₦airaland Forum

*Still On Enugu Super Stakeholders' Visit To Tinubu - A Peter Mbah's Statement of Purpose*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) _johnlead59@gmail.com, _*
Part One

Some days ago I was developing an essay on an entirely different topic from this one. It was in an area which many of our readers may consider routine, but to some of us it is far from being so. I say this because routine essays are monotonous, usually less inspiring, and tend to attract less attention from engagers. But our essays are habitually and certainly sharp enough to encoat morale boasting propensity to our amiable readers and the general public, most of whom I have come to realize, usually look forward to gulping, in Shakespeare's words, the "skeptical trials of ideas" which we furnish the public with from time to time. So I was effectively convinced that my work was not routine and was dutifully working on the manuscript to publish it by midweek of this penultimate week of April 2026, before my attention was instantaneously stopped by a bang, a very onomatopoeic one at that.

Yes, the visit of the Gov. Peter Mbah-led Enugu Super stakeholders to the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu in Abuja on the 21st of April 2026 was a wham, with a cornucopia of forces politically potent enough to stop a speeding trailer. Hence, my aboriginal work billed for publishing this very week needed to be paused to pave the way for the deservedly undivided media attention to this historic visit, which has expectedly introduced a germane perspective to the heralding line-up of electioneering events, as we march progressively to Nigeria's election year 2027. Note that this doesn't come without adequate apologies to our avid readers who were already all ears waiting to read the intended work. As our people say, whenever a farmer encounters a yarm too large to remain on the farm, he immediately sells it to the barn.

One fact that has come to characterize the government of Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of Enugu State is that it has a way of handling everything, be it projects, policies, development, agenda, and sundry issues affecting our people with a clean coat of unconventionality. This he intentionally does to add incremental taste, vigour, relevance, urbanism, turf, and Behind to what otherwise would have appeared routine, monotonous, tiring, expected, etc. And I mean, we were already familiar with some stereotyped political steps of a conventional Nigerian governor seeking reelection on the platform of a ruling party, but not the type Mbah pulled through earlier in the week. Just like his governance strategy, which presents a strong deviation from the usual predictive norm, this highly powered Mbah-led delegation has ushered Enugu into national limelight for good reasons and as never before in the annals of Enugu politics. It has equally added to the number of Peter Mbah firsts in the history of governance in Nigeria as witnessed since he assumed office in 2023.

For instance, while other governors renovate structures in schools, Gov. Mbah chose to rebuild the entire school structures and create an entirely new system in his Classic Smart Green School Projects. While other governors look at inherited projects and face the opposite direction, Gov. Mbah transforms uncompleted government projects and dormant assets into completed, functional, and useful state institutions. Again, while some governors think of subsidizing and facilitating the ease of traveling abroad for medical tourism, Mbah chose to build a five-star Enugu International Hospital to take care of all the medical conditions for which Nigerians travel abroad for treatment, and so on.

Then comes the time for politics, I doubt if there is anyone who, even faintly, articulated or predicted the path Mbah will take. I am sure most people had expected our amiable governor to initiate or even join the usual throwing of tantrums at the opposition in public. Recall that in a certain neighboring state recently, a sitting governor facing opposition to his reelection bid kept throwing unwarranted tantrum to the members of the opposition in his state, until the polity was relatively heated up in the state.
Continue in Part Two

*_Agbo is a Public Affairs Analyst, Freelance Journalist, and Political Commentator*_

*Still On Enugu Super Stakeholders' Visit To Tinubu - A Peter Mbah's Statement of Purpose

*By John Agbo (John Lead) _johnlead59@gmail.com_

Part two

This is the concluding part of this write-up on the trending topic above. Readers are advised to first read part one before proceeding with part two for easier understanding of the issues discussed.

But here in Peter Mbah's Enugu, it is the opposition that has been attempting and eager to commence towing the path of conniption and hissy fit. Just the other day, it tried to manufacture some local phrases framed as the words of Governor Mbah during a visit to Awgu LGA. But trust the man in the saddle of Enugu's power. Mbah is a proof of that saying that a leopard does not leave the spots on its body for any reason, as it is the animal's most important identity. Instead of responding in kind as would most politicians in our clime, the ever calculative Peter Mbah was undistractedly busy plotting his route to Abuja with everyone who has influence and a say in who becomes whom in Enugu State. For the governor and rightly so, that is more important than chasing frivolities. When he was done and being a person not given to too much talks and rhetorics, the so called opposition leaders and tantrum seekers were not even aware that the entire stream of Enugu's political breath of life had departed to Abuja to pledge their loyalty and commitment to the President Tinubu and his ruling All Progressive Congress APC with respect to the upcoming general election in which the president too is seeking a reelection. How else does one describe a politically lethal and effective goal against intending opposition leaders and their people than the governor's 'Statement of Purpose' -the Abuja visit.

According to the Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, those in " _the high-powered delegation included the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, former Senate President, Sen. Ken Nnamani, former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, former Governors of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, former Governor of old Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo. Others on the delegation were members of the National Assembly, former ministers, traditional and religious leaders, and academics."_

But the truth is that Onanuga's list has a shrinking effect on the actual peopling of the Enugu delegation to Aso Rock for obvious want of space. From the televised version of the report, one can see that the likes of the National Vice Chairman South of APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye, Former Enugu State APC chairman, Barr Ugochukwu Agbala, the Current Chairman, Dr. Marthin Chukwunwike, the 2023 governorship candidate of the defunct Labour Party in the state, Hon. Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, the leader and spiritual director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria, AMEN, Rev. Fr. Camilus Ejike Mbaka, the traditional Ruler of Edemani, HRH Igwe Ikechukwu Asadu (Ogadagidi), etc., are not among those listed or put under listed categories by the Presidential spokesman.

My personal observation of this visit is that in it, Enugu is united more than ever before. This is the first time this kind and number of stakeholders will agree to a common course in the politics of any state in Nigeria. In that hall I saw former sworn enemies, currently arch political enemies who would by no means agree to a common course, all seated under one leadership and one purpose. And one needs to ask, what sort of magic has Gov. Mbah applied to achieve this

To answer that question, I will remind us of a common saying in our parlance which states that what is good is good. Ever since the coming of Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, no sincere leader, stakeholder, opinion leader, or even ordinary people of this state will say that something good is not happening in Enugu State. In short, Mbah's quality of leadership, his positive adventurism for the all-round development of the state, and the ever-bulging imprints of his administration in Enugu State were the magic used to achieve this feat.

But beyond this is the political milestone already secured against the would-be opposition candidates for various elections. Going by the success and public acceptance enjoyed by the visitation, who else in Enugu are the intending opposition planning to lure or convince to their camp? None. Peter Mbah has already lured and convinced every man of means, influence, and power to his side in multiple facets. While his constant delivery of mouth-watering projects is enough to appeal to a genuine patriot, his masterful political stroke demonstrated on Tuesday has finished the rest of the work.

It is therefore safe to conclude that this visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the entirety of Enugu's political power house, more than any other act, can be recorded as Gov. Peter Mbah's Statement of Purpose as far as the 2027 election is concerned.

*Agbo is a Public _Affairs Analyst, Freelance Journalist, and Political Commentator*_

*Still On Enugu Super Stakeholders' Visit To Tinubu - A Peter Mbah's Statement of Purpose*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) _johnlead59@gmail.com_*
Part One

Some days ago I was developing an essay on an entirely different topic from this one. It was in an area which many of our readers may consider routine, but to some of us it is far from being so. I say this because routine essays are monotonous, usually less inspiring, and tend to attract less attention from engagers. But our essays are habitually and certainly sharp enough to encoat morale boasting propensity to our amiable readers and the general public, most of whom I have come to realize, usually look forward to gulping, in Shakespeare's words, the "skeptical trials of ideas" which we furnish the public with from time to time. So I was effectively convinced that my work was not routine and was dutifully working on the manuscript to publish it by midweek of this penultimate week of April 2026, before my attention was instantaneously stopped by a bang, a very onomatopoeic one at that.

Yes, the visit of the Gov. Peter Mbah-led Enugu Super stakeholders to the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu in Abuja on the 21st of April 2026 was a wham, with a cornucopia of forces politically potent enough to stop a speeding trailer. Hence, my aboriginal work billed for publishing this very week needed to be paused to pave the way for the deservedly undivided media attention to this historic visit, which has expectedly introduced a germane perspective to the heralding line-up of electioneering events, as we march progressively to Nigeria's election year 2027. Note that this doesn't come without adequate apologies to our avid readers who were already all ears waiting to read the intended work. As our people say, whenever a farmer encounters a yarm too large to remain on the farm, he immediately sells it to the barn.

One fact that has come to characterize the government of Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of Enugu State is that it has a way of handling everything, be it projects, policies, development, agenda, and sundry issues affecting our people with a clean coat of unconventionality. This he intentionally does to add incremental taste, vigour, relevance, urbanism, turf, and Behind to what otherwise would have appeared routine, monotonous, tiring, expected, etc. And I mean, we were already familiar with some stereotyped political steps of a conventional Nigerian governor seeking reelection on the platform of a ruling party, but not the type Mbah pulled through earlier in the week. Just like his governance strategy, which presents a strong deviation from the usual predictive norm, this highly powered Mbah-led delegation has ushered Enugu into national limelight for good reasons and as never before in the annals of Enugu politics. It has equally added to the number of Peter Mbah firsts in the history of governance in Nigeria as witnessed since he assumed office in 2023.

For instance, while other governors renovate structures in schools, Gov. Mbah chose to rebuild the entire school structures and create an entirely new system in his Classic Smart Green School Projects. While other governors look at inherited projects and face the opposite direction, Gov. Mbah transforms uncompleted government projects and dormant assets into completed, functional, and useful state institutions. Again, while some governors think of subsidizing and facilitating the ease of traveling abroad for medical tourism, Mbah chose to build a five-star Enugu International Hospital to take care of all the medical conditions for which Nigerians travel abroad for treatment, and so on.

Then comes the time for politics, I doubt if there is anyone who, even faintly, articulated or predicted the path Mbah will take. I am sure most people had expected our amiable governor to initiate or even join the usual throwing of tantrums at the opposition in public. Recall that in a certain neighboring state recently, a sitting governor facing opposition to his reelection bid kept throwing unwarranted tantrum to the members of the opposition in his state, until the polity was relatively heated up in the state.
Continue in Part Two

*_Agbo is a Public Affairs Analyst, Freelance Journalist, and Political Commentator*_

https://dailyinsider.blog/Read-to-end,-understand-Enugus-water-debacle-and-Gov-Mbahs-efforts

The Enugu water supply has had over 40 years stagnation but with Mbah's intervention there's hope of improved water supply
adminadmin Jan 17, 2026 - 12:53 Jan 17, 2026 - 12:58 0 7






Read to end, understand Enugu's water debacle and Gov Mbah's efforts
An aspect of Gov Mbah's water reticulation in Enugu

By John 'lead' Agbo

The problem of water scarcity in Enugu State is a well-documented historical fact. The water issues in our state and indeed throughout Nigeria and beyond are not germane ones, nor did they pop up from the air during the time of Gov. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. It is embedded in the sands of time and history as we are going to show in this episode.

According to the critics from the opposition party members, the governor has failed to provide water to inhabitants of Enugu within the first 180 days he promised during his campaigns. But this narrative is more of trivializing, emotionalizing, and of course, politicking with the hydra-headed perennial lack of water for domestic use in Enugu metropolis rather than addressing the overriding need for a concerted permanent solution to the problem. Assuming without conceding the facts that Governor Mbah actually failed this particular promise of his, I ask, is it any different from what has largely been obtained in the past tenures within the last 30 years? How does celebrating such an unusual situation help the Enugu masses in need of water order than furthering the polluted political interests of some opportunistic politicians towards the 2027 general election?

It is in a bid to provide the holistic true situation report with a view to finding a permanent solution to it that I have decided to construct this interventionary contribution. Note that the copiously heroic approach already taken by the state governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, will be evidently highlighted to assure people that the issue of the scarcity of water in our state has, albeit for the first time, received the most genuine attention from this current government.

1924 Iva water scheme

The first attempt to provide pipe-borne water in Enugu, like many other places in Nigeria, was during the colonial rule specifically in 1924. The Iva Valley scheme was primarily built to supply piped water to colonial workers. In 2018, Chukwurah, observed that, "At inception, this was made to serve the expatriate coal miners and the colonial government administrators of the eastern region". But with an increase in population, urbanization, etc., the 'Iva Scheme', as it was then called, started experiencing expansion. With such a concerted upgrade to increase coverage, the Colonial government was able to make the scheme supply water to both government quarters, the teeming population, and industries at the time. The last upgrade was done between 1960 and 1962 when it was finally commissioned. It supplied water to GRA, Secretariat quarters, Iva pottery, in addition to the Iva valley areas of Enugu township.

The second successful attempt was the 9th Mile Borehole sunk in 1966 and commissioned in 1976. It was meant to supply water to satellite areas like NgwoAsaa, Ngwo Uno, Ebe, Eke, and Aboh. Yet it was extended to supply Coal Camp areas in a bid to serve more people. It was a very successful project at the time.

Then comes the Crash Program Scheme commissioned in 1982. The ever-swelling population again necessitated this scheme. Moreover, there was a growing need for industrial and domestic use of portable water. The government of the time was largely responsive and met the upsurging need instantly. This Crash program came on board as a temporary measure to bridge water scarcity while a substantive water scheme, the Ajali Water scheme, underwent construction. Its reservoir was situated at the foot of Milken Hill. These boreholes are energized by three generating sets, each with a 525kVA capacity, which serve as an alternative power supply to the scheme. Each of these energy sources controls four pumps. Chukwurah 2018, reports that "The crash programme comprises the drilling of 12 bore holes in the borehole field, with a combined output of about 2400cu.m3 /day, all of which are pumped into a common steel main and hence to the reservoir at the foot of Milken Hill". The transmission of the water is through a DW 200mm Asbestos cement pipeline to a DW 600 steel pipe manifold.

