…to forester peace, unity, development
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BY JUDE OSSAI / ENUGU
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Regime of Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State at the weekend got a boost as the traditional rulers and political leaders in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state pledged to work with him with a view to promoting peace and development in the area.
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The royal fathers under the aegis of the Enugu East Traditional Rulers Council in a joint meeting with other prominent political office holders in the local government also promised to collaborate with and support the developmental programmes of the State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah.
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The leaders gave the pledge after the inaugural meeting of the Enugu East Traditional Rulers Council under the chairmanship of His Royal Majesty Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu of Ibagwa.
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Addressing journalists on the outcome of the maiden meeting of the Council after his recent emergence as Chairman, Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu, the host, expressed gratitude to the state Governor, Mbah for his developmental strides in the state and the successful inauguration of the State Traditional Rulers Council.
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Igwe Ugwu also thanked his colleagues in Enugu East for electing him their new Chairman and promised to work together with them and the political class to unify the communities, eradicate any form of land racketeering and also work with relevant security agencies to ensure security of lives and property of the residents.
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“I thank God that today Enugu East Traditional Rulers Council made up of respectable traditional rulers is meeting; of course as you know we have the First Deputy Chairman of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council in the name of His Royal Majesty Igwe Barr Julius Nnaji in our midst; we have all the traditional rulers, 12 in number in Enugu East Local Government and we are all here.
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“We started from the foundation by appointing various offices, of course His Royal Highness Igwe Dr. Titus Okolo, who was the past chairman, accepted even to deputize me, while Igwe Felix Ugwu is now the secretary of the Council.
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“We also appointed His Royal Highness Igwe Damian Edeh as the image maker, PRO of the Council. We appointed Igwe Gabriel Okoh, Igwe of Mburujodo as our Treasurer. We also appointed the last traditional ruler who was recognized virtually last year, Igwe Godwin Ugwu, the Igwe of Edem Nike to be our DOS. This is the foundation we formed today to make sure that we start on a very good slate,” he said.
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The Chairman of the Council stated that they also invited the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Parklane Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Prof Bertrand Amechi Ngwu, a son of the soil; two representatives of the local government in the State House of Assembly; the Commissioner for Water Resources in the state, Dr. Felix Nnamani; the member representing Isi-Uzo/Enugu East LGAs in the House of Representatives, Prof. Paul Nnamchi and another political appointee, Barr Dr. peter Aneke, among others.
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He said, “And our discussion today is on how to unify the Nike community, to unify the political fold, of course we know that we are apolitical as traditional rulers but we cannot separate ourselves from ourselves. By that I mean that the politicians are our children, we cannot deny them, we cannot say they are not our children”.
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Also speaking, the 1st Deputy Chairman of the Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council HRM Igwe Barr Julius U Nnaji, Eze Odezuruigbo III of Nike, expressed happiness over the emergence of HRM Emmanuel Ugwu as new chairman and said royal fathers in the local government would work together to prosper the communities.
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“I believe that his leadership will energize us, energize all the politicians, and energize all those who were appointed to handle many things in Enugu state. Seeing the CMD, seeing the Commissioner for Water Resources, and many others here, it gave me joy, it shows that our chairman on his own part knew what we actually needed.”
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On his part, His Royal Majesty Igwe Dr. Titus Okoro Jp, the Ezeoha 1 of Amorji Nike, and the immediate past Chairman of this Council and current deputy chairman, pledged to work with the new chairman and restated the commitment of the royal fathers to move Nike community and Enugu state in general forward.
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He said, “By His Grace we will support the governor (Dr. Peter Mbah) too because the governor is doing well. We are the first to announce it; the roads, water and other things the governor is doing, we are all aware and we are happy. We pray that God will continue to guide our chairman, guide our First Deputy Chairman, and guide all of us.”
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The royal fathers announced that they resolved to hold an expanded meeting that will involve the traditional rulers, the religious leaders, the political class and other critical stakeholders in the area in a bid to foster unity, development and peace in the area.
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They announced that they have decided to streamline all land matters by establishing “Community Development Committee” whose duty is to collect land levy, and vowed to eliminate any conduct by youths and any other person that will give the Nike people bad image including selling and reselling of lands, land racketeering, menace of ‘Ogba nechagu’ (those that extort money from developers), and all forms of social vices.
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The royal fathers declared that they would raise money to support youths in farming and those who want to major in education noting that the people of Nike have always been known for their hard work and industry.
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