Why South Africa didn’t grant Nigeria visa waiver –Onyeama

Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Image via Daily Sun

BY AIDOGHIE PAULINUS

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has opened up on why South Africa did not deem it fit to extend its visa-free policy to Nigeria like it did to some other countries recently.

In this exclusive interview with Sunday Sun in Abuja, Onyeama said that no country in the world would allow a poor country with a large number of unemployed people emigrating irregularly and regularly, have an open door policy with them.

Onyeama also spoke on the recent attack on the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu in Nuremberg, Germany, disclosing the measures the country would put in place to forestall future occurrence.

He also disclosed that he would focus more on citizens’ diplomacy and the economy in his second term. Excerpts:

How do you see your second missionary journey?

Well, we want to consolidate in certain areas, but we also want to see to fruition the projects that we have initiated.

Some elements were somehow against your return. How do you see that move?

No, there were no elements against my return. There was one individual who went to the media and claimed that he was speaking on behalf of the state executive committee. And all the members of the executive committee said that no meeting ever took place and that he had no right whatsoever to presume to speak for them. So, essentially, it was just one individual claiming to be speaking for a lot of people.

What are you going to do now to reposition the APC in Enugu State?

I have written a letter to the chairman of the party, Comrade (Adams) Oshiomhole, I have copied the president and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. And I will certainly need the support of the chairman of the party if we are to turn things around in Enugu, if we are to secure the credibility of the party in Enugu and the future of the APC in Enugu State.

Now that you are back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, what are you going to do differently?

I think number one, I am going to put more attention on what I will call citizens’ diplomacy. Clearly, there is a large number of Nigerians in the Diaspora. And we have to address their needs and be responsive to their needs and to make them comfortable in the knowledge that the ministry is providing through its embassies, the services that they expect. So, that is going to be an important focus. I would also like to complete the project and have it really up and running, of the economic diplomacy initiative where we will have an Internet portal that will be a mechanism for business matching; matching Nigerian businesses with foreign businesses.

Are you referring to NEDI (Nigerian Economic Diplomacy Initiative)?

I am referring to NEDI because I believe that can make a substantial contribution to the economy of this country. It will help as a one-stop-shop for market access for a large number of Nigerian businesses that otherwise might have problems accessing foreign markets. And I think that it will also do a lot to make it easier, promoting ease of doing business for foreign businesses that might be interested in coming to Nigeria. So, it will be a one-stop-shop through a credible platform for that.

Is this like a response to calls by some Nigerians that our foreign policy should be restructured to have direct impact on the citizens?

No, it is not a response to anybody. I mean, these are things that we have had in place that we have always wanted to do. But the problem has always been resources. We have a very clear idea of what we need to be doing, but the challenge has really been having the resources to do those things. For instance, a call centre, 24/7 call centre. It is high technology, but it requires a lot of funding, a lot of resources. The NEDI also requires funding. And as we know, one of the problems that we had, has been the inadequacy of the funding of the Foreign Ministry.

From your assessment, do you think we got the desired results on the war against corruption, insecurity and the revamping of the economy during your first term?

Yes, because it was always going to be a work in progress. I don’t think that anybody could realistically have said that in three and half years, you are going to wipe out corruption in Nigeria and that in three and half years, you are going to have a 100 per cent full employment. So, the thing that we did in the first term was really to develop a roadmap and to lay the basic structures and foundations. And that has been done.

So, now you are going to consolidate?

And build on it. Build on what we have.

Let’s digress a little; people find it difficult to separate the functions of the Diaspora Commission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Can you enlighten us please?

I think that we, as a ministry, prepared the proposal for the Diaspora Commission and I signed-off for it in a memo to the Presidency for the approval that was given. So, we know exactly what the terms of reference are for the Diaspora Commission and it is very, very clear and there should not be any overlap as such. It is basically a framework for Nigerians in the Diaspora to be engaging with the country, a platform essentially for them and a support mechanism really for them. And that is basically it because in most countries around the world, there is a NIDO, Nigerians in Diaspora Organization with the membership and all that. They, essentially, are interest group. So, they are the focal point and they should remain the focal point of the Diaspora Commission here and we are just working with them. I think the terms of reference are very clear.

What position is the government going to take on the killing of Nigerians abroad, particularly in South Africa?

First and foremost, the South African government itself is engaged with that. When we talk of killing of Nigerians in South Africa, the impression is sometimes created that Nigerians per se are like being targeted. But the reality is that there is a high level of crime in South Africa and a lot of it is due to the apartheid past and the conditions in which the blacks lived, little education, very, very poor circumstances and all that. Zimbabweans are being killed, Mozambicans are being killed and others are being killed by criminal elements. One death, one Nigerian death or a Zimbabwean death or a Senegalese death or a South African death is one death too many. I mean, we are not saying that there is any justification. Be that as it may, we are engaging with the South African government to find a solution. And what I proposed that we focus on is to have the South African Police and the Nigerians in South Africa Organization to have them working with the police. Because at the moment, the impression is that the South African Police are part of the problem and a major part of the problem. And that there have been some killings of Nigerians by the South African Police and that there is this trust deficit. So, we need to have them on the same side. That is what we are working on. We have an Early Warning System…

(Cuts in) Is there a breakdown on the Early Warning Mechanism or it hasn’t come into operation?

There is a MoU to be signed. But we have prepared and they still have not signed. The Early Warning Mechanism, when I conceived it, it was essentially to have a framework for the main protagonists, the main actors to meet regularly – the South African Police at the highest level, with the Nigerian High Commissioner, the Consul General, the Foreign Affairs and the Justice Department. If they are meeting at the highest level on a regular basis, we will have a situation where either side, be the Nigerian side, will be providing information and suggestions and strategies because they know the Nigerian community, they will know where the threats are coming from and will be given to them at the highest level. And the mere fact with the meeting regularly will be a bonding mechanism, also get them working together and they can then be responding to whatever challenges and threat that may come up. So, this was basically the structure one wanted to create, an oversight mechanism that really had the parties working together. And what is particularly important about that is that we wanted also the police people on the beat to know that their bosses are working with the Nigerian authorities in South Africa and are watching them so that there is an oversight on the police. So, if there is an accusation that a Nigerian has been killed in police custody or whatever, they will know that that kind of impunity will no longer be tolerated because Nigerians have access to their bosses.

South Africa granted visa free regime to other countries, leaving Nigeria in the cold. What is going on?

Well, what is going on is first of all, that Nigeria is a country of two hundred million people going through a very, very serious economic crisis and that there is a large number of Nigerians who are unemployed and unfortunately, significant number of Nigerians engaged in criminal activities, drug trafficking and peddling in the first instance and other things. So, Nigeria is about four times the size of South Africa and I don’t think there is anywhere in the world where a country will allow a poor country with a large number of unemployed people emigrating irregularly and regularly, have an open door policy with them. It just will not happen because they know there will be swamp. And already, there is a high level of irregular Nigerian migrants, illegal Nigerian migrants in South Africa. So, if they had a visa free policy, as far as they are concerned, it would constitute, I think, a destabilizing factor for them. But they are taking, of course, skilled Nigerians and it is the same in every country. In most countries, they want people who will be assets to their countries either with high skills in areas that are needed or wealthy people who will be investing in their country. Unless very rich countries that have a shortage of unskilled labour market who will want them attract unskilled labour. But South Africa has enough unskilled workers already in their country. So, they are not looking for that level of migrants.

Earlier today, I saw the President of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). And that reminded me to ask this question: what does Nigeria stand to gain from the UNGA presidency?

It brings much prestige to our country. And when you are at the dining table, you are sitting around the dining table, you are in a good position to know how much food there is, what kinds of food there is and maybe, how much of it you can get for your children to also eat. So, these are the advantages of those kinds of positions.

So, in that case, we can say that there is hope for Nigeria having a permanent seat at the Security Council, which we have always been yearning for?

Well, not as the direct consequence of being president of the General Assembly because the Security Council essentially holds the key to that question. And to be honest with you, permanent seats of the Security Council is not something that you will get international consensus on for the foreseeable future.

If you have read the papers today, you would have seen the United States indicting some Nigerians on money laundering and fraud. What is the government going to do? Is the government going to extradite them?