The next was the Ajali Water Scheme commissioned in 1985. This was built to supply the Enugu urban and environs. But the incessant need for portable water pushed the supply up to Ngwo, Emene, Iji-Nike, Edem Nike, Nsude, and Eke areas. A research paper by Dr. Gladys Chukwurah of the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus published in the International Journal of Environmental Science 2018, gives some details of the Ajali water scheme as follows :

" _The design capacity of this scheme is about 77,000m3 /day, and about 80% of water is meant to be distributed to the service areas of Enugu and environs. This scheme basically comprises: the intake and weir, Abonuzu headwork, trunk and rising mains, booster station, and reservoirs. The water is abstracted through a weir and intake structures. It is then lifted to the Abonuzu Headworks where the treatment is done, and from there the water is pumped to the Nsude break pressure tanks. After this, the water is then allowed to flow by gravity through several reservoirs into the distribution network. The sub-division of the Ajali water scheme is thus: The weir, Intake structure, Wet pit, seven vertical pumps with control panels, and a 2300KVA generating set as an alternative power source. The weir is constructed just downstream of the intake as a free-flow concrete structure. However, during the flood period, a gate is used as a flood regulator. The radial gate completes the span of the weir across the width of the river. There is a lift pumping station that houses the seven vertical pumps. These pumps have a delivery capacity of 580m3 /hr each of raw water to the Abonuzu Headworks, some 6km away. The intake can accommodate up to 3,500m3 /hr, but under design conditions, only five of the pumps run simultaneously with a total discharge of 69,600m3/day, while two are on standby. The water from the pumps moves down from the wet pit to the Abonuzu headwork via a 100 steel pipeline".

1985 Ajali, Ekulu water schemes

Interestingly, this sophisticated Ajali water scheme survives to date, but the highly dilapidated accessories make it impossible to function to full capacity. It should be noted that even if the integrity of the old pipe structures is intact, it is too obvious that the population it was meant to serve has geometrically quadrupled after more than 40 years of its existence.

Yet there was another attempt called the 'Ekulu Water Scheme' which was once in operation. This scheme, in relation to others, was more costly to maintain and reportedly generated water whose quality was lower than the rest. This led to the abandonment of the scheme immediately after the main Ajali Water Scheme came on board.

Akwuke River Bank Shallow Wells Scheme

The last recorded attempt at cushioning the effect of the scarcity of water for the evolutionary advancing human habitation in Enugu was the 'Akwuke River Bank Shallow Wells Scheme'. This scheme, commissioned in 1996, was meant to supply water to such areas as Akwuke, other nearby towns, and Villages like Obiagu, Amechi, and Ugwuaji, all surrounding Enugu metropolis by boosting the existing water scheme. The Akwuke Water scheme could however, not yield the expected outcome.

Shockingly enough, all these water schemes diligently put in place by the previous administration were never enough at the time to combat the congenital shortage of water in Enugu State. Sadly, too, all except the Ajali Main Water Scheme have stopped working for over two decades before the coming on board of His Excellency Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah's administration. Worthy of mention is the gross inability of the succeeding governments to either repair or upgrade those schemes, as was the case during the colonial and early post-independence Nigeria. The abandonment of the government's policy of continuous search for a way out of the Water conundrum in Enugu laid the foundation for what we are now witnessing in the Enugu Water sector.

Chukwurah 2018) identified pipe leakage, lack of federal government involvement, poor yield in returns, unqualified staffers at Enugu State Water Corporation (ESWC), as the main challenges to Water availability in our dear State. It has been recommended that if the federal government could share in the responsibility of providing water for Nigerians, the huge funding involved in building water infrastructure would no longer hinder its progress. The pipes too need complete overhauling, having exceeded their lifespan, resulting in water leakages that occur throughout the city whenever an attempt is made to pump water to the populace. Governor Mbah has gone far already in overhauling these decayed pipes.

It was discovered not long ago that the 590 staffers of the Enugu State Water Cooperation employed in 1999 consist of about 91% unskilled, uneducated, or at best lacking sufficient education to handle any challenge at the cooperation. More shocking is the fact that 25% of this number have no certificate at all. This also affected the functioning of this agency, which led to where we are today. We are giving all these details in order to place in the right perspective why the problem of water supply in Enugu State was becoming increasingly chronic until Peter Mbah assumed office.

Gov Peter Mbah's 2023 intervention

An interesting observation is that while past regimes from Colonial times up to the mid-1990s made constant efforts to address the increasing need for water by the people stemming from urbanization, industrialization, and always succeeded, the regimes from 1997 to 2023 made no efforts to give the Enugu people water. This corroborates my earlier opinion in my recent articles to the effect that before the coming of Peter Mbah in 2023, Enugu had remained maladministered, neglected, or even ungoverned for about 40 years.

Since 2023, the Enugu State Governor has made every frantic effort to return governance to our dear state. Out of his eagerness to end the perennial water scarcity, Gov. Mbah wanted and promised to give Enugu people water within the first 180 days in office. Today after numerous efforts committed to fulfilling the promise, Mbah has been sadly constrained by all the factors already stated in this write-up. chief among which is pipe leakage accruing from the natural aging of the original asbestos water carriage pipes contained in water projects done by the good old regimes. As of 2018, a well-detailed research work had already been conducted and published with regard to the challenges of water availability in Enugu metropolis. This same pipe leakage was identified in the report as a major constraint, yet the government at the time looked the other way.

The citizenry, too, is not to be excused completely from the entire blame because our civic duties demanded that we should have pressured the earlier government to give us water at all costs. But this was not it. It seems that we have become accustomed to the usual excuses of coal contaminating our underground water, yet older regimes surmounted all the nonsensical coal narratives. The problem then was only the increasing population leading to higher demand. Now we are talking of successive governments abandoning the water needs of the people for nearly 30 years.

The coming of Peter Mbah brought the needed recipe to this problem. The strong man of the challenge, pipe leakage, has been taken head-on. Gov. Mbah is currently embarking on the rechanneling of all water pipes in the city and expanding the same to capture uncharted territories. New and more durable pipes are rapidly being installed. A lot of revamp work to confront current and future challenges is presently ongoing. And let's be truthful to ourselves, these can't be completed in 180 days. In fact, we are even lucky that we now have a government giving the township water supply deserving attention after several decades of neglect. This should attract commendation, not condemnation, ordinarily. It is not something to play politics with. Mbah should rather be encouraged to continue. This is the only way we can ensure the completion of the project. We can't afford to have this project truncated for any reason. If only our governments from 1996 to 2023, continued the initial trend of constantly improving the water scheme for the people, we would not have gotten to this stage. Now that governance is back, and our water schemes are getting a top priority, we must not allow politics to destroy things for us. I hereby submit that anybody who wants to use the Enugu water problem to campaign against the government of Peter Mbah should first and foremost summon all those who have held sway before Mbah to ascertain why they refused to make a single effort to give the Enugu people water.

This is the essence of this write-up in which I have traced the origin of the Enugu water problem. It is a result of long years of abandonment, neglect, and irresponsible leadership. I have always argued that it was never a topological problem as concocted to deceive the people. From 1924 to 1996, the government kept introducing new water schemes and improving on old ones to keep up with increasing demand. Though the water supply then was not sufficient due to population increase, the government's efforts were always successful when completed. Can anyone mention any successful water scheme completed by any government from 1997 to 2023 None to the best of my knowledge. Why then did we think that our water crisis would not increase with time? So it is never about Peter Mbah and any 180 days. It is about those who abandoned their responsibility when they were in government. We won't allow this to happen again. In the future, we must find a way for every government to maintain the water legacy that Governor Mbah will leave by 2031. It will no longer be business as usual. This stress Gov. Mbah is taking to lay a fresh foundation for water availability in Enugu will be guarded with everything we can have. The direct implication of this neglect is that Gov. Mbah is being faced with the task of doing everything done from 1924 to 1996, and the ones left undone from then to 2023, in order to get water back into Enugu. The cost is huge. It won't be so if every government before Gov. Mbah had done its bit.

In summary, I believe that after going through this, you would have understood the origin of the current water scarcity in Enugu and equally Gov. Peter Mbah's efforts to end it. Henceforth, it is expected that whenever the blame for such a lack of one of the necessities of man is needed, it should be placed at the appropriate quarters and not on Gov. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. Very important.

Agbo, a public affairs analyst and commentator on critical issues hails from Isi-Uzo, Enugu State

https://dailyinsider.blog/Read-to-end,-understand-Enugus-water-debacle-and-Gov-Mbahs-efforts

I hope you read the write up before commenting

yarimo:
All the south east governors are doing great, except that of Abia state Alex otti

Are you sure of what you said about Abia

*Peter Mbah Stepping Into The Shoes of* **Governance Giants-Okpara, Mbakwe, and Nwobodo*
Part 1*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) _johnlead59@gmail.com 07011795308*
_
This topic was conceptualized right before it was announced that the Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, would be presenting the budget proposal for the year 2026 to the Enugu State House of Assembly on the 2nd day of December 2025. In fact, an earlier event scheduled to be held on the same day, a town hall meeting by the state government, was shifted to a new date yet to be announced in order to pave the way for the undivided attention of the public towards the budget presentation. In the same spirit, this discussion was thus paused to enable yours sincerely catch a glimpse of what the budget proposal looks like.

Having come and gone, permit me to acknowledge that the governor has once again set another seemingly unreachable target by proposing a humongous trillion naira budget for Enugu State in 2026. However, judging from the 2025 budget and what many analysts have described as the wonders of governance in Peter Mbah's Enugu, it is obvious that Enugu people are not yet done witnessing all-encompassing progress and development as seen in 2025 under Peter Mbah. From what is already known about the upcoming 2026 budget, it is clear that the businessman turned politician in the 'Lion Building' Enugu is still unfolding and unveiling his all goodies administration. So we pray to God for life to enable us to see it all as it begins to manifest. But the issues and matters arising from the budget already unveiled are too elaborate to be exhausted in one topic, not to mention doing justice to it while discussing another subject matter. Therefore analysis of the Gov. Mbah's 2026 budget should be adjourned to another date when we intend to hit the nail on the head because today is already set aside for cross-matching Peter Mbah's administration with those of the historical Igbo governance giants such as, the former Premier of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Dr. Michael Okpara, former governor of old Imo State, Dee Sam Mbakwe, and the former governor of old Anambra State Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo.

The combination of the three names above usually rings a bell in the mind of not just Igbo people of Nigeria, but in the entire Eastern region of Nigeria. While Dr. Michael Okpara laid the foundation for what later catalyzed the emergence of the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria as one of the fastest growing economies of the world in the 1960s, the Mbakwe and Nwobodo took charge of shouldering the post-war rebuilding of the South-Eastern Igbo land of today. And they both succeeded in engraving their names in the precious sand of history as classical achievers

Specifically, Okpara in the 1960s initiated projects that outlived his generation throughout the entire region, now consisting of the South East and South South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The Port Harcourt Sea port Expansion, The Trans Amadi industrial layout, Port Harcourt, Aba Textile Mill, Owerre shoe Industry, Obudu Cattle ranch, and numerous farm settlements scattered across many villages in the defunct Eastern Region are some of the legacy-laden projects bequeathed to the future generations by Dr. M.I. Okpara.

In the old Imo State, the tale of the laudable impact of Chief Sam Mbakwe's Administration abounds in various communities, towns, and villages covering three states of Imo, Abia, and parts of present-day Ebonyi State. Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Nigeria's First Independent Power Plant, Establishment of over 100 industrial and commercial enterprises across the old Imo State, Imo State University, and the associated Teaching hospital and other medical facilities are some of the glorious iridescent legacies of Mbakwe that still echo his immutable name in contemporary history.

And in the old Anambra State covering today's three states of Enugu, Anambra, and Ebonyi State, Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo didn't do less during the timeline of his one-term tenure between 1979 and 1983. Apart from establishing Nigeria's first state-owned university, the Anambra State University of Technology, the Nwobodo administration equally ventured into a massive industrial revolution of the state under his rule. The Anambra Vegetable Oil Product AVOP, at Nachi Udi LGA, The Sunrise Flour Mill Emene, the Metallurgical Factory at Ozubulu, the he Greater Enugu Water Project, the Abakaliki Water Scheme, the Nike Lake Resort, the Ikenga Hotels at Awka and Nsukka, the Aluminium Products Factory at Ogbede in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, the Building Materials Factory at Ezillo in Ishielu Local Government Area, the $16 million First Phase of the Rural Electrification Scheme financed under the first contractor-finance arrangement with Turnkey, the Greater Onitsha Water Scheme financed by the World Bank, the Specialist Hospital at Abakaliki, the construction of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, The Anambra State Television Channel 5-0 are some of the major project that helped prepare Nwobodo's old Anambra State for the magical year 2000 as it was then called. Continue in part 2

*_Agbo is a Medical Scientist, Public Affairs Analyst, and Political Commentator._*

*Peter Mbah Stepping Into The Shoes of Governance Giants-Okpara, Mbakwe, and Nwobodo*
Part 2

*By John Agbo (John Lead) _johnlead59@gmail.com 07011795308*_

This is the concluding part of my write-up on the above topic. Readers are advised to read the part 1 of this article before proceeding with the part 2 for proper contextual understanding of the issues in discourse.

" This writer has gone to this extent in capturing the doings of our great leaders of the past generation to enable him properly situate the context and scope of my compatibility research between those old regimes and the administration of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. Having studied Mbah's policies, programs, and projects for two years now, it is evident that Mr. Mbah must have drawn inspiration from our three best governors discussed above. Like a prominent American planetary scientist, Prof. James F Bell III would say, "Like begets like; honesty begets honesty; trust, trust; and so on.” and in the words of Henry Ford, "If you keep doing the same things, you'll end up getting the same results.

Gov. Mbah in 2025 is doing what Okpara did in the 1960s and replicating what Mbakwe and Nwobodo did between 1979 and 1983 and he is getting the same result each got namely: massive industrialization of Enugu State, signature projects in every community just like the trio had projects in all sections of their states, lasting legacy projects in both urban and rural sections of Enugu State, building the primer and basis for the next generation technology influenced development, building massive healthcare, education, tourism, transportation, Agriculture and hospitality industries for the employment of our ever increasing job seekers.

