From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
For over 50 years, the people of Umuezeobodo, Ajilija village, Ogidi and their neighbours in Umudunu, Agbaja village, Abatete, both communities in Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra State, were locked in dispute, strife and ‘war’ over a land boundary.
Ordinarily, as neighbours with common identity and cultural ties, they were supposed to inter-marry, relate in common festivals and do may other things together. But like the legendary Chinua Achebe, who incidentally hailed from Ogidi community, wrote in his all-time classic novel, the devil entered through the struggle for land and things fell apart and the centre could no longer hold.
An indigene of Ogidi community, Prof. Okey Ikpeze, disclosed that the land tussle lasted three generations, with most of the gladiators/mediators from the two communities all dead now, yet peace could not be achieved.
But respite came through an indigene of Ogidi community, Chief Samuel Anyanwutaku, a Lagos State-based businessman and philanthropist, who waded into the matter and, within four months, the two villages agreed to sheathe their swords and reconcile as brothers and friends.
Recently, encomiums and prayers poured in torrents for Anyanwutaku during the formal boundary demarcation and commissioning of newly emplaced monuments and signing of papers to seal the final return of peace among the two villages.
The Anambra State government wich presented a formal commendation letter to Anyanwutaku for the noble roles he has been playing as a peacemaker per excellence, Anyanwutaku also received appreciation from the leaders of both villages and other stakeholders for his efforts.
In an address, the Secretary of the Reconciliation and Peace Committee of both communities, Prof. Obiorah Ikpeze, recalled that for more than 50 years, both communities have not been privileged to sit together to discuss as neighbours but by “divine intervention” through the instrumentality of Chief Sam Anyanwutaku, a peace movement was initiated to resolve the lingering land dispute.
Ikpeze recalled that all the peace meetings were hosted at the instance of Chief Anyanwutaku and also took great risk of flying into Anambra from Lagos and ensured that all issues were resolved amicably between the two contending villages.
He appealed to the state government on behalf of the peace committee and the reconciled villages that the boundary road being delineated be named “Obataobie Road” being the chieftaincy title of Anyanwutaku.
Commissioning the monuments to demarcate the boundary between both communities, the state deputy governor, Dr Nkem Okeke, regretted that issues of boundary and land related disputes, is taking a dangerous dimension with cases of arson, violence and loss of lives reported almost on daily basis in the state.
Okeke e xtolled the contributions of CAnyanwutaku that saw to the successful resolution of the matter and commended both communities for agreeing to toe the path of peace and put aside their differences.
The deputy governor recalled that he was in the area sometime in 2018 when Anyanwutaku brokered peace between Uruorji village, Ogidi and Mgbuke Village Umunnachi. He disclosed that he even sat on another lingering matter of land dispute before that same day but had to put it off to another date since there were still contending issues.
“If every community in Anambra has his kind of person, I don’t think we will be having land disputes anywhere here. So, I wish to commend him immensely for his kind of heart and for allowing God to use him in this way,” he noted.
The deputy governor made it clear that boundary demarcations are merely for administrative purposes and not to be employed as a tool to cause strife and disunity among neighbours.
“Emphasis should be made on dialogue as a better means of resolving boundary disputes by communities rather than court litigations and violence.
“I am happy that people of Abatete and Ogidi embraced this option and to the glory of God, we are here today on a joyful mood. You are brothers and have maintained a history of cordial relationship for decades now. God forbid that this cordiality be jeopardized again because of land matters,” he said.
In his remarks, Anyanwutaku disclosed that he ventured into the process because he believed that the pre-existing atmosphere of strife and crisis deprived both communities of a lot of good things.
Emphasizing that he was only doing what God sent him to do, Anyanwutaku urged both communities to be wary of anything that may undermine the peace that has been entrenched with the boundary demarcation.
He also prayed that the peace will bring good things and development to the two communities.
Recalling several losses both communities suffered while their dispute lasted, chairman of Ajilija village, Abatete, Chief Ernest Ekunie, revealed that the Comprehensive Health Centre, Abatete, built by the Federal Government, to serve people of both communities and their neighbours has been in ruins as all the health workers posted to the facility fled for their lives due to insecurity, while health equipments at the facility have been consistently vandalized by hoodlums.
“Workers who were posted here were raped by criminals who have latched unto the crisis between us and our brothers from Ogidi over this boundary and because of that, nobody wants to come here again”
“As you can see, this health facility which ought to have been providing quality health services to our people has been left in ruins due to this age-long boundary dispute and our people now have to travel far distances to access medicare” he regretted.
On his part, the President General of Ogidi Community, Chief Nelson Onubogu, lauded the commitment of both communities to putting an end to the imbroglio. He described Anyanwutaku as a “beacon of hope” and a “rallying point for peace” whose footprints will remain positively remembered in the sands of time.
While stressing that there is no need for quarrel between the two communities over land, the community leader warned youths of both communities to stop the indiscriminate sale of the lands, which aggravates the problem