjunction with the Coal City Literary Forum in reviving the reading campaign in the state.
Besides the intrinsic values derivable from reading culture, he emphasized that “it is important to note that good reading culture has economic consequences. People who are better than-average readers are also higher-than-average earners or more likely to have high-paying jobs.”
Since the ever increasing growth of technology in Nigeria has brought increasing demands for higher literary level, he proposed that higher literary level is needed for success in business and industry, including our everyday lives.
Both guest writers read excerpts from their books, after which they entertained questions from inquisitive students on their works. In response to the question on how she managed her writing career with her family responsibilities, Mrs. Agabi said, though it was not easy to manage both, working with specific schedules has made it easier to accomplish both tasks. Commenting on the themes of her work, the writer said every literary work is embedded with themes. For her, Nwamba echoes the theme of responsibility.
Umez, whose book, The Runaway Hero, made the longlist of this year’s NLNG prize, said in response to the question on how he derived, the idea for the title of The Runaway Hero came from his visit to Lagos and seeing the abject condition of an orphanage. The main character in the book, Kachi, he said, ran away from the orphanage, only to return to become a hero.
When she initially set out as a writer, Mrs Agabi said she was faced with multiple distractions, but the greatest challenge she has encountered as a writer is getting the right publishers to publish her works, which are mainly juvenilia, nowadays that most of them are money-conscious, as well as circulating her offerings.
On his part, Umez said his books are readily available in major bookshops in Lagos and Abuja. He said personally he only circulates to schools on request. He regretted the lack of regular power supply, which militates against the writer’s concentration in Nigeria. He urged the kids to take their studies seriously, because they are the leaders of tomorrow. “You can either become a hero or a villain,” he cautioned them.
There were further readings from Betty Ezike, who read from Umez’s Runaway Hero, because her writings are predominantly romance, which she said would be a disservice to read to young minds in the audience.
Books donated by the forum were presented as gifts to the schools by Mr. Abuchi Ngwu, Director Ministry of Information, on behalf of the wife of the Enugu State governor Mrs Clara Chime, who couldn’t attend the event due to an urgent state function. They included: Spring Life international School, Enugu; Providence High School, Enugu; and God’s Gift International School, Enugu.
Speaking to Literary World at the end of the event, Mrs. Nwoye said ELF focused on schoolchildren this time in order to catch them young. Lamenting the support from the state government, she said the event would be much bigger if the Enugu State government has supported the forum. She also regretted that only a few schools turned out for the event, whereas invitation was sent to fifty schools in the state.
Similarly, Ngwu said the reading campaign was a way to re-direct the attention of schoolchildren to reading instead of engaging in unprofitable past time. “We are trying to make them have attitudinal change. Reading makes a man. Not all the prominent people in Nigeria are business tycoon. Some of them made name for themselves through the pen. Few examples are Professors Chunua Achebe and Wole Soyinka,” he said.
He therefore, called on all stakeholders in the state to join hands to make the event bigger and support literary arts in Enugu State. “Government should be more involved, especially the ministry of education,” he emphasized.
Also, both guest writers commended the organizers of the event. For Mrs. Agabi, “though not all the schools invited turned up, it was very impressive. It is s positive forum for not only the kids but everybody. He noted that an event like this is a fillip to dwindling reading culture in Nigeria, stressing that “children should be encouraged to read.”
Umez, on his part, considered it “a wonderful event. The turnout was okay. In an event where you had this number of students is a big plus for enhancing reading culture in Nigeria. But there is still mush to be done to make this event a success more than it is today. It should involve the education ministry in the state and the governor of the state, who should be the chief literacy officer of the state, as well as the secondary education management board in the state.”
Source: Sun, 8th October 2011.
Tension in Enugu Over Murder of Three Cops
Tony Adibe
Enugu — There is tension in Enugu State following the brutal murder of three policemen and abduction of a traditional ruler in the state by gunmen numbering about five. This is just as an unnamed welder was also killed in cold blood at Amawbia Street, Uwani area of Enugu some hours before the proprietress of a popular private school also at Amawobia, was reportedly kidnapped while inside her SUV and driven by gunmen to an unknown destination. The killing of policemen and abduction of traditional ruler, Weekly Trust learnt, happened separately on Tuesday. The proprietress was about driving into her school when the gunmen blocked her and took her away to an unknown destination.
