NNEWI USA (NUSA) ANNUAL CONVENTIONAT THE MARRIOTT ATLANTA AIRPORT GATEWAY

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

‘URBANIZATION AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NNEWI’

BY

CHIEF BEN ETIABA FCA

FELLOW OF ETHICAL LEADERSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA (UNN)

CHAIRMAN
THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF NIGERIA
UNITED KINGDOM DISTRICT (2002 – 2004)

CHAIRMAN
THE LONDON GROUP OF NIGERIAN PROFESSIONALS
UNITED KINGDOM (2005 – 2007)

ATLANTA, 6TH DAY OF JULY 2024

‘URBANIZATION AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NNEWI’

I bring you all the greetings and good wishes of my dear family and friends back home and it is most humbly my hope and prayer that we will all have a very successful convention in this great city of Atlanta.

Let me begin by commending you all for the theme of this year’s convention “Urbanisation and Security Challenges in Nnewi” which I think are very apt and timely, given what is playing out in our ancient city of Nnewi, presently.

BACKGROUND

Last year, I was chosen to deliver the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) 2023 Ethical Leadership Lecture on my 60th birthday and dare I say, a most humbling honor to me. Ever since that Ethical Leadership Lecture at the den of ‘Lions and Lionesses’, I have delivered many more lectures in Nigeria but this Keynote Speech is my first delivery outside the shores of Nigeria since that Ethical Leadership Lecture last year.

I therefore am immensely grateful and do thank the Organizing Committee of the NUSA Atlanta Convention for selecting me as this year’s Convention’s Keynote Speaker. This happens to also be my 4th NUSA Convention. My first NUSA Convention was 18 years ago at Orlando Florida in the year 2006, followed by my appearance at the New Jersey Convention, and my last one at Houston four years ago. As the founding Chairman of Nnewi Community Association of Great Britain and Ireland in April 1991 in London England my humble self, I completely understand the most beautiful spirit behind Nnewi Union in the United States of America (NUSA).

Mr. National President of NUSA Dr. Julian Anagbogu Sir, this is the summary of my journey to NUSA conventions thus far, and on the path to this lecture today so, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen here it is, the 2024 Keynote Speech of the Atlanta Convention.

OUR HEROES

Whenever we discuss our ancestral city of Nnewi under any guise, it’ll always remain apt to mention some of the names both present and past that have made Nnewi the awesome home that it will always be to us. Some of such heroes but by no means all, are mentioned below;

In Business: Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu OBE, Chief Benson Okoli, Dr. Chief Augustine Ilodibe MFR, Chief Lawrence Amazu, The Ubajakas, Dr. Cletus Ibeto CON, Chief Ben Odigboh, Chief Chika Okafor OFR, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma CON, Chief Mrs. Stella Okoli OON, Chief E.E Ojukwu, Chief Louis Onwugbenu, Chief Ben Okoye, Chief Joe Obijiaku, Sir Robert Anwatu, Chief Dozie Mbanefo, Engr. Chukwuemeka Nzewi etc

In Leadership & Politics: Rt. Hon. Dr. Akwaeke Nwafor Orizu GCFR, Chief Z.C Obi, H.E Dame Virgy Etiaba CON, Senator Onyeabo Obi, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah CON, Professor ABC Nwosu, Chief Mrs. Ebele Okeke CFR, Chief Clement Ojukwu, Rt. Hon. Chief Chris Azubuogu, Chief George Moghalu, Chief Dan Ulasi, The Right Honorable Ben Chuks Nwosu Esq., Chief Olisa Metuh, Chief Dozie Ikedife Jr., Mr. John Nwosu, etc.