No,if you can prove and you find that they are in Nigeria. We don’t have a law. And most countries don’t usually have laws that extradite their own citizens to other countries. But for maybe certain grave crimes, it could be looked at. Obviously, you look at it on a case by case basis if there is a request for the crimes. But countries do not as a rule; extradite their own nationals to face justice in another jurisdiction.

The issue of the immediate past Deputy President of the Senate has been trending. Do you think the reminder, which the ministry sent to Nigerian dignitaries to always inform the ministry and missions abroad before travelling is enough to solve that situation?

Yes, I think it is important that when dignitaries are always travelling, they should inform them. But in this case, he had informed. The embassy was aware that he was coming. And not only that, I think he was even accompanied to the venue by an official, a local staff in the consulate. I have had an experience myself about three years ago and I think it is probably even trending now I understand. In Vienna, Austria, about three years ago, where we were at the Nigerian Embassy and some people were complaining when we finished the meeting that they had not been given an opportunity to speak. And they were becoming a bit unruly and I begged the organisers to allow them to speak. So, the point is that we have to be more careful, all the embassies, in vetting properly, the people you allow into meetings in which dignitaries from Nigeria will be taking part and to secure those venues. Because what tends to happen, a few of them will come in, supposing to be Nigerians in the area who want to come and listen and who have hidden agenda. So, they have to be more rigorous. That is what we are going to be telling them in making sure that anybody who goes there, they have to be well searched and frisked before entering these kinds of events. So, they have to secure the premises where dignitaries are meeting, especially where they are really meeting with Nigerians in those foreign countries because most Nigerian leaders, they want to be able to meet with their compatriots when we go to these countries especially if you are in the government, or legislature or justice, you are there representing these people. So, you want to be able to engage with them and also get their engagement. That is really what needs to be done. But also, I think just as a matter of procedure, we tell anybody who is going abroad, government officials, to always inform the Nigerian missions.

For Nigerian dignitaries who may be developing cold feet travelling abroad for such functions, what do you have to tell them?

I don’t personally believe that any Nigerian because of what happened there will not travel. That is not going to happen. I don’t think Nigerians need to be worried or concerned about that. Just a simple proportion that in these meetings where you are inviting the Nigerian public to attend, just make sure that the right people are there and that the premises are secured.

SOURCE: SUN NEWS ONLINE

Haunting Echoes Of A Commemoration

Chinua Achebe. Image: Leonardo Cendamo/Getty

BY OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE

A group exhibition, whose theme revolves around the 60th anniversary celebration of Chinua Achebe’s iconic debut novel Things Fall Apart, concluded its three-city tour of Nigeria in Lagos, after previously holding in Awka and Abuja, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

First, there was a caveat. And it was offered shortly before the Lagos leg of the exhibition was officially opened at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre along Norman Williams Street in South-west Ikoyi that Saturday, August 24 evening. At a cosy end of the gallery’s upper floor, where a roundtable discussion was in full swing, its resilient curator, Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, had reminded the discussants that – though the exhibition, And the Centre Refuses to Hold: Homage to Things Fall Apart @60, was based on Chinua Achebe’s debut novel, Things Fall Apart – it was not really concerned about the illustration of the novel’s content.

Among the leading art personalities present at that session, by the way, were the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaeneka Achebe; the renowned art collector, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon; the cultural activist and former newspaper editor, Jahman Anikulapo as well as the Arthouse Contemporary Limited’s founder, Kavita Chellaram. Also sitting among several others at the roundtable were two of the exhibiting artists – Tobenna Okwuosa and Akeem Muraina.

Indeed, Ikwuemesi was only re-echoing what the literary luminary and Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, had written in his preface to the exhibition catalogue. Soyinka had explained that this endeavour was a continuation of the original “dialogue between image and word”, which began when his African publishers, Bookcraft, launched an outsize edition of Achebe’s iconic novel. This edition, it would be recalled, had featured contributions by a coterie of leading contemporary Nigerian artists. But, this exhibition, Soyinka reminded its audience, had set out “as original artistic tributes, for which the literary work maintains a ‘low profile’ as inspirational resource, leaving the artists to their own re-creative devices.” It is for this reason, he added, that it “should therefore be encountered as products in the vein of association of ideas, set as images, and not literal interpretations of the originating narrative.”

Featured at the exhibition, which ended yesterday, were works produced in diverse media by the following artists: Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, Tobenna Okwuosa, Ato Arinze, George Odoh, Tony Nsofor, Anthony Polo, Akeem Muraina, Ato Arinze, Chinyere Odinukwe, Nnaemezie Asogwa, Benjamin Akachukwu, Obi Nwaegbe, Iyke Okenyi, Jerry Buhari, Chris Echeta, Blaise Gundu Gbaden, Rita Doris Ubah, Doofan Kwaghhool and Abigail Nnaji.

Expectedly, the artists’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and idiosyncrasies gleamed through the works, among which were photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations and mixed media. These babel of expressions swirl around the trending issues in post-colonial Africa, through which the exhibition gropes for a unifying theme.

Take Akeem Muraina, the Lagos-based sculptor, for instance. Among the four works he contributed to the exhibition, two were metal sculptures while the remaining two were charcoal drawings. One of the metal sculptures, titled “Aremo” (Yoruba for step-father) depicts a bull and a young antelope co-joined in a prancing stance. The idea is to reflect the distinctions in class and status as well as a mutual affectionate bonding.

But, specifically, it metaphorically alludes to the relationship between the novel’s main character Okonkwo and his foster son Ikemefuna. Understandably, the old rugged bull, which symbolises Okonkwo’s bellicose disposition, finds its contrast in the antelope (a metaphorical depiction of the youth Ikemefuna), which exposes the soft underbelly of his fatherly love. The work, also a call to true humanity, urges affectionate bonding across artificial class distinctions. This is in reference to the love Okonkwo, a respected figure of Umuofia, had for a slave boy Ikemefuna, which he did not show to his own biological son, Nwoye.

Conversely, the photographer, Emezie Asogwa, with his body of works, titled “Wet Dreams”, makes no obvious reference to the novel. Rather, he expresses his thoughts about the power of the mind. Through blurry images hinting at motion, he tells the story of his dreams and the intrinsic energies of what he calls a “conscious unconsciousness” in a suite of miniature photographs. Thus, he guides the audience beyond the carnal imagery of his bodily experience and urges them to consider wet dreams as expressions of mental images in dense gross-materiality.

In the same vein, Obi Nwaegbe only tangentially references the novel in his acrylic on paper work, “The Protest”, but extends his musings beyond the obvious with his other similarly-rendered works: “Hangout at the Lounge”, “Women on a March”, “The Essence of Friendship” and “The Hawkers”. The Abuja-based artist seems rather more concerned about keeping a visual diary of the contemporary realities of his environment.

Similarly, Iyke Okenyi’s wooden sculptural offerings – “Dancer”, “Group Photograph”, “Heavy Rain”, and “Before I Die” – make no obvious references to the novel’s content. Yet, it leaves so much to the viewers’ conjectures.

This was not so the case with Tobenna Okwuosa’s paintings. For the Niger Delta University lecturer’s three oil on canvas works seem to be patently tied to the novel’s content. Yet, he lashes out through them at the mental slavery of the post-colonial African (in “Black Man, White Mask”); places the novel on a pedestal not just for its entertainment value, but also its possible use as a guide and text for mental liberation of the African (in “The Beginning of a Great Narrative”); and romanticises the heroism of its protagonist in the tradition of the Negritude writers (“Okonkwo”).

Nonetheless, not even the exhibition’s eclectic and impersonal attributes could have diminished its synergistic visual harmony. Hats off, therefore, to Ikwuemesi’s curatorial dexterity for the unobtrusive blending of the forms and the media.

Previously, the travelling exhibition – which featured a maximum of five works from each of the participating artists – had first held in October last year in the Anambra State capital Awka. This was before it held, more recently, in Abuja this year. And the Centre Refuses to Hold…,as a title, lends wings to the artists’ musings. It evokes a Tower of Babel scenario, in reference to the economic, political and social crises, which continually plague the continent. Thus, the novel’s account of the cultural conflicts between the colonial masters and their colonised subjects in the late 19th century echoes with relevance in the present. Beaming the spotlight on Unoka (Okonkwo’s father in the novel), it drew parallels between this character and the artist in the context of the contemporary Nigerian society.

