From Chuks Eke, Awka
Faces of the people of Umueri community in Anambra-East Local Government Area are now beaming in smiles, following the resolution of their long standing town union leadership squabble.
The resolution is coming on the heels of prompt intervention by the State Government through the signing of a peace accord between the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Ben Izuchukwu Emeka (Okebo II) of Umueri and the President-General of the town union, Chief Pius Ejimofor Okonkwo.
The town union had been enmeshed in leadership crisis over issues bordering on alleged financial improprieties, arbitrariness, etc on the part of Okonkwo, President-General of the town union, which metamorphosed into an impeachment attempt on him in April this year, from whence the crisis erupted.
During a reconciliatory
meeting held at the Umueri Civic Center, all the grey areas were ironed out to
usher in an era of peace and tranquility in the community and in the town union
in particular as Igwe Emeka waded into the matter and assuaged the feelings of
people on why peace was an inevitable option in the circumstance.
Speaking after the meeting, Igwe Emeka who declared the crisis over, said:
“We have held a meeting that ushered in peace in Umueri . You know that for
about three months now, Umueri has been in the news for both positivity and
negativity but today we have laid all the hatred and misunderstandings to
rest.”
The monarch said the
President-General of the community Chief Pius Okonkwo has been reinstated and
handed over back the mantle of leadership of Umueri town union. You know that
precisely on the 27th of April, 2019, there was a purported impeachment plot
which threatened to tear the community apart, but through the grace of God and
government intervention, we have forged an understanding and wrote a memo which
we signed.
“That memo is what we gave the people of Umueri at the Civic Center
signifying that there is no more squabble in the leadership. Peace has returned
to Umueri community and we give God the glory”.
Igwe Emeka maintained that since peace has returned to the community, it is
therefore incumbent upon the President-General to summon a general meeting of
the entire community where he would address them in details regarding the way
forward, stressing that now that he has been reinstated, it is expected that he
would function alongside the traditional ruler and the Igwe in council of
Umueri kingdom.
An indigenous Anglican priest of the community Ven.Shalom Ginika who attended
the reconciliatory meeting as well as offered prayers and thanksgiving to God
for the peace that has just returned to his community, recalled that at the
inception of the rancour, he as spiritual fathers of Umueri and others offered
prayers for the peaceful resolution of the crisis stressing that the
reconciliation was timely and a welcome development .
The Anglican priest who does his apostolic work in Abia state but hails from
Umueri community expressed profound gratitude to God for His peaceful
intervention as well as the wisdom He bestowed on their monarch, Igwe Emeka for
the way and manner with which he handled the town union leadership imbroglio.
Also an octogenarian, Chief Vincent Nwasi the Obi of Umueri kingdom who is a
native of Ezi-Umueri said it was a statement of fact that there was a problem
in Umueri but according to him, the said problem has come to finality with the
resolution of the crisis in the town union leadership by the timely
intervention of the traditional ruler and the state government.
The 87-year old man maintained that Igwe Emeka showed the community the way to
the restoration of peace, noting that all the hullabaloo about power tussle
ended with the reconciliatory meeting because he believed that the monarch was
a man of impeccable character and self-sufficient.
He said there was a move to pull the President-General out of control because
of his character but opined that the traditional ruler intervened and put everything
to an end with the reconciliatory meeting even as he emphasized that the
President-General must be accountable to the people.
High Chief Joseph Uzoma Onuigbo who hails from Ikenga-Umueri and a member
of the Igwe’s cabinet said the reconciliatory meeting was a veritable platform
to implement the peace accord signed at the Government House Awka between the
traditional ruler, Igwe Emeka and the President-General, Okonkwo in the
presence of the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy
Matters.
Onuigbo was of the opinion that if the contents of the peace accord was
strictly adhered to, Umueri town would accommodate all and sundry, stressing
that it therefore behoves on the PG and the traditional ruler to work cap in
hand to move Umueri community forward to the next level of progress,
development and prosperity.