Eka-awoke is one of the autonomous communities created in Ikwo LGA by the laws of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly some years ago. It’s a community with five large villages such as: Ndufu, Ndiagu/Ndioffia, Aguinyima, Acharaukwu and Ezeke villages. It’s a community that has a large number of well-educated natives. Nature being so kind, bestowed upon this community the gift of solid mineral resources of variegated species that are yet to be harnessed, including oil. Oil was discovered particularly in the Acharaukwu village of the community in the early year two thousands with the then governor of Ebonyi state, Chief Martin Elechi sending a delegation of geologists and scientists who came and surveyed the suspected areas in 2008 and upheld the rumour as reflecting reality. Unfortunately, as it’s characteristic of governance in Nigeria, the governor didn’t advance actions towards its exploration. This writer was in junior secondary school class in the community when this happened. So, Eka-awoke community is very rich in both human and mineral resources. It is also rich in agriculture as its soil is overly fertile for rice and yam plantation in massive ecreage. To this end, only farming is what is happening in the community, though some companies have been coming around to negotiate terms and conditions for exploration of the vast solid mineral deposits that nature blessed the community with.
Eka-awoke community lost its traditional ruler, Eze Dickland Ogalagu some three years ago to the cold hands of death. The community had remained without either a town union president or a new traditional ruler, making it somehow difficult to define leadership direction for the community. The effort for the entrenchment of a new leadership architecture in the community came to fore when the new governor of Ebonyi state, His Excellency, Hon. Francis Nwifuru gave an order that there should not be any community in the entire state without an elected town union executive structure and traditional ruler cordially and unanimously selected by the majority of the people of such a community. After this pronouncement by the governor, every community affected by the vacuums started conducting elections to meet up with the timeframe the government stipulated, or stand the risk of losing the promised humongous benefits that are to accrue to each community that has a clear-cut leadership architecture in the state as according to the governor, his administration would pay rapt attention to community development and welfare of its leaders. It was in the light of this that Eka-awoke people came together and elected Dr Collins Irem, a very young federal university lecturer to be the president of the community together with his committee members well-selected from the component villages that make up the community. Obinna Nweke, another very young learned native was elected Secretary. That was some four months ago. Leadership of the community sailed on smoothly as expected with giant elementary development efforts all made possible by the new leadership until it was the time to elect a new traditional ruler for the community, so as to meet up with the timeframe the state government stipulated.
The community came together and nominated Chief Oliver Eze, a retired Permanent Secretary and author to stand as new Eze-elect pending the ratification by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. Devil came in between this wise decision of the 90% of the total membership index of the community through two politicians from the community who argue that their political party, the APC might face a great challenge in the next election should Chief Eze be made traditional ruler of the community. These two men, Chief Daniel Ogiji who was once caretaker chairman of Ikwo LGA and Mr Lawrence Nweke who was Personal Assistant to a former Minister of Culture and Tourism in Nigeria and subsequently Financial Secretary of PDP in Ebonyi state became uncomfortable with the choice of the natives of the community and vowed to fight against the coronation of the man as traditional ruler. Their argument up till the time of the publication of this article is that they can’t dictate political tunes in the community should Chief Eze become traditional ruler, citing that the man hates the APC. This reason further enraged the entire people of the community who know the stuff Chief Eze is made of as a seasoned historian, author, cultural ambassador and a senior citizen in Ebonyi state. Chief Eze has served as Executive Secretary of Local Government Service Pension Board in Ebonyi state. He has also worked as Permanent Secretary at the Universial Basic Education Board; Head of Personnel Manager, Afikpo LGA; Secretary, Ikwo LGA among other public positions of interest wherein he showcased his sterling leadership gravitas to the admiration of all which gave rise to his award of a chieftaincy title as ‘Odibo Oha’ meaning the servant of the public. He holds a Master’s Degree certificate and had taught in schools during his youthful times. He has always been a father-figure to everyone who has ever come in contact with him. A quintessential public servant, Chief Eze, a sixty-something year old man has had an intimidating record of community service, philanthropy and drive for peaceful coexistence of villages and communities in Ikwo and Afikpo LGAs, reason he chaired many committees of peace and cultural concerns even after retirement from the civil service.
For Lawrence Nweke and Daniel Ogiji, Engr Adelaide Ogiji, a young civil engineer still seeking ways to practise his profession and eke a living therefrom should become the traditional ruler of the community irrespective of the fact that the young man is yet to indicate interest to contest the position as it’s a call to serve a community which requires some levels of experience and knowledge in the workings of community leadership and peace-making, which he hasn’t. His being forced by his uncle, Daniel Ogiji into the race spells, or is a recipe for future doom upon the community as a traditional ruler position ought to be one the occupant has to be well- versed in the knowledge of the culture, tradition and customs of such a community as well as the willpower to lead without showing exuberance, political or religious bias in the leadership of his people and community. Adelaide knowing how humongous and taxing the office is, has continued showing laxity in contesting the position save the imposition of it on him by his overbearing uncle who sees everything from the lens of petty politics and primordial sentiments. For Lawrence Nweke, the stool must not be occupied by a man as independently minded and intelligent as Chief Oliver Eze. Such a person must be ready to serve his selfish interest at every given point in time.
The Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back:
Barr Sunday Nwankwo is the chairman of Ikwo LGA of Ebonyi state. His wife is the younger sister of Barr Dr Kelechi Igwe the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ebonyi state. The former Deputy Governor, Igwe has formed a political interest group called Eric Trust Foundation platform of which he wants to contest the Ebonyi Central Senatorial position come 2027 on the platform of the APC. For this reason, Barr Nwankwo is doing everything he can to wet the grounds ahead of time for his brother in-law who made him Chairman of Ikwo LGA and about to return him to office for the second time. Ikwo LGA is the largest LGA in Ebonyi state and it’s in the Ebonyi Central Zone. Barr Nwankwo wants to secure all the communities of the LGA for his brother in-law, Dr Kelechi Igwe not minding the process of getting it achieved. Having found a loophole in the process of election of who becomes traditional ruler of Eka-awoke, Nwankwo decided to come in by supporting Daniel Ogiji who is also his errands boy so his late elder brother’s son becomes traditional ruler of the community at all costs and therefore, prosper the Eric Trust Foundation in the community. Nwankwo feels that Chief Oliver Eze as thoroughbred and a no nonsense man cannot protect any political interest not minding who’s involved. To avert this future possibility, not allowing him become traditional ruler became germane.
To achieve his drive of destabilizing the community, Sunday Nwankwo decided to dissolve the leadership of the community and constitute a caretaker leadership to oversee the nomination, and election into office a new traditional ruler for the community who’ll advance the selfish course of the ETF. He felt that dissolving a legitimately constituted town union leadership which he even lacks the legitimacy to carry out, could facilitate his political intention for his brother in-law. Immediately he announced dissolution of the Eka-awoke community leadership, hell was let loose upon his head as the entire community started resisting every of his effort towards foisting a new, but faceless and awkward set of individuals as leaders of the community. Barr Sunday Nwankwo to achieve this nefarious aim, has declared that his dissolution of the existing and legitimately constituted town union executive was as a result of security infraction that arose in the community which according to him, the Dr Collins Irem – led executive caused by delving into illegal mining of solid minerals in the community by permitting a company to start operations without recourse to laws of the state with regard to mining and exploration. This accusation by Nwankwo has remained strange to every ear in the community apart from those of his co-conspirators as there’s nothing like that even for the first time since the community came into existence. Everyone has begun to wonder how low a supposedly learned politician and first citizen of Ikwo LGA could condescend in a bid to wet grounds for his brother in-law’s 2027 political aspiration. The chairman not satisfied with his unfounded claim of insecurity, moved further to arresting the community’s President General, Dr Collins Irem alongside his Secretary after seeing the overflow of support they have continued garnering from the people of the community and the surrounding ones who simply see the entire unfolding negative scenario as intimidation and an attempt to create trouble where none exists.
Currently in Eka-awoke, Sunday Nwankwo has funded his co-travellers to be using some sections of the media to cast aspersions at the sane-minded and peace-loving stakeholders of the community, an action that is a recipe for disorder and friction among the people of the community. It should be known to all and sundry that apart from the rising friction ignited by Sunday Nwankwo and his acolytes, Ikwo LGA under the leadership of Sunday Nwankwo is undergoing the worst process of evolution as every corner of the local government has been set against another by the chairman all in his gusto for political gains. It’s, therefore, pertinent that the stakeholders of Ikwo LGA come together and advise the chairman on the right path to tread as his disposition over the past one year has been one of a leader weakening the strong to strengthen the week. The different security formations in Ikwo LGA should as a matter of urgency wade into the current situation, not only about the leadership of Eka-awoke, but the entire Ikwo LGA lest the chairman totally plunges the land into irresolvable anarchy. Government of Ebonyi state under the superintendency of Gov. Francis Nwifuru should, in the interest of decorum, wade into the artificial crisis desperately and deliberately created by the chairman before the unbearable happens as he’s poised to turning the community into a war-prone zone. Cultural and religious stakeholders of Ikwo should come in now and set the right pace lest the pregnant goat dies on the stake right in their presence as Sunday Nwankwo has sworn to kindle even more unquenchable inferno in the community and then watch it rage on, after all he’s not from there.
For the greater population of Eka-awoke, their president general remains Dr Collins Irem and any attempt in foisting on them a strange figure in place of the only man known to them as president general is simply a call to civil unrest. Eka-awoke has never experienced irrepressible security situation, so, it’s aching to have a council chairman foist one on the community in his effort to score immaterial political points. And let it be known to him that no matter what he does to destabilize the progress and peace that have been characteristic of the community, he’ll always be resisted as the people can’t watch an alien invade and create conflagration upon a decorous community working very assiduously to achieve development and be counted among the fast-rising communities of Ebonyi state. To this end, to be forewarned is to be forearmed as the people of the community in unison urge Barr Sunday Nwankwo, chairman of Ikwo LGA to steer clear of Eka-awoke community’s leadership business and focus on the business of giving the LGA a good leadership as none has been recorded of him ever since he became chairman of the LGA!
Iyierioba editorial desk.
