Aba Union reject moves to truncate rotational leadership, peace in the state

July 27, 2016

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Aba Union has announced their rejection of the attempt by some group of persons to breach the Abia Charter of Equity saying that it will breed unending crises in the state.

The union is constituted by nine local governments namely Aba North, Aba South, Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, Ukwa North, Ukwa South, Osisioma Ngwa, Obingwa and Ugwunagbo.

The Ukwa-la-Ngwa group disclosed this through a Communiqué read out to newsmen after their meeting at Elder Emmanuel Adaelu's office in  Osisioma Ngwa local government on Wednesday.

They said that they believed in the rotational leadership formula of the charter which had produced Dr Orji Kalu (Abia North), Chief Theodore Orji (Abia Central), and now Dr Okezie Ikpeazu(Abia South).

They therefore said that any attempt to remove Ikpeazu from being the governor will be an attempt to breach the charter and Abia South people's rights which they said would be unfair and not workable.

The union further condemned and rejected the judgement of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja in which Abang disqualified Ikpeazu on June 26, 2016 describing it as perverse.

It also condemned INEC's "hasty issuance of Certificate of Return" to Uche Ogah while the defendant was awaiting Certified True Copy of the said judgment to be released to enable him take needed action.

The union called on the federal government to investigate all persons involved in the illegality with the view of punishing them.

They expressed their great confidence in governor Ikpeazu, their son, because of his achievements in one year of being in office even in the face of lean resources available to him.

The Communique was signed by representatives of the local governments including the Leader, Elder Emma Adaelu, Chairman, His Royal Highness, Eze Love Nwogu and Secretary General, Chief Godfrey Akara.

Responding to questions, Adaelu said they had made efforts to ensure reason prevailed in the litigants, Friday Nwosu and Uche Ogah, before they went to court but saw that they were desperate for power.

He, however assured them that they will not succeed in removing Ikpeazu from office in Abia state adding that the union will not beg them.(

SFG calls for support of South Easterners to end Niger Delta militancy

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr Babachir Lawal has called on South Easterners to assist in stopping Niger Delta militancy to enable the government pursue development.

Lawal made the call in Aba on Saturday during the commemoration of the one year in office of Mr Ossy Prestige, the member representing Aba South and North Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives.

"We call on you to help resolve the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta so that the government can pursue development", he said.

Lawal lamented the deplorable situation of South Eastern roads stressing that the government has take note of the poor roads in the zone.

He however charged elected representatives of the people to always discharge their responsibilities and uphold the principle of accountability to the people who elected them.

Lawal was represented by the Special Assistant to President Mohammadu Buhari on Political Matters, Mr Gidoen Samani.

In his speech, Mr Ossy Prestige said that he was commemorating the day with achievements that can touch lives of the electorate adding that after elections real governance should follow.

He said that he had treated over 3,200 patients, given over 50 students scholarship to study overseas, rehabilitated roads and sponsored trade missions to Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

He also said he had sponsored over 10 bills and provided over 100 wheel chairs for the physically-challenged persons in his constituency.

He regretted the brutality of overzealous state security agencies on Aba residents and called for government intervention to help check such behaviours in the future.

Prestige gave out 48 tricycles, 11 motorcycles, 10 generators, 15 grinding machines, 51 sewing machines, generating sets, 200 bags of rice to empower members of his constituency.

Five-year-old girl dies in Aba Kerosene explosion, mother and another victim still in hospital

July 20, 2016

By Ijendu Iheaka

A five year old girl, Miracle Uwa, on Tuesday died in a hospital in Aba from severe bums that peeled her skin from head to toe. 

Newsmen learnt that the fire which burned Miracle was caused from kerosene explosion in her home on Monday. 

Medical personnel had fought from Monday evening till late afternoon of Tuesday when the girl died at the Holy Wounds Hospital on Faulks road, in Aba. 

Mrs Nwaoma Ndubuisi, a neighbour to Uwa family said that Miracle was beside her mother Mercy, in the kitchen where she was lighting a kerosene lamp. 

She said that when Mercy added kerosene that someone bought for them earlier from a neighbour to the lamp, it blew up in her face. 

“Mercy’s face was burnt to her chest area and to parts of her laps; Miracle, her daughter was also burnt from face down to her toes severely because she was stooping by her”, she said.

Ndubuisi said that the cry of Mercy, who is nursing a five months baby summoned their cotenants to help rescue them and to take Mercy and her daughter Miracle to the hospital. 

The father of Miracle, Mr Ihemere Uwa, a security outfit manufacturer in Ariaria market told the NAN that he received a call at about 6:00 pm on Monday to come home. 

“I was told my house was on fire but on reaching home, it has been controlled and asked my wife what happened and she said she and Miracle caught fire as she was filling a lamp with suspected adulterated kerosene. That is the much I heard”, he said. 

Mrs Joy Joseph, another mother whose ward, Gift Monday, was burnt by adulterated kerosene on Friday said that she took the girl and his brother in when they lost their mother and father. 

However, she said that because she was sick with her children, Gift, 12, was left to take care of things in the house. 

She said that on Thursday she sent Gift to buy kerosene and she did but because there was electricity, they cooked with electric stove to save money on kerosene which had become very expensive. 

