Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The lingering leadership crisis in Amuzu village of Igbeagu autonomous community, Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has been put to permanent rest. This followed the creation of five new village authorities in the area by the Eze-in-Council.
Traditional ruler of Igbeagu, Eze Micheal Ogbonnaya Ukwa, announced the new villages alongside their leaders at a ceremony on April 29, 2020.
Stakeholders of Amuzu had in a letter jointly signed by Elder Nwibo Elom, Mr. Clement Nwoba, Elder Nwanduku Nweze, and Comrade Emmanuel Nwedu, on behalf of the entire people, requested for the splitting of the place into five separate villages.
Daily Sun gathered that Amuzu had before now been torn by internal wrangling over who would lead the town, which resulted in the abandonment of farmlands and destruction of properties by the contending groups, until recently when the case was withdrawn from court for community resolution.
In an interview in his palace, Eze Ukwa stated that, after carefully analyzing the request from the people of Amuzu, with his cabinet members, splitting became the best option so that there would be peace in the area.
He said: “After carefully reading and analyzing the letter received from Amuzu village stakeholders by my cabinet members, we agreed to split the place into five villages as requested, since the villages had been in serious internal crises over leadership tussle, which had caused a lot of damage since the past four years.
“So, instead of splitting the village into eight, the cabinet advised that we go by five units because we had observed that the number was in line with Ipfaekwo, being the traditional criteria for becoming an independent village.
“In times past, there was a similar incident in these former villages: Nchokor, TTC, Nduigboke, Nduebo-Nchokor and Nduoruta and they were later split into five each and since then, there has been peace in those areas.
“I am calling on members of the villages to embrace peace by giving their full support to all the appointed leaders of the various villages. We don’t want court case again in Amuzu Igbeagu, rather, people should spend their money for their children’s upbringing and not engaging in court cases.”
In another development, the traditional ruler has introduced the new president of the youths of the community, Mr. Emeka Ede, to the people. He charged the entire village heads to provide youth leaders from their respective units who would help to stop youth restiveness.
He emphasized the role of youths in community development, noting that his community abhorred smoking of marijuana, otherwise called Indian hemp, cultism and all sorts of social vices, warning that defaulters would be made to face the consequences.
Eze Ukwa noted that youth, as the leaders of tomorrow, should be carefully trained in accordance with the government directives, declaring that a better society is built with the right attitude and as a result charged parents to always report cases of cultism to the appropriate authorities, even if it involved their children.
Meanwhile, the Eze-in-Council of Igbeagu has confirmed the installation of Chief Nwori Okechukwu and Chief Chijioke Ogbuewu as village heads of Oguzoronwiya and Ndiechi Ndegu, respectively. They admonished them to ensure that peace was paramount in their different places even as they remained proactive in promoting programmes and policies of the state government.
Speaking after his inauguration, Chief Ogbuewu commended his people for finding him worthy of the position and promised to carry everybody along. He called for more support to attract government presence in the area, beginning with the electricity challenge confronting his village.
The day also witnessed the inauguration of the heads of the new villages by the Eze-in-Council. They include Chief Emmanuel Nwedu (Offia-Igbakpo Amuzu Igbeagu), Chief Jonathan Nwambam (Chukpukpabi Amuzu Igbeagu), Chief Ndubuisi Ukpa (Odeligbo Onoffia), Chief Joseph Ogama (Azuda Omogodoke Amuzu) and Chief Franklin Nwome (Azoto Azungele Igbeagu).