~By Chukwuemeka Chimerue, Onuorah Ndubuisi Godwin and Ifeanyi Arthur Edeh ~
The Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Leadership Round-Table/Interactive Session with Critical Stakeholders of 17-LGAs towards the sustenance of Peace in Enugu state, held on Thursday 22nd of July, 2021 at Agbani among critical stakeholders in Nkanu East and Nkanu West local government areas of the state.
The program being organized by the Leadership Scorecard Media Company, brought together some traditional rulers, political leaders and clergymen from the area to the main hall of Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government Secretariat, in order to discuss salient issues bordering on peaceful co-existence among residents of the state.
Welcoming the guests and participants, in his address, the CEO of Leadership Scorecard Magazine, Hon. Humphrey Onyima, noted that the meeting was necessary for the common purpose of reinstating and reiterating the endless benefits of peaceful behaviour in the process of individual and collective development by domesticating and entrenching Gov. Ugwuanyi’s Peace Mantra across the length and breadth of the state and Nigeria at large.
He added that “The Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Leadership Round-table/Interactive Session with critical stakeholders shall seek to promote factors responsible for the peace we enjoy in Enugu state.”
Onyima who is also the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Public Affairs, described the governor as “an Apostle of Peace and emblem of leadership by example,” adding that “where good men are scarce, strife and disorder rule. You cannot have peace without someone placing his personal time, resources and comfort as burnt offering on the slab for what every other person eventually enjoys. What we need is Gburugburu’s kind of peace grounded on the principle of tolerance, equity, fairness and justice.”
Onyima appealed to aggrieved youths to drop the guns, stop the killings and embrace peaceful engagement for development.
“The sustenance of peace is cheaper than the maintenance of crisis. Peaceful engagement and dialogue brings development. The factors responsible for the peace we have in Enugu state should be sustained and consolidated upon,” he said.
Presenting a paper on the ‘Sustenance of Peace We Enjoy In Enugu’, the Guest Speaker and Dean,Faculty of Law. Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT. Prof. Osita Ogbu, noted that the security of lives and property has been a very serious challenge in Nigeria.
“When you don’t have security, you don’t have peace. In the Northeast, Boko Haram exists, in the Northwest, the bandits are becoming intolerable, in the South-South, there has been a truce with militants. In the Southeast, Southwest and many other places, we still have armed robbers, kidnappers and then the marauding herdsmen are killing, maiming, raping and committing all sorts of crime against the people.
“Because of this situation, according to the 2019 Global Terrorism Index, Nigeria is one of the top most terrorism prone countries of the world, standing behind only two countries: Iran and Afghanistan. The 2021 Global Peace Index ranked Nigeria 146 among 148 independent nations and territories.
According to each level of peacefulness, Nigeria ranked 8 among the least peaceful countries in Africa after South Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan and Mali.
“In the light of the prevailing situation in Nigeria, the United Nations described the country as a pressure cooker of internal conflicts and generalized violence that must be addressed urgently.
“It is against this background that the importance of this roundtable ought to be appreciated. It is also against this background that we appreciate our Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for the peace and security we’re enjoying in Enugu, generally, notwithstanding some excluded cases of violence in the state. One can say without fear of contradiction that Enugu state remains one of the peaceful state, if not the most peaceful state in Nigeria,” he posited.
Prof. Ogbu also hailed the Governor’s approach towards the sustenance of peace in the state, saying that “the Governor’s contributions to the maintenance of peace and security in Enugu state from local government funding to funding of local vigilante outfits and forest guards, is one of the ways he has ensured peace in Nkanu West local government and beyond.
“It is to the credit of the governor that he won elections overwhelmingly without shooting a gun. He does not have a private army in the state. He has not given anyone a gun to execute electoral warfare. He has no special group in the state; everyone is among his group.
He endeared himself to the people across party lines. He carries everybody along irrespective of party affiliations. This substantially accounts for the peace we’re enjoying in the state today. This is a lesson for other politicians.
