Ekwulobia community on focus as Igwe Onyeneke’s sins against his subjects exposed

Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly (EPA) with one voice commended Anambra Governor, Chief Willie Obiano for some interventions his government has so far done in the community.

EPA led by Engr Emeka Maduabuchi at an enlarged press conference weekend however asked Governor Obiano to intervene in some unbecoming attitudes of some people in the community supported by traditional ruler of the community Igwe Immanuel Onyeneke. 

The community’s press statement reads:

PRESS STATEMENT BY EKWULOBIA PEOPLES ASSEMBY (EPA) LED BY ENGR EMEKA MADUABUCHI AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT EPA SECRETARIAT, STADIUM COMPLEX EKWULOBIA ON SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER 2019

Past Presidents of Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly Chairmen of Villages Chairmen of Abroad Branches of EPAPresident Ekwulobia Students Union Chairmen of Various Sub-Committees in EPAChairman, Ekwulobia Youths Organisation Chair person Ekwulobia Women CouncilChairperson Umuada Ekwulobia Distinguished Members of the PressLadies & Gentlemen
I am truly delighted to warmly welcome the members of the Press (fourth estate of the realm) to this press conference on the state of affairs in our great town Ekwulobia, the issues/ challenges and use the opportunity offered by the occasion to diffuse some falsehood peddled  by the Traditional Ruler of Ekwulobia – Igwe Emmanuel Chukwukadibia Onyeneke, during his press briefing on 17 September 2019, on Ekwulobia administration.

    
1.0: Gully Erosion Umuchiana gully erosion which had rendered over 200 Ekwulobia people homeless in the past is gradually becoming active again. The erosion control barriers installed by Anambra State govt in the past are being breached and if nothing is done to stop the propagation, what happened in the past will be a childs play. There are also pockets of gully erosion building up at Ula and Eziagulu villages in Ekwulobia. While our various villages are doing a lot in controlling the menace of gully erosion by constructing new catchment pits and de-silting existing ones, we are asking Anambra state govt for expedited intervention, to ensure that Ekwulobia people do not again become refugees in the own town. 
On our own part, we are articulating a bill to be sent to Anambra State House of Assembly, through our representative in the House, Hon Dr Okey Okoye and the bill will be seeking a pathway to sustainable and lasting solutions to the endemic gully erosion problems in Anambra State.

2.0: Ekwulobia General HospitalThe services offered at the General Hospital Ekwulobia at this time is  skeletal at best, this is further exacerbated by the fact that there is no access road to the hospital. The promise from Anambra State govt in the past is that this hospital will be fully built and equipped as a specialist hospital after the general hospitals at Awka and Onitsha have been completed.  This promise is yet to fruition. Of greater concern is that there is no Eye and Dental services at the hospital and the Doctors residential quarters are in a bad state and therefore not occupied. While we thank the govt of Anambra State for recognising Ekwulobia General  hospital as one of the hospitals to be upgraded to a specialist hospital in Anambra State, we are pleading with Anambra State govt to give the hospital the desired attention, so that healthcare delivery will be at the doorsteps of Ekwulobia people.

3.0: Roads & Traffic Congestion in EkwulobiaThe traffic congestion at Ekwulobia Roundabout has become an issue, even at alarming dimension during festive seasons. The only Ihuokpala  Umuchi  Agba  Abogwume  bypass road, tarred in the past by Anambra state govt is in a very horrible state of disrepair. While thanking the govt of Anambra state for awarding the Bishop Court Road and the General Hospital road, we plead that expedited actions be taken to complete the roads. We are also pleading with Anambra state govt to fix the existing bypass road and construct the other very critical Abogwume  Umuchiana and Agba  Eziagulu  Ula Amalufor bypass roads, to ease the traffic congestion at Ekwulobia road about. The govt should also take steps to repair the broke points and potholes on the key arterial roads in Ekwulobia.

 
4.0: Street LightsThe street lights along some major roads in Ekwulobia are working optimally and helping to improve security delivery in Ekwulobia. For this, we thank Anambra State govt immensely. However, we are asking the Govt to extend street lights to other major roads in Ekwulobia.