The abduction of the traditional ruler, Igwe Pius Delibe Uzochukwu of Mgbidi Autonomous Community in Awgu Local Government Area took place last Tuesday at Mmaku. A source said Igwe Uzochukwu, who was on admission at Eagle Hospital Mmaku in Awgu Local Government Area for some time, ran into the hoodlums while he was going back to his community.
Weekly Trust gathered from a source that the trigger-happy hoodlums surrounded the royal father's vehicle with two cars when his vehicle slowed down to avoid a pot hole. The source said they forced him into one of their vehicles and zoomed off.
Our correspondent also learnt from another source that the same hoodlums killed three policemen along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway the same day.
The police were reportedly escorting some people to an unknown destination.
When contacted, Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Danazumi Doma confirmed the abduction of the traditional ruler and the murder of the policemen by the hoodlums, although he assured that his command would soon free the traditional ruler.
Source: Daily Trust, 8th October 2011.
Enugu:750 rural women undergo training on agric technology
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Seven hundred and fifty rural women in Enugu State have concluded a five- week training on modern agricultural production techniques. The training, which was co-ordinated by the National Root Crops Research Institute, NRCRI, Umudike in Abia State also thought the women, additional values on root and tuber crops as part of efforts to eradicate hunger and support the development of a viable rural economy.
The training programme, which was sponsored by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu through his Ikeoha Foundation, drew 150 participants from the five local government areas in the senatorial zone, namely Aninri, Awgu, Oji River, Ezeagu and Udi.
At the grand finale of the agro-farmers training programme held at Awgu council headquarters during the independence celebration, the participants exhibited various food items produced from cassava and cocoyam including bread, salad cream, biscuits, chin-chin, doughnut, cake, strips and flour .
Speaking at the event, Senator Ekweremadu said the agro-training programme for women in his senatorial zone was part of his efforts to eradicate poverty and empower the people he represented at the National Assembly with necessary skills that would enable them take good care of themselves.
He said as a senator, he was determined to leave lasting legacies for which he would be remembered after his political career, pointing out that the welfare of the people had remained his top priority since he was elected into the National Assembly.
“The politicians can disappoint you but you won’t disappoint yourself. That is why we have continued to empower you through skill acquisition so that our people will be in a comfortable position to help themselves. For me as a politician, I am mindful that my career will end one day. So I am concerned about seeing my people enjoying good roads, streetlights, portable water and all the basic needs of life.
“I want the people of my senatorial zone to say that at this time we had a senator that provided their basic needs. I want the people of the South-east to say that Ike Ekweremadu was once a senator and in his time he brought a lot of amenities, just as I also want the people of ECOWAS to say that at the time Ike Ekweremadu was the speaker of their parliament he did a lot for us,” the deputy senate president said.
He thanked the NRCRI for conducting the agro-training programme for the women, just as he assured the participants that more support would be given to them. As to implement what they learnt in order to improve the welfare of their respective families.
Also speaking, Executive Director of NRCRI, Umudike, Dr. Ken Nwosu applauded Ekweremadu for the partnership, which enabled the institute to actualize the agro-farmers training programme aimed at improving the living standard of the farmers.
He urged other elected public officers in the country to emulate the deputy senate president by sponsoring similar training for their constituents to ensure economic progress and alleviate poverty in the country.
Source: Sun, 4th October 2011.
First 100 DAYS: Enugu: Downhill
After the burst of energy in his first term, Governor Sullivan Chime has started his second term on a slow start. Is it age, fatigue or what?
BY TONY EDIKE
THE 100 days of Governor Sullivan Chime’s second term administration in Enugu State can rightly be described as a dull moment. The activities of the government especially in the development of infrastructure had been too slow when compared to the first tenure that witnessed aggressive road habilitation and reconstruction within Enugu capital city.