What the government of Peter Mbah is doing equally includes breaking records and establishing pace-setting industries just like the trio of Okpara, Mbakwe, and Nwobodo did in their times. For instance, the proposed 'Zip Line' at Okpatu will be the first of its kind in Nigeria and the longest in West Africa. The Enugu International Hospital, which is massively approaching completion, is only second to the African Medical Center of Excellence in Abuja. The Enugu transport terminal and the Smart School projects in the 260 communities are both firsts of their kind in Nigeria. What about the type 2 Primary health care centres? This is another evidence that no community is left behind by the Mbah administration.

I dare to submit that since the commencement of this current democratic dispensation in 1999, no governor has touched all sections of the economy at the same time except Mbah. No governor has ever attempted to have at least one project in all the communities of Enugu State except Peter Mbah. What we were used to is one section of the state crying marginalization in every other administration. This has disappeared under Peter Mbah. In fact, we are now talking about every community having a visible project directly traceable to Peter Mbah.

This is what leadership in this part of the world used to be. It was demonstrated under Okpara, Mbakwe, and Nwobodo. But suddenly disappeared for too long. What happened?? We can't even tell. Unexpectedly, we began to have clannish governors who thought that the benefits of government should be for them and their communities alone. That is not Gov. Mbah. He has surprisingly demonstrated that he is of a different breed. That every community deserves good schools and functional healthcare. That every child is entitled to a sound education irrespective of where he or she is born. Surprisingly, we are back to continue to pursue what Okpara Mbakwe and Nwobodo initiated- a progressive society that keeps evolving for good. That refuses to discriminate against anyone or any part of it. A society that can exist on its own without needing much external support (Federal allocations, but that's a topic for another day).

But then we must ask, who are those who distracted this journey to Eldorado for too long?? We know them. Should we mention their names? No, it should wait for another day too. In summary, at the end of this cross-matching exercise, it has been established that the government of His Excellency Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of 2025 is highly compatible with the government of late Dr. Michael Okpara of the 1960s and that of Chiefs Sam Mbakwe and Jim Nwobodo of 1979-1983. Note that Cross-matching is a term used in blood transfusion science to determine whether a donor's blood is compatible with that of the recipient (patient) before transfusing the blood.

*_Agbo is a Medical Scientist, Public Affairs Analyst, and Political Commentator.*_

Uncle Joe Igbokwe has been missing in the Media for weeks now. This is quite unlike him. If you have any information about his where about kindly update us here. Or is he tired of his constant attack on the Igbo tribe

*Gov. Peter Mbah Restoring The Ancient Trademark of Enugu State*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) *

In my last write-up titled " _Re- With Enugu's Fall, All Eyes on Umuahia_ " which was a rejoinder to an article bearing such a headline written by one Vitus Ozoke, I hinted that Enugu State played many pioneering roles in the development of what was known as colonial Nigeria, and both pre- and post-independence Nigeria. The piece was an effort to establish that Enugu State had been an important city from the beginning, contrary to what some people thought it was. Today we are going to further discuss such lofty heights upon which Enugu kicked off its adventure, how it was sustained or declined, as the case may be, by the previous administrations, and the effort towards rebuilding it by Governor Barr. Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. Yes, Gov. Mbah is making palpably frantic efforts to return Enugu to a status quite synchronous to the traditional lofty height it always maintained in the distant past.

Quoting from the aforementioned work, " _It is a well-documented history that the city called Enugu was once the administrative capital of the whole of Southern Nigeria. Between 1929 and 1939, people from Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure, Calaba, and indeed all southern Nigeria states of today did come to Enugu to process documents for landed properties purchased in their respective domains. Apart from this, it is significant to recall that Enugu's historical significance and development had gone far before the rise of Igbo political consciousness and the artificial creation of the defunct Eastern region of Nigeria. By 1911/1912, Enugu had been connected to the rest of the world by a functional railway line from Enugu all the way to Port Harcourt, from where Enugu's coal resources were shipped to the rest of the world. This was a time when most of the European cities of today did not yet have a rail system"._

In furtherance of the above, Enugu's spectacular position in the committee of towns and cities in Africa and the rest of the world was boosted by the discovery of 'Coal' by a British mining Engineer, Albert Kitson in 1909. And by 1912, the colonial Government had built a brand new port city known as Port Harcourt solely for the transportation of Enugu's natural resources to European countries. It is not debatable at this junction to say that without Enugu, there would have been no city known as Port Harcourt today. Of course, the significance later attached to the city of Port Harcourt since the discovery of crude oil to date should be credited to the trailblazing role of Enugu State in fairness.

By 1917, Enugu was officially declared a modern township by the British government, second only to cities like Lagos. Thus, Enugu saw the first of so many aspects of development before most of the other cities of Nigeria and Africa. In those days, it was common to see people move into Enugu in search of greener pastures. The coal mining industry took the lead in absorbing such an influx of people from different parts of Nigeria. It was an all-around land of opportunities for everyone. While neighboring cities like Onitsha and Aba boasted of their commercial prowess, Enugu took the lead in providing high-skilled job opportunities to the educated members of the public through the industrial revolution that took place in the city. It is no wonder the choice of Enugu came first when it was time to site government institutions preparatory to Nigeria's independence. By 1938, Enugu had already had an Airport known as ' _Seawell Airport_, but now called _'Akanuibiam International Airport'._ Enugu State hosts the first autonomous university in Nigeria, known as the _University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN_ established in 1955. And in fact, the university's faculty of law in its Enugu Campus, was the first faculty of law in Nigeria. And for so many decades after its establishment, the _University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus_ was the only campus of a university that hosts entirely professional courses in the whole of South of the Sahara.

Enugu has so many firsts and indeed established itself in the annals of history as a city that led while others followed. The first State University in Nigeria was built in Enugu in 1980. It was then known as _Anambra State University of Technology, ANATECH,_ but is now called _Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT_

Regrettably, Enugu faced downward trends in many indices of development for some decades now until the coming of the current Governor Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. For instance, while our sister states of Anambra and Abia maintained and even upgraded their status as commercial nerve centres in the entire West African subregion, Enugu virtually lagged in its area of strength- industrial evolution. But with the current administration in the state, numerous happenings inspired by the executive governor, Peter Mbah, indicate the state is back on track.

Peter Mbah seems to have taken his time to notice the palpable downward trend and has initiated projects that will not just leapfrog Enugu to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of innovative technology, artificial intelligence etc, the state has initiated such projects such as improved and revamped learning environment, modern healthcare services, four global tourism sites, 4 International Hotels currently ongoing, world class _Enugu International Hospital_ currently on going, _International Conference Center_ already completed, 260 Smart Green School, 260 type 2 Primary health care centres, brand new Enugu Smart City, and numerous other projects scattered across all corners of the state all in a bid to restore the former glory of the state.

One significant aspect of all these is that, with Mbah, Enugu is not just trying to catch up and recover all the years lost to stagnation; the state is already poised to overtake and set a precedent for new indicators of development. For instance, the _Enugu International Hospital,_ which is rapidly under construction, is almost the first of its kind in Nigeria. In fact, it is only rivaled by the Abuja-based _African Medical Centre of Excellence._ Do we talk of the upcoming _Zip Line_ in Okpatu, Udi LGA? It will be the first of its kind in the whole of West Africa and the longest Zip Line in Africa, measuring up to 300m. Even the ' _Cross of Hope'_ that will be sited at Awhum for religious tourism will be the first of its kind in Nigeria and beyond.

Already, the _Smart Green School_ model has never been seen anywhere in Nigeria. In fact, it's modelled to imitate the Chinese education model, which equips kids with the technical education needed to champion discovery and innovations in the modern world of _Artificial Intelligence AI_. By the coming year, 2026, Enugu will be hosting the subregional _Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS,_ for the first time in history. The _ECOWAS_ summit has always taken place in cities like Abuja and Lagos whenever it is The turn of Nigeria to host it. But today, Enugu under Peter Mbah has returned to the league of such important cities that set the pace while others struggle to catch up.

It is from the foregoing that we are adequately inclined to believe without any equivocation that our dear Governor, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, has resurrected and restored the ancient trademark of Enugu State, which was hitherto punctured, blurred, erased, and abandoned by those who should guard and protect it in the recent past. And we are convinced that just as was the case in the past, Enugu has already started witnessing the influx of people from all parts of the world even as it plans to host 300,000 visitors by 2026.

_*_Agbo is an investigative reporter, writer, public affairs analyst, and political Commentator.*_*_

*Re-WITH ENUGU'S FALL, ALL EYES ON UMUAHIA: A SAD DÉJÀ VU*
Part 2

*By John Agbo (John Lead) johnlead59@gmail.com 07011795308 26th Oct. 2025*

This is the concluding part of the rejoinder to the above topic, and it is advisable that you read Part 1 of this write-up before proceeding to read Part 2.

In another paragraph Vitus Ozoke states as follows: "With Anambra's Gov. Chukwuma Soludo never being in the portrait of courage – having gratuitously surrendered without a fight – Otti has become the last political holdout not yet pulled into the centripetal pull of the federal machine. The question, then, is not just whether Otti will fall or stand alone — but how long he can stand at all. Will Oti be remembered as the last general of moral resistance — or as the final dancer in a slow, humiliating waltz toward submission?"

My problem with this is that this writer keeps making it look like an Igbo politician must always oppose and fight the federal government of Nigeria before the person will be adjudged as acceptable to Ndi Igbo. This is highly misleading. To the best of my knowledge, there is never a time Igbo leaders have taken a unified decision to always stand at variance with the rest of the country. This thinking, in fairness, is actually a vestigial thought implanted into many Igbos after the Nigerian civil war. Some Igbos keep nurturing the we-against-them thought whenever it comes to playing politics at the national level. It is thus not surprising that some people like Ozoke keep yearning for another Ojukwu who will fight with the federal government. In one of my write-ups published on April 4th, 2025, under the title, Zik Versus Ojukwu's Philosophy (available in Google search engine), I wrote: "In reality, the Nigerian Igbo society and indeed every Igbo man is composed of 80% Ojukwu and perhaps 20% Azikiwe" and in I conclusion of that piece I added, "My advice to our politicians is to learn how to blend the Zik and Ojukwu philosophy" whenever necessary to achieve a specific purpose. This is exactly what Peter Mbah is doing for our own good but the likes of Ozoke and his sponsors keep pushing for actions and behaviors identical to the ones that put Ndi Igbo in severe trouble in the past.

Continuing in his infamous metaphor, Ozoke linked up the killing of Igbos in Kano and Kaduna in the 1960s to the demolition of Igbo properties, businesses, and mansions in places like Lagos in 2025. It is the height of conspiracy theory to conclude that the recent demolitions that affected Igbo people in Lagos State are the same script of 1967 playing out. And Ozoke is doing all these with his full knowledge of how emotional our people can be. Without intending to stand in defence of the so-called demolitions in Lagos State, I ask, what is the relationship between that narrative and moving from PDP to APC by Governor Mbah and other Igbo politicians? Is it ever possible that remaining in PDP or other opposition parties can stop the demolition. Is it not more logical to conclude that with the entrance of Gov. Mbah and others into the mainstream national party APC, a political solution that can quench such demolition of Igbo properties and businesses will be possible since we now have our leaders at the centre of the decision-making table

Going further, Ozoke talks as if Umuahia has always been ahead of Enugu in terms of maintaining the phantom Igbo principle and uncompromising stance in party politics. But a peep into history renders this assumption useless. Like I stated before, in 2007, Umuahia and Owerre opted to go into opposition, but Umuahia couldn't hold on to opposition for up to three years before T A Orji led Umuahia to defect to PDP again. The same happened in Owerre as Ohakim later defected back to PDP. In 2011, Chief Rochas Okorocha won the election with the All Progressive Grand Alliance APGA). How long did he stay in the party before reintegrating himself into another party with a national spread and visibility? So if by Ozoke 's logic, Igbos are to strictly remain in opposition at all costs, then it will be right to conclude that Umuahia and not Enugu started the betrayal as far back as 2007. So there is no need to regurgitate non-existent camaraderie of Umuahia as always being the last man standing to the belittling of Enugu when reality doesn't support such.

On the final note, I also observe another hidden intent in Ozoke's tone. His constant retorting of the name of the governor of Abia State, Alex Oti, seems to be a calculated strategy to guilt-trap the governor and stop him from making informed political choices ahead of the 2027 election for some hidden reasons. For instance, how does he expect Alex Oti to do exactly what the Biafra war leader Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu did between 1966 and 1970, when the time, the circumstances, and the generation have all tremendously changed? Sometimes in the early 2000s, the former Biafran warlord Chief Ojukwu himself was asked if he would do what he did in 1967 if the opportunity came back again. But the warlord responded in a quote as follows:

"In 1967, I was 33 years old, but today, I am 66 years old. Now the right question is why will you expect a 66-year-old man to do exactly what he did when he was 33 years old? Will you not consider such a man foolish?" So Vitus Ozoke's of this world should read from me that even Ojukwu told the world that he wouldn't try to do all those things Ozoke is clamoring that Alex Oti should do now if the situation arose again in his lifetime.

And let me conclude this by stating emphatically that Gov. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah's journey into APC cannot be interpreted to mean that Enugu or the Igbo nation has fallen or is about to fall by any reasonable commentator. No, through Peter Mbah's decamping to APC, Enugu, and the entire Igbos of the South East Nigeria have rather been fully integrated into the mainstream politics and leadership of this country, and the benefits of such admission are innumerable.