The Nnewi Professionals: Dr. C.C Mojekwu, Chief B.C Nwosu Esq, B.M.C Etiaba Esq, JCA E.C Ubaezonu CON, Prof. Joseph Ojukwu OON, Chief Dr. D.B.A Ofomata, Chief Dr. Dozie Ikedife, Dr. Nlogha Okeke, (Dr.) Sam Momah CFR, Justice Chuka Okoli, Dr. Vincent Uzodike, Justice Edward Uzodike, Prof Martin Aghaji, Prof. Ifeoma Ulasi, Prof. Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Obi Ulasi Esq SAN, Emeka Etiaba Esq SAN, Chijioke Okoli Esq SAN, Echezona Etiaba Esq SAN, Oseloka Osigwe SAN, Afam Osigwe Esq SAN, Lotanna Okoli Esq SAN, Chuka Ikwuazom Esq SAN, Orji Nwafor Orizu Esq, Arc. Ike Mbelu, Dr. IK Ofomata, Justice Nnabuenyi Momah, Chief Okey Chidolue Esq., Mr. Alfred Uzokwe, Engrs. Okey and Nnanyelu Onyemelukwe, Engr. Emeka Agbasi, and dare I also mention my humble self Ben Etiaba FCA, who became the first Igbo Chartered Accountant in United Kingdom to be named the Chairman of the United Kingdom District of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Furthermore, the naming of some ‘Nnewi heroes’ will be most incomplete without the name of Chief Mrs. Julie Chin Alale ‘Ezenwanyi Nnewi’ and ‘Ezenwanyi Anaedo’, also fondly remembered as ‘Madam Rangers’.

IN A VERY SPECIAL CATEGORY OF HIS OWN

Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, ‘Ikemba Nnewi’ and ‘Ezeigbo Gburu Gburu’

IGWE’S VISION FOR NNEWI

Nothing ever happens by accident and all things usually evolve through necessity. After the civil war in the early 1970s, HRH Igwe Dr. K.O.N Orizu III CON came up with the vision to commercialize and aggressively industrialize Nnewi. This vision upon implementation, gave rise to the establishment of Nkwo Nnewi Motor Spare Parts market at ‘Agbo Edo’, later becoming the breeding hub for the Harvard University recognized ‘Igba Boy’ system as a venture capital model in the business world today.

Igwe’s vision further gave rise to the aggressive industrialization of the town that hosts the biggest industries in the South East zone of Nigeria today, and led to Nnewi being referred to as the ‘Japan of Africa’, even as early as the 1970s.

The second largest city in Anambra State after Onitsha, Nnewi town which is the only town in Nnewi North local government area in Anambra State, and comprises four villages: Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Nnewichi. The city has been the centre of economics and commerce, being at a time the fastest growing industrial city east of the Niger river.

The current metropolitan area population of Nnewi in 2024 is 1,301,000, a 5% increase from 2023. The metro area population of Nnewi in 2023 was 1,239,000, a 5.27% increase from 2022. The metro area population of Nnewi in 2022 was 1,177,000, a 5.66% increase from 2021. Nnewi city spans over 200 square miles (520 km2) in Anambra State of Nigeria. Nnewi is currently projected to being the twelfth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.18% growth.

It is now home to many major indigenous manufacturing industries including Ibeto Group of Companies, Chicason Group of Companies, Innoson Group of Companies, Cutix and ADswitch, Uru Industries Ltd, Omata Holdings Ltd, Coscharis of Companies Group, and Tummy Tummy. World Class FM Radio Stations Choice FM and Authority Radio have kept the people entertained and informed up till date.

The city is so cosmopolitan that the indigenous people might no longer compose a majority of the residents of the city anymore.

URBANIZATION

Urbanization is the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It can also mean population growth in urban areas instead of rural ones. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas. Nnewi has over time, evolved into an urban city albeit an unplanned one. The town has indeed since become a town planning mess with unapproved buildings springing up in most unlikely and most unsuitable places, and the town severely lacking in necessary infrastructure that should drive a city like ours.

PROBLEMS WITH THE URBANISED NNEWI

The most unplanned urbanisation of Nnewi has brought its own problems to the town namely; severe air pollution, creation of urban slums in many unplanned clusters of the city, an embarrassing lack of clean water supplies to residents in the city, inadequate housing facilities to accommodate the daily surge into the town, a sharp and very steep increase in crime rate, very terrible environmental degradation, severe overcrowding of people in Nnewi town, inadequate healthcare facilities for the benefit of the residents, inadequate infrastructure such as roads, lack of adequate waste disposal facilities, unorganized transport facilities, severe unemployment especially amongst the youth in Nnewi city, population explosion, traffic congestion, urban planning issues, noise pollution etc.