“But on Friday, as the light went out and Gift was lighting the stove, it exploded and she caught fire and she was burnt”, Joy said. 

She said that they have been buying kerosene from the same seller they bought the one which exploded noting that they had not had any such explosion. 

Mrs Pleasure Moses, the mother of Joy said the Ariaria police later arrested the kerosene seller and detained him after discovering that the kerosene in his tank was adulterated. 

She also said that the police found that the man was selling a type of kerosene different from the type he was using in his lamp at home. 

Moses called on the government to stop the sale of adulterated kerosene in order to check domestic fire outbreaks in Aba and to investigate the incidences to ensure they do not recur. 

A reliable police source said that the police arrested the kerosene seller and after detaining him for a day, left him but later re-arrested him on Monday. 

According to the source, the man was re-arrested when they found that the second victim who bought kerosene a day after the first victim had been burnt also bought hers from same suspect. 

Our reporter said that an Aba-based businessman as at 5 pm Tuesday was behind the counter at the Ariaria police station because police said his filling station was suspected to be the source of the adulterated kerosene causing fire outbreaks in homes. 

The police source also said that they were not sure of the man’s complicity because nobody had come to report him to them yet he was moved behind the counter with two of his station attendants. 

However, this action contradicts police response on arrest of the key suspect because the victims said they bought the kerosene from a middleman and not a filling station. 

The Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Nta Ogbonnaya confirmed that there was a fire incident related to suspected adulterated kerosene adding that investigations were ongoing. 

Ogbonnaya however refused to tell this reporter when asked if the culprits have been arrested and what the police have been able to uncover but only said “investigations are still on”.

Learn contemporary farming procedures to succeed – Fortunewell CEO tells farmers

July 19, 2016

By Ijendu Iheaka

Mr Dannie Ubani, the Chief Executive Officer of Fortunewell farms, Aba Abia state has urged farmers to learn contemporary farming procedures to be successful in the practice.

Ubani disclosed this in Aba on Wednesday during an interview with the newsmen in the commercial city.

He said that any farmer wishing to become successful now must be conversant with contemporary farming procedures and be connected to other farmers on the internet to develop better skills.

Ubani said that all levels of farming were very rewarding to practitioners who develop themselves and their business because feeding is a primary human activity.

 “If you have not eaten well you cannot afford to buy good phones, buy and drive good cars or cloths. So the survival of nations has always been premised on farming and farmers.

“So when you see people who have made their marks in every other area of human endeavour turning to farming, that gives you a good signal, and sends a clear message.

“Oil has failed. The banking industry has collapsed. The capital market is virtually non-existent now. As a result the only miracle that can turn things around in this country now is farming”, he said.

He urged people wishing to go into farming business without enough money to start at the level they can afford stressing that farming can be done by all classes of people small and great.

“That empty space of land that is at the back of your house can be turned into a farm, a vegetable garden.
“You can have your starting point from there. Remember, Rome was not built in a day. Everything big started small”, he counseled.

Ubani urged would-be successful farmers to cultivate the virtues of patience and hard work stressing that farming teaches these principles.

He advised aspiring farmers to relinquish the thought of getting rich quick if they wanted to succeed in farming practice.

He also urged them to learn to understand the weather as doing so was important to their success in the business of farming.

Abia School feeding programme yet on trial scale - Commissioner

July 13, 2016 

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Abia State government on Wednesday said that the state’s school lunch programme was a pilot project to test if it would be practiced in all schools.

The State's Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ikechi Mgboji who said this in an interview with newsmen in Aba on Wednesday, noted that it would be wrong for people to create the impression that it was a full-scale project.

The commissioner noted that the continuation of the project would be determined by the “logistics” surrounding the implementation of its pilot phase.

He said that the pilot project was directed only at six schools, with two schools taken from each of the three senatorial zones of the state.

“The programme is a pilot project. It is not as if you go to every school now, their children are being fed. We want to know how it works.

“We began it on a small scale with two schools in Abia North, two schools in Abia Central and two schools in Abia South Senatorial Zones.

“We started off with schools that are best in infrastructure because you cannot be feeding people who are sitting on the floor,’’ he said.

He said that it was wrong for people to create the impression that the pilot phase of the school feeding programme was meant to have complete coverage of all schools in Abia state.

The commissioner said that the state’s ministry of Women Affairs and Children’s Development was in charge of coordinating the people who donate, cook and share the food at the schools.

Mgboji, however said that he was not aware of the time the pilot project would be concluded to give way to possible full-scale implementation across all schools in the state.

Recall that government had earlier said that the programme would help meet the basic nutritional needs of children and expand their opportunity to reach full potential and significantly enhance the academic performance of the children.

The programme which started on June 2016, according to information from government quarters is to feed a total of 136, 258 pupils, who will consume 408, 774 fresh eggs, as well as Ofada rice and beans weekly.

Meanwhile, schools in Aba North, South and Osisioma Local Government Areas visited by our correspondent said that they have not been taking part in it but have only been hearing of the programme through the media.

They expressed hope that the government would include them in the programme adding that they would like their children to benefit from the project.