*Agbo is an investigative reporter, writer, public affairs analyst, and political Commentator.*

*Re-WITH ENUGU'S FALL, ALL EYES ON UMUAHIA: A SAD DÉJÀ VU*
Part 1

*By John Agbo (John Lead) johnlead59@gmail.com 07011795308 26th Oct. 2025*

Some days ago I read an article with the above title written by one Vitus Ozoke. The writer centred this topic as his response to the widely accepted decampment of the governor of Enugu State Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, from the People's Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC. Ozoke made sweeping simplifications, unnecessary lamentations, and ill-capturing of the mood and reality on the ground. In my initial comment on the article, I had described the entire work as "an overkill and a quest for melancholic and unnecessary sorrow induction in an entirely unrelated subject matter". Without wasting much time describing the needless outburst from a seemingly politically sponsored tone, I will go straight to address where necessary, point by point, numerous logically flawed positions held by the author.

In his first paragraph, Ozoke said: "Enugu, the coal city, the historic capital of the Eastern Region, the symbolic heart of Igbo political memory, and the citadel of Igbo pride, had fallen once again". I make haste to state that the governor's well-thought-out political realignment with the APC doesn't in any way suggest, not to think of meaning, that Enugu has fallen because Enugu is not in any battle, either in politics or in physical war, with anyone, state, tribe, or government. This is the reality, and I ask, can Enugu fall without being in any political or military battle with anyone?. Again, Ozoke's above-quoted statement evidently tends to underrate, downgrade, and demote the status of our dear own Enugu by limiting Enugu's significance in history to just the capital of the Eastern region and the heart of Igbo political memory.

It is a well-documented history that the city called Enugu was once the administrative capital of the whole of Southern Nigeria. Between 1929 and 1939, people from Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure, Calaba, and indeed all southern Nigeria states of today did come to Enugu to process documents for landed properties purchased in their respective domains. Apart from this, it is significant to recall that Enugu's historical significance and development had gone far before the rise of Igbo political consciousness and the artificial creation of the defunct Eastern region of Nigeria. By 1911/1912, Enugu had been connected to the rest of the world by a functional railway line from Enugu all the way to Port Harcourt, from where Enugu's coal resources were shipped to the rest of the world. This was a time when most of the European cities of today did not yet have a rail system.

The second, third, and fourth paragraphs of Ozoke's article are diversionary attempts at making a metaphoric comparison between the governor's constitutionally guaranteed change of political party and what happened to Ndi Igbo during the unfortunate Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970. The writer's intention aimed at evoking a nostalgic memory of such an ugly past is a well-designed act of mischief, knowing fully well how our people are eagerly susceptible to their emotions whenever issues of the Nigerian civil war are raised. So why should someone pour salt on our injury when there is clearly no relationship between the two events if he doesn't intend to mislead the public into seeing the governor's good move in a bad light?

It is necessary to clarify here that Ndi Enugu and Ndi Igbo in general are not in any agreement with anyone or among themselves to remain in opposition to any political party holding the mantle of leadership at Nigeria's seat of power, as this writer wants the public to believe. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time a governor of a Southeast state has switched from one political party to another, nor is it the first time states in the Southeast have been ruled by different political parties. In the year 2007, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu formed a political party known as People's Progressive Alliance PPA and used it to install governors of Imo and Abia States, Chief Ikedi Ohakim and Chief Theodor A. Orji respectively. So at the end of the 2007 election, three political parties occupied the Government Houses of Ndi Igbo. While Enugu and Ebonyi were in PDP, Imo and Abia were in PPA, and Anambra remained in APGA. This was widely accepted, and no one lamented about Igbos being conquered for belonging to different parties, like Ozoke's sponsored article is doing today. More recently, former Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State changed from PDP to APC while still serving as the governor of Ebonyi State. No one tried to link it up with all that happened to Ndi Igbo in the 1960s. Continue Reading in Part 2.

*Re-WITH ENUGU'S FALL, ALL EYES ON UMUAHIA: A SAD DÉJÀ VU*
Part 1

*By John Agbo (John Lead) johnlead59@gmail.com 07011795308 26th Oct. 2025*

Some days ago I read an article with the above title written by one Vitus Ozoke. The writer centred this topic as his response to the widely accepted decampment of the governor of Enugu State from the People's Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC. Ozoke made sweeping simplifications, unnecessary lamentations, and ill-capturing of the mood and reality on the ground. In my initial comment on the article, I had described the entire work as "an overkill and a quest for melancholic and unnecessary sorrow induction in an entirely unrelated subject matter". Without wasting much time describing the needless outburst from a seemingly politically sponsored tone, I will go straight to address where necessary, point by point, numerous logically flawed positions held by the author.

In his first paragraph, Ozoke said: "Enugu, the coal city, the historic capital of the Eastern Region, the symbolic heart of Igbo political memory, and the citadel of Igbo pride, had fallen once again". I make haste to state that the governor's well-thought-out political realignment with the APC doesn't in any way suggest, not to think of meaning, that Enugu has fallen because Enugu is not in any battle, either in politics or in physical war, with anyone, state, tribe, or government. This is the reality, and I ask, can Enugu fall without being in any political or military battle with anyone?. Again, Ozoke's above-quoted statement evidently tends to underrate, downgrade, and demote the status of our dear own Enugu by limiting Enugu's significance in history to just the capital of the Eastern region and the heart of Igbo political memory.

It is a well-documented history that the city called Enugu was once the administrative capital of the whole of Southern Nigeria. Between 1929 and 1939, people from Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure, Calaba, and indeed all southern Nigeria states of today did come to Enugu to process documents for landed properties purchased in their respective domains. Apart from this, it is significant to recall that Enugu's historical significance and development had gone far before the rise of Igbo political consciousness and the artificial creation of the defunct Eastern region of Nigeria. By 1911/1912, Enugu had been connected to the rest of the world by a functional railway line from Enugu all the way to Port Harcourt, from where Enugu's coal resources were shipped to the rest of the world. This was a time when most of the European cities of today did not yet have a rail system.

The second, third, and fourth paragraphs of Ozoke's article are diversionary attempts at making a metaphoric comparison between the governor's constitutionally guaranteed change of political party and what happened to Ndi Igbo during the unfortunate Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970. The writer's intention aimed at evoking a nostalgic memory of such an ugly past is a well-designed act of mischief, knowing fully well how our people are eagerly susceptible to their emotions whenever issues of the Nigerian civil war are raised. So why should someone pour salt on our injury when there is clearly no relationship between the two events if he doesn't intend to mislead the public into seeing the governor's good move in a bad light?

It is necessary to clarify here that Ndi Enugu and Ndi Igbo in general are not in any agreement with anyone or among themselves to remain in opposition to any political party holding the mantle of leadership at Nigeria's seat of power, as this writer wants the public to believe. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time a governor of a Southeast state has switched from one political party to another, nor is it the first time states in the Southeast have been ruled by different political parties. In the year 2007, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu formed a political party known as People's Progressive Alliance PPA and used it to install governors of Imo and Abia States, Chief Ikedi Ohakim and Chief Theodor A. Orji respectively. So at the end of the 2007 election, three political parties occupied the Government Houses of Ndi Igbo. While Enugu and Ebonyi were in PDP, Imo and Abia were in PPA, and Anambra remained in APGA. This was widely accepted, and no one lamented about Igbos being conquered for belonging to different parties, like Ozoke's sponsored article is doing today. More recently, former Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State changed from PDP to APC while still serving as the governor of Ebonyi State. No one tried to link it up with all that happened to Ndi Igbo in the 1960s. Continue Reading in Part 2.

*Enugu Politics: Peter Mbah Leading Our People Out of 'Egypt* '

*By John Agbo (John Lead) 14/9/2025*

The story of the biblical journey of the Israelites out of their captivity in ancient Egypt shows that is it was never an easy one. The details of the story were variously recorded in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament of the christian holy bible. And from the book of Exodus 14:13 comes the phrase "The Egyptians you see today you shall see no more". This has, over the centuries, evolved to give the world another meaning of the word "Egyptians". This is a fact at least in the context of colloquial usage. It is not uncommon to see many Judo-Christian adherents title their spiritual programs "Egyptians, you see today, you shall see no more". The interesting thing here is that this mainly occurs in countries or regions that have nothing to do with the language of the people of Egypt or the country itself. And so, even though we as a people have nothing to do with Egyptian people or their country, I hereby wish to discuss our contemporary politics under the title above to achieve the most contextual understanding therefrom.

In my previous write-ups, I had clearly alluded that Gov. Peter Mbah is like a hurricane whose wind does not leave anything untouched. This governor has revamped everything and institutions that have anything to do with our people. We have variously described Mbah's far-reaching changes in our statutory institutions, such as Education, Health, Agriculture, Tourism, Transportation, Hospitality, name them. Each of these sectors has within the two years of Barr. Peter Mbah's administration received unprecedented touches and sometimes a very innovative overhauling that has seen the institutions transform into a global standard. Take, for instance, the transport sector where the government has launched five different bus terminals in five strategic locations and intends to launch an additional five in other spectacular locations soon. It was never heard of in Enugu State before now. Again in Education, the government simultaneously commenced the construction of world-class Smart Green Schools in the 260 wards of the state and has commissioned many of them already completed. It is another innovation never seen before the birth of this government in power. We had before now attempted to categorize these monumentous changes taking place in our body polity to give deserved attention to each sector. So, in this contribution, our highly cherished interest is in the evolution of party politics and party structure currently unfolding before our very own eyes.

It is no longer newsworthy that the state governor is today, the 14th of October 2025, joining the nationally ruling All Progressive Congress, APC. As we write this, the event is already taking shape, and there is no other time to x-ray the motive of the governor in abandoning the 26-year-old People Democratic Party, PDP rulership in the state than now. And so the question why is Peter Mbah burying the once almighty PDP

To begin with, the apoptosis of PDP we are witnessing today in Enugu is yet another confirmation that no kingdom lasts forever. Everything that has a beginning should equally have an end. So is today the end of PDP? Yes. But away from the natural order of things to rise and fall at certain time, the need to specify the clarity of thought from the governor, the unambiguous knowledge of what to do, how to do it and when to do it, the certainty of positive result following a well thought out and executed plans on the part of the governor, all combined to bring the event of today to reality. Since the coming of Peter Mbah, what bothers him is how to deviate from the ever-boring norms and infuse life into the scheme of things. Today's event is just an extension of what we have witnessed under him in all sectors in the past two years. Like I noted in my last episode, a house doesn't fall while leaving the central Pillar intact.
So it is reasonable to expect that the party architecture in Enugu State will not be allowed to remain the same under Peter Mbah's Governorship. But then we ask how has the PDP fared in piloting the affairs of the state for 26 unbroken solid years? Suffix this to ask, what is the perception of the people towards the lingering existence of PDP in Enugu State even when it couldn't survive this long in other states around Enugu?

The last general election in 2023 provided ample opportunity for the citizens to vent their decades of misgivings on the expired ruling party. It was no wonder the party lost a huge chunk of elective posts to the opposition. The statistics never hide the fact that our people wanted an end to anything PDP. But factors beyond the ordinary electoral wishes came in and supplied the artificial oxygen to PDP which will ultimately be exhausted today. And so we again ask, was PDP our of 'Egypt'? Were its ardent members who sustained its modus operandi for years our 'Egyptians'? The answers to the two questions, in my very personal opinion, are yes. And I am happy that today our dear governor is leading us out of this 'Egypt' that we found ourselves in since 1999.

The Governor of the state evidently picked the message inherent in the electoral tones of our people in the 2023 election and today, since it falls in line with his determination to induce evolution in the ways we do things, what then is wrong in his decision to restructure our party nomenclature, revamp the party system, change the party ideology and finally introduce a system that will enable fresh blood with fresh progressive ideas to benefit from our party politics? Nothing. I say this because one of the greatest misgivings people have against PDP is that it stifles opportunity to rise, especially against the younger generation; it sustains elitist ideology with convoluted, amorphous operational and succession plans in its leadership.

In fact, let's not further waste our time regaling the pains of the expired party on our people. It is actually a day of joy. So in the spirit of the celebration, I call on and charge our people to rejoice for "the Egyptians you see today you shall see no more", Exodus 14:13

*Agbo is a public Affairs Analyst and Political Commentator*

*Understanding Peter Mbah's Aviation Adventure in Enugu State*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) 9/10/25*

It is no longer news that the Enugu State government launched an airline Operation called Enugu Air on the 7th of July 2025. The Enugu Air, which commenced operation with three aircrafts, is a growing concern. According to the Governor Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, six additional aeroplanes will be arriving Enugu later this year for the company to operate at full capacity. Currently, the government has gotten approval from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA, for Enugu Air to fly to countries within Africa, like Ghana, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, etc, right from Enugu. By next year, the government intends to get an additional two new international carriers apart from the current one, Ethiopian Air, operating from Enugu.

At an event last week, the state governor, informed participants at the Enugu West Town Hall meeting which held at the Old government lodge Abakaliki Road Enugu, that the international wing of the Enugu international Airport will be fully back to operation by the first quarter of 2026. According to the State Chief Executive, "we are going to have a lot of international carriers flying to Enugu. We are going to have the Emirates, Cathay, Lufthansa, and others flying to Enugu". The governor equally announced that the Airport concession was approved by the Federal Executive Council in August 2025, and the government is already in talks with the investor who will develop the Enugu aviation industry.

Also, the Cargo terminal of the Airport will be ready by the middle of next year 2026. The governor said, "We are going to have an Airport MRO, which means you can Maintain, Repair, and Overhaul your Aircraft right here in Enugu". It is from the foregoing that it becomes clear that the governor of Enugu State is not leaving any stone unturned in his bid to radically transform Enugu for good. Like our people often say, 'a house does not fall while the central pillar is intact'. It follows that the current administration in the state is quite holistic in handling its overhauling exercises in every sector in the state.

The governor targets about 3 million visitors to Enugu State yearly. By this, the governor is optimistic that if each of the visiting humans decides to spend the some of three hundred thousand naira while he stays in the state, it will cumulatively amount to about 900 billion naira additional income coming into the State. This will be a huge boost to the state economy. The GDP of the state will, at this rate, skyrocket. Under Peter Mbah, Enugu is quickly ending the era of the melancholic tag of a Civil service state, which seems to have forced our people to resign to their fate preposterously instead of striving to change the sordid narrative for good.