A lot was achieved in this sector during the first four years of the administration and the governor earned accolades for giving Enugu a facelift. Alongside road construction, streetlights were installed on some major roads within the city.
Beyond this, Chime’s four-point agenda for Enugu State drawn in 2007 had gone a long way in transforming the state though some critical areas that needed urgent attention suffered neglect. On assumption of office for a second term on May 29, 2011, Chime promised to consolidate on the gains made in the first tenure.
As part of his vision for the state in the second term, Chime had announced plans to cover all communities with electricity, improve quality of electricity supply in places already covered by provision of transformers among others as well as mobilization of private sector investment for establishing the independent power plant in the state, which a site has already been mapped out.
The government had within the period under review signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Indian Power Company, ESSAR Group for the construction of a Coal-based Power Plant capable of generating 600 Megawatts (MW) of power.
Governor Chime who signed the document in Abuja, said the MOU was the climax of extensive research, consultations and negotiations between the state government and ESSAR Group adding that the project will give birth to a new dispensation of advancement in the state. The agreement was signed in June this year but the project is yet to take off.
Industrial development had been on the front burner of the administration’s agenda with intent to privatize state owned moribund industries like Sunrise Flour Mills, Nigergas, AVOP Nachi, Aluminum Factory, Ohebedim and the Presidential Hotel. These, however, have remained in the pipeline as efforts to get investors are yet to materialize.
The governor had pledged to take agriculture to a higher level through the establishment of farm settlements in the three senatorial zones. This sector has indeed witnessed a lot of activities as several graduates trained under the Songhai farming programme have already taken off in the three zones and it is expected that the state will soon become an agricultural hub, producing for home needs and export.
The administration had pledged to improve the health sector to increase access to medicare. To realize this, it targeted the rehabilitation of Primary Healthcare Centers at least one per local government as well as full medical insurance cover for civil servants. These are yet to take off due to other competing needs which the government is shouldering.
One major burden that has confronted the administration in the first three months of the new tenure and which is yet to be laid to rest is the implementation of the new minimum wage of N18,000 approved for civil servants in the country.
The state government had attempted partial implementation of the wage bill by adding N10,000 to salaries of workers on grade level 01 to 06 and N5,000 to those on level 07 and above but the organized labour rejected the offer, The workers insisted on full implementation which they believe would increase their take-home pay far above what the government agreed to pay.
The disagreement between the government and the organized labour led a three-day warning strike which was later extended to about two weeks by a section of the workers who mounted pressure on the government to shift its ground. As the labour dispute escalated, the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC intervened recently and resolved to handle the wage negotiation directly with the state government. The government on its part declined insisting that it would only dialogue with the state labour leaders even as it has paid the August salary according to the chart prepared by it.
The government had repeatedly said that the new wage bill, when fully implemented, would weigh down on other sectors as it would gulp almost the entire financial resources of the state and pleaded for the understanding of the workers. The matter is still pending as both parties have stuck to their guns. But while the workers argroaning over the government’s refusal to pay the new wage, over 300 traditional rulers in the state are singing the praises for the governor for purchasing brand new Hyundai cars for them. The gesture has endeared the governor to the royal fathers across the communities.
A strange development that has forced the masses especially residents of the capital city to raise eyebrow against the government is the increase in the number of revenue collectors and the alleged fraudulent practices by youths engaged for such jobs.
Apart from multiple levies and rates being imposed on small scale business operators and artisans, the revenue agents, particularly different groups operating under the Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA) have constituted serious impediments to economic growth in the state. Dozens of people are forcefully arrested on daily basis by the revenue agents only to extort between N5,000 and N12,000 as fines with the attendant molestation and violation of their fundamental rights. Many victims have continued to complain against the unlawful practice but such complaints fall on deaf ears owing to the determination of the government to boost its Internally Generated Revenue.
However, if events in the last 100 days of the Chime administration are to be used as yardstick for measuring the extent to which the government would go in the second term, those expecting miracle in the next four years may have to rethink.
