CRY THE PEOPLE OF UKWA LAND

The 2019 general elections may have come and gone but not without some of the usually anticipated drama that is associated with elections conducted in developing countries like Nigeria.

While the winners are busy celebrating and throwing different kinds of parties all over the place in celebration of their polls victory, some of the losers who may have given their best chase in unseating the incumbents have begun to count their losses. This is even as some that have the financial muscle and strength to undergo through the judiciary processes have started filing their petitions at the election tribunals to challenge their loss.

In this milieu, a people come to my mind and that is the people of Ukwa land.

This only oil producing area in Abia State has for a second time lost, sadly, its bid to represent Abia South in the red chamber to its Ngwa brothers. The question that easily agitates the mind of right thinking people is whether an Ukwa man can ever represent Abia South again in the Senate, considering the fact that majority of the Ngwa people of Abia South may have vowed not to vote for any Ukwa son or daughter who aspires for the senatorial seat. After all, with four local government areas against the two in Ukwa land, why should they bother themselves about how Ukwa people feel?

As things stand now, an Ngwa man is the governor-elect of Abia State. We also have an Ngwa son as the Senator-elect for Abia South.

Apart from the abundance of food, the Ukwa people who also share boundaries with some parts of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states respectively is no doubt the hen that lays the golden eggs that Abia State is enjoying today.

This is because the Ukwa people like their neighbouring Niger Delta States and communities also have crude oil deposit which is why Abia State is regarded today, as an Oil producing State.

The large oil and gas deposit in Ukwa land which is the largest centre of operation of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC on land with over 158 oil wells account for the presence of various oil companies in the area.

The case of the Ukwa man, whose kith and kin were merged into Obigbo (Oyigbo) in Rivers State following the Justice Mamman Nasir Boundary adjustment in 1976, thereby reducing its population greatly, is made worse by the fact that the Abia State government, has over the years, neglected it in its allocation of projects and appointments.

Throughout the tenure of former Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, former governor of Abia State and the first tenure of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the Ukwa man cannot point to any meaningful project in the area.

When commissioners are appointed, the Ukwa man is rotated among the ministries of information, petroleum and transport.

It is a fact that the economic viability of Ukwa land has not been fully tapped, as the river confluence town of Obeaku-Ndoki where Imo River joins the Azumini blue river is only about forty nautical miles to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the face of all these, one is tempted to think that the Ukwa man should begin to focus at the centre for help.

Throughout history, only one Ukwa man has occupied a ministerial position and he did not last more than three months because of military intervention into politics.

To put it very clearly, since 1999 till date, no Ukwa son or daughter has been appointed a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In view of the fact that political issues are sometimes analysed from the standpoint of geo-political and Senatorial districts, this writer wants to state that while an Ngwa man has benefitted from a ministerial appointment, even though he is of the same Senatorial District with Ukwa, the Ukwa man has not tasted this position in the last 36 years.

Some of us had wondered why the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who is a product of equity and preached equity throughout his campaigns and have also enjoyed the support of the Ukwa people in electing and reelecting him Governor in the just concluded gubernatorial election, failed to advise his party; the Peoples Democtatic Party, PDP and the incumbent Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe to allow an Ukwa son or daughter the opportunity to represent the people of the zone.

Nigeria is a country that preaches equity, fairness and justice all the time. It is against this backdrop that I make a call to the federal government to consider an indigene of Ukwa land of Abia South for a ministerial position.

It is expected from every democratically elected government to be all inclusive and people oriented.

But over the years in Nigeria, the people of Ukwa Land in Abia State have been relegated to the background notwithstanding their major economic contributions to the state and the nation in general.

For record purposes, Ukwa is the only oil producing area in Abia State but has nothing to show for it.

The peaceful disposition of our people has been taken for granted by the state since its creation.

Even with the contagious militant activities within Ukwa riverine neighbourhood, we have remained peaceful, hoping that the federal government would look in our direction in terms federal appointments and other dividends of democracy such as roads and other social amenities.

A case in point is the just concluded national elections where our Ngwa neighbors employed all dubious means to occupy both the Senate and governorship positions. This is indeed the height of marginalisation and should be condemned by any egalitarian society.

Ukwa has sons and daughters that are eminently qualified to occupy any position of trust given to them and we are confident that they would deliver well if given the opportunity to serve. Don’t forget that our people were amongst the first in the country that had interface with the Whiteman which not only gave rise to the establishment of early churches and missionary schools in our area, and provided our sons and daughters the opportunity to be tutored and trained by the missionaries.

The truth is that with the way the current administration in the state is going, we have lost hope that it has the capacity to address the challenges of our people as it has in the last four years failed to register its presence in the Ukwa area or show commitment of addressing some of our plights.

We however strongly believe in President Muhamandu Buhari to come to our rescue.

It is obvious to the people of sagacity that Ngwa people and Abia State are on a mission to move Ukwa land to political extinction. But they will definitely not succeed.

Above all, we are committed to a United and indivisible Nigeria and we hope that Ukwa people should be considered by our brave president in his new Cabinet as ministers and heads of government agencies since we have highly qualified people for that.

Thankgod Ntaku writes from Ukwa Land.