5.0: Anambra State Community Choose Your Project InitiativeEkwulobia benefitted from the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this initiative and for this, we thank His Excellency Dr Willie Obiano, the Governor of Anambra State for this gesture. However, it is noteworthy that for the Phase 1 project, while other towns spent their money on projects in their communities and exclusively for their communities, the Traditional Ruler of Ekwulobia  Igwe Emmanuel Onyeneke connived with his stooges masquerading as Ekwulobia town union govt to spend the N20m on a small building inside Aguata Sports Stadium Ekwulobia.
For the phase 2 intervention fund, the story is different. Again a small building was erected but this time, at the site of Ekwulobia Civic Centre. It will be recalled that at the Civic Centre site, through the efforts of EPA, materials including trailer loads of reinforcement rods of various sizes, thousands of blocks, hundreds of trips of sand and aggregates (stones) were stock-piled for the civic centre project. When Igwe Onyeneke and his stooges collected the N20m, instead of using the money to buy building materials for the project, Igwe Onyeneke instructed his contractor to divert the materials stock-piled at the site and used it for the building beside the Civic Centre. What they did, we are still shocked to call it by its true name. We are therefore asking Anambra State govt to:Request Igwe Onyeneke and his group to refund to EPA, the cost of the materials removed from our stockyard. The cost of the materials is estimated at N8m.Undertake a comprehensive audit of the two projects to determine how the funds were deployed  

6.0: Appointments by Government of Anambra StateWe wish to thank the Governor of Anambra State for finding some sons and daughters of Ekwulobia worthy of appointment as Special Advisers within his govt. However, our expectation as a town is that as one of the major and strategic towns in Anambra State, we deserve to have a Commissioner in the Governors Cabinet. We are therefore requesting from His Excellency the Governor of Anambra state that should a vacant position in his Cabinet, an Ekwulobia person should be appointed into that position.

7.0: New Eke Market EkwulobiaThe new Eke market Ekwulobia has been completed in a most shabby form without any facilities  no toilets, no fire service access, no waste management facilities, etc. to the extent that people living in the vicinity of the market are suffering untold hardship from the absence of waste management facilities especially human waste. This is not in line with the drive by her Excellency Dr (Mrs) Ebele Obiano to provide conveniences for the people of Anambra state.

More worrying is the fact that the shops numbering over 1700 built at the market built by Anambra state govt for Ekwulobia people have been sold out by agents masquerading as Anambra State govt, at the instance of Igwe Onyeneke. We are struggling to come to terms that a piece of land donated by poor villagers to Ekwulobia for a market, has been sold off  without consideration of Ekwulobia people. All efforts by EPA to streamline issues on the market with Anambra state govt have been frustrated by Igwe Onyeneke and he is more content in securing a piece of land at the market and building his Plaza of shops. Ekwulobia people including market women have been intimidated to submission by agents of Igwe Onyeneke, masquerading as Anambra state govt officials. Ekwulobia market women no longer have a place to sell their local produce, they have to pay more to the agents of Igwe Onyeneke before they can sell their produce. Recently the information reaching us from  Igwe Onyenekes palace is that new Eke Ekwulobia market now belongs to Anambra state government, even as monies for buying the shops are being paid into an individuals private account. This is a joke of the century! We are therefore requesting for the following:Market leadership of the New Eke Market Ekwulobia  to stop immediate sale of the shops and warn people to desist from buying the shopsGovernor of Anambra state to institute an investigation into the deals happening in the market and communicate to Ekwulobia people on how new Eke market Ekwulobia suddenly became New Eke Government market, without recourse to Ekwulobia people.  

8.0: Ekwulobia Internal AffairsWe have watched in utter dismay, the way and manner the Traditional Ruler of Ekwulobia town  Igwe Onyeneke has become a big threat to our existence and survival as a people. It is common knowledge that there are many flights of the growth and development ladder that we are supposed to have ascended as a town but he found dignity wallowing in impunity and flagrant display of power, all of which has retarded our progress. Ever since his coronation in December 2008, there has not been peace in Ekwulobia! We have been under siege as he seeks control of all administrative structures at all costs, by whatever means, not minding the injury to democratic observances and norms. For him, everything goes!
Nonetheless, by the actions of our people over these years as we will outline shortly, we have showcased our strong resolve as a town not to give ground to his aggression and oppression. With the collective actions of our people, we have stood our grounds to defend our internal democracy and say NO to absolute Monarchy. Such has no place in Ekwulobia! With the strength of will demonstrated by Ekwulobia people against the arbitrary show of power and militaristic might by Igwe Onyeneke, the siege has been shaken to its foundation and we will not relent until it falls. There is a silver lining in the dark cloud over the horizon and that silver lining is the unalloyed commitment of Ekwulobia people to trudge on with their democracy. We are excited and encouraged by the strength, determination and their dogged resolve to see that democracy thrives and the effort of Igwe Onyeneke to conscript Ekwulobia people as his slaves has not worked and will never work.  