Source: Vanguard, 7th September 2011.
Govt to build coal-fired power plants in Enugu, Gombe, Kogi
FROM EMEKA ANUFORO AND NKECHI ONYEDIKA (ABUJA)
TO ensure adequate power supply in the country, the Federal Government is to build 1000 Mega Watts (MW) coal-fired plants in Enugu, Gombe and Kogi States.
Also, experts have been commissioned to re-evaluate Nigeria’s coal reserves using relevant modern technology.
Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, disclosed this at a briefing to mark President Goodluck Jonathan’s 100 days in office.
Though Nnaji did not give further details on when the plants would come on board, he stressed that a total of 3000MWs would be added to the national grid.
On the study on the Nigeria’s coal reserve, he noted that the absence of a reliable data on coal deposits in Nigeria had in the past discouraged investors from committing money to power generation from coal in the country.
Barth said: “Our objective is to deliver 1000MW coal-fired plants each in Enugu, Gombe and Kogi states. Although the private sector is being encouraged to take advantage of investments in this area in full, we cannot move forward because we do not have bankable data on coal reserves in Nigeria.
“This is the major reason investors are not keen, especially since they do not know how much coal is available, to be able to project the scope and viability of investments in this area of power generation.”
He stressed that the database to be generated from the study would be used for effective mining and for the establishment of coal-fired electricity plants.
He added: “This study will yield at least five coal blocks from Enugu, as well as three other blocks each in Kogi and Gombe states.
“A private company is already in the process of building a coal-fired power plant in Kogi State and has approached government for logistics support in the evaluation of the product expected from this plant.”
The minister, who reiterated government’s plans to recover lost generation capacities, stressed that the country would no longer rely on the traditional sources of electricity to service its power demands.
On the recently constituted Board of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NEBT) Plc, he stressed that the power purchase agreement was being executed, between power generators and the bulk trader while the vesting contract is executed between the bulk trader and the distribution companies.
Meanwhile, Nigeria needs 765-transmission grid against 330KVA that is currently in used to ensure efficiency in power transmission.
Nnaji said that government is committed to pursue the power sector reform, adding that the Electricity Sector Power Reform Act would ensure the transformation of the nation’s power sector.
He said that government was committed to the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, adding that without the programme, it would be difficult to transform the power sector.
Source: The Guardian, 7th September 2011.
Chime Thrilled with Progress at Adani Farm Settlement
The efforts of Enugu State Government to promote agriculture and boost food production have continued to yield good results with the cultivation of more than eighty hectares of pepper and rice farm at Songhai graduate farm settlement at Adani, Uzo-Uwani Council area.
The cultivated hectares of land in the farm settlement being managed by the state government sponsored graduate farmers, is made up of twenty hectares of pepper and sixty hectares of rice farm as well as poultry sections, fish pound and orchard.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the farm, the State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime described it as one of the practical demonstration of his administration to revive agriculture and restore the state premier position in food production.
In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Chukwudi Achife, the state chief executive stressed that the Government was committed to ensuring massive food production in the state from the Songhai Graduate farm settlement.
Chime stated that agriculture had been the main stay of the economy of the state in the past and promised to restore it to its past glories in the state.
He said that the challenges facing the farm especially transportation, provision of health facilities and access road to the farm and its host community would be addressed quickly to ensure the optimal benefits and smooth operation of the settlement
He expressed satisfaction on the level of work done in the renovation of facilities at the farm and also thanked the farmers for their level of achievements, commitments and patriotism shown so far and assured them of continued government support.
Earlier in an address, the leader of the graduate farmers, Mr. Chijioke Uwaemena said that with proper management and support by government, they will do more to boost food production in the state.
Uwaemena thanked the state government for her interest in agriculture and the opportunity given them to be part of the success story of government in the area of agriculture.
He appealed to the Governor to assist them to access CADP/FADAMA grant, early take off of other green cities of farm in local government areas in the state and ready market for their produce during harvest time.