“It is pertinent to note that the members of the community vigilantes and forest guards are usually selected and appointed by the town unions, traditional rulers and other stakeholders of the communities acting together. They were not appointed by the governor or agents of the governor. This ensured community ownership of the project, making it impossible for power-hungry politicians to hijack the process to advance their political ambitions. This wonderful precedent, having being set in this manner, it is hoped that future regimes in the state will not use the guise of setting up similar security outfits to recruit political thugs at government’s expenses.”
In his contribution, member representing Nkanu East constituency in Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Paul Nnajiofor, stated that “one of the states people live in safety unarguably is Enugu state under the impressive supervision and leadership of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Over the past six years, the state has been rated as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. This was attested when the former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Musiliu Smith visited Enugu state.”
The state lawmaker, in his assessment of the security situation in the state said, “having critically watched the security situation in the country and how Enugu state under Gov. Ugwuanyi has been isolated from the escalatory threat of warfare, one will be spurred to interrogate the adroit security measures taken by the present administration to regulate the web of social interaction and manage the internal mechanisms such that insecurity will be discouraged and peace will be encouraged.
“To sustain peace, the governor understands that there must definitely be some unrepentant criminals that thrive in acts of savagery, and the need to flush them out becomes paramount. This calls for the strengthening of our security outfits with both moral and financial aids and other necessary materials. The governor didn’t waste time in investing in the security architecture of the state. Prior to the assumption of office in 2015, the security prism was almost moribund and in a state of collapse which criminals had capitalized on to perpetrate heinous crimes against citizens.
“In addition, more outfits for people oriented security system in various communities were evolved. The neighborhood watch, forest guards, community policing mechanisms were all constituted. Security was decentralized such that everyone was made part of the system for optimum results which has been able to sustain peace in the state.”
Nnajiofor concluded by urging families, groups, communities and local governments in the state to imbibe the culture of openness, involvement and inclusiveness in the management of crisis to enthrone lasting security, peace and harmony in the state.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the governor on Information, Hon. Barr. Steve Orurua, like a moving encyclopedia, enumerated certain factors threatening the existence of peace in the country in general. He went down memory lane, mentioning the foundational fathers of Enugu State and Nigeria along with their timeless contributions on the subject matter.
He expressed worry that religion, ethnic chauvinism, unemployment, maladministration, corruption and the gap between the rich and poor, amongst others are major factors mitigating the peace in Nigeria, adding that what affects the country equally affects Enugu States.
He regretted that “a country where the biggest size of churches in the whole world are domiciled, the country that has the greatest number of people in the church and the country where we have numerous mosques and yet we have no peace. I’m worried about that. We need peace that moves beyond the corridors of personalities to that of institutions so that beyond the Governor, there will be lasting peace in the state”.
“Unemployment is part of the obstacles inherent in the maintainance of peace. Unemployment has succeeded in making extremities of poverty and extremities of wealth lie side-by-side. We have seen a cart between the bourgeoisie and the proletariates. Under that scenario, there will be natural reactions at some point if it’s not addressed”. There are so many bitting poverty and excruciating pain.
“The second problem we have is religious bigotry. Religion have become a factor dividing us as if God has suddenly become weak to fight for himself. God created us all in His own image. We also have ethnic jingoism. Ethnicity have become a major problem. Some decisions are taken from the precincts of ethnic value. The appointments in the country are lopsided; zonal sentiments as opposed to national benefits. The people are no longer comfortable with this.
“Why I’m talking about this is because Enugu state cannot be isolated from the rest of Nigeria. Whatever happens in larger Nigeria must also affect us all.
“Maladministration and corruption has also become endemic. There’s something they call the Nigerian system. If it’s not expunged and completely annihilated in the system, then there’s a problem in this country. Those in government must show standard practices, they should be people with value, rectitude, sanctity, intellectual prowess. In the absence of this, Nigeria will fall into oblivion.