SOURCE: THIS DAY

Biafra Conundrum: Time For National Assembly’s Intervention

Nigeria National Assembly

BY MONIMA DAMINABO
Several factors in the country’s body politick have made it imperative that a structured debate be launched in respect of ethnic politics in Nigeria, of which the Biafra conundrum remains the sorest point for now. Much as it may seem fashionable for the country’s elite to play the ostrich which hides its head in the sand when confronted with danger, the imperative for self-preservation amplifies the misread threat value of the country’s present indulgence in complacence, both for the individual citizen as well as the entire country as a corporate entity. It is therefore time for corporate Nigeria to rise up, seek answers to some of the needful questions such as the less known aspects of its origin that define what is happening to it now, and where it is bound hereafter. 

Some recent events on the global stage which have reinforced the untenable postponement of the day of reckoning for corporate Nigeria include the recent diplomatic outrage in Tokyo where persons claiming to be members of the IPOB virtually waylaid President Muhammadu Buhari with the unmasked intention of embarrassing not only him but the entire country, to wit, launching a public attack on him in a foreign land. It took the Japanese Police extraordinary measures to contain the impending diplomatic upset that would have ensued if the IPOB group had its way and met the President face to face.

Earlier than the Tokyo affair, was the ignoble case of actual assault on the former Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu in Germany, where he went to honour an invitation to an Ibo cultural event. The fact that he escaped with his life by the skin of his teeth tells volumes on the potency of threat of negative diplomatic fallouts when the country’s leaders are targeted and attacked abroad, whenever they travel out and where ever they go to across the world. More insidiously, the assailants may even be unidentifiable until they strike, leading to the possibility that all Nigerians abroad may suffer a stigma of branding as potentially unruly characters. Already a bank in the US has reportedly suspended money transfers through Western Union to Nigeria. The implications of this development if it becomes widespread, are yet uncharted.

By and large, the recent dramatisation of the internationalization of the crisis in Nigeria’s ethnic politics – like what happened in Germany and Japan, has come to deepen the political tensions in the country, following the various readings of the situation from the varying ethnic perspectives with which Nigerians traditionally view matters that affect the entire country. For example, it is for good measure that Ekweremadu was attacked by his fellow Ibo kith and kin. What would have happened if the attack was by persons from another ethnic background? In the same vein what would have followed if President Buhari had been accessed and assaulted by the IPOB elements in Tokyo? Meanwhile these events significantly boosted the country’s woes, along with the underlying divisions among Nigeria’s component ethnic groups, as well as the raging armed conflicts across the land.

As if the foregoing was not enough headache for the country in a short time, there were other sad narratives about the country, like the rape on the country’s credibility in the comity of nations by the US expose’ of Nigeria’s internet fraudsters, who cleaned up bank accounts belonging to unsuspecting American firms, churches, charities and even individuals. Still on cue was the signal that Saudi Arabia had on its death row 23 Nigerians who would be executed by beheading, anytime from now for trafficking banned drugs into that country. Indeed, there may not have been a worse season of anomy for the country, in recent times than now. 

Nevertheless, while all of these aforementioned challenges and others not mentioned here may coalesce into the current headache for the country, the most critical of them easily remains the Biafra issue which with the new found, contrived nuisance value of IPOB in diaspora, offers the risk of forcing our common patrimony to be violated and ridiculed as the proverbial masquerade that is stripped and forced to dance naked in public; and for us, on the global stage. 

In the wake of these developments lies the issue of what the country’s response to the international dimension of the Biafra conundrum will be. And going by the cliché that it is not what happens to a man that matters but how he responds, not a few Nigerians are worried over whether the country will do things in a different way and thereby change the course of events as well as history. For in the final analysis, the situation is steadily pushing the country towards a term many in the country’s power circles today fear to consider – ‘political restructuring’. 

Yet, for the purpose of saving Nigeria as a united corporate entity, or providing a sustainable manner for its eventual restructured state, it is time for the people to talk to each other frankly on the burning issues of the day and in particular Biafra. Many Nigerians may not easily appreciate, the fact that the trending Biafra issue is a conundrum today primarily because much of the impetus driving it lies on a complement of false assumptions, many of which may collapse in the course of structured, rigorous national conversation. 

For instance, except with the instrumentality of a medieval style military conquest to actualize the bogus territorial aspirations of the advocates of Biafra, its emergence today cannot endow it with any territory beyond the five South Eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo. The hellish implications of such a reality may still be lost on many of the new age advocates of Biafra. Essentially, beyond rhetorics can the Igbo nation – with their numerical strength and resourcefulness, actually be confined without severe social tensions, inside the land-locked South East geopolitical zone? The obvious answer which is in the negative to this question, is just one of the primary disincentives for the Ibo elite who are already established in the politics and economy of the Nigerian nation, to be circumspect and hesitant in throwing their weight behind the IPOB pro-Biafra agenda. After all, there is little wisdom in aspiring to rule in hell, than accepting to serve in paradise. 

Perhaps for the edification of the younger pro-Biafrans, the issue of leadership among our Ibo brethren is never a tea party. This author easily recalls the scenario during his days as a student at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, when the defunct East Central State was split between Anambra and Imo States on February 3, 1976. There had followed a mass exodus of newly ‘liberated’ Imo indigenes from Enugu to Owerri – some people travelling on bare foot; with expectations of entering paradise on earth in their new state. Within just one week, most of them rushed back to Enugu in disappointment, only to find their job positions, opportunities and facilities taken over by their erstwhile friends and neighbours. 

So Nigeria, let the Biafra debate commence with the National Assembly leading the charge. That will even be in line with the Ibo proverb that whatever can happen tomorrow, can as well happen today. The net beneficiary will be corporate Nigeria.

SOURCE: DAILY TRUST

Anxiety In Owerri Over Invasion Of Medical Expert’s Home By Suspected B’Haram Members

Owerri Township. Image: Youtube

BY OKODILI NDIDI

OWERRI (THE NATION) -- Relatives of a medical practitioner, Dr. Conrad Esomonu, have raised alarm over the recent invasion of his Owerri residence by suspected members of the terror group, Boko Haram.

A younger brother to the medical expert, Ben Esomonu, said that he left the country four years ago following a similar ordeal in Maiduguri, Borno state, where he was practicing in Maiduguri.

Esomonu, an indigene of Ahiazu Mbaise Council Area of Imo State, was a practicing physician in the Northern part of Nigeria before he relocated abroad after a failed attempt on his life by the Boko Haram sect.

“Trailing and threats of lower magnitude have been hunting the family members which prompted the relocation of his fiancée and children to another part of the country.

“It is worthy of note that the failed kidnap attempt on his fiancée in Calabar early last 2018 was evident. The failed kidnap attempt necessitated that they fled the country to an unconfirmed destination.”

Also, an eye witness, Mrs. Carol Ugwuegbu, disclosed that, “six armed men suspected to be members of Boko haram terror group arrived the home of Dr Esomonu in two Hilux vans at about 6:30pm on Saturday 3rd August 2019. The assailants were chanting incomprehensible invocations suspected to be in Arabic, they were all dressed in flowing gowns (jalandher), a form that suggests that they are terrorists.

“On their arrival at the residence, they started shooting randomly in the air and people nearby scampered for safety. They broke into the premises and shot sporadically into the air but as there was no one in the residence as at that time so they couldn’t get anybody.

“The Police arrived shortly after their departure but no arrests were made instead they inspected the bullet shots around the premises.”

SOURCE: THE NATION

Ndigbo Worldwide – The Reality Of A Virtual Nation In The Diaspora

Chimaroke Nnamani

BY CHMAROKE NNAMANI

The recent spate of the killings in Igboland, the latest being in my own constituency of Enugu East Senatorial District where Rev. Fr. Paul Offu and pregnant Regina Mbah were gruesomely murdered by hoodlums alleged to be Fulani herdsmen is barbarous and horrendous. I condemn in totality the odious and dastardly acts and extend my heartfelt commiseration to the families of the victims.