To understand the importance of all these ambitious, trailblazing moves of the governor, one must acknowledge that the realization of the lofty ideals of this government portends progress, economic buoyancy, sustainable growth, and even a sense of pride for an average Wawa man. Peter Mbah is laying a very strong foundation for the transformation of this state in literary terms. Development must be all-inclusive to make the intended impact.

This must have informed the choice of Governor Peter Mbah in catalyzing the processes needed to reboot the entirety of all relevant sectors of economic development. In the near future, Enugu will mean an entirely different thing to Nigerians from what it was seen as before the coming of Peter Mbah. It is no wonder we are seeing all-round modernization and overhauling of our hitherto putrid and non-productive institutions, such as Education, transportation, Tourism, Agriculture, Aviation, and even Hospitality industries. What we are witnessing is unprecedented in the annals of Enugu State, and we are quite grateful for the vision, foresight, innovation, and bravery of Governor Peter Mbah.

*Agbo is a Public Affairs Analyst and political Commentator.*

*Zik's Versus Ojukwu's Philosophy: How Edeoga Finished Strong in Enugu*

By John Agbo (John Lead)*
johnlead59@gmail.com
*April 4th 2025*

The former Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 election in Enugu State Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has, as a matter of reality, finished the trail-blazing job of opposition in the state with his strength and dignity intact. "Finishing strong is the only respectable way to finish." Says a Californian trainer and author, Gary Ryan Blair. This write-up is coming up on the heels of the trending news of the decamping of Barr. Edeoga back to his former party, the People's Democratic Party, on the 31st of match 2025.

The widely publicized reception of the former commissioner by the party hierarchy in Enugu, the perceived and actual backlash especially among the youth who had in the 2023 election placed all their hopes and strength in securing what is now remembered as the "stolen mandate" for Edeoga and the apparent reaction of some party foot soldiers unanimously combined in necessitating this contribution. As an active participant in all that transpired from 2020 to date, there is a huge need for me to help the public filter all the information that is circulating in social media to arrive at the right messages conveyed by the unfolding realities in the politics of the nation.

Hon. Chijioke Edeoga gave a sordid fight against the ruling People's Democratic Party in Enugu State. At the time he contested the PDP primary election of May 2022, Edeoga had traversed the whole of the 17 LGAs of Enugu State soliciting votes, thereby becoming the most popular candidate for the state's top job. But for the impediment posed by the internal party arrangements, Edeoga would have clinched the PDP governorship ticket in that election.

Following public outcry against what was perceived as unfair treatment of Edeoga and his people during the primaries, the former Rep member came under immense pressure to seek an alternative platform with which he would pursue his ambition. This prompted his instant entry into a re-emerging platform called the Labour Party. Subsequently, Edeoga became the candidate of the party after defeating a formidable challenger, Chief Everest Nnaji, in a fierce legal struggle that ended at the Supreme Court.

The governorship election was held on the 18th of March 2023, and Edeoga was winning in 16 of Enugu's 17 LGAs until a controversy arose in the 17th LGA, Nkanu East LGA. The resulting disagreement delayed Enugu's gubernatorial results announcement by almost one week and drew the attention of the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Abuja, which finally decided the verdict in favour of the PDP's Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. Again, Edeoga, as a man of principle and integrity, decided to challenge the whole of the man-made drama in the court. It should be noted here that despite the unconfirmed rumors which had it that the former Hon. Edeoga was asked by the victors of the electoral battle to audit his expenditures and name his price in exchange for the impending legal tussle, he never budged an eyelid. He didn't disappoint his teeming supporters and the entire Enugu State by chickening out of the necessary legal fight. From June 2023 to December 2023, Edeoga and his team moved from one court to another till it terminated at the Supreme Court around Dec. 22nd 2023, again in favour of PDP's Peter Mbah.

One trouble and reality associated with the Supreme Court of Nigeria is that it renders every case that got to it with a finality only comparable to death. Nobody has the right in whatsoever form to attempt any other approach on a matter that has received the judgment of the apex court. In other words, anyone who can push his case through to the Supreme Court should be commended by all for ensuring that he gets to the root of the matter. The person has naturally and legally escaped the tag of a traitor by any enlightened fellow regarding the case.

From the foregoing, could anybody justifiably accuse the honorable Barr? Edeoga of being a traitor to his massive supporters as insinuated by some Enugu youths in social media The answer is a capital No. Then the next question, are the youths who are lamenting and complaining about Edeoga's re-entry into the PDP justified The answer to this is a capital Yes. And I say this with a reason. Here is a disillusioned people who saw a very rare opportunity to change their stories for good in 2023. They mobilized and organized themselves with everything they had and rallied behind a man who they saw as representing everything about their hopes and aspirations for a better society where their future would be secured. They, in turn, convinced their aged parents in towns and villages, and everyone filed out en mass and cast their votes for the chosen candidate only to be shortchanged by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and the Judiciary - two institutions legally saddled with the responsibility of protecting the sanctity of electoral wishes of Nigeria.

Thus the displeasure expressed in some quarters against the return of Chief Edeoga to PDP is not directed against the people's general Edeoga per se. It is an undiluted expression of frustration arising from unmet expectations, failed plans, electoral and judicial system failure, and generally, a society that doesn't care about the welfare of its citizens. Yes, because Edeoga finished his battle to a logical and final conclusion. And no one should have expected him to remain a political celibate henceforth

Igbo people's political worldview and responses so far have been dominated by the mindset, actions, and thoughts of two great personalities. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu". It has been said by those who knew him, that Azikiwe is a fabianist- a British Socialist Organization founded in 1884. It aims to advance the principle of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist efforts in democracies rather than revolutionary overthrow. In contrast, the warlord, the late Gen. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, is a revolutionary, and the great Zik of Africa has a more diplomatic approach to issues. In simple terms, the Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was seen as a "Nwayo Nwayo" (easygoing) kind of person, while Chief Ojukwu was perceived to have innately harbored what Prof. Charles Soludo called "Nzogbu Nzogbu" (forceful approach) kind of person.

But the Igbo people of Nigeria seem naturally wired to be more of Ojukwu than Azikiwe. It is now a fact that Ojukwu represented the natural inclination of the Igbo man more perfectly. In 1962, the Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and a South African author and broadcaster Lewis Nkosi interviewed the great novelist Prof. Chinua Achebe at the National Museum Lagos. The discussion was centered on the latter's famous novel 'Things Fall Apart'. While commenting on his main character, Okonkwo, Prof. Achebe stated clearly that he purposely built the personality of Okonkwo around attributes most desirable in the Igbo man of Okonkwo's era. The attribute of the strength of character and strict adherence to personal principles, that hated shifting of ground or pliable disposition to matters of interest. Prof Achebe went further to imply that his work was meant to be a critique of Okonkwo's worldview rampant among the Igbo people of this world, which makes them so strict and strident in their beliefs. He saw the ultimate fate of Okonkwo's Umofia society as a disadvantage of such personality prevalent among the Igbos. But I must state that rather than toning down the very aspect of the nature of the Igbos that led to the fall of Okonkwo as intended, the book 'Things Fall Apart' ended up reinforcing it in real life like a biological positive feedback mechanism. This is because the success and popularity of the book ended up celebrating the very quality Achebe set out to correct.

So to date, Ojukwu, not Azikiwe, represents Okonkwo in our society. In reality, the Nigeria Igbo society and indeed every Igbo man is composed of 80% Ojukwu and perhaps 20% Azikiwe. This is so real that even Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe himself, in 1978, became an 'Ojukwu.' Azikiwe was preparing to contest for the president of Nigeria in 1979. He sent out people for consultation in Northern and Western Nigeria. Everybody Azikiwe consulted ranging from Alhj. Shehu Shagari, Chief Denis Osadebe, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, Emir of Kano, and numerous other personalities and institutions agreed that the next president of Nigeria should be Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Everything was going well until the team decided that Zik should run for the election under the platform of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, and that one Hon. Adisa Akinloye would be the party chairman. When Zik was informed by his contingent about the arrangements, he expressed concern that he could not contest an election in a party that had Akinloye as the chairman. Efforts to convince the 'Owelle' of Onitcha to accept the arrangement proved inert as some of his allies who traveled to his house in Nsukka to convince him died on their way back while some hard terrible road accident that left them disabled till the end of their lives.

Dr. Azikiwe was by this rejection of Akinloye's party protesting the 1952 famous 'cross-carpeting' in Western Nigeria Regional House of Assembly. In the incident, Adisa Akinloye had led the five elected members of the Ibadan People's Party IPP, to decamp to Obafemi Awolowo's Action Group, AG, thereby truncating Azikiwe's quest to represent Western Nigeria in the colonial National government base on Richard's constitution of 1946. Azikiwe's National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon, which was poised to win the slot, lost to Action Group following Hon. Adisa's activities. It was a brutal blow to the political ambition of the great Zik of Africa. And about 26 years later, Dr. Azikiwe vehemently rejected the idea of being in the same party as Akinloye for the role he played. This is an ' Ojukwu' behavior, not Zik's. He eventually entered the Nigeria People's Party NPP where he contested and lost the 1979 Presidential election to Alh. Shehu Shagari who later accepted to run under the same platform jettisoned by the 'Owelle' of Onitsha.

Recently, the former Labour Party's gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, told a group of people that "Nnamdi Azikiwe is my role model, and I have written a published book on him". Yes, I agree with him completely. He should be allowed to exploit the 'Azikiwe' part of him this time around having exhausted the 'Ojukwu' part in 2023. Yes, indubitably, Edeoga was an 'Ojukwu' in 2023, and like the Ikemba Nnewi, he commanded the respect and followership of an average Enugu man. His eyes were on the ball, and he left every other thing in pursuit of his goal. Did he get it? Yes, he did. But Nigeria and her institutions hated and still hate an Ojukwu. That was why he was not crowned the king. My joy is that Edeoga completed this role untainted, unblemished, and sacred and ended up as a new bride in Enugu politics today. That was why the whole leadership of the People Democratic Party in Enugu State, at the instance of the state governor, Peter Mbah, visited him on the 31st day of January 2025 to persuade him to return to their party. This is unprecedented. After a month-long consultation, Edeoga decided to activate the 'Azikiwe' part of him by yielding to PDP's overture. Ever since the incident, so many people have reached out to me to get my personal opinion and response to the emerging reality. I have deliberately evaded comments and write-ups on the matter, hoping to organize a robust approach such as this one to let the general public appreciate my thought patterns on the matter. It should be noted that what matters to me at the moment is the fact that Edeoga didn't back out of the fight at any point in the struggle. It was a fight to finish and he persevered throughout the duration without letting anyone among his teeming supporters down. Having done that, will it be fair now if we expect him to continue a fight that has since legally ended? No Rt. Hon. Barr. Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga has my full support as he returns to PDP to recalibrate his political career since he is too young to retire from active politics.

My advice to our politicians is to learn how to blend the Zik and Ojukwu philosophy. It should be noted that Igbo society still adores the qualities of Ojukwu and that is why some people are not happy that Edeoga is switching on his Azikiwe part. The herculean task for Igbo politicians as a whole is how to refine Zik's philosophy into an acceptable form of approach to issues among our people. But I am afraid it might require the return of the late Prof. Chinua Achebe to this world. And when that happens, we shall collectively persuade him to write another book extolling the qualities of the Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the way 'Things Fall Apart' elevated the qualities of Okonkwo to the everlasting pride of an Igbo man. And I will suggest that the title of the new book should be 'Things Held Atight'.

Agbo, a freelance commentator and a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Enugu

This Farooq Kperogi has bombed, killed and buried Helrufai

2027: Nnamchi’s track record ‘ll speak for him – Agbo

By Dennis Agbo

A public Affairs analyst, Mr John Agbo (John Lead) has described the member representing Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, Prof. Paul Sunday Nnamchi as the best National Assembly member to emerge from Enugu State in the past 20 years.

Agbo noted that rising from the field of academics, Nnamchi hit the ground running despite initial distraction from the opposition in the courts after the 2023 election in which he was overwhelmingly voted by the masses.

“No sooner than he took the oath of office than he began to speak for the people who were hitherto unheard so eloquently to the admiration of the entire country.”

Agbo said that if the government had heeded his motion on a Matter of Urgent National Importance regarding the perennial herders killing of the people of Eha Amufu in December 2023, the issue of insecurity in the troubled area would have been a thing of the past by now.

Nnamchi had, on 19th December 2023, drawn the attention of the Federal House of Representatives to the constant annihilation by the Fulani herdsmen of the innocent farmers in Eha Amufu, Enugu state, whose only offense is plying their trade in their fathers’ land.

“The timely alarm led to the decision to site a military barrack in the community. But more than two years after, nothing has been done by the federal and state governments to see that worthy gesture materialize.

“Prof. Nnamchi had turned in bills upon bills on the floor of the house, all to the benefit of his constituents. Several of such, including those meant for the establishment of federal universities, colleges of nursing science, colleges of health sciences and Technology, gifted and talented schools, etc, have all been rolled out from the stable of this erudite scholar, and most have been concluded up to public hearing stages. If the federal government decides to give assent to these bills, it then means that places such as Ako Nike, Trans Ekulu, Mbu, Ikem Nkwo, Eha Amufu, etc, will be elevated to the bubbling status of towns with Federal presence.

“In the Education sector, Prof. Nnamchi has consistently paid the school fees of not less than 500 university students from the constituency who have since been captured under his scholarship program.

“Ever since we elected him to serve us at the National Assembly, Nnamchi has remained present and available to the members of his constituency. He has been attending so many events, be it weddings, burials, Chieftaincy taking ceremonies, and every other event that our people organized from time to time. This is significant because the initial occupants of that position behaved as if they were barred from associating with the people they represented throughout their tenure.

“Even on road construction, I have it on good record that it was Prof. Nnamchi who facilitated the federal government construction of the road that leads from Ako Nike junction into the main town after the money for the initial contract had been cornered for possible embezzlement.