“The collapse of family ethos and warped values in the society is another factor. Families must sit up and ask how do we deal with what is happening. We need to do more at homes than we do at schools. Our parents must wake up to the reality that we cannot be cheer leaders to people who came home with looted funds as if it has become a way of life.
“The church also should be the last defender of the common man. But today, the mercantile mentality of those who wear cassocks have become a very big problem. Some of them connive with politicians to say half truths.
“Nigeria must make haste to dialogue with secessionist agitators and come together to resolve our differences. The present Nigeria must be captured by the youths not by engaging in fraudulent activities. We need to make statements on the quality of the deliverables.”
Also speaking, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Ben Nwoye who attended the event, advocated for the maintenance of peace and cooperation among political actors in the state.
He said: “You can’t have peace without cooperation. We all as political actors, we have a role in the peace initiative that you see today in Enugu state. Insecurity does not know political parties. It does not know APC or PDP, neither does it know anybody in particular.
“Peace is anchored on unity and equity. Anywhere I go, I speak that for this peace to continue, it is not just about the security operatives but the political actors in whichever form or shape you act.
“It is also about sustaining what has kept this peace called the doctrine of leadership rotation. It is an unwritten doctrine but one which we have observed in Enugu state that come 2023, for us not to be like some other states where leadership has failed to rotate, that the leadership of this state come 2023 should be passed over to somebody of Enugu East Senatorial District.”
Also lending her voice to the issue, the former Enugu state commissioner for culture and tourism, Hon. Rita Mba, in her goodwill message, commended Governor Ugwuanyi for his efforts towards entrenching peace in the state.
“Enugu state is peaceful although a lot of people take it for granted. There’s peace and cordial working relationship between the three arms of government in Enugu state which is a very wonderful thing. Peace is the bedrock of success. Before you achieve anything in any environment, there must be peace because peace offers an enabling environment for us to do anything.
“Today, we’re enjoying peace among political parties of Enugu state. We’re also enyoying peace among the communities. I want to score His Excellency, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi 90% percent in peace entrenchment in Enugu state and for bringing peace among the three arms of government. This is why we don’t have fights in the House of Assembly like other states. Ugwuanyi worked so hard in the state security architecture which has made Enugu as most peaceful and secured state in Nigeria. He also ensured that there’s peace among villagers and herdsmen, thereby averting killings happening in other states,” she stated.
A PDP chieftain, Prince Lawrence Ezeh, in his goodwill message thanked the organizers and participants in the programme while commending the Governor for sustaining peace in the state.
He noted that Enugu has remained a safe haven for lovers of peace, adding that “we’ll not tolerate anybody or group of persons to walk into Enugu and disrupt this God-given peace we’re enjoying, especially the ones tampering with the lives of government constituted security agents. It is unacceptable here in Enugu state.”
Chief Capt. Evarest Nnaji also urged Enugu residents not to take the peace in the state for granted, saying “we must all come together to support the government to ensure that this peace is sustained and if it happens, Enugu will become the most peaceful state in Southeastern Nigeria with strong IGR. Investors will naturally come to you if there’s peace, you don’t need to look for them.”
Highlights of the event was the presentation of certificates of recognition to the invited Guests of Honour, Prof. Osita Ogbu, Prince Lawrence Eze, Hon. Paul Nnajiofor, Barr. Steve Orurua, former permanent secretary, federal ministry of power, Hon. Chinyeaka Ohaa, Member Representing Nkanu East/Nkanu West at the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, former Chief of Staff, Hon. Chief Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo, Dr. Ben Nwoye, Chief Capt. Evarest Nnaji, Chief Nwabueze Nnamani, Hon. Chinedu Mba, Mike Ogbuekwe, Commissioner for Gender Affairs, Hon. Peace Nnaji, Hon. Emeka Nwatu, Hon. Chief Chinedu Mba, Chief Friday Edeh, etc.
