The Traditional Ruler of Ndiowu community in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Ben Okekeifi, has called on community stakeholders to embrace reconciliation and unite behind the newly constituted caretaker committee of the Ndiowu Town Union to end the prolonged leadership crisis in the area.
Igwe Okekeifi, who expressed support for the Chibuzor Jonathan Okoli-led committee, described the intervention of the Anambra State Government under Governor Chukwuma Soludo as a necessary step towards resolving the crisis, which he said had caused divisions, disagreements and legal battles in the community.
The monarch said the appointment of the caretaker committee had provided Ndiowu with an opportunity to rebuild trust, restore stability and prepare the ground for a credible election of a substantive town union executive.
Okoli was appointed chairman of the committee following the dissolution of the former town union executive led by Mr Sunday Enemuo, by the State Ministry of Local Government and Town Union Affairs, citing a 2016 court judgment obtained by some individuals over the alleged setting aside of the 1990 Constitution of Ndiowu Town Union.
A section of the community had over the weekend, embarked on a protest over what they described as ‘the dissolution of a democratically elected Town Union Executive Committee by the state government and the subsequent installation of a caretaker committee to administer the affairs of the community.’
The protesters described the government’s action as an affront to its democratic rights and a threat to the peace and development it had enjoyed following the return of elected leadership in 2021.
The protesters specifically rejected the caretaker committee constituted by the Anambra State Government.
But, in a chat with newsmen on Tuesday, the Ndiowu monarch Igwe Okekeifi, while congratulating Okoli and other members of the committee, charged them to discharge their responsibilities with fairness, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability.
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He assured the committee of the traditional institution’s support, stressing that its success would be critical to restoring peace and promoting development in the community.
The monarch also urged the committee to shun sectional interests and ensure that all stakeholders were carried along in the reconciliation process, noting that its immediate responsibility was to rebuild confidence among the people and facilitate a peaceful transition to an elected town union administration.
He appealed to Ndiowu indigenes at home and in the diaspora to put aside their differences, forgive one another and support efforts to restore unity.
“I want to specifically call on village leaders, elders, women groups and youths to cooperate with the caretaker committee. We must understand that meaningful community development cannot take place in an atmosphere of persistent conflict.
“The Ndiowu traditional institution will continue to provide guidance and support for genuine initiatives aimed at resolving the crisis,” he said.
The monarch expressed confidence that with the cooperation of the people, the new committee would help the community overcome its challenges, urging all stakeholders to place the collective interest and future of Ndiowu above personal considerations.
“The time has come to rebuild Ndiowu through peace, unity and collective responsibility,” he declared.
