From: David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Stakeholders for Willie Obiano Second Tenure, at the weekend, called for support of communities in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State to re-elect Governor Obiano come November 18.
They appealed to the electorate in the area not to allow themselves to be deceived.
National Coordinator of the support group, Chief Ekene Enefe, had told 15 communities that make up Orumba South Council Area including Umunze, Eziagu, Owerezikana, Umuchukwu, Aku, Ogbunka, Ihite, Ezira, Isulo, Nawfija, Ogboji and Umuomaku who gathered at the council Secretariat, that the essence of the sensitisation was for them to beware of some money bags politicians who would soon invade their communities to buy their votes and their consciences that might lead to the election of a wrong candidate as Governor during the election “thereby taking Anambra State back to square one.”
Chief Enefe said for Governor Obiano to have conquered security challenges alone in Anambra State was enough reason for him to be reelected, arguing that no meaningful development could take place anywhere without adequate security of lives and property.
He said that it was better to allow a leader already tested to continue than to welcome a new one with a new blue print that might spell disaster for the state currently consolidating the gains of democracy. Chief Enefe warned the people to beware of politicians with sweet tongues but who are full of empty promises. He asked the communities members to raise delegates that would be made to see the Governor one to one at the Government House, Awka for further discussions on how to solve their problems.
Sponsor of the day’s event, Hon. Princess Nikky Ugochukwu, representing Orumba South in Anambra State House of Assembly, said it had been a wonderful experience in Orumba South under Governor Obiano’s dispensation. She said she had been able to attract roads construction, provided employment opportunities and touching the lives of the less privileged through the help of Obiano’s administration. Princess Ugochukwu made a clarion call to her people to give one hundred percent support to Obiano to continue.
Articulating their immediate demands from the Obiano administration which they said would ginger them to give their unflinching supports, representatives of the communities who spoke one after another mainly talked about poor roads network in their various communities which did not allow them to evacuate their farm produce.
Some of the communities’ spokesmen said the Governor promised to do their roads during his governorship campaign last time but could not fulfil it up till now. They demanded for electricity supply and pipe-borne water at their rural communities as made available to some other communities.
Some of the communities like Umunze demanded deployment of medical personnel to their existing general hospital, provision of water and modern market even as they thanked the Governor for giving them electricity while Ogbunka people appealed for their health centre to be upgraded to a general hospital.
On herdsmen menace in the area, Prince Chukwudi Ugochukwu, coordinator of the support group in Orumba South said as he was speaking, that the Fulani herdsmen allowed their cows to be grazing freely at various farms in the area destroying crops undisturbed. He said some women among the farmers were suspected being raped but could not speak out because of the stigma to say they were raped by the Fulani.
“We live at a boundary with Imo State by Arondizuogu. All the farmlands there have been devastated by the herdsmen. Some of our women have been raped at the farmlands but they refuse to talk so that they will not be stigmatized. The entire Umunze are under threat,” he lamented.
He said their women had wanted to demonstrate but were being restrained even as their youths had decided on reprisal “but we see it as attracting a serious problem that might escalate.” Prince Ugochukwu said it was only the State government that could handle the matter perfectly well and called for the Governor’s urgent attention to the complaints.
Governor Obiano, represented by his Senior Special Adviser on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Hon Uchenna Okafor assured the communities members that their demands and complaints would receive an express attention of the Governor.
Traditional rulers present at the event HRH, Igwe P.N. Eze (Abilikete II) of Umunze and his Nawfija counterpart, Igwe C.C. Okeke, among other personalities.