By Tony Adibe
The Ugwuogo/Mbuluiyiukwu ward in Enugu east local government council of Enugu state, has pledged the donation of the sum of N20 million to support the ongoing 2023 governorship campaign by the Peoples Democratic party, PDP.
The Community leader, Hon. Joseph Ugwumba Agbo made the pledge on behalf of the community, yesterday, during a town hall meeting with the state PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Peter Mbah.
Ugwumba said that the community gave the donation because they consider Mbah as son of Nike, disclosing those historical facts proved that Mbah’s community, Owo and Nike community were relations.
The community also requested that the PDP governorship candidate should run an inclusive administration, if elected, adding that it was a very serious injustice for his people who to be segregated from both economic and political opportunities in the state.
He emphasized that because of the land grabbing in various communities in Nike, they were under siege of land-by-land capture groups, agents selling and reselling lands to the crisis of everyday.
“Nike people must go to court, where there are no trained lawyers. Nike people are just handicapped, and they spend a lot of time attending to court cases and that traumatize their existence that the average lifespan of a Nike man is about 42 years because of trauma and litigation people resort into because of land,” Ugwumba said.
He further requested that the PDP governorship candidate should revisit the civil service, to see that their people have their own share of employment. “For example, if you go to IMT and ESUT, PPSMB, ESUBUB, you can’t see much of our people and that’s the area where the budget, most of the wage bill go to every month and we are not participating.
“We have decided that the incoming governor, because he is a Nike man, that my ward, that is Ugwuogo/Mbulu-Ukwu ward will commit N20m to support his campaign, because we see him as our own son. In the old history, Ubahu and Owo were Nike people. So, we see him as our own son, and we are going to commit our own money to support his campaign and we will vote for him as well.
“We will soon move to about 25 hectares of land along Ugwuogo-Opi-Nsukka road, proposed for the new Ugwuogo market. Clearing starts in December but there is a delay in the approval of our request for the plan by the ministry of lands and we don’t know what is happening.
“We made this application by June. We paid and we are asking them to give us the opportunity to develop the place. The local government has pledged support to develop the new market even the governor reacted that there is need for a new market where food these produces will have a suitable market,” Ugwumba said.
He lauded the idea of town hall meeting where people can meet and interact, and the governorship candidate was able by himself to take notes of what were said and reacted to them individually.
