Anglican faithful from the various churches making up the Diocese on the Niger and beyond, on Friday, converged on All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State, to celebrate the 160th celebration of the consecration of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first Bishop on the Niger. The commemoration event reflected on the life and legacy of the late Bishop Crowther, who brought Christianity to the region and made huge sacrifices, driving the wheels of the Christian Missionary Society, CMS in 1857, to launch Nigeria into the orbit of civilization. It had commenced with a march past, Gideon march by groups and organizations…
Author: Kenechukwu Ofomah
A business mogul and philanthropist, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu was on Thursday, inducted as a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, NIPR. Ukachukwu was inducted alongside many other distinguished Nigerians at the 60th Diamond Anniversary celebration of the NIPR, held at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Ukachukwu’s recognition was a result of his numerous contributions towards the strategic development of the nation’s real estate landscape and human capital development, as one of the pioneers of real estate development in Nigeria, as well as his philanthropic and political accomplishments. The NIPR was established in 1963 and Chartered…
Anambra State Government has handed a 65-year-old pastor, Mr. Francis Ogwu to the Nigeria Police Force, for allegedly defiling his seven-year-old domestic help in Awka, the state capital. The pastor, who hails from Imo State, was nabbed following alarm raised by concerned residents of the area. The suspect, who is the General Overseer of Jesus House of Joy Church, Awka, was said to have lived with his wife and children in the state for over 30 years. Narrating her ordeal, the seven-year-old victim told the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo that the suspect, who is her guardian has had carnal knowledge of her three times.…
In view of rising tension, insecurities, and internal restiveness within communities in Anambra state, the traditional ruler of Ideani, in Idemili North Council of the state, Igwe Steve Ezeji has constituted an eighteen-member Elders Council to assist him in the management and supervision of community affairs, peace, and real-time arbitration. Setting up the Council, according to palace sources, was a sequel to the provisions of Sec 35(g) of the Ideani community’s Constitution 2012, as amended. In a statement signed by the Secretary of the Igwe-In-Council, Chief Theo Ikenwa, the Council of Elders was constitutionally meant to assist the Eze-In-Council in…
The youth wing of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu says the re-emergence of the Southern Governors Forum, is a major milestone towards securing the interests and aspirations of the Southern States and their people. The acting National Youth Leader of the Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu expressed optimism in reaction to the coming together of the Forum for the first time, after three years. On Monday, at Abeokuta, Ogun State, the forum met and appointed a new leadership, with the host governor, Dapo Abiodun as Chairman of the Forum and Anambra Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo as the Vice…
After 14 years of abandonment, work has finally resumed on the Otuocha-Anam-Nzam-Ibaji federal road, linking Anambra with Kogi State. The 30.6km dual carriage road which was re-awarded for the sum of over N34 billion, connects the agrarian communities of Anambra State including Nzam, Inoma, Anam, down to Ibaji, Iyeaka as well as leads to Kogi and Abuja. It was initially contracted to NigerCat Construction in 2009 by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration to the tune of 7 billion naira but was put on hold after one of the engineers working with the contracting firm was kidnapped at the site. However,…
A rights group, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has called on the Nigerian government to do more to honor the international treaties on torture and other forms of ill-treatment, which the country is a signatory to. The call is coming from the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is marked globally today. The global event is observed every year on June 26, as approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1997, to raise awareness about the suffering of people who undergo torture. According to Nwanguma, in a…
As the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is marked today globally, the Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS) has emphasized the need for government and stakeholders to invest in evidence-based drug prevention programs to protect individuals and communities. This investment it noted, will significantly reduce the influence of illicit economies profiting from human misery. The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a United Nations observance against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade, is marked annually on 26 June. This year’s theme, ‘The Evidence is Clear: Invest in Prevention,’ underscores the critical importance of preventing individuals from experimenting with illicit drugs…
A legal practitioner, Barr Chinwe Ejike has said the approval by the Federal Ministry of Education, for books encouraging sexual perversion and other forms of immorality in the syllabus of secondary and primary schools, spells great danger for the development of the Nigerian child. He is urging the Ministry to immediately expunge such books from the children’s curriculum as they will not only pollute them but also foster corruption in the country. Ejike, who shared her views with a team of journalists on issues of moral decadence, sex education, and roles of parents in the family, cited a literature book for JSS students titled: Stigma by Sampson O. Shobayo being used in one of…
Amidst the rising insecurity in Anambra State, Labour Party stalwart and Governorship hopeful in the 2025 Guber Election in the state, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, has accused Governor Chukwuma Soludo of not taking firm, resolute, and sustainable actions towards addressing the problem. Ozigbo said instead, that Soludo has been all about rhetorics and public shows. In Anambra today, cases of kidnapping for ransom, banditry, farmers-herders clashes, cult and drug-related criminality, and communal disputes, have risen to an all-time high, with many citizens distancing themselves from the state for fear of insecurity. Speaking in his latest edition of the Wake Up Series on Tuesday, Ozigbo tasked Soludo to pay more attention and take positive action towards tackling…