8.1: Constitution of EkwulobiaOn 17 September 2019, Igwe Onyeneke in a press briefing said that Ekwulobia had no constitution until he was coronated in 2008. This is false! This statement amounts to insulting the sensibilities of the good people of Ekwulobia. The falsehood begs the question on whether the past President Generals (men of repute) before 2008 superintended on the affairs of a great town like Ekwulobia Town without a constitution. 
For clarity, Ekwulobia Town is being governed by The 1994 Reviewed Constitution of Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly (EPA), containing both the political and traditional provisions for her governance. This constitution was used for Igwe Onyenekes election in 2008, his presentation to Aguata Local Govt Council, Anambra State Government and coronation were all in line with the provisions of this constitution. In 2009, a case was made to Ekwulobia General Assembly on the need to undertake a comprehensive review of the constitution. A 59-man Constituent Assembly was consequently inaugurated by the President General of Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly Dr Mike Ukwuoma Eze, to undertake the review. On completion of the review, the signing into law of the constitution named The 2010 Constitution of Ekwulobia Town was fraught with irregularities as Igwe Onyeneke hijacked the process and refused that the constitution be presented to Ekwulobia General Assembly for adoption. This act forced the President General of EPA and some concerned individuals to seek redress in court and challenged him on his plans to sign the constitution into law, without complying with the provision of the 1994 constitution that the 2010 constitution sought to replace. During the pendency of the suit and after the constitution was signed into law, it was discovered that Igwe Onyeneke had even comprehensively doctored the contents of the 2010 constitution submitted to him by the Constituent Assembly, to give himself absolute powers. These mutilations were unknown to the signatories to the constitution including the Chairman of the 59-man Constituent Assembly, a Professor of repute. Not even a plea from the Professor to Igwe Onyeneke to back pedal given that the work submitted to him has been doctored massively, could make him (Igwe Onyeneke) to retrace his steps. Vide a consent agreement between the plaintiffs and defendants in a suit praying to set aside the 2010 constitution, Aguata High Court Ekwulobia, on 3 June 2013 set aside the 2010 constitution in a consent judgment. Igwe Onyeneke appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal Enugu and on 11 June 2015, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the Aguata High Court Ekwulobia. The Appeal Court judgment amongst other things and in regret to Igwe Onyenekes antithesis to peace, observed that: Evidently, this appeal is an exercise in futility. It is an exercise aimed to massage the ego of the appellant. The respondents who instituted the suit at the lower court and the defendants in their wisdom agreed to settle their dispute but the appellant who is the Traditional Ruler and ought to be encouraging amicable settlement is the one trying to frustrate settlement. 
It is well understood that Igwe Onyeneke did not want to mention the legal processes that his 2010 constitution had gone through and how the constitution ended in the trash bin of history!

8.2: Ekwulobia Motor Park Shops Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly vide a consent court judgment in January 2002 in a case between her and Aguata Local Govt Council was awarded ownership of 159 shops at the Ekwulobia Motor Park, with Aguata LG Council owning 104 shops through the same judgment. Aguata LG Council had since sold off their shops to interested individuals within and outside Ekwulobia. EPA efforts to take delivery of her shops have been frustrated by Igwe Onyeneke, he is now in concert with the tenants in the shops to further frustrate EPA from taking delivery of the shops. In 2013, EPA took the tenants on the shops to court and worn the case in 2018. Upon EPA application to enforce the judgment, Igwe Onyeneke applied to be joined in the case, claiming that he is the rightful owner of the shops as the Tradition Ruler of Ekwulobia. This application is still pending in the court as we speak. Good news is that out of the 159 shops  some uncompleted, Aguata LG Council in about 2012, completed 32 shops belonging to EPA, to be allegedly shared among her cronies. On completion of the work, EPA took delivery of the shops. Those 32 shops are currently being managed by a firm via a power of Administration between her and EPA. In effect, the balance 159 shops minus 32 shops (= 127 shops) is still the subject of the ongoing court suit which Igwe Onyeneke applied to be joined but true to his typical life of lies, he stated during his press briefing that EPA has been collecting rents from the 159 shops!