I have taken note of the commendable actions of the governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi towards arresting the situation. If given time, these actions will completely stem these atrocities. I also have full confidence in the government and people of Enugu State and all relevant groups within the Enugu system that this too shall pass.

However, and more importantly, this should avert our minds to a deeper socio-political dilemma. Ndigbo, an African ethnic nationality primarily domiciled in South-Eastern Nigeria and also some communities in neighbouring states who subscribe to Igboness have gone through travails leading to sociological mutation. 

By simple calculations, Ndigbo are the people who occupy the vast mangrove and forest terrain in the political as well as geographical East of Nigeria. Many may wonder what I mean by political alongside geographical Eastern Nigeria. This is simple. By political actions, particularly emanating from colonialism, Eastern Nigeria starts from the eastern tip of the Niger Bridge in Onitsha, but this is a reductionist partitioning against the more meaningful and natural habitation by which Ndigbo are also known as occupying the vast plain from the western tip of the same Niger Bridge at Asaba to points far beyond the western borders of Agbor in Delta State.

 These social trauma include the slave trade that began in 1471 when the Portuguese and the Spanish carted away over 3,000 West Africans, mainly Igbo, and by the time the slave trade ended in 1833 over 3.5 million Igbo had been shipped to the new world.

 It is on record that as far back as 1591, the Igbo areas of today’s Nigeria were put on Portuguese world map as inhabited by some vigorous people whose deep culture celebrated energy, accomplishment and wisdom. The Spanish in 1593 were to expand on this view in identifying the terrain as deeping in a stretch of the Bight called Biafra whose people lived their lives in lifting to art form the career in sojourn (njepu), thought (echiche), industry (olu) andaccomplishment (ntozu). 

The truth of this glorious past and the joy of her greatness have been celebrated by our modern historians and writers who, though, regret that the same Igbo areas (Bight of Biafra) exploded in one ball of fire with the introduction of the slave trade which depleted the manpower resources as it upturned values. 

It is alleged that European slave traders were fairly well informed about various African ethnicities, leading to slavers targeting certain ethnic groups which plantation owners preferred. Particularly desired ethnic groups consequently became fairly concentrated in certain parts of the Americas. The Igbo were dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica, Cuba, Saint-Domingue, Barbados, Haiti, the future United States within the then Virginia and Maryland colonies and Belize. With the goal for freedom, enslaved Igbo people were known to the British colonialists as being rebellious, cantankerous and having a high rate of suicide in the process of escaping from slavery.

In May 1803 a shipload of captive West Africans, upon surviving the notorious Middle Passage, were caged by U.S.-paid captors in Savannah via a slave ship, to be auctioned off at one of the local slave markets. The ship’s enslaved passengers included a number of Igbo people from the then Portuguese-named Bight of Biafra. The Igbo were known by planters and slavers of the American South for being fiercely independent and resistant to chattel slavery. 

The group of 75 Igbo slaves were bought for forced labor on plantations in St. Simons Island for $100 each.The chained slaves were packed under the deck of a small vessel to be shipped to the island. During this voyage the Igbo slaves rose up in rebellion, taking control of the ship and drowning their captors, in the process causing the grounding of the ship in Dunbar Creek at the site now locally known as Igbo Landing. 

With the strongest, the best and the brightest forcibly exported to Europe and the Americas as slaves, the Igbo areas were set in an unprecedented track in retrogression. So, for about two hundred years after formal abolition and about one hundred years after apparent extinction of slave dealing business, the Igbo areas, the people and their resources lay prostrate, yet to recover even in the face of pernicious modern allocation of values. 

Even in the grim periods in history, Ndigbo have held on to the dominant values and character traits which elevated those forebears of the people who thought (echiche), sojourned (njepu), worked (oru) andaccomplished (ntozu). Their accomplishment showed in the glamourous Bight of Biafra culture seen by the Portuguese and the Spanish. Till date, the modern Igbo explore to the fullest those attributes which are identified as the trinity of Igbo character trait and process of personality. Every Igbo man employs his. The same Igbo sojourns, home and abroad and at the same time acts, works and creates wealth. We all know that sojourning is a great industry of the Igbo, which is achieved with the proper deployment of one of the greatest Igbo media of actualization – Ukwun’ije.

 Ndigbo, rising in their cradle in the Holy City of Nri, had deployed the feet and fanned out into the global arena. As they journeyed, they bore the cot of reason we call akpauche. This, we all know, we use to direct the strokes of physical gesture which we know as our aka Ikenga. These form the trinity of the Igbo character, at home and abroad. The end product is the accomplishment (ntozu). When it is told in the hills, valleys, cities and village, then we are celebrating that accomplishment. That is Odenigbo – the universal applause for fame. 

The process of slavery and dispersal of Ndigbo have continued through search for better occupation, better livelihood and also continued voluntary servitude.The Igbo nation has therefore become a nation exercising perpetual and cultural migratory shift, thus in dispersal with heartbeat outside the boundaries of the South-Eastern states which have now become a mere symbolic home forNdigbo Global or Ndigbo Worldwide. 

With this social mutation, the Igbo has to face the reality that the search for a sovereign ethnic state outside the boundaries of the official Nigeria has become untenable, elusive, and an infinite national romanticism of the sovereign nature. This dispersal was impelled by the conditions that have made the Igbo homestead inhospitable – poor infrastructure, lack of basic amenities and the abysmal lack of federal presence in the region decades after the much-touted post-civil war reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation.

 Therefore, the heartbeat of a virtual Igbo nation is outside the confines of the Igbo homestead. NdigboGlobal or Ndigbo Worldwide who reside all over the world with the majority still in South-Eastern Nigeria have unfettered access to the global basket of fortunes and limitless dreams. In the global arena where there is no quota system and where the society thrives on competition and merit, an Igbo can achieve his potentials including high political offices that apparently elude him in the place he calls home, Nigeria. 

The dreams of the Igbo worldwide are not thereforeinhibited by socio-political conspiracies that have confined them to an engineered artificial minority status within the Nigerian state.Such conspiracies theorized as prophylaxis to recurrent and future attempt at recreating a Biafra type scenario, an unwritten policy heralded by the win-the-war strategy of the 12-state structure. In my humble opinion, presidential power as an immediate goal for the Igbo is now secondary.Physical and fiscal restructuring of the Nigerian socio-political space to allow for full effusion of the trinity of Igbo character is more emergent. Some Nigerians in impulsive uppity have been known to have expressed umbrage at an Igbo becoming Vice President nine years after the then war of blame that is Nigeria versus Biafra. 

Zik of Africa, M. I. Power, ‘Boycott the Boycottables’, the ‘Timber and Calibers’ and many others, we pray they will continue to rest in peace in the bosom of the Lord. May they hearour cries and lamentations! Onye mu nayajerentasinaukwumdikaukwuanu. That is to say that my fellow hunter is now seeing my legs as those of an antelope. In the mansion they built with their compatriots through their actions and inactions, their men have become consigned to the quarters for the boys.

 The new Igbo is therefore the Ndigbo Global or the Ndigbo Worldwide. That new Igbo has to define through intellectual thinking what he or she wants from the present Nigerian nation. Globalization provides a myriad of multi-sectoral potentials for human development in areas like trade, commerce, real estate, transport, agro-business, banking, construction, manufacturing, shipping, ICT, academics, sports, and so on. What he or she wants could, in reality, be outside political power because the leverages for achieving political power are no longer there because of inter-ethnic conspiracy that produced a hostile and neglected environment within her homestead. Thus confirming her minority status in the Nigeria of today. 

From the analysis of the indices of good living such as poverty index, life expectancy, school enrollment, maternal and infant mortality rates, MDGs and SDGs, etc., Ndigbo have fared relatively well despite practical exclusion from the sanctum of power and unfair manipulation of the fulcrum of leverages of power since the ill winds of 1966. The categorization of non-political power goals would protect her from unbridled jealousy and hostility, hence left to live in peace within the confines of geopolitical Nigeria but use the global space to thrive. Yessoo – the virtual Nation in the diaspora. 