As part of flood intervention pre-planning activities, the Anambra State Government through its Ministry of Special Duties has commenced interactive meetings with residents of riverine communities in the state. The interactive meeting which will last for ten days, provides an opportunity for the government to evaluate the impact of previous years’ flood intervention efforts and to get feedback from the people at the grassroots who are mostly affected by the flood. The Nigeria Hydrological Services and the Nigerian Metrological Agency, NiMET have predicted an impending flood this year, with its 2024 Annual Flood Outlook showing that parts of 148 Local Government Areas in 31 states of the federation including Anambra…
A young woman, Ifeoma Amarachukwu Ochiagha, who was among those killed in an exchange of gunfire between security operatives and gunmen at Nnobi in Idemili South Council Area of Anambra State last week Monday, is to be buried on Thursday, a burial announcement from her family reveals. Miss Amarachukwu was hit by a stray bullet when vigilante operatives engaged gunmen at Nnobi junction last week Monday. The vigilante operatives operating in Nnewi, it was gathered, had received an intelligence report that a gang of armed men were coming into Nnewi through the Nnobi community when the commander led his men to engage them. Unfortunately, the commander, Mr…
The immediate past governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has denied ownership of an ongoing massive building located in Asaba, Delta State Capital, expected to become the biggest hotel in the town when completed. Videos of the facility started trending over the weekend, with the claims that the former governor was the owner. Obiano, who is facing many charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over corruption and misappropriation of public funds, has distanced himself from the ongoing project. Speaking through Tony Nezianya, his Chief Publicist on Monday, Obiano said the reports were the handiwork of detractors…
The Anambra State Ministry of Health has taken swift action by activating the state’s Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers across the 21 Local Government Areas in response to a cholera outbreak in Nigeria. This proactive measure comes as neighboring states like Imo, Abia, and Delta have reported confirmed cases of cholera, prompting heightened vigilance in the state. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, announced a chat with newsmen in Awka on Monday. This he said, is to emphasize the importance of early detection and prevention in managing outbreaks. “Although Anambra has not yet reported any cases of cholera, the…
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief George Moghalu has denounced rumors making the rounds about him quitting the party, describing it as the handiwork of political merchants. Reacting to the rumors which further said he had joined the Labour Party, LP on Sunday, Moghalu told journalists Sunday afternoon at his Nnewi country home, that quitting APC or politics generally remains his decision to make. According to him, “We set up and nurtured this party, and if for any reason I decide to leave, it won’t be a speculation. “There is a stipulated process and constitutional procedure…
A five-room water system toilet has been reconstructed at Community Secondary School, Igbakwu in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State, by a corps member serving in the school, Mr Charles Akhabua. The project was executed as the corps member’s personal Community Development Service, CDS project. Community Development Service, CDS projects are initiatives designed under the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC scheme, to encourage corps members to attract projects that will help develop their host communities or places of primary assignment. Speaking during the handover of the project over the weekend, the Delta State-born Corps Member said the dilapidated and abandoned toilets in the school, resulting in students’ use of open…
Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitsha has asked Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State to review the panel of inquiry he constituted to review the recent collapse of the school’s Centenary building. In a letter sent to the Governor on behalf of the DMGS Old Boys and Diocese on the Niger, a team of legal practitioners, led by Barr Nnamdi Ibegbu, SAN, urged the governor to withdraw two members of the Panel. The lawyers named the two members as Prof Akaolisa Ezeagu, chairman of the Panel, and Engr. Sir Victor Meju, a key member of the panel, alleged they reportedly made prejudiced comments and publications following the ugly…
As part of its vision to ensure improved service delivery, the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, ASUBEB has commenced the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding it entered into with Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC and the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, on Electronic Quality Assurance Evaluation. A pointer to this was a two-day training of Quality Assurance Officers of ASUBEB Headquarters and 21 Local Government Education Authorities over the weekend, at the Utility hall, ASUBEB Headquarters, Awka. The training which is a component of the MoU, is focused on capacity building for the ASUBEB staff with the development of…
Anambra State Government has set up committees to ensure the effective distribution of no fewer than one million combinations of seedlings to potential beneficiaries across the state. This was the outcome of a one-day consultative meeting organized by the State Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters with key stakeholders held at the Ministry’s Conference Hall. Our correspondent gathered that the meeting was centered on modalities for the year 2024 distribution of economic trees/ seedlings, which comprised 700,000 oil palm seedlings, 200,000 breadfruit seedlings, 50,000 Oji Igbo (Kola nut),…
As a strategy to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA in Anambra State, come the 2025 governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Elders Forum has insisted that zoning should remain as generally agreed by all the political parties. Rising from a meeting in Awka, with Chief Innocent Obi as its Chairman, the forum declared that anybody who tried to scuttle the zoning arrangement would be doing so at his or her own risk. Within the APC, candidates from Anambra North and Anambra Central have declared interest in contesting the 2025 Governorship ticket of the party, raising concerns over…
