Prince Ambrose Nwachukwu 


By Push Uchenna Kalume


I must appreciate Dailyledger.com.ng for the professionalism he has deployed in the article 'LG Elections: Emerging Faces of LP Aspirants for Ikwuano LG Chairmanship Election' in   capturing every shade of opinions in the current political discourse in our dear Ikwuano. This is an example of classical objectivity in reportage. A reportage that does not allow personal sentiment of the reporter to come in-between. Thank you, Mr Tony Icheku 


Having said that, I want to briefly respond to some maters arising from the foregoing. A former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, once said "to jaw-jaw is better than to war-war". That political theory is still valid till today just as it was in the past century.  We can't but keep talking to ourselves until a mutual understanding is reached. A mutual understanding that will reinforce our brotherhood. A mutual understanding that will give every segment of our dear Ikwuano a sense of belonging, justice and fairness. 


A mutual understanding that will reinforce our unity so we can always  stand together in Abia politics and with one voice strongly demand for what is due to us as Ikwuano people. A mutual understanding that will ensure that politicians outside our LGA will no longer divide us, keep us busy fighting ourselves while they go free-for-all grabbing what rightfully belongs to us.


Love Chief Innocent Eleogu 

My fellow compatriots and brothers, you have spoken. And everyone has spoken very frankly well. The various positions you have taken are well noted. Your ideas are very beautiful and legit within the framework of freedom of speech and in line with our collective quest for the betterment of our dear LGA. I only want to add a little here and there to your lines of thought as a way of fine-tuning them to make them acceptable to all.  


First and foremost, let me rub mind with my brother who said that Ikwuano should jettison rotational system. He pointed out that rotational system is perpetuating a system of patronage that prioritizes clan loyalty over meritocracy. I'm a firm believer in competence and meritocracy. And I also believe that competence and merit are not residual at just one clan out of the four clans in Ikwuano. God so much blessed us here that at each point in time, we can always find three or more competent sons and daughters from each clan who are mentally, emotionally and educationally equipped to effectively man any political office, not only in Ikwuano but also in Abia state, Nigeria and the world at large. Our priority should rather be to task any clan offering a candidate for a particular office to ensure that they give us their very best material for the job.


Hon Osinachi Nwaka 

When Nigeria and the world are doing everything possible to entrench rotational system of government all over the place, even down to government agencies and Development Commissions, Ikwuano shouldn't cast herself into a pariah status by rejecting same. She shouldn't be made to be seen as a retrogressive black sheep that is rejecting an innovative ideology that is being sought for and applied all over the world, that ensures peaceful transitions. 


Secondly, I wish to appreciate my brother that says that his clan has four wards while others have two each.  And for this reason they are entitled to double portion in the rotation roundtable. And that at each point in time, they can always shop for assistants from the other clans to successfully clinch any available position in the LGA. He maintained that politics is a game of numbers. This is equally a sound argument. We appreciate the huge population density in your area occasioned by the location of two big institutions of learning at  that very area, the famous Michael Okpara University of Agriculture and the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. The huge students populations of these two institutions helped in giving Ikwuano additional political advantage. Recall that there was a time Umuahia politicians were laying claim to these big  institutions located in Ikwuano land. Thanks to our political mentors and great sons of Ikwuano who worked assiduously to bring them back to Ikwuano. This singular feat bestowed some degree of political edge upon Ikwuano above other LGAs. It's an advantage we should leverage on for the overall political, economic and social benefits for our people, and not to use it to pursue clanish hegemony. 


Chief Ikechukwu Orunta 

Let's remember that the  agreement that brought about the rotation of political positions in Ikwuano is not based on the number of wards per clan. Neither is the rotation between political wards, but between the four clans that make up Ikwuano.


Abia state has 17 LGAs and yet power rotates between North, Central and South. Abia South has greater number of LGAs and yet Ngwa people of the South are not insisting that they collect double portion from the rotation table due to their greater number of LGAs. Also out of 36 states in Nigeria, the North has 19 states and Abuja FCT while the South has lesser number (17). The North is not insisting that she collects double portion from Nigerian rotational system above the South. Similarly in the newly signed South East Development Commission, power rotates between the five sister States and no State is claiming to produce the managing director more than others according to her number of LGAs and wards. So let's please always adhere to what is right and allow it to operate the way they are designed to work.


For the Youth O'clocks, I will request that we do not use a section of Ikwuano youths population to trickishly   lubricate and rubber-stamp the personal political ambition of any individual. Ikwuano has a youth group under the Ikwuano Development Union Federated (IDU-F). Just like Ohaneze Youths Forum which is under the umbrella body of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo. And like Arewa Youths Forum which is under the umbrella body of Arewa Consultative Forum etc. Ikwuano Development Union Federated has her youth wing which is the mother of all Youth groups in Ikwuano. Any group that is operating independent of the recognized IDU-F Youth Wing and its parent body IDU-F, is a splinter group, and cannot claim any legitimacy. Therefore it cannot be a mouthpiece for Ikwuano youths. The real Ikwuano youths who are highly intelligent, organized and well-mannered will speak up when the time is ripe. They know how to do their own things. Until then, let no one hoodwink anyone here into accepting the unacceptable. 


Nature is balancing things for us here. With Oboro's new status as the hub of Commissioners, Oloko as Parliamentarians both at Federal and State levels and Ibere having a Federal appointment and also incumbent LGA chairman, it's not only logical but also justified that Ariam/Usaka should be supported to produce the next chairman of our LGA in line with our rotational convention.


Let's all work in love and fairness so that we can continue to have an Ikwuano we shall all be proud of at every point of our lives to the effect that posterity will  judge us favourably. Let every man wait for his turn as there are many more opportunities for all. 


There are still other opportunities, like the Commissioners and federal appointments which are being taken by our brothers without challenge. By 2027 and 2031, which are few years away, there will be more opportunities for Ikwuano to produce more LGA chairmen, senators, House of Representatives members, House of Assembly members, a governor, Commissioners and heads of government parrastatals. If we begin now to put our house in order and work as a team, either of our big brothers like Senator Austin Akobundu, Chief Emeka Atuma, Hon Sam Onuigbo and Chief Chika lshionwu can go for us as a governor. While we supportively field others for other positions. And each of us working round the clock to ensure their victory, as a victory for any of them is a victory for Ikwuano. It's achievable. Next governorship position for Abia Central will be the turn of Ikwuano. And we must begin now to strategize on how to get it. But if we fail to do that and continue to prioritize those indices like inequity and injustice which continue to tear us apart at this stage,  Umuahia will take advantage of it and have it again. 


While we reflect on this, I wish all of us a great day.


Push Uchenna Kalume (Azunchai) is a public affairs analyst