THE TERRIBLE INSECURITY SITUATION IN NNEWI

It is very well known that governments at various levels, whose primary responsibility is protection of lives and property, turn aside and become sponsors of insecurity especially where politicians recruit political thugs during the electioneering process.

It is further known that cities with high crime rates typically have high poverty levels and low-job availability, conditions likely to force people into riskier, more desperate, and morally questionable solutions which are often further enabled by underdeveloped law enforcement agencies. Crime rates tend to be lower in cities with favourable living conditions, strict police enforcement, and tough sentences for crimes. There is also a strong correlation between age and crime. Most crimes, especially violent crimes, are committed by those aged 20-30 years.

Insecurity generally refers to a feeling of apprehensiveness and uncertainty: lack of assurance or stability, in fact a state of crime pervading a city. Nnewi is presently a very insecure city and the security situation in Nnewi leaves not much to be desired at the moment.

It is acknowledged that the ‘End Sars’ protest in Nnewi in the year 2020 severely disrupted Police operations in the city, with Police Stations burnt down and Police armory raided and serious assault weapons like the AK47 carted away by the marauding hoodlums. This was followed by the ‘Owerri Prison’ break in April 2021, unleashing seasoned criminals (who were set free from the prison break but could not return to their communities), to terrorize many cities in the South East of Nigeria till date, including Nnewi.

Just days ago in Nnewi as I was getting ready for this trip, several residents including a vigilante commander were killed when gunmen invaded Nnewi. The gunmen, multiple sources said, invaded the community at about 11a.m. and opened fire on residents, killing an unspecified number of people during the attack. The slain Nnewi vigilante commander was Eloka Mbajekwe.

This incident was just but one of several crime infested occurrences that our people in Nnewi have very sadly become accustomed to, not to even mention the regular ‘Monday sit at home’ menace being brutally enforced by terrible gangs of criminals.

SOLUTION TO INSECURITY IN NNEWI

The solution to the issue of insecurity in our ancient town of Nnewi lies directly in adopting a carrot and stick approach, through adopting both kinetic and non kinetic means of fighting the menace of crime currently ravaging Nnewi.

Emphasis on the education of our people both formal and vocational, must be enhanced and aggressively pursued, in order to get our youths out of the streets and into jobs. The government at all levels must embark on further enhancement of the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and create the much needed jobs in Nnewi.

Nnewi already operates a very vibrant security vigilante outfit but this requires serious funding and a fortified intelligence gathering network. To this effect, a new security levy to help expand security network with modern security equipment and assets is being strongly advocated here.

Registration and restriction of the operation of tricycles and motorcycles between the hours of 7pm and 6am in Nnewi is strongly advised, whilst the essence of the registration and restriction is to secure lives and property of innocent citizens and residents of the state.

It is well known that a lot of security issues have been reported recently in Nnewi involving tricycle or keke riders, hence the need to take necessary security measures to arrest the challenge. The security agencies in Nnewi have also in the past confirmed that most insecurity incidents happen in the early hours of the day and in the evening hours too.

A database of residents as well as well maintained properties with clearly defined purposes, send the right signals that the occupants are on guard. Providing a sense of ownership over an area encourages responsibility for managing the area and intervening if problems arise, while the introduction of these guidelines should be supported by a special course in police training.
Finally, governments can respond to crime in various ways, like making and enforcing laws and addressing the root causes of crime and using surveillance means that people can see what others are doing. This will deter would-be offenders from committing crime. Clear sightlines, effective lighting and landscaping can reduce the chances that offenders can hide or entrap victims.