Uwaemena used the occasion to draw the Governor’s attention to some of their problems which included poor road network to the farm, electricity supply, early supply of farm inputs, proper definition of their working conditions and health care facilities and appealed to him to address them.
Source: This Day, 3rd September 2011.
Enugu: Tale Of The Abandoned, Dejected Enugu–Port Harcourt Route
FROM LAWRENCE NJOKU, ENUGU
... In Distress In Past Two Years
Enugu-Abakaliki, Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Makurdi Not Better
TRAVELLING from Enugu to Port Harcourt, Enugu to Abakaliki, Enugu to Onitsha or Enugu to Makurdi evokes the feeling of a rejected and abandoned people owing to the poor state of the highways. They are potential deathtraps with various degrees of gullies and potholes, which hinder movements, especially in the rainy season.
Some daily features on these roads include their level of carnage as well as the fact that men of the underworld have capitalised on the situation to add to the burden of Nigerians by robbing and killing them regularly.
Appalled by this state of affairs during their meeting recently, the Southeast Governors’ Forum asked the Federal Government to declare the zone a disaster area. Chairman of the forum, Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra State, lamented that the poor state of the roads had worsened the fragile economy of the zone, stressing that it was not fair on the people.
It is a common thing while traveling on the roads to see heavy trucks and tankers bearing commodities and food items fell by the way side and others stuck in the mud.
One lane of the dual Enugu-Port Harcourt highway has been blocked in the past two years due to its poor state, leaving road users at the mercy of just one lane. And the road to Abakaliki is nothing to write home about.
Since motorists no longer trust the highways, those plying the Enugu-Onitsha route have abandoned it for the old and narrow roads built during the colonial era.
Two years ago, the Federal Government awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of the highways in the Southeast to some contractors, including the Consolidated Construction Company (CCC) and Nigercat. While CCC was to rehabilitate from the Ninth-Mile corner to Onitsha, the Nigercat was awarded from the same portion of Ninth-Mile corner to Port Harcourt. The contracts were supposed to have a lifespan of 24 months.
But two years on, the roads are in worse and terrible state than the contractors met them. Presently, none of the contractors is on site in any of the roads, an indication that there is no hope in sight yet for the rehabilitation of the highways.
Efforts by The Guardian to speak with officials of CCC, whose transit camp is located on the Enugu-Abakaliki highway, proved abortive, as none of them was ready to offer any explanation.
In fact, an official had directed all inquiries to “our head office,” insisting that they were not in a position to comment on the contracts being handled in the zone.
ENUGU State Governor, Sullivan Chime, recently deplored the handling of the road contracts, calling on Federal Government to embark on total reconstruction of federal roads in the Southeast rather than the present routine maintenance exercise.
The governor made the call when members of the governing board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), led by its Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure, paid him a courtesy call at the Government House, Enugu.
He told the visitors that the total reconstruction of federal roads became necessary because the lifespan of the roads had gone beyond maintenance or patching.
He observed that the people might not favourably receive the reintroduction of tollgates on federal highways because their expectations, when the gates were established, yielded no dividends.
According to Governor Chime, the tolls that were collected from road users for the maintenance of roads in the past were not utilised to achieve the objective.
The governor used the occasion to appeal to the management of the agency to discourage people from blocking federal highways, especially by establishing tollgate on the highways. He noted that this increases the rate of accidents in such areas and suggested that such markets should be established far off the roads.
The FERMA board chairman, Kure, an engineer, announced that the agency had commenced the rehabilitation of 34,000 kilometres of federal roads in the country, disclosing that out of this number, 3,231 kilometres of the roads would be rehabilitated in the five states of the Southeast.
Secretary-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nduka Eya, has however, asked the Federal Government to review the contracts, explaining that the contractors had shown that they lacked the capacity to handle the jobs.
Eya also called for inquiry into the contracts, especially to unearth the forces behind the poor performance of the contractors that were awarded the jobs. He said there wouldn’t be ideal progress if the society were not made to know why road contracts awarded in the zone would not be carried out.
Source: The Guardian, 7th August 2011.