“There is virtually no aspect of our sociopolitical and economic life that has not been touched by this quintessential leader. And one is too sure that all these will count in his favor as the journey to the next round of election in 2027 gradually begins. Why not, since the zone has never had it this good in terms of visibility at the national level and other aspects already enumerated,” Agbo stated. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/03/2027-nnamchis-track-record-ll-speak-for-him-agbo/

Read this.


This is the most historical up-to-date Account of the Nigerian 1966 Coup and the forces and reasons behind the incursion of Biafra Troops into the MidWest en route to Lagos under the command of Col Victor Banjo,
It shows with very up-to-date facts and figures that -
1. The January 1966 Nigerian Coup was staged to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo from Prison and instal him the President of Nigeria.
2. ⁠Col Ademoyega, one of the FIVE MAJORS who masterminded the coup, confirms this in his book “Why We Struck”
3. ⁠The incursion of the Biafra Troops into the MidWest en route to Lagos, with code name THE LIBERATION ARMY led by Col Victor Banjo was Col Ojukwu’s Gentleman’s response to an Agreement between him and Chief Obafemi Awolowo while the later was in Enugu immediately after Ojukwu released him from prison. The project was for Ojukwu to send Biafra troops to Lagos to join the Yoruba troops to flush out the Northern Soldiers from Lagos in keeping with the Aburi Agreement that Soldiers should return to their Regions of origin, In keeping with that Aburi Agreement Soldiers from the East had left the Northern and Western Regions and the soldiers from the Western and Midwestern Regions had left the East and the North. But Northern soldiers refused to leave the West and Lagos. So Awolowo had requested Ojukwu to send troops under Col Banjo’s command to join Western soldiers to flush out Northern soldiers from Lagos and the West. That command had to be under the command of a Yoruba Soldier Col Banjo as a Confidence measure.
4. ⁠When the Liberatiin Army effortlessly passed through Benin, Banjo had to send Wole Soyinka to meet the Yoruba soldiers and alert them of the advance of the LIBERATION ARMY.
5. ⁠Soyinka got to Lagos and briefed Col Obasanjo. Obasanjo alerted Col Gowon, who in turn alerted their British Guardians,
6. ⁠The later arranged a negotiation meeting involving Gowon and Awolowo.
7. ⁠A Truce was arranged between Gowon, Awolowo and all the leading soldiers.
8. ⁠Awolowo was offered Vice-Chairman of the Ruling Military Council and assured that within a few years Gowon would hand power to him as the Head of State of Nigeria,
9. ⁠ With this agreement, Chief Awolowo sent message to Col Victor Banjo whose troops had reached ORE with the message DONT PROCEED FURTHER. IF YOU DO YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A MAN ON A CONQUEST MISSION, NO LONGER AS A LIBERATOR!
10. ⁠Victor Banjos troops that had reached ORE got morally vanquished and scattered In disarray.
THE REST IS HISTORY!!

Prof. T. Uzodinma Nwala
Chairman of ADF BOT
Editor-in-Chief
The Nigeria’s January 1966 Coup and Biafra: Myths and Realities.

Kreesxxx:
What we intend to do to you people soon. We will approach the national assembly to derecognised Igbos as an ethnic group in Nigeria. They should be seen an Ikwerre subgroup. This will be put into vote. We are in a democracy. Don't ask me where the South West and North will vote.

Ala!!! Naturally if not for language and names I don't like the way an Ikwerre man reasons. The foolishness is too much. If not that they use our names a s our languages, I would have preferred not to have anything do with a very hateful and poisonous people like the Ikwerre. No Igbo blood will ever say he prefers to be a slave than being a free born.

Ikwerre people's deceitful lives is the reason life in Port Harcourt is upside down. In Port Harcourt streets, everyone you see is angry and wicked and waiting to show you rude attitude upon any slightest dealing with him.

That liveli, jovial, and palpablly nice populace that are always ready to wow you into patronizing them in the streets of Aba, Onitcha, Nnewi, Enugu, Lagos etc is visibly absent in Port Harcourt. This is why Port Harcourt has emerged as the most wicked city in Nigeria. All these are product of self hating Ikwerre people and it will continue to get worse from what I am seeing in this Mbata matter

gidgiddy:
Please, anybody can print this and post it online

What I choose to believe is what the Ogbakor Ikwerre leader, Eze Godspower Onuekwa, said that any Ikwerre man that accepts to be Ohanaeze President is an enemy of the Ikwerre people. He said this on a video that has long gone viral

He admitted that Igbos and Ikwerre share cultural and linguistic affinity, but still said that any Ikwerre son who accepts to be Ohanaeze President is his enemy?

So people you share a lot in common with, culturally and linguistically, are your enemies? But the Ijaw and Ogoni you share nothing in common with are your blossom friends just because military leaders carved you and them into the same state?

I understand where Onuekwa is coming from, he wants Ikwerre to be recognised as a seperate ethnic group. What he does not realise, or does not want to accept, is that some Ikwerres have looked at those called Igbos, saw no difference, and concluded that they are one and the same.

Onuekwa should respect the wishes of the Ikwerre that willingly accept they are Igbo, same way he would want Igbos to respect the wishes of Ikwerre that don't accept to be Igbo. We Igbos may believe that the Ikwerre are part of us, but never can we physically force anyone to be us. Those that have done that are the Sokoto empire, Bini empire and Oyo empire. Igbos never had empire, and we hate empire's

The Igbo nation is too big, we already have more population than most countries in Africa. That we choose to call those we see as brothers, brothers, should, never be a problem

That same Rivers State is where you will see an Ikwerre man calling an Ogoni man he has no connection with, culturally or linguistically, his brother, just because military leaders carved them into one State

Problems of Rivers people are deep

Scholes007:
Nice Nice Nice. What is coming is huge. Mbata will make Ohaneze very great. The unity of Ndi Igbo will never be insulted again. Respect from Ndi Ikwere

We believe in his capabilities and experience

vanbonattel:
.

Lagos Ibadan express media won't sleep for the next 4 years

You can say that again

Shame to the naysayers, enemies of progress and enemies of Ndi Igbo

NEWS...
OGBAKOR IKWERRE DISCLAIMS NEWS ON PURPORTED SUSPENSION OF SENATOR JOHN AZUTA MBATA, PRESIDENT-GENERAL OF OHANAEZE NDI-IGBO.

This is good overall. It goes to show that Igbo nation has conquered the divide and rule tactics that led to Igbo denial among the Rivers a d Delta Igbos. This official congratulations from the federal government has finally buried the idea of Igbo denial forever

**Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency: Why Hon. Prof. Nnamchi is Ahead of Others*

*By John Agbo (John Lead) 03/01/25*

In the past one and half years which the current National Assembly has lasted, no one can dispute the fact that the member representing the good people of Enugu East/Isi Uzo federal constituency has performed not just above board, but above his contemporaries in the annals of representations in the entire Enugu State. The professor of Metallurgical and Material Engineering has demonstrated beyond doubt that governance is not rocket science. For instance, since the inauguration of the Assembly in June 2023, Prof. Nnamchi has presented more than 27 bills, including motions in the floor of the House. Even though the Primary assignment of a legislator is strictly law-making, our dear representative has diversified his duties to include the attraction of life-changing social amenities and infrastructures to his constituents.

Numerous communities, towns, and villages have immensely benefited from his street lighting projects, road constructions, and rehabilitations across the constituency. Also, numerous university students from the two LGAs are currently captured under his scholarship programs. Added to this are university students in choice foreign universities under the sponsorship of Hon. Prof. Nnamchi. His presence to grassroots members of his constituency has remained visible, to even the blind. I once wrote an article stating that there is no house sitting that has ever ended without Nnamchi making trending news. But to my greatest shock, the Nike-born academic, researcher, Engineer, and politician has doubled up in that regard. Nnamchi now trends in social media, Radio news, National Newspapers, and National Televisions almost daily. Currently, there's no day you will not hear the name of Prof. Paul Sunday Nnamchi over the Radio or television for one good news or the other.

It is, therefore, not surprising that despite being in opposition in both state and national politics, no one has ever found Nnamchi wanting in any of his activities. This is significant bearing in mind the nature of bitter politicking going on in Enugu State. Just months ago, the news had it that a project, Biomass Based Methanol Plant attracted by the Hon. Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Chief Uche Nnaji through the Energy Commission of Nigeria, was frustrated from kicking off by the agents of the Enugu State government in what many analysts see as opposition politics taken too far. But in his case, Prof. Nnamchi has carried on all his projects without attracting the anger of the vindictive state government. One may not be wrong if one asks how is the accomplished lecturer able to continuously navigate his ways seamlessly as an opposition lawmaker. I am going to answer that puzzle in this piece.

It is for his dexterity in the business of leadership that the Federal Government found Hon. Prof. Nnamchi worthy to lead the Nigeria/Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group-an international partnership aimed at attracting foreign scholarship for Nigerian youths, especially in the area of Technical and Vocational Education. Within the past eighteen months, numerous bills at various stages of completion are ascribed to the name of the highly celebrated academia and some of them will be listed here beginning from the latest:

1. A Bill to Upgrade the Eha Amufu College of Education to a University of Education passed its second reading in December 2024.

2. National Commission for Skill Acquisition Evaluation Assessment and Certification (Establishment) Bill 2024.

3. Motion on The Urgent Need to Review the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Price List due to the prevailing inflationary rate on goods and services.

4. Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal College of Science and Health Technology Mbu. This bill has been passed, and a public hearing held in July 2024. It is now awaiting a presidential assent for the college to take off.

5. A bill to Amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide for six years of single tenure for the president and state governors. This bill, which has Nnamchi as a co-sponsor, is also aimed to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct all elections on the same day during national elections. The bill, when passed, will also provide for the rotation of Executive power among the six geopolitical zones of the country. It has passed the first reading in June 2024 and is currently awaiting a second reading.

6. Bill for the Establishment of the Federal University of Agriculture Ako Nike. This has been passed by the House of Representatives, and a public hearing was held in May 2024. It is among those waiting for a Presidential assent to come to life.

7. Federal College of Entrepreneurship and Skill Acquisition, Ikem Nkwo Bill

8. Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery Amorji Nike Bill, passed second reading in May 2024.

9. Bill to review the Trade Dispute Act to align with the 1999 Constitution.

10. Bill for the Establishment of Gifted and Talented Education Center Trans -Ekulu, Enugu passed a second reading in March 2024.

11. Motion on the Urgent Need to Intervene in the Incessant Killing and Kidnapping by Bandits in Eha Amufu, Isi Uzo LGA on December 21, 2023. This motion was what averted further destruction of lives and property in the community at the time

12. Motion for an Establishment of Inland Dry Port at Emene, Enugu State as a means for increasing Revenue and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria in Nov. 2023

13. Motion for the House to Intervene in the then Lingering Disagreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of University ASUU, over an unpaid eight-month salary.

14. Motion for the Federal House of Representatives to urge the Federal Government to construct the Ako Nike Junction -Ugwu Omu- Emene-NNPC Depot - Abakiliki/Ogoja Road, all in Enugu State as a matter of urgency in October 2023.

Having gone this length in highlighting some of the notable impacts of Prof. Paul Sunday Nnamchi in his constituency, Enugu State, and Nigeria at large yours sincerely is bound to return to the main posers Viz: How come It is very easy for the accomplished scholar to swim in the ocean of leadership without coming in contact with the usual sharks of the proverbial sea? How is it that he has been able to do what no one else ever did for his constituency within a very short length of time? And then how come the vicious opposition in Enugu politics is not laying ambush on his ways as they do to others? Note that the People's Democratic Party, PDP-led Enugu State government has a long history of entering into 'loggerhead' with the officials of Enugu State origin in National politics in the format used on Chief Uche Nnaji and his methanol project on 13th December 2024. But that is a topic for another day.

Now let me answer all of the above without delay. In my local parlance, there is a saying that if you want to trace the source of a crime like murder, you must search for the blacksmith whose duty it is to mold a gun. It is not difficult to discern why our subject matter is so positively and advantageously unique and highly impactful as a lawmaker if you consider the route through which the refined legislator emerged. Put in simple terminology, Prof. Nnamchi is a product of the people's wish for a positive change. Like an utopian independent candidate, Prof. Nnamchi ventured into politics without the dreaded god-father factor trademark of Nigerian politics. The Professor is a priced distillate of our collective wish for Eldorado. The 2023 general election for us in Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency was an opportunity meeting our preparation to terminate stagnation in our hitherto political leadership. The coming on board of a fine gentle, young man, in the person of Hon. Prof Paul Sunday Nnamchi, was seen as a rare opportunity that we had been waiting for, and from the foregoing evidences, it is clear that no mistake was made by the Nike people, and Isi Uzo people in electing the Hon. Professor who has put our constituency in the global map following his sterling performance in the National Assembly.

Agbo is a Public Affairs Analyst and a Political Commentator.

*A Story About Dele Farotimi And Why I Cannot Stand The Nigerian Law Expert*

_David Hundeyin_

The date was May 15, 2023, and the venue was the ILEC Conference Centre in West London. I was preparing to deliver my keynote address at a press conference organised by the Coalition of Nigerians Living in the United Kingdom. Nigeria’s 2023 ‘elections’ had allegedly taken place a few weeks prior, and amid the flurry of post-election legal actions and intense diplomatic back-and-forth happening at the time, I had accepted the invitation to speak at this event.

I saw it as a strategic opportunity to add my strength to the coalition of strong opposition voices present, and to increase pressure on the watching international community, so I bought a Kenya Airways ticket and landed at Heathrow a few days before the event.

The press conference had been initially billed to hold in Westminster at the Royal Institute of International Affairs – Chatham House as it is more commonly known – but apparently, once the organisers shared the speakers list, which read like The Avengers of Nigeria’s so-called ‘Obidient’ movement, Chatham House had developed cold feet. No explanation was offered. Similarly, after initially agreeing to cover the press conference, ITV, BBC, and all of Fleet Street’s press establishment suddenly pulled out a day to the event within a few hours of each other. All of this was certainly not due to orders from above, because as we all know, the UK has a Free Press™️.

