BY RAYMOND OZOJI, Awka
A group of youngsters who identified themselves as Aggrieved Nnobi Youths have launched a protest to the Anambra State Government House in Awka where they called on Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo to sack the President-General of the community, declaring that he is corrupt, despotic and dictatorial in his leadership.
The youngsters who took their grievances to the Government House at the weekend, carried placards with various inscriptions such as " We Want The PG Sacked, Nnobi PG Is Corrupt and High-handed, PG Has No Developmental Plan For Nnobi Other Than To Dethrone Igwe, Nnobi Peace Committee Report Is A Fraud, Enough of Sacrilegious Witch-hunt Against The Royal Throne, One Can't Be A Judge In His Own Case" to mention a few of what were written on the placards.
Journalist Raymond Ozoji gathered from the protesting youths that they could no longer stomach the machinations and antagonistic tendencies of the President-General against the throne of Nnobi community even as they also accused the PG of balcanization as seen in his divide and rule system.
Although the President-General of Nnobi community, Barr. Dominic Savio Okpala did not respond to phone calls when this journalist called him on Sunday 23rd June, to disclaim the claims of the protesting youths against him, leader of the aggrieved youths, Mr. Emeka Eze said they were no longer happy with the way and manner in which the PG was piloting the affairs of the town union.
Eze who said that he is a financial member of Nnobi Welfare Organization (NWO), maintained that Nnobi is in serious crisis. He said a certain peace committee report expected to champion peace missions in the community has been doctored by stooges of the President-General and youths are not comfortable with the development.
He said youths decided to seek government intervention in Nnobi community crisis to avoid a breakdown of law and order in the area. According to him, the PG has exhibited high-handedness in office by unilaterally taking a peace committee report to the Local Government Commissioner without copying the Igwe and even the Igwe-In-Council.
He said a member of the peace committee had opposed the submission of the peace committee report to the Local Government Commissioner without due deliberations and therefore arrested culprits involved in the transmission of the peace committee report to the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs.
Eze said that there are three quarters in Nnobi community namely Ebenesi, Ngo and Awuda. He accused Ebenesi and Ngo chairmen of sit-tight syndrome, stressing that their tenures have expired and they have blatantly refused to relinquish their offices. That the said chairmen whose tenures have expired were the ones the President-General was working with.
Meanwhile the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Mr. Henry Nwasike, who addressed the protesting youths on behalf of the state government, acknowledged that youths played pivotal roles in community development.
Nwasike therefore assured the youths that government will address their grievances.
He said that the government of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is a government that wants peace in every community in Anambra state.
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Government representative addressing the protesting youths in front of the Government House in Awka at the weekend.