  8.3: Conferment of Chieftaincy TitlesSince 2008 when Igwe Onyeneke was coronated to date, he has conferred over 150 chieftaincy titles to underserving people in Ekwulobia, all the people so conferred with chieftaincy titles were solely nominated by him. Conferment of chieftaincy titles which is designed to reward people who have significantly contributed to the development of the town both in physical and human capital development terms has unfortunately been proliferated and commercialised for his personal benefit. A couple of people who have helped him to precipitate crisis in the federating villages have been honoured with chieftaincy titles. His target is to build an army of chiefs who will be doing his bidding in the villages and abroad branches. 

8.4: Balkanisation of Ekwulobia Town StructuresIn his effort to enthrone absolute Monarchy in Ekwulobia, Igwe Onyeneke has tried to destroy all structures of governance in Ekwulobia by engineering crisis among the organs of governance in Ekwulobia. He has created parallel TOWN UNION govt, parallel UMUADA organisation, parallel WOMEN COUNCIL organisation, parallel YOUTH organisation, etc.  Because decisions at EPA are made by the federating organs, Igwe Onyeneke has tried to use his cronies to institute parallel administrations in the villages and federating branches but all these his efforts have come to nothing. His plan to commercialise the ancient Achukwu masquerade institution in Ekwulobia by asking the masquerades to open a bank account failed woefully. 

8.5: Crash InsensitivityIt is glaring that Igwe Onyeneke is very insensitive to the feelings of Ekwulobia people. In June 2019, one of the villages – Agba village organised a very peaceful protest to complain about the horrible state of the General Hospital road which passed through the village, after repetitive calls to the govt to fix the road. Igwe Onyeneke in his very insensitive style, declared during his press briefing that there was no such protest, that the placards on the internet were contrived by the opposition. He mentioned that he has apologised to the Governor on behalf of the town. This is the height of insensitivity.

8.6: Peace Initiatives in EkwulobiaThere have been many peace initiatives in Ekwulobia, at the end of the day, all ending at the doorsteps of Igwe Onyeneke because the various outcome did not satisfy his self-serving motives. The latest one was in 2016. All the ordained men of God, both Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostals, of Ekwulobia extraction and those working in Ekwulobia came together at the instance of a member of the Traditional Institution to prosecute peace. After one year of work, they reported out their findings and recommendations to Ekwulobia people at the Stadium Complex Ekwulobia on 31 December 2016. Their report was well received and accepted by Ekwulobia people. Igwe Onyeneke accepted the report as a working document, in the full view of Ekwulobia people. An interim govt made up of 2 representatives from each of the 9 federating villages was formed on the day, to handle the political administration of the town and deepen the peace process. The composition of the members of the Committee to draft a new constitution for Ekwulobia was also agreed by Ekwulobia people. Four days later, Igwe Onyeneke wrote a letter rejecting the report, asking the Peace Committee to go and seek the permission of the court before continuing the peace process. He rejected the interim govt, set up a parallel kangaroo executive for the town union and used some influential politicians in Ekwulobia to procure a letter of recognition from Anambra state govt for his kangaroo executive council. It is this kangaroo executive that he is flaunting around as the Exco of the town union. A joke!

8.7: SecurityIgwe Onyeneke has continued to run the security apparatus in Ekwulobia like his private army. The federating villages has no input into the security arrangements. He hires and fires vigilante people as he deems fit and sends his security after his perceived opposition. The 2007 Law of Anambra state is very clear on the formation of security structure in any town but Igwe Onyeneke runs Ekwulobia security in defiance to the provisions of this law.

9.0: ConclusionThis is our story and we are asking Anambra State govt to come to our rescue on the issues within their remit. 
On our internal affairs of Ekwulobia, we are on a morally-driven war on misrule/evil precipitated on Ekwulobia by Igwe Onyeneke, make no mistake about it, good will prevail. We are fighting evil, we will continue to fight evil and we will not stop until we defeat evil. In the midst of the misrule, we remain committed to do our utmost to ensure that we are governed by the rule of law. We all desire a society where there is equity and justice and not oppression and aggression. God willing, we will not despair until we build that Ekwulobia of our collective dreams, our bastion of hope!

Let us use this opportunity to invite all of you to the maiden edition of Ekwulobia Cultural Carnival coming up during 15  17 November 2019, it will be a showcase of our pride as a people. A committee has been set up for it under the Chairmanship of Mr Paul Oguekemma and Mr Titus Okafor as Secretary. We will send the invitations to you with the detailed plans in due course and trust that you will help us to give the program the widest publicity
Thank you for your kind attention

For and On Behalf of Ekwulobia Peoples Assembly

 Engr Emeka Maduabuchi  Vincent Okoli

President General Secretary General