Two young men, Kingsley Chinedu Okeke, aged, 22 years old, and Chukwuemeka Nweke, aged, 27 years old, have been convicted and sentenced to multiple jail terms, by the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court of Anambra State, sitting in Awka. Kingsley Chinedu Okeke and Chukwuemeka Nweke were arraigned before the Court, sometime in 2023, on a 4-count charge. The charges include Child Stealing, illegal dealing in children; fraudulently enticing away and harboring one year and two months old baby boy; forcefully isolating the child from the lawful possession of his parents; and infliction of physical injuries. The offenses are punishable…
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, has expressed displeasure over the N62,000 Minimum Wage offer by the Federal Government of Nigeria, stating that even N100,000 is not even enough to meet the basic needs of Nigerian workers. Ezeokafor who stated this in an interview noted that he was not happy with what he described as the back-and-forth debate between the FG and the organized labour, saying the debate had started looking like something that could never be resolved. “If you look deeply you begin to ask if those handling it are sincere. If things are handled…
An Anambra State High Court sitting at Otuocha on Wednesday, sentenced a fake lawyer to three months in a correctional centre, with hard labour. The fake lawyer, Obinna Orezue, who hails from Abba in the Njikoka Council Area of the state, had appeared for a litigant during a hearing on a land matter on the 13th of June, 2024. Orezue was arrested at the High Court 2, Otuocha Division, dressed in the full regalia of a legal practitioner but could not refer to the basic tenets of the profession. This had raised suspicions from the lawyers in court including the judge, leading up to his interrogation and subsequent…
The Diocese on the Niger, Anglican Communion, owners of the six-floor building which crashed in the wee hours of June 12, 2024 has set up a high-powered panel of professionals to critically look into the unfortunate incident. This was made public at the school premises by the Bishop on the Niger, Rt Rev Owen Nwokolo during a press conference on Tuesday. Nwokolo had visited the crash site alongside other Anglican bishops in Anambra State led by the Archbishop, Anglican Province on the Niger, Most Reverend Alexander Ibezim. Tagged “Centenary Building”, the building which was sponsored by the Old Boys Association of the DMGS as their signature project for…
Nigeria’s sustained practice of democracy has not really translated to economic development because of its wrong application and the citizen’s misunderstanding of its tenets. Prof. Jideofor Adibe, a Professor of Political Science at the Nasarawa State University, gave the view when he appeared on AIT’s ‘Moneyline with Nancy’, to discuss Nigeria’s Political and Economic Evolution with respect to Nigeria’s Democracy. Nigeria returned to democracy on May 29, 1999, after years of military rule, and over 24 years after, it appears the nation is worse off than when the military junta held sway. Speaking on the program, Prof Adibe revealed that…
There is no doubt that entrepreneurship suffices as a means of breaking even for many in Nigeria, considering the very challenging economic turf citizens are battling with. This is because it usually starts as a small business but the long-term vision is much greater, to seek high profits and capture market share with an innovative new idea. According to the Fate Institute’s Report on the “State of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria 2021,” 67 percent of entrepreneurs in the country are youths whose age brackets fall between 18 and 35 years. The implication is that despite the uncertainty in Nigeria’s economic landscape,…
The Anambra State Vigilant Group, AVG says it is working in synergy with security forces in the State to fish out arsonists that burned down the local security outfit patrol vehicles at the Ogbaru Council Area Headquarters last Sunday. The attack, which fortunately recorded no casualty, but resulted in the destruction of four patrol vehicles belonging to the vigilantes, has been described by the Police Spokesperson in Anambra, as an act of cowardice. It was gathered that the assailants, arriving in large numbers on motorcycles and a vehicle, began shooting indiscriminately. They were said to have faced strong resistance from the Vigilante Operatives until the police response team arrived,…
The Chairman of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council and traditional Ruler of Edem-Ani Ogwugwu Ancient Kingdom in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Dr. Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, (Ogadagidi), has emerged as the new Chairman of South East Traditional Rulers Council. The announcement of Igwe Asadu’s emergence as the Chairman of South East Traditional Rulers was greeted with widespread jubilation across Enugu State and beyond with congratulatory messages pouring in from various dignitaries across the globe. The outgone Chairman, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha has also joined other Royal fathers and dignitaries nationwide in congratulating the new Chairman. Igwe Asadu…
Anambra State Police Command says its operatives have arrested two suspected armed robbers for allegedly raping a married woman at gunpoint. The Police Public Relations Officer in the State Police Command, SP Ikenga Tochukwu, announced this in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday. According to him, the suspects also raped the friend of their first victim beyond recognition, and further robbed them of their belongings, all at gunpoint. The statement read: “In the early hours of 15th June 2024, Police Operatives attached to Abagana division arrested two serial offenders wanted on a case of alleged rape and armed robbery, and recovered two locally made double barrel…
The Anambra Police Command has invited relatives of any of the nine Taraba fishermen, allegedly kidnapped in the state, to come forward with any useful information. Unconfirmed reports that went viral last week, had it that a total of four fishermen were allegedly murdered by yet-to-be-identified persons, while nine others were abducted at River Niger in the State. The incident reportedly happened when the fishermen, who hail from Ibbi Local Government of Taraba State were traveling to the Ossomala community axis of the River Niger, in Ogbaru local government area of the State for their annual fishing activities. The reports…