Of all the invited media houses, only Ben TV would end up showing up at the press conference – with a solitary camera and a (Nigerian) reporter who made absolutely no attempt to hide his pro-APC sympathies. After trying unsuccessfully to trip me up in an interview afterward and having subsequently exchanged numbers with me, I later saw one of those “Igbo people should go back to Anambra and stop trying to take over our Lagos!” videos on his WhatsApp status. Apparently, you could take the semi-literate Nigerian man out of Okemesi and even give him a job in London, but all the snow in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham could not smother the volcanic foolishness that lived inside his head.

I blocked him and deleted his number, but I completely digress.

That day was when I met Dele Farotimi for the first time, and I immediately learned 2 important things about him. The first was that his on-screen persona and his off-screen persona were exactly the same – what you saw was exactly what you got with this man. While I had spent £250 at H&M on what I thought was a befitting suit to wear to the event, D.F. showed up wearing a green variation of the same basic kaftan I had seen him wear dozens of times since 2020. He clearly was not there to appeal to anybody’s delicate sensibilities.

This was further emphasised by the second thing I learned about him when he addressed the press conference – D.F. was willing to look any audience in the eye and speak the truth the way he saw it. This man genuinely did not care who received his message or how they received it. He said what he said, he meant what he said, and how you felt about it was entirely your business.

Don’t believe me? Here’s the video of his address below.

Speaking to me privately afterward, D.F. told me plainly, “I like what you are doing, but what we are fighting against is bigger than just criminals who steal elections. We are fighting an entire system. To do this, your face has to show. You have to come out of hiding. You have to challenge them in the open like me. I am not in hiding. These people need to see that you are not scared of them.”

While I did not end up taking this particular piece of advice immediately, what I ended up taking away from our encounter that spring afternoon in West London was that unlike most Nigerians of his professional background, D.F. operated by a very clear moral, ethical and professional code. The person he was in front of the cameras was the same person he was when the cameras stopped rolling. Whatever message he put out into the world was genuinely geared toward helping Nigerians to live good lives and have nice things.

In the course of my career, I had come across many, many Nigerian legal professionals across many professional and personal situations. I had butted heads with some in court. I had publicly battled with some who had made uncharitable comments about my work. I had argued fruitlessly with many, trying to get them to see why 2+2 can only ever be 4. Over time, I came to understand that the Nigerian legal profession – in and of itself – was one of the very worst things about Nigeria.

If you were looking for a professional space that simultaneously wielded real influence in Nigeria while failing to conduct itself more competently than the National Union of Road Transport Workers, it was the Nigerian legal fraternity. If you wanted an example of a highly skilled professional who behaved as though they had a severe self-esteem deficit, it was the Nigerian Lawyer.

If you wanted a successful professional whom you could watch deliver one professional opinion one day, and a directly contradictory one the next, it was his cousin the Nigerian Judge. If you thrived in a chaotic, unstructured, recklessly subjective environment where nothing was true, nothing was false, and material facts where whatever somebody decided they were, you were probably meant to become a Nigerian lawyer.

For a Nigerian legal professional, D.F. was in footballing terms, a left-footed, 6-foot centre-forward who could also play on both wings, drop deep, go in goal, oversee training sessions, mentor his teammates, sign up new kit sponsors, and help the club file its taxes. “Rarity” and “unicorn” were 2 words that came to mind.

Unfortunately, Nigeria has a nasty, regular habit of attacking its best things while at the same time peacefully tolerating the very worst of itself without protest. So here we are, a year and half since that press conference in London, and D.F. now sits in Ado Ekiti prison, courtesy of a kangaroo police action ordered by a kangaroo court puppeted by the S.I. unit of the Nigerian Kangaroo Lawyer – a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The Nigerian Legal Profession – A Stupid Snake That Eats Itself
The Ouroboros Across Different Religions and Mythologies: Norse Legend
According to Greek mythology, ‘Ouroboros,’ the mythical snake that eats its own tail is a symbol of simultaneous creation and destruction, denoting the continuous cycle of birth and death. The snake’s tail, which is destroyed in the belly of the snake, simultaneously helps to grow its body by the exact length that is lost to its mouth. Thus, while an ordinary snake eating its own tail would normally lead to its death, the magical Ouroboros gets to live eternally at the junction of death and regeneration.

The Nigerian legal profession is not the Ouroboros.

I mean it’s a snake, and it eats its own tail, but the similarities end there. It hungrily devours its own tail, having mistaken it for food. Instead of regenerating like the mythical creature however, the Nigerian legal snake ends up eating itself, losing blood, and getting smaller until it eventually digests itself and dies. No magic there.

Just a small, stupid snake, with more appetite than brains.

Think about it: what false, stupid, asinine, ridiculous, ludicrous, absurd, idiotic, mindless, cretinous, unintelligent, puerile, fatuous, nonsensical position or argument have you not heard from the Nigerian Lawyer and his cousin the Nigerian Judge? How many mind-numbingly daft arguments and judgments have you heard over the past 4 years? I didn’t say over the past 10, 20 or 50 years – just the past 4 years alone?

Was it the person who came 4th in a state governorship election being declared winner by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which arrived at this on the sole basis of forged results provided by the 4th place finisher – where the number of votes cast exceeded the total number of accredited votes in the election? Check. Or was it the Chief Justice of Nigeria – head of one of the country’s 3 independent arms of government – being removed from office by a goddamn ex-parte order? Check.

Source: Law.com

If we go further back a bit, how about a Nigerian lawyer arguing in court that his client is not the same person as an ex-convict of the same name and birthday, because while the “other” person of the same name and birth date also coincidentally committed the same offense as his client and was “sentenced” for it, there was no record of the “conviction,” ergo they were not the same person? Yes, this actually happened, and the argument that James Onanefe Ibori, ex-convict born August 4, was not the same person as James Onanefe Ibori, ex-convict born August 4, was accepted by Nigeria’s judiciary, up to and including the Supreme Court.

How about a Senior Advocate of Nigeria making the argument that his client’s involvement in drug trafficking in the USA was not a matter for an election tribunal in Nigeria (even though his client was running for president in Nigeria) because the American court decision was not “registered” in Nigeria? How about the same SAN arguing that the forfeiture judgment (seizure of $460,000 being proceeds of heroin trafficking) meant that it was his client’s bank accounts that were guilty, so his client was innocent of the offense? Check.

How about the same legal luminary arguing in the same court that his client did not have citizenship of another country without disclosing it (something that would be expressly forbidden under Nigerian electoral law), because even though he did in fact have another country’s passport, the passport had expired, and apparently the citizenship expired along with it? Yes, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria made that argument in court.

How about a random lawyer on Twitter – who wasn’t even getting paid for it – arguing that an election candidate’s prior involvement in drug trafficking did not preclude him from running in the election because more than 10 years had passed since the sentencing? What type of mind thinks this up and decides, “I’m going to put this out there because it will show that I know the law, unlike those civilians on Twitter”?

How about another Senior Advocate of Nigeria going on live national television to claim that a comprehensive 49-page US federal forfeiture order for proceeds of heroin trafficking was “speculative” and that the $460,000 seized – clearly explained in the forfeiture order as “proceeds of heroin distribution activity” – was for “back taxes on investments”? Of course.

How about the legal definition of the word “AND” going all the way to the Supreme Court, which then effectively rewrote the existing law by interpreting it in a way it had never been interpreted in the history of Nigeria before? And this incredible, unprecedented ruling coincidentally happened to be in the favour of the incumbent government which still cannot prove how it supposedly won the election? Check.

Think about a scenario where a political candidate is accused of submitting a forged certificate with his declaration form and his opponent puts this issue to the court. What if the Nigerian Judge then issued a judgment saying that whether the candidate in fact submitted a forged certificate did not matter, because his interpretation of the law was that the candidate was not required to attach his certificate to his declaration? This happened too.

Or think about the most open-and-shut case you can imagine. Say a political candidate is accused of breaking a law that prohibits any candidates from running if they have sworn an oath of allegiance to another country. Let’s say there were cast-iron evidence in front of the judge showing that not only did the candidate swear allegiance to another country, but here is a video of what that oath looked like, and this was the exact wording of the oath.

The judge saw the incontrovertible paperwork and evidence showing that this violation of clearly-written electoral law took place.

And the judgment was…

Wait, I’m not done yet.

Remember the 4th-place-to-winner Supreme Court shenanigans from earlier? What if there was a fresh action filed at the Supreme Court showing incontrovertible evidence that the 4th placed guy submitted fudged evidence that was so badly skewed that the number of votes cast exceeded the total accredited votes – which should automatically void the election – and he thus misled the court into passing a travesty of a judgment? What would you imagine the Nigerian Bench Snake would do? Perhaps admit error and correct the erroneous decision? Maybe issue an apology?

No, of course not. It just gobbles some more of its own tail instead.

Source: The Vanguard
According to the self-eating Nigerian Bench Snake, the Supreme Court’s decisions – even if clearly mistaken or horrendously stupid – are final and beyond any sort of appeal. Barely 2 years later however, when a powerful and well-connected banker approached the same court to set aside its earlier ruling on a matter involving his bank, this happened:

This infuriating lack of consistency is the key, fundamental, recurring theme that you cannot fail to notice within the Nigerian legal arena, and it is something I identified as far back as 2020 when I used to write reviews of Nigerian legislation from a layperson’s viewpoint. Even as a layperson, it was crystal clear to me that the absence of a solid, detailed, and well-defined set of standards was setting everyone up for disaster, and I made the point multiple times.

I believe that this total absence of solid ground in Nigeria’s legal space is why Nigerian lawyers seem pathologically incapable of telling the truth to anyone including themselves. Or perhaps, especially themselves. My theory is that when you spend enough time operating within a system where the guy in 4th place is the winner of an election, and the head of an “independent” arm of government can be removed with only an ex-parte order obtained by another arm of government, and judges are free to tell all kinds of lies in their judgments with no consequence whatsoever, and senior lawyers face no penalties for telling blatant lies in court, and nothing written in the law actually means anything because a judge is free to legally define a cow as a bicycle today, then as a Starlink satellite tomorrow; it eventually interferes with your basic understanding of facts and reality.

I believe that this is why even in mundane everyday Nigerian discourse where he stands to benefit nothing, you cannot fail to see the Nigerian Lawyer lying his ass off for absolutely no reason at all. In the example below, this lawyer attacked me following last year’s expose on Nigeria Air. The story was – as usual – completely factual. In fact not only was the Nigeria Air project binned altogether, with Hadi Sirika g etting arrested by the EFCC earlier this year, but I even won the Special Investigative Reporting award category at the 2023 PwC Media Excellence Awards for it, and it made me a finalist at the 2023 AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year award. So why was this lawyer so incensed by the truth?

No benefit to him. Just pure love of the game.
I think that in his case as with so many others, his basic sense of reality has been royally tampered with after years of existing in a field where everyone is a pathological liar, nothing is true, nothing is false, everything is transient, and facts are whatever the Nigerian Bench Snake decides they are, depending on what side of the bed he woke up on that day. This absence of a functional handle on reality and lack of appreciation for the long-term consequences of their misanthropic behaviour, is what I believe is behind the alarming and visible degeneration of the Nigerian Lawyer and his cousin the Nigerian Judge into daft, bumbling parodies of themselves.

Think about a silly talking point – any dumb playground argument that you would expect to hear from 7 year-olds who haven’t learned their times table yet – and visualise it in the mouth of a Nigerian lawyer or judge that comes to your mind: The newly repainted swing in the school playground is made of chocolate. India once beat Nigeria 99-1 in a football game where the ball turned into a fiery tiger that killed Sam Okwaraji and pushed Peter Rufai into the goal.

Compared to the absurdities you have read above, do these things still sound like they would be out of place in a Nigerian courtroom?

The Abduction And Kangaroo Trial Of Dele Farotimi – A Nigerian Legal Disasterclass
When I saw the news of D.F.’s abduction (it was an abduction) and subsequent rendition across state lines to stand trial in Afe Babalola’s home court/stomping ground over an alleged defamation claim, it irritated me enough to bring me out of my self-imposed Twitter exile for discussions involving Nigerian public affairs. Not just because I can relate with the experience of being harassed with remote SLAPP litigation by disingenuous actors using home court advantage for judgment shopping, but more importantly, because I am convinced that this is all bullshit.

Afe Babalola is not the person behind what D.F. is going through.

Don’t get me wrong, he is certainly the vessel being used to get to D.F. – a man whose path is so straight that you normally cannot arm-twist him into shutting up. The legalised brigandage involved in “extraditing” someone from Lagos to Ekiti over what my dead grandma can clearly see should be treated as a civil lawsuit, has Chief Afe Babalola’s imprint all over it.

He is the litigation variant of the classic Nigerian Lawyer who has done with his life what Arjen Robben did with football – perfected one trick and built an entire successful career out of it. However, he is likely only acting as a tool. He is probably not the ultimate mastermind, and I think I can prove it.

Here is an excerpt from his filing at the court in Ekiti concerning D.F.’s supposed defamation of his character:

Sometime on 2/11/2024, one of our lawyers while travelling through Murtala Muhammed Airport bought a book by Dele Farotimi titled ‘NIGERIA AND ITS CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM’ published by Dele Farotimi publishers. He read the said book and immediately brought it to my attention. Many of my lawyers also bought the said book and read same. We received several calls from professional colleagues, friends and family members who watched a program on Channel’s TV wherein Dele Farotimi was interviewed with respect to the said book where he made several defamatory statements against myself, my law firm Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers), Olu Daramola SAN and Ola Faro Esq. We also received several calls from persons who saw excerpts of the book and interview on several social media platforms.