A few sons of Nnewi chose to contribute a few words to this discourse today and let me most humbly take two of such contributions; from Chief George Moghalu ‘Ohamadike Nnewi’, and The Right Reverend Bishop Ndubuisi Obi, the Anglican Bishop of Nnewi Diocese:

In Chief George Moghalu’s contribution to the theme of Urbanization and Security Challenges in Nnewi, ‘Ohamadike’ said; “There is no doubt as to the fact that Nnewi today is under threat of the negative effects of urbanization. This is so especially in a situation of an unplanned environment and its attendant consequences and the total absence of needed infrastructure and where they exist at all, it is in a state of absolute and total decay. Like we all know, urbanization can be safely described as the increase in the population of people living in towns and cities. Urbanization occurs because people move from rural areas to urban areas and this usually occurs when a country is still developing. We are all aware that Nnewi being a very important trade centre and industrial hub has attracted a lot of people hence the exponential increase in the population of persons living in Nnewi. Regrettably, there are no commensurate infrastructural developments to accommodate this increase. There are no roads, power and other social amenities. In the light of this increase in population, security has become a major challenge. Though this challenge is not peculiar to Nnewi, Anambra State but indeed the Nigerian Nation is under siege. But then, that of Nnewi is of great importance to us as critical stakeholders in the Nnewi project. Anambra State Government, in line with the mandate it is holding is expected to address this twin issues of infrastructural decay and insecurity. Unless and until this is done, the potentials of our dear Nnewi cannot be fully realized. As a people, we have the potentials and capacity to build a major city out of Nnewi but then the enabling environment has to be provided and that is the responsibility of Government. On our part as a people, we have a role to play.

We must support, relate closely and collaborate with the Security Agencies and our local vigilantes in the discharge of the responsibilities assigned to them in the spirit of Government and Private Sector Collaboration. That is the least that is expected of us. It is my expectation that this convention will draw a road map for the actualization of the Greater Nnewi Project. I have no doubt in my mind that the Guest Speaker, a prominent Nnewi son, will do justice to the topic assigned to him and I wish him well. It is my prayer that the convention will be a resounding success for the overall benefit of our dear Nnewi and its indigenes and residents.” Moghalu concluded.

Creation of employment goes a very long way in the improvement of economic lives of a people, and keeps a huge number of youths off the streets and out of trouble. As I was putting the finishing touches to this Keynote Speech, the following message came from Bishop Ndubuisi Obi, Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Nnewi; “Last year, I was at the NUSA Convention. Please put in a word for us because part of trying to have this insecurity situation under control is to give employment to people. Let NUSA take a clue from what we are doing in the Diocese of Nnewi. In Nnewi, we have built an Oil and Gas station and given our people jobs there. We have developed a food market, and people are working there too. In order to create further jobs, we have dry cleaning services, we have hair salons, and we have a catering and vocational institute inside our plaza at Nnewichi behind Orizu motors. We have a CBT Centre where they train computer users and we have a photo lab too. If you go to the ‘Face book’ page of the Dioceses of Nnewi, you will see that we dedicated the plaza yesterday. So we are doing all those things just to empower people. If you come to that vocational and catering services institute, you will see that there is nothing they don’t learn there, different things, of course if you encourage them to go to the ‘Face book’ page, they will see the dedication of the plaza. Let them just watch it on their own so that they can see the things we outlined there that we do there.” Concluded His Lordship, The Right Reverend Ndubuisi Obi.

CONCLUSION

Let me end this Keynote Speech with the very exact words of Helen Keller; “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that as the conversation continues, I am able to express my profound gratitude and appreciation that this great organization has found my humble self, worthy of delivering the NUSA 2024 Convention Keynote Speech and I thank the National President of NUSA, the President of the Atlanta Chapter, the 2024 Convention Planning Committee and indeed the entire members of Nnewi USA, for deeming it fit to pursue this noble discourse, just as I appreciate all the guests who have made out time to listen to me speak at Marriott Atlanta Airport Gateway this afternoon.

Once again Umunnem Ndi Nnewi, I congratulate you all. May Almighty God continue to bless our ancient city of Nnewi and its people, bless Anambra State, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria most bountifully.

I thank you all for listening.

BEN ETIABA FCA, FCCA, FELUN, AIMC (UK)
Atlanta, 6th day of July 2024

Source of Information; Wikipedia