Omabala Assembly National has announced its support for the Senator representing Anambra North, Stella Oduah who is contesting for a re-election.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Omabala people threw their weight behind Oduah in a statement signed by their leader, Fidelisuma Nnelirk-Mmalive.
Nnelirk-Mmalive wrote, “We have taken great pains to meticulously follow the conversation going on and have scanned through most of the arguments. We observed that the period under review spans from the Second Republic to date and the post under consideration is the Senate seat of Anambra North District. We feel delighted, we must confess we assimilated the central themes: a).Its Omabala’s turn; b).Entitlement Psychology. We also observed that most remarks and/or chats that led to these conclusions were driven or motivated by a high degree of ignorance, emotional blackmail, and sheer arrogance. We are compelled to make the following remarks, (broad and lengthy though) because we as elders have been involved in some of the events that made up the conversation and/or interacted with the leaders who drove those events in the past.
“A foremost Nigerian broadcaster of high repute who happens to be one of our greatