Suleiman Anyalewechi, Aba
Concerned Ukwa youths, under the aegis of Ukwa Liberation League has called on Gov Alex Otti to resist the temptation of constituting his cabinet with the same people that have held Abia State down over the years, even as they have advised that only credible and selfless persons should be recruited.
For the state to move forward, the Ukwa Liberation League said there must be justice and fairness in governance, which they noted can only be achieved through inclusiveness.
The umbrella body of youths from the oil rich part of the state made this known at an interactive meeting with some leaders of Ukwa Patriots, held last weekend at the country home of Dr Tom Otuka in Ohanso Ukwa East.
Comrade Frank Nwoke, leader and spokesperson for the group warned that the people of Ukwa land will no longer tolerate the appointments, and or selection of those forces that have been conspiring with successive regimes to foist on the people misery, poverty and underdevelopment.
According to him, the Ukwa youths have decided to take their destinies in their hands, hence their insistence that only credible, selfless and patriotic people should be considered to represent their interests in the present administration.
“In the past 20-years, we have been unfortunate to have selfish and greedy people representing us at almost all levels of governance. The results have been unmitigated infrastructural deficit, acute poverty and general misery. Even the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, ASOPADEC, set up to aid the development of our area has become a playground for our so-called representatives and their masters in government,” Nwoke lamented.
Dr Otuka, leader of the Ukwa patriots, however, appealed to the youths to be patient with and continue to pray for the new administration in the state to succeed in its mission to rediscover and recover the lost fortune of Abia state.
According to the Consultant Gynaecologist turned politician, although the task ahead is enormous and demanding, he however assured the youths that Gov Otti is very much aware of the equally enormous goodwill he is enjoying among Abians and therefore will not want to fritter it.
Dr Otuka also told the youths that apart from their agitation for improved infrastructural development, he has also called on the present administration in his earlier open letter to the inauguration committee to as a matter of urgency bring back Ukwa High Court and Magistrate Court from Aba, establish a general hospital to serve the two local councils in Ukwa land and consider the establishment of a tertiary educational institution or a campus of an existing one in Ukwa. He thanked the youths for so far conducting themselves well and also appealed to them to eschew all acts capable of compromising the peace of the state.