Ndigbo have to sit down in a colloquium, where Igbo historians, sociologists and political scientists will define what is left for us within the Nigerian nation outside fighting for political power and then invest in the world as a canvass.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

South-East Govs Ban Herdsmen, Cattle Movement Among Communities

BY DENNIS AGBU, CHINEDU ADONU

ENUGU (VANGUARD) - THE Governors of South-East geopolitical zone have banned movement of herdsmen and cattle from one community to the other within the zone.

The Governors also said they have assurances of the federal government that the shut Akanu Ibiam International airport would be reconstructed by two set of contractors to ensure that the work is completed on December this year.

They also said that the entire states in the zone would in the next one week roll out complete palliative measures as a result of the closure of the Enugu international airport.

The Governors made the disclosure in Enugu, Saturday, during their meeting with enlarged stakeholders meeting that included the Minister for Aviation, the Army, Police, the clergy, Igbo leaders, federal ministry of works, among others.

In a communiqué delivered by Chairman of the Governors Forum, Chief Dave Umahi, the stakeholders said they deliberated on two major topics on matters of insecurity and the matters arising from the closure of the Enugu airport.

Umahi said their discussion agreed that their earlier joint air operation to flush out bandits from all forest in South-East would continue.

He said “We also agreed that we have to put measures in place to restrain movement of herdsmen and their cattle from one state to another which is a source and point of conflict with the natives and farmers. And also restrain the movement of cattle and herdsmen from the community to communities across farmlands.

” While commending Enugu state governor for the establishment of Forest Guards as earlier agreed by South-East Governors, the meeting encouraged the remaining South-East governors to launch theirs.

“South-East governors have banned herdsmen who move about with AK 47 guns and cutlasses and we want our security agencies to implement same. South-East governors never invited the army nor were the South East Governors informed of any of their operations on Python Dance until the operations were already started in the states, Umahi said.

He also disclosed that they would write to President Mohammadu Buhari to request for a meeting with him and all the security Chiefs on issues of security to douse tension in the region.

He also acknowledged the safety reasons given by the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika for the closure of Enugu Airport, saying it was a matter of need to save the lives of people. He said the airport deterioration went on for a long that the government had to close it to save the lives of people.

“The Honourable Minister of Aviation has assured us that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport will be reconstructed to meet the Abuja International Airport standard, the runway shall be reconstructed and extended, and the landing equipment shall be replaced with a better night landing light installation and he has assured that the work will go on day and night and it must be completed before December 2019.

“Other works like the cargo section, extension of the tarmac, buildings that were damaged by rainstorm etc are also in the package. He has assured us also that two sets of contractors are pinned down for any of them to be used like Julius Berger as we requested and P&W but in the weeks ahead we will be asking him that we have a choice of Julius Berger.

“Palliative measures is been arranged and the South-East governors will have a committee with Minister of Aviation and Minister of Works to discuss on the palliative measures. We are very committed as South-East governors for the safety of pour people, for the convenience of our people to ease all inconveniences and these we are going to do. Some states have already started and some states will also follow. And in the next one week we will totally roll out our palliative measures and we assure our people of their safety.

“On Sam Mbakwe Airport, the Honourable Minister said they had already met and a number of facelift will be given like the barbed wire, the tarmac, the buildings; they are all going to be given facelift, where most of these planes will be diverted to and we are very happy with that.

“South East governors have already set up security committee, we shall inaugurate them today, one per state and they will play a major role with our security chiefs and also play role in this airport closure and diversion of flights

.” Speaking on the airport, the Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika the federal government takes the Enugu seriously as it does to Kaduna for the north and Ibadan for the south west.

“This airport is one of the five International Airports that we have, I want to assure you that we will take all the seriousness that it deserves, and we should be able to deliver this project all things being equal before Christmas.

“We are conscious and aware of the hardships that you might go through but I believe it is worth it in the interest of safety and the committee that has been formed will discuss the palliative and we will also discuss the arrangement and planning,” Sirika said.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

How gunmen killed Catholic priest, set body ablaze

Some unidentified gunmen. Image: AFP via The Guardian

BY CHARLES AKPAJI, NKECHI ONYEDIKA-UGOEZE, KANAYO UMEH AND NJADVARA MUSA

The Catholic Church yesterday said it was saddened and shocked by the murder of one of its priests, Rev. Fr. David Tanko, in Taraba State.

The tragedy occurred barely a month after suspected Fulani herders killed Rev. Fr. Paul Offu in Enugu State. The murder of Offu had also followed the killing of yet another priest, Rev. Fr. Clement Eziagu, a month earlier.

The late Tanko was attacked yesterday morning in Kufai-Amadu village along Takum-Wukari road as he went for a peace meeting. Parts of Taraba State have been embroiled in clashes between the Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups.

The Chairman of Takum Local Government Area, Shiban Tikari, confirmed the incident, saying the assailants, “after killing him, set him and his car on fire.”

Reacting, Bishop Charles Hammawa of the Catholic Diocese of Jalingo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN): “We received the news of his death with shock and great sadness. The diocese is mourning. We have been preaching peace and making efforts to bring the parties that were enmeshed in crisis in the area together for a roundtable discussion.

“For a priest who has been preaching peace to be killed in this most gruesome manner is pathetic, to say the least. A priest belongs to all. For now, we are not pointing an accusing finger at any group for being responsible.”

He said the state police command disclosed that it was investigating the case and prayed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

“Our basic concern now is to give him a befitting burial. We don’t want any group to go on reprisal. Going on reprisal will only worsen the situation,” Hammawa added.

Tikari, however, blamed the killing on Tiv militia, whom he accused of alleged attacks in southern Taraba.

Taraba police spokesman, David Misal, could not be reached for comments, as calls and text messages to him were neither acknowledged nor replied to.

But Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu issued a statement yesterday, where he condoled with the church and ordered the state commissioner of police to fish out the killers. He further expressed concern over recent attacks on clerics in parts of the country and directed commissioners of police in all states to pay special attention to the clergy and step up security around worship centres.

In another attack in Wajirko village, Borno State suspected members of the terrorist Islamic State of West Africa Provinces (ISWAP) on Tuesday killed 11 workers who were laying cables for a telecoms firm.

The assailants had reportedly ordered the workers to discontinue. But Modu Bukar, a resident of the area, told reporters: “The villagers are starving. Laying the cables provides a means of livelihood. We had to ignore the threat to survive the 10-year insurgency.”

Meanwhile, the new Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammadu Dingyadi, yesterday restated the commitment of the Federal Government to providing security for Nigerians. He gave the assurance when leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress paid him a visit in Sokoto State.

Also, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the National Muslim and Christian Youth Summit in Abuja yesterday, decried religious and ethnic tensions in the country.

He told the participants: “Many are beating the drums of tribal and religious superiority. Some are even seeking to divide the nation into ethnic zones.”

Osinbajo consequently urged Muslims and Christians to live up to the tenets of their faiths and promote the best values of humanity.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Osadebe Fest: Preserving The Legacy Of A Highlife Legend

L-R: Son of the Late Sir Stephen Osita Osadebe, Onyeka Osadebe, Convener, Osadebe Fest, Afam Dozie, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, Steve Onu, and Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu at the brand unveiling of the Osadebe Fest in Lagos recently

BY THIS DAY

A group of young men from the Igbo stock recently came together to bring back the life and times of a legendary icon, late Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, one of Nigeria’s Highlife pioneers. MARY NNAH reports that they intend to go back to their roots to expound the culture and tradition which the late music icon propagated and stood for, believing this would help to project the Igbo culture and race globally

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, simply known as Osadebe, a Nigerian highlife musician from Atani, Anambra State is one of the best known Igbo highlife musicians in Nigeria and globally.

Born in March 1936, Osadebe’s career, according to the Wikipedia, spanned over 40 years. He was best known for his 1984 hit song, “Osondi Owendi”, literally meaning, “One man’ meat is another man’s poison”, which established him as a leader in the highlife genre and was one of Nigeria’s most popular records ever.

Yet, after his demise at the age of 73 on May 11, 2007 at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, nothing worthwhile has been done to preserve the legacy of a man described as the “doyen of highlife” in Nigeria.

Conversely, a group of young men, just recently, decided to come together and do something extraordinary by coming up with an innovative idea to bring to life Osadebe’s life and times, through an initiative tagged the “Osadebe Fest.”

The brand unveiling of, “Osadebe Fest tagged “Celebrating a Legend: In memory of Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe (The Highlife Music Icon)”, held in Lagos, which had in attendance the team behind the project, made up of the Convener, Afam Dozie, Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu; OAP and entertainer, Steve Onu popularly known as Yaw amongst others.

Dozie, an indigene of Otolo Nnewi in Anambra State, said Osadebe Fest is not just about celebration but to impact on the young people who didn’t meet Osadebe as a person or didn’t know what his songs stood for.

“We were fortunate enough to grow up with parents as typical Igbos who played Osadebe songs every morning as we listened. The kind of advice Osadebe gives in his songs are inspiring. That alone got me very involved with tradition. So, we decided to start this”, Dozie on how he got inspired to start the Osadebe Fest.

As the brain behind the project, he has got together young able-bodied men like himself, who believe in the same dream.

“I cannot do it alone; we cannot do it alone too. We need the Igbos; we need Igbos in diaspora, we need Nigerians, and we need everybody who believes Osadebe impacted on us in one or two ways through his genre of music, which is highlife. So we are projecting a bigger picture, this is just the official unveiling event”, he added.

The event which has the support of the Igbo elders as well as the family of the late legend, as was shown with the representation by one of his sons, Onyeka Osadebe, is funded at the moment by the founding team. However, Dozie said it is open to sponsorship by organisations and individuals with like minds.

“We are looking forward to get support from all nooks of life including the Anambra State government, media and brands that would associate with the progress of this event. We just want will-be sponsors to understand the vision behind this. This has nothing to do with personal interest but basically it is a collective effort of like minds coming together to take our culture to the next level.

“As an Igbo man, I strongly believe in my culture and I also believe that we need to take our culture to where it should be. So, through the entertainment filed, we have decided to use the Osadebe symbol to portray this idea and then push it out there. Like I said, the opportunities are endless”, he noted.

He revealed further that highpoints for the build up to the major event coming up sometime next year would include a novelty football match, symposiums, school debates on the music icon for secondary schools, festival of masquerades where all the masquerades from various quarters of the eastern zone would be brought together in one place to pay homage to late Osadebe and then the main concert which would crown up the whole event in Awka, Anambra State.

“The Osadebe Fest is not just for the Osadebe’s family but for every Igbo person. As team for this project, we are not selfish that is why we are putting it up for everyone, most especially for those that have done highlife music, to be part of the project.

“So, whilst we are preparing for the major event with the various activations that I have mentioned earlier, the musical competition will commence online, so that people who are in the same genre of music as Osadebe would showcase their talents and then winners would emerge who would play on stage during the main event. So, the Osadebe Fest is everyone’s business,. It is for the family, the country and the world at large”, Dozie added.

One of those working behind the scene for the success of the Osadebe Fest Concert, Steve Onu, popularly known as Yaw, said, “I have decided to be part of this project because this is something I have always wanted to do for the Easterners but you know it is not an easy thing, you hardly get support.

“Incidentally, when Afam approached me, and said this is exactly what he wanted to do, I just keyed into the idea. So we are just going ahead with this and believing that it would be a different case.”

Expressing optimism about the approaching event, Onu said, “I strongly believe that this would go a long way to project our culture internationally and otherwise. Before now I have been an advocate but it is a good thing that somebody is spearheading the cause because it requires a lot of work and team work as well. We need the support of everybody to make this a reality.”

Speaking further, Onu who perhaps has foreseen what the project portends, said, “This is no child’s play. African music cannot be talked about without Highlife and that is what the easterners represent. There are lots of brands coming with various styles of Highlife music because they know that African music is not complete without it. So, it means that we cannot run away from these things. I think this is what we need to do now to go back home a bit”.

Stressing on the area he is going to give his support, he said, “Apart from just being on radio, I run a TV channel online, I am a producer, content creator and all of that, so I can pull strings to ensure we come up with a wonderful event.”

On how significant the project is to him as a person, he said, “I am Igbo and a proud one at that and I would always be one. So, I would say that it would definitely be a huge one to help project the Igbo culture and race internationally.”

“You cannot run away from Highlife, it is our thing and that is what we are known for. And I think that every musician now, even though they say what they do is Afro-hip-hop, when you listen to it carefully you still feel some rhythm of Highlife embedded in their music. So we cannot run away from it”, Onu noted further.

According to Hillary Ikechukwu Oranu, another member of the team from Umuoji in Anambra State, the proposed event is intended to be held next year, tentatively in March, the birth month of late Osadebe.

“We are looking at next year because it is good for events like these to be significant with a figure. In the sense that you are either doing it on his birthday or you’re doing it in the period he died. We don’t intend to hold the even around the period he died. He died in May, he was given birth to in March so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that around March we would be having the whole event”,Oranu said.

On how he got to be part of the project, he said, “Afam is the brain behind the whole thing. When he called me into the picture, I realised we shared the same idea. And so, we looked at the pros and cons of the project and we decided to come together to ensure that this comes to reality.”

Speaking further on the significance of the proposed Osadebe Fest, Oranu said, “Everybody would agree with me that traditionally, it is good to fall back home at some point, but we are not falling back home at this point because we are old but we are taking back our culture. We want to recognise what is rightfully ours; we want to put the Igbo culture and the Igbo tradition where it is meant to be.

“Basically, the whole idea about the Osadebe fest is not child’s play. It’s a project we intend to sustain for years. Osadebe is meant to be celebrated even in death because he is the biggest Highlife artist from the eastern part of Nigeria. So we felt this man shouldn’t just turn to dust, and vanish just like that. We need to sustain that name; he needs to be in the world map and bringing him into the map a whole lot of culture and tradition needs to be put in place.

“That’s exactly why we are doing this. We are not from his village, we are not his family members but we are just a group of Igbo guys who understand our culture and know where we want to place the Igbo tradition and culture. We understand the importance of Highlife and music in our tradition. That is the direction and vision of where we are going to.”

Stressing further that the planned event has the full support of the late Osadebe’s family as well as the traditional rulers in Igbo land, he said, “We are not just doing this on our own accord, we have the family involved in this, we have the traditional rulers of his village and also the council of traditional rulers and Igwes with the Ohaneze Ndigbo with us. So what we are doing is traditional, it is not just a comedy or musical concert. Permit me to mention “Felabration”, with time Osadebe Fest would get to that point.”

Unveiling the brand logo for Osadebe Fest, the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze, said, “I feel highly honoured unveiling the logo for Osadebe Fest today. Osadebe is a great man in Igbo land, Nigeria, Africa and in the world because his music cuts across the globe. So, we are celebrating him today because he is a great man.”

While commending the group for coming up with such innovative idea and also giving his blessings for a successful outing, Eze Nwosu said, “How can a great man like Osadebe just vanish from the society? For these young men remembering him by planning an event like this, which they would be showcasing him and his music every year, is commendable. They have done very well and I pray that God would always be with them as they carry on with the project with steadiness.”

Stressing that lyrics of Osadebe’s music are loaded with lot of meaning and blessings, he frowned at the kind of songs being propagated by the youths of today.

He however encouraged young musicians to emulate the likes of Osadebe in creating music that would endure the test of time.

“Whenever we remember Osadebe, we remember the good work he did by promoting our culture, using his music to educate us on things concerning our culture. I don’t think that in years to come, we can get somebody to replace him. We miss a great man. We can only advice the younger generations to try as much as possible to emulate such legends who did wonders with their songs in the music industry in Nigeria.”

Hon. Jude Obiekwe, the Akpokwuo Dike, a businessman and politician, described the idea as novel, saying, “We are seeing this for the first time and It is a welcome idea to the generation of today. Osadebe is legend and when you see young minds coming together to honour him, we must give kudos to that. So I am very proud of this team.”

He promised to render the group every support needed to ensure the project sees the light of the day.

He called on the present generation of musicians to learn from music icons like Osadebe and their genre of music, adding, “Osadebe’s music is for everyone, not majorly for the Igbos, it cuts across the globe, so, it is things of joy that this is coming up at this point in time.

Igbo Women And The August Meeting Festival

BY CHRISTIANA NWAOGU

Across Igbo land, August Meeting, the annual mothers’ congresses held in the month of August, usually witnesses massive home-coming of ‘Igbo women’ to their marital rural hometowns, where they unite with their rural-based colleagues for community development purposes. Despite negative commentaries about hosting or attending these meetings, the buzz is still as loud today as it was many years ago, CHRISTIANA NWAOGU writes.

The ‘August Meeting’ has a critical mandate in Igbo political affairs and represents the socio-economic and cultural development initiative of women. Indeed, this feast truly has typified the rise of women as a social force and their conscious pursuit of development.

The annual event has been entrenched in the calendar of Igbo women and they always look forward to it. It has become customary for most women who are civil servants to fix their annual leave in August to enable them interact with their fellow women in the rural areas without having to worry about their offices during the period.

The yearly reunion , which began over 21 years ago, and is currently celebrated by women in all the Igbo states including Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia, is a yearly ritual that invites Igbo women living at home and abroad to return home in what is considered a desperate move to complement the efforts of the men in providing essential amenities such as roads, health centres, electricity and churches among others, in their communities.

The ‘August Meeting’ is indeed, a powerful and purposeful sociopolitical symbol and strategy for the exercise of power and maintenance of identity among the Igbo, affecting all realms of life and ‘restoring’ the once strong political voice of the womenfolk in traditional communities.

In other words, through this annual home-coming congress, Igbo women hold some socio-political influence and have become active actors and agents in the Igbo public sphere.

In the pre-colonial era, however, Igbo women had direct involvement and considerable influence in the public sphere, which was defined through institutional provisions as the socio-political arena, the advent of colonialism, however, introduced some policies which put women and their activities down, and considerably diminished women’s status and agency in Igboland.

In the years that followed, the Women August Meeting evolved from an offhand annual gathering into a dynamic platform for the empowerment, reorientation and mobilisation of women for community building and political participation.

In some states for instance, the association has governors’ wives to thank for that. Since most of them took the decision to become host of the meeting, each edition of the yearly event has identified challenges facing women in their state and taken the pain to offer solution.

Take Imo state for instance, in 2011 when it started, the theme was ‘Women: the Home Builders,’ in 2012, it was ‘Women: The Vessels for Transformation,’ in 2013, it was ‘Managing Stress and Unity of Purpose,’ in 2014, the theme was ‘Imo Women: Making a Difference through Involvement and Commitment’ and in 2015, the theme was ‘Women: Dare to Dream,’ with an accompanying slogan, ‘it is possible.’

In 2016 there was a visible paradigm shift in the theme and focus of the August Meeting. The title was ‘Looking at the Next Generation of Mothers’ and the accompanying slogan was ‘we cannot afford to fail.’ This peculiar edition was a wakeup call for women to inculcate the right values in their children who are the next generation of mothers and fathers.

In 2017 the theme was ‘Women: Building Bridges of Friendship Across the Niger,’ it was a clarion call on women to deploy their inherent talent to promote unity, peace, friendship, justice, equity and love not only in the Igbo nation but in Nigeria at large.

Then the 2018 edition had the theme, ‘Sharing our Common Cultural Values’ which was intended to turn the country’s diverse culture into a tool of national integration and society development.

Apart from this, the 2019 edition of the August Meeting is profoundly special because among other things, it was the first edition for the wife of the current governor of Imo State and some first-time lawmakers.

The organisation, attendance, performances and emotions that are usually showcased at this time, proves beyond doubt, that the Imo and the south east August Meeting has bonded the women, irrespective of status, class, creed, politics and religion.

This annual reunion also gives opportunity for the wives of governors to present gifts to women for their love and support in the saddle and mostly for their husbands.

The crowd at various venues where August Meetings are held is usually beautiful to behold as these places are usually filled to capacity with women from across the local government areas of the state who sleep over at the stadium preparing for the D-Day.

As it is done, after a circular announcing the date has been sent out to women leaders at the various local government councils and a time table of various events has been rolled out.

At this point, the host, who is mostly the governor’s wife, in an uncommon display of charity, which has sustained in the last years through her pet project and non-governmental organisation, gives out three, sometimes between two- three bedroom fully furnished bungalows to three indigent widows and mini-buses, a fully stocked fabric shop, as well as thousands of expensive gift items including refrigerators, gas cookers, motorcycles, generators, household items, thousands of bags of rice and other food items, kitchen wares, clothing and cash to deserving winners of various competitions.

In most cases, all the women that attend the August Meeting go home with a gift item.

There is usually a colorful, rich and intriguing display of culture from across the country including dance, food, agriculture and other attributes that underscore the country’s cultural identity.

Dance troupes from various states including some from South-south states such as Delta, Cross River and Edo perform to the admiration of the surging crowd.

Other various side attractions include a parade by women from various local governments of the state celebrating, comic competitions like the ‘osu mmiri,’ dancing competition by senior citizens, beauty parade and raffle draws. All these add colour to the event.

For a regular participant of the event, Madam Evelyn Nwaogu, the meeting helps preserve the Igbo culture. “Our culture is our way of life and we should hold tenaciously to it and must not let it go into extinction.

“The achievements of the August Meeting in the past years has shown that when mobilised, women can be consistent in piloting and championing developmental projects in communities.

“I have personally realised that the potentials embedded in Imo, my state of origin through August Meeting, especially from the angle of women empowerment, family consolidation and unity, as well as the community development, has really revolutionised August Meeting into a historic event, effectively packaged to actualise its potentials.

“Our leaders, past and present, have introduced events like arts and culture, agricultural products and food exhibition, thereby enhancing the discovery of talents and potential in women in view of their roles as home builders and agents of positive change, strengthening their collaboration and participation in meaningful societal development.”

According to Madam Nwaogu, some women who are in the politics in Imo State were discovered during August Meetings as a result of how they participated and carried out their responsibilities.

Nwaogu, who went down memory lane also said that the issue of attire almost marred the essence of August Meeting after attendance began to drop in many communities. “In those days, some women would package three different attires for the three-day meeting and the topic shifted from discussing community matters discussing the trending wrappers in town.

She said, the issue also began to cause dispute in some families as wives began to mount undue pressure on their husbands to buy expensive wrappers for them, a development which she said separated different marriages.

Speaking on the family disputes caused by August Meeting, another participant of the annual meeting, Mrs Esther Nwachukwu Uhah said adopting a uniform attire for all the women was what saved the day. “There was a big relief when a decision was taken that women should appear in uniform during August Meetings to end the competition on quality of wrappers women wore to the meeting.

According to Nwachukwu, since the era of wearing uniform at the meeting, attendance has increased tremendously and the friction in many families over what is worn to the meeting has ended.’’

Usually, August Meeting is broken into three segments. The first is organised at the village level, then at the community level and finally, at the church level during which the women offer thanksgiving in their various churches to formally end the meeting.

Mr Okpo Uzorhuo who dislikes the forum said, August Meetings have broken many homes and ruined marriages and businesses.

A lawyer of Igbo descent, Barrister Ogorna, opined that most women engage in untoward acts during this period just to go with the bandwagon. ‘‘You know how vain some women are, every woman likes to meet up with others. Nobody wishes to be intimidated by other women. Both the poor and the rich wish to meet up with the fashion of the time. And for them, they must meet up.

“As we are aware, women care about their looks and if their husbands cannot provide for what they want, some will start to look elsewhere just to satisfy themselves, thereby causing problems in the house. Many of them would go to the extent of stealing, prostituting, and doing all sorts of evil, just to meet up with others. Many borrow money, clothes, some other things in the bid to meet up, and thereby disgrace their husbands.

“During August Meetings, women compete with each other to know who wears the best clothes, handbags, shoes, earrings, necklace and so on. Women don’t joke with this and that is very bad.

Another Respondent Mrs Confidence Ikechukwu stated that the August Meeting, an annual gathering of women, has evolved into massive platform for the empowerment and reorientation of the women.

She noted that through the August Meeting, most women in the region have abandoned unproductive lives and assumed the roles of home and society building.