The certificates of recognition as Grand Royal Peace Ambassador was bestowed on His Royal Highness, Igwe Abel Nwobodo, Patron Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, Royal Peace Ambassadors awards to was equally conferred on His Royal Highness, Igwe John Anem, chairman council of traditional rulers in Nkanu West; HRH Igwe Hyacinth Edeani, chairman council of traditional rulers in Nkanu East, HRH Igwe F.O Nwatu, patron council of traditional rulers in Nkanu East.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Udo Nmeregini, the Methodist Bishop Agbani Diocese, Enugu was honoured alongside Rev. Fr. Stan Zeowa, Dean of Agbani Deanery, St. John’s Parish Agbani.
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BEING A WELCOME ADDRESS BY HON. HUMPHREY ONYIMA – THE CEO OF LEADERSHIP SCORECARD MAGAZINE AT THE IFEANYI UGWUANYI LEADERSHIP ROUND-TABLE / INTERACTIVE SESSION WITH CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS OF NKANU WEST/NKANU EAST LGAs AT AGBANI, NKANU WEST LGA SECRETARIAT ON THURSDAY 22ND JULY, 2021.
Protocols;
I wish to formally welcome you to the “Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Leadership Round-Table / Interactive Session with Critical Stakeholders of Nkanu West and Nkanu East LGAs towards Sustenance of the Peace We Enjoy in Enugu State”.
The “Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Leadership Round-Table / Interactive Session holding today 22nd of July, 2021 at Agbani in Nkanu West LGA Secretariat with the critical stakeholders of Nkanu West and Nkanu East Local Government Areas for the common purpose of reinstating and reiterating the endless benefits of peaceful behavior in the process of individual and collective development vis-à-vis domesticating and entrenching Gov. Ugwuanyi’s Peace Mantra across the length and breadth of our dear state and Nigeria at large.
The Ifeanyi Ugwuayi Leadership Round-Table / Interactive Session with critical stakeholders of Nkanu West and Nkanu East LGAs today will feature Prof. Osita Ogbu – the Dean of Faculty of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology as the Guest Speaker and shall also identify with reputable ‘ICONS OF PEACE’, highly esteemed ‘PILLARS OF PEACE’, Outstanding ‘PEACE AMBASSADORS’ & Indefatigable ‘ROYAL FATHERS AS ROYAL PEACE AMBASSADORS’ who are partnering with Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration in the building of a New Enugu State of our collective dream.
Let’s drop the guns, stop the killings, peaceful engagement brings development.
The Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Leadership Round-Table / Interactive Session with Critical Stakeholders shall seek to promote factors that are responsible for the peace we enjoy in Enugu State.
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is an Apostle of Peace and emblem of leadership by example.
Where good men are scarce, strife and disorder rule. You cannot have peace without someone placing his personal time, resources and comfort as burnt offering on the slab for what every other person eventually enjoys.
But if peace means accepting injustice as an alternative for socio-political survival, then it is not peace. If peace means keeping our mouths shut in the midst of oppression and outright exclusion in the scheme of things, then that’s not the kind of peace we seek. If peace means willingness to be exploited, then that is not the kind of peace we want.
What we need is Gburugburu’s kind of peace grounded on the principle of tolerance, equity, fairness and justice.
Leadership Scorecard Integrated Media Co Ltd is a media organization that promotes transparency and accountability in governance in forms of innovation, strategy or intellect on a scale and stage that attracts global attention.
Our VISION is to be pacesetters in leadership performance monitoring and evaluation in Africa; with the MISSION to ensure that leaders are accountable for their roles in governance on the continent.
The Leadership SCORECARD Media Company wishes to partner with the general public through interactive sessions slated to hold across 17-LGAs of Enugu State towards promoting the good governance agenda of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, vis-à-vis the sustenance of the Peace we enjoy in Enugu State.
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THANK YOU
ENUGU STATE IS IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