First of all, D.F.’s book came out in June. I remember this distinctly because we exchanged messages a few days after it was released, and he later did an interview about the book on Upgrade TV’s WAYS Show on July 3. This is an important point, so keep it in mind.

written by – David Hundeyin

Whalis:
Can you answer this?
How did you know that you are Igbo?
Did someone from Abia come to tell you?
Now I say Bia and I say I am Ikwerre and you say Bia and you say you are Igbo. Is it wise I say since you say the same Bia with me that you are ikwerre? Don't you think Igbos are Ikwerres? Americans (US) were originally from Europe especially The UK. Today US is bigger the UK. If this had happened in the prehistoric times it would have been difficult to believe that US left the UK based on their present size and achievements.
Scientific studies have been carried out in Uniport even by Igbos scientists that established that Ikwerres and Igbos are distinct people. Please check this it is online. The scientists who carried out this studies are Igbos.
Language similarities do not happen only in Igbo and others. It is so in other peoples all over the world. Ukraine and Poland, Sweden and Norway, Finland and Denmark; Urhobo and Isoko, Yoruba and Itsekiri similar language different people.
Igbos should learn how to live with this reality.
Also tell me the Igbo word for Yes.

Any research or academic work done in uniport is a scam. If you know you know

*Still on Peter Mbah's One Year of Tears and Agony in Enugu*

By John Agbo (John Lead)

July 1st, 2024

This is a rejoinder to an essay published on social media on Sunday, the 30th day of June 2024, by Mr. Reuben Onyishi. He wrote under his usual pseudonyms Ohayi Ukwueze and Nwomaga Nwedo. Onyishi, the senior special assistant to Governor Peter Mbah on new media, was responding to my own article titled "Bishop Chukwuma, An Eternal Moral Burden to Christianity", which I published on social media on 29th June, 2024. Mine was equally a response to the government-sponsored appearance of the former archbishop of Enugu Diocesan Anglican church, Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma, on Urban Radio, Enugu, on Tuesday and Thursday, the 25th and 27th June 2024 respectively.

Ordinarily, I do not need to introduce myself to the reading public of Enugu State, because I have been in the business of advocating good governance through writing long before the emergence of the government that employed Mr. Reuben Onyishi. But, for the avoidance of doubt, let me inform the reader that my name is John Agbo, aka John Lead. I am from Mbu Ezeutazhi in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State. And I have been writing with my full identity to the extent that the reading public of Enugu State, including Reuben Onyishi, are fully familiar with my name in the media space. So it is so shocking that an article I published with my full identity even on my Facebook page (John Lead) was deceptively ascribed to Hon. Barrister Chijioke Edeoga for whatsoever aim Onyishi and the Peter Mbah government wanted to achieve.

The SSA's response to my write-up is wickedly titled "Chijioke Edeoga, When the Animal Strays into the Vineyard of the Lord". By act of deliberate mischief, Peter Mbah's government set out to dodge all the issues I raised against both his government and Bishop Chukwuma, who had gone on radio to distort facts as regards the trouble the new state government has brought upon ndi Enugu. It became convenient for the failed government to pick Hon. Barr. Edeoga as their regular punching bag in a matter that shouldn't concern him.

In his first paragraph, Mr. Onyishi and Gov. Mbah still lament that Edeoga contested and actually won the election against the governor, as if it's a crime to contest an election in the first place. Yes, I alluded to that in my write-up on Bishop Chukwuma. It was only a combination of corrupt INEC officials and corrupt judges of the Nigerian judiciary that denied Edeoga the mandate Enugu people freely gave to him via the March 18th, 2023, elections. So it would be wise if the handlers of today's government recognize that Enugu people have woken up and would no longer accept the PDP one-party system marred by excessive praise-singing. Thus, whatever we write should never be ascribed to Mbah's opponent, especially when we use our full names.

Gov. Mbah's SSA, Onyishi, goes ahead to allege that Edeoga attacked the church, bishops Chukwuma and Onah bla bla bla... And I ask, can Reuben Onyishi bring out any proof that it was not me John Agbo (John Lead) that wrote the article about bishops Chukwuma and Onah? And, by the way, where is the attack in all that I wrote about the lord bishops? The last time I checked, stating the obvious facts known to Enugu masses can never be an attack. All the things I wrote in my article on Bishop Chukwuma, for instance, were well-known facts that cannot be denied by even the Asaba-born cleric himself.

My piece was all about the kind of politics, not church leadership, he has been playing in Enugu State for the past 26 years he came to the state on a missionary duty. It was my observation that Bishop Chukwuma never supported Enugu masses at their difficult and trying moments. He has always found a way to justify all anti-people policies and activities of any unpopular government. I gave an example using the Fr Mbaka's adoration ground massacre of March 2002: Bishop Chukwuma spoke like one supporting the butchering of 14 innocent worshippers and an unborn child, and he perhaps helped in ensuring there is no justice till date! Bishop Chukwuma himself is alive today, and I know he can't deny this fact, talk more of any other person. I equally made mention of the fact that I have never heard the bishop preach the word of God to anyone on radio or TV, or even carry out any deliverance session, as is common among Nigerian pastors, on worshippers that go to his church. This, too, is not a lie against the bishop, as I always hear his voice only on controversial activities involving the state government.

Instead of proving my observations wrong, the state government's spokesman (Onyishi) decided to incite the church against another person who has nothing to do with what I have written. And I ask, how does Peter Mbah want Enugu people to take him seriously, when he has this reckless and untruthful human being heading his media team?

As if to deceive Enugu people who read my piece on Bishop Chukwuma and equally listened to him on Urban Radio, Gov. Mbah's SSA makes a needless attempt at buying the emotions of the two bishops: "The offence of the bishops was that they acknowledged Governor Mbah's good governance and milestone achievements in his first one year in office".

First, Bishop Godfrey Onah's instructed second collection throughout his Nsukka diocese comprising 157 parishes, with an estimated population of 397, 935 Catholics, just to raise money to help thousands of previously well-to-do traders reduced to abject poverty by Gov. Peter Mbah through his wicked and most senseless demolition in human history, cannot be an acknowledgement of Peter Mbah's performance as a governor. It is a gross, albeit unintended, indictment of the governor by Bishop Onah himself. So it is either Reuben Onyishi is insane or the entire government of Peter Mbah as we know it is on a mission to punish Enugu people for rejecting him wholesomely during last year's elections.

As for Bishop Chukwuma, no Enugu man takes anything he says in politics seriously because -- I repeat -- he is known for speaking in favour of any willing government in order to line up his pockets. Otherwise, how did he arrive at a decision to appear on radio to launder Mbah's image, when his colleague in Nsukka was attempting to alleviate the pains Mbah had brought on the people? This is despite the fact that I score him (Bishop Onah) very low on that, because he didn't genuinely feel for the people affected. If not so, he would have used his position to advise the government against such policy or spoken out publicly against it. "You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.” “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” (Anonymous) This could have made the heartless governor reconsider his decision to induce a cascade of suffering on the masses. Bishop Chukwuma too kept a blind eye when the cries of the masses against this planned demolition, unquantifiable increment in taxes, killing of one Bonaventure Nwodo at Ogbete Main Market were everywhere. Ordinarily, his silence was enough indictment -- he supports whatever ordeal being unleashed on Enugu people by the illegitimate government of Mbah. His going on air like an ordinary media aide to the governor convinced everybody, including himself, that he never meant well for Enugu people and, strangely, derives joy in seeing our people suffer. This has nothing to do with being a man of God or not. He arrogated to himself a position of stakeholder in Enugu matters, yet he has never been on the side of ndi Enugu. What manner of stakeholder goes about supporting everything that puts his hosts in pain?

Gov. Mbah, through his media team, continuously talks about Edeoga losing the election. But every Tom, Dick and Harry in Enugu knows that Chijioke Edeoga did not lose the election in 2023. It was Gov. Mbah that lost in most polling booths in Enugu until vote thieves succeeded in cooking up wonder votes in his Nkanu East LGA. That represented the height of electoral madness in Nigeria. Sadly, instead of correcting the heist in Nkanu East LGA that was even admitted by the INEC, the judiciary decided to plunge ndi Enugu into this deep mess by allowing Mbah to be sworn in, against the wishes of Enugu people.

Since one year of this abnormality imposed on our people, all that has been witnessed is a multi-faceted retrogression laced with epic suffering, no thanks to Gov. Mbah and his team. It is foolish for anyone to even think that, each time a concerned citizen like myself raises a voice against the government, the best thing to do is to blame it on Edeoga -- because he contested the election and beat the PDP candidate blue and black throughout the state. This is because Enugu people have now woken to their civic responsibilities of holding every leader accountable for his actions. What on earth still concerns Edeoga (who I learnt has since moved on with his life) with how Peter Mbah chooses to govern the state and the ripple effect of people's reaction to it? It is now characteristic of this wicked government to blame the opposition for all of its failures for the past one year. The governor will continue to face legitimacy challenges in Enugu State.

The most provocative aspect of Gov. Mbah's response to my piece is that Reuben Onyishi, who knows me very well in this media space, is aware that I have never used a pseudonym in all my write-ups. During the build-up to the PDP primaries in 2022, precisely after the LGA election in February 2022, Onyishi and I once scheduled to meet at a venue in Enugu after we had established contacts through the essays I wrote then, just as he was writing copiously in favour of his boss Chijioke Edeoga then. We were to meet in person in order to further the discussion on Enugu politics. I had got to the venue when he called to inform me that he was unavoidably busy with his boss Edeoga at a campaign rally. So the meeting couldn't hold, but we kept on interacting on social media platforms. It was after the PDP primaries on 25th May 2022; and on 28th May I published my article titled "Open Letter to Hon. Chijioke Edeoga" (please check it up on Google) in which I registered my displeasure on how the primaries were conducted. It was the first write-up criticizing the PDP sham. It went viral expectedly, to the extent that it was severally taken to the then Gov. Ugwuanyi by his aides for a possible action.

Before I knew what was going on, I started getting numerous chats from Reuben Onyishi asking me to forget all that had happened and support Peter Mbah who was favoured by the heavily manipulated primaries. I was like everyone else -- a bit confused on why Mr. Onyishi of all people should be the one asking me to now support Mr. Mbah despite his deep commitment to Edeoga's ambition then. At this time, many people, including me, were not aware that Onyishi had betrayed his boss Edeoga by collecting money to support his opponent. I never knew then that the first assignment given to him was to surreptitiously lure those of us with strong media presence into supporting Mbah overnight.

What I did -- as I couldn't understand what was going on -- was to temporarily withdrew from political commentaries. It was the announcement of Edeoga's entry into the Labour Party some weeks later that brought me back, and I started writing again.

From that time onwards, Mr Reuben Onyishi blocked me from all his social media handles. So how then could he describe my name as a "penname" when we had been friends in the media space, and I have been writing with the same name ? The attempt to deceive Enugu people on this has again failed as it only portrays Mbah's government as a government of lies and deception.

Still talking about my essay but mischievously ascribing it to Edeoga, SSA Onyishi stated that I insulted the bishops, yet he couldn't mention one single insulting word used in the essay. And I ask, how does speaking the obvious truth about Bishop Chukwuma amount to insulting him or disrespecting God, as alleged by Mbah's team? Where lies the insult or any distortion of fact as alleged? It was never hidden to anyone that Bishop Chukwuma supported the deadly Ebeano regime of 1999--2007. It is a fact that he defended all the evils done by that government. And he has emerged again to support this wickedness Gov Mbah is dishing out to ndi Enugu. Would it therefore be wrong if I conclude that Bishop Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma Mgbese always feels very happy and fulfilled whenever Enugu people are compelled to suffer by the state government? Truth is sacrosanct.

The rest of Onyishi's response to my essay was spent talking about the electoral tsunami that happened last year, as if it has anything to do with the way and manner in which Peter Mbah is governing our state now. In fairness to him, the only connection between the events of the election and how poor things have turned out to Enugu people currently is that Gov. Mbah, like I stated before, is on a mission to avenge his electoral defeat -- by stifling life out of Enugu people by all means. But the diversionary antics of attacking the heroic Edeoga for an essay that has nothing to do with him will not stop us from focusing on the injuries already done to us by this government. It won't quench the questions on why the outrageous escalation of tax duties in a rapidly dwindling economy. The water promised ndi Enugu in 180 days is not running in any home after one full year. And a governor that promised Enugu people a paradise in his manifesto is resorting to blaming his opponent for his failure to achieve anything in one year.

Asking Bishop Chukwuma to explain to us why and how he came about praising Mbah in the midst of all these can never mean disrespect to God, because Chukwuma can never be God. He is only assumed to be an earthly servant of God who is prone to making mistakes. And correcting him in public is all we owe him since he always choses to err in public too.

Ndi Enugu are now wiser than they were during Mbah's first outing as commissioner for finance in 2004. His roles then are not a strange topic to ndi Enugu. He should be informed, however, that, in Enugu State of today, we shall always pry into the activities of his government, whether as opposition or as concerned citizens. It is left for Mbah to put a human face into his policies in order to serve us well or continue in his anger-induced punitive policies that will continue to invite unfavourable media presence. All that has happened so far proves that Enugu people were actually right in rejecting Peter Mbah during the election. And now that he has succeeded in imposing himself on us through the corrupt courts, we can only say that our fears were founded.

*Agbo writes from Okaigbura village, Mbu Akpoti, Isi-Uzo LGA, Enugu State*

Broveens42:
Stop trying to be clever by half, using reverse psychology of adjoiner.

If you Wana criticize, you stick with the personality in question and not trying to play on people's intelligence.

But that is exactly what the write up did. So what else are you talking about

Rutherford2019:
I'm from Enugu State and I would like to say that Enugu State politics is divided into catholic and Anglican..You're writing because you're a catholic and I bet you no Anglican will write anything against Bishop Chukwuma
Catholic bishops and priests are no better than Chukwuma..They're same and writing about one and leaving another is hypocritical
Is Mbaka who collected money from APC and predicted Imo State governor, who's fought Ebeano because he refused to offer donations to adoration and also fought Jonathan and PO because of donations better than Chukwuma? Why didn't you write about Mbaka?
Lastly,all Nigerian so-called MOG are not different from Nigerian politicians be it Mbaka,Chukwuma, Adeboye, Kumuyi, Oyedepo etc..they all have political inclinations and that's where they thrive

Read well my brother. This article is not about Anglican versus catholic. It is not even about Enugu people versus Asaba people. It is just about one man who refused to use his sense and face the work of God he was supposed to be doing