“With determination and unity of purpose, dangerous routes like laziness, gossip, insubordination, antagonism and rancor, have been closed while, with wisdom we widened many parts that lead to development, bearing in mind that success of one Imo woman is the success of all Imo women.

“Indeed, we have rekindled the light of positivism and togetherness and by so doing, have removed the primordial barriers of zonal sentimentalism, creed, social status and others that do no one any good, she added.”

The truth remains that married women among the Igbos, through their annual ‘August Meeting’, are moving into the public sphere, which was hitherto largely considered the exclusive domain of men.

Though the dates and time of the meeting vary from community to community, the important thing is that it falls within the month of August. And it is customarily binding on women to attend the August Meeting because not attending attracts a surcharge by the leadership of the women organisation. Fundraising and execution of projects usually forms the crux of the meeting and that is why projects funded by women dot many communities.

SOURCE: LEADERSHIP

Understanding Ihedioha’s ‘Rebuild Imo’ Agenda

Emeka Ihedioha, Imo State Governor

BY CHARLES ODIBO

“Never forget these commandments that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Write them on the door-posts of your houses and on your gates.” – (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) – Moses admonishing the people of Israel to strictly observe the Ten Commandments

A peoples’ mantra, battle-cry, or watch-word, is ideally their guiding principle that ultimately shapes their actions – what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.

Moses, a man chosen by God from birth to liberate the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, gave the people the above strict instructions when they were about to cross the River Jordan and ultimately take possession of the land flowing with milk and honey, which the Lord had promised them. But the caveat was that they had to live by God’s commandments to reap the promises, and much more.

Good institutions that endure have long learnt this principle of creating foundational guiding principles, core values, and vision shared by all, to create amity, and achieve organisational goals.

When in 2018 then candidate Emeka Ihedioha set out to seek the mandate of Ndi Imo to lead them he knew he needed to be clear about what the journey was and will entail, and what he would be judged by. More importantly he desired that every Imo person will share in his vision for a renewed Imo, and so, after series of sessions with critical stakeholders, it was clear to him that Imo State, a once thriving state had been practically destroyed by bad governance and needed to be rebuilt.

As the Imo Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate he stated that, “among the comity of states in Nigeria, Imo state has become a laughing stock. The once thriving economy and pearl of the East currently lacks purposeful leadership and is in ruins. The last seven years of APGA/APC maladministration characterized by flagrant disregard for principles of rule of law and good governance has completely destroyed the foundations laid by our founding fathers.”

Why destroy Imo, its people and place by a government voted by a people in trust and governed under oath? We may never know except to interrogate human nature and behavior – maybe Senator Rochas Okorocha’s antecedents, background, and what circumstances influence his being – body, mind, and soul.

How do you destroy? By decapitating the structures, institutions, and controls for good governance – destroying established institutions like local government areas, starving them of funds and ensuring they are not functional; tele-guiding the state assembly; emasculating the judiciary and disobeying court orders; pocketing the traditional institution; denigrating and insulting the revered religious institution; refusing to contribute and partake in counterpart funds that will aid development and abnegating standards in construction.

Examples will do…When the out-gone government of Senator Rochas Okorocha refused to contribute N500m counterpart funding to a World Bank Agency for Urualla community in Ideato North’s N10b erosion project to tackle the massive erosion that is sweeping away homes and farmlands, it is destruction. Ironically, Senator Okorocha hails from Ideato. Thankfully, Governor Ihedioha has since promptly paid the N500 million counterpart fund and the World Bank has awarded the N10 billion project, which is currently well under way.

Senator Rochas Okorocha’s government shunned Treasury Single Account (TSA) but operated 250 bank accounts as revealed by the Financial Advisory Committee set-up by Governor Emeka Ihedioha. This is destruction because there will be no accountability and it gave ample room for leakages. Governor Ihedioha has since adopted the TSA model to ensure transparency in the management of public funds.

The former governor ignored series of advice from Council for the Registration of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) in construction of bridges and flyovers, all of which have now been closed to traffic because they failed integrity tests. This is destruction.

Arbitrariness – establishing six universities and polytechnics in April 2019, less than one month to handover, with no enabling laws; handing over public institutions such as hospitals to voluntary agencies and churches without enabling laws in the twilight of his administration; and also establishing arms of government that are not known to law such as Community Development Centres, disingenuously tagged the fourth arm of government in the past government’s “iberiberism” play book, were all parts of the deliberate dismemberment of Imo State.

There was a deliberate ploy to gradually destroy the state’s civil service, the engine room of government, by usurping their duties such as awarding contracts from government house and not through established ministerial procedures; starving them of funds such that the entire state’s secretariat with 11 buildings and housing all the ministries had no public water and power supply, while four giant generating sets bought by the Achike Udenwa administration were allowed to rot.

To rebuild therefore is to start all over again…which explains the foundation of the ‘Rebuild Imo’ mantra of Governor Ihedioha, anchored on: Good Governance; Job and wealth creation; Human capital development; and Integrated infrastructure development.

The above scenario explains why it is critically important to carry all Imo people along to create amity which inevitably will guarantee a ready to act attitude of the people

To rebuild or reconstruct Imo State is not a government task alone.

Beyond the mutilation of government structures, the peoples’ social capital were also violated and therefore need to be revitalized by the people, championed by the traditional and religious institutions, to promote community well being through the reinforcement of our cherished community values, beliefs and traditions.

What then will ‘Rebuild Imo’ project deliver to Ndi Imo; what promises are they holding Governor Ihedioha and his team accountable to; and how will mutual understanding be created between the people and the government?

A snippet of what a transformed Imo State should look like, based on the Governor’s four-year action plan include the introduction of due process, openness, transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business, as is already manifest in the actions of the government in suspending local government chairmen and councillors who emerged from a flawed election conducted by the former administration, and constituting an Interim Management Committee that is now independent, and thereby helping to deepen the government’s impact on the people living in rural communities; the consultative rapprochement being sought by the Ministry of Justice in resolving the over 150 garnishee orders against the state government amounting to over N32 billion of judgement debts as incurred by the past administration of Senator Rochas Okorocha; the various administrative and judicial committees set up by Governor Ihedioha to ascertain and advise on diverse issues as emergency setting up of new higher institutions in the twilight of the out-gone administration, the award of contracts, and acquisition and allocation of land; the state of Adapalm, rubber and cashew plantations; pensions scheme, amongst others.

Other actionable plans of the Rebuild Imo mantra include the planned establishment of Imo State Education Trust Fund to promote genuine, free and qualitative education; revitalize the health care system in the state, including the provision of free health care for pregnant women, children under five years and senior citizens; reform and increase investment in agriculture for sustainable wealth creation and food security; revamp tourism and entertainment as key contributors to the economy; guarantee the security of lives and properties of citizens and residents; review distortions in the Owerri master plan.

Other structural imperatives include to respect the autonomy of the local government system in the state; ensure strict observance of the principle of separation of powers as it affects the state house of assembly; respect the autonomy of the judiciary in order to promote the rule of law; and reinvigorate and reposition the state public service as a vehicle of service delivery to the people.

Visible actions are already being implemented by the government as evidenced by the Governor’s approval for the immediate reconstruction of over 100 primary and secondary schools with facilities such as toilets and water; the convening of a critical stakeholders’ summit on education to agree on a roadmap of action before schools resume on September 9; the launch of “Operation Iron Gate” by the Governor and donation of patrol vehicles to all the 27 local government areas of the state for joint patrol operations to effectively provide all-round security of lives and property across the state.

However, in the wake of the unsubstantiated, unwarranted and unguided vituperation of former Governor Okorocha last week, the government needs to quickly upscale the role of effective and comprehensive communication for increase in share of voice that supports the good governance that it is determined to entrench in Imo state. The cacophony that trailed Okorocha’s whimper actually played into the ex-governor’s plan – to cause distraction and create doubts in peoples’ minds.

There should be a planned and deliberate policy to use communication to drive the on-going reforms by influencing opinion, attitude, and behavior change among leaders and policy makers, public officers and civil servants, and the citizens

We all must know where we are coming from, to know how we got to this sorry pass; understand the level of rot; appreciate our roles in the Rebuild Imo project; and manage our expectations, which are expectedly, high

SOURCE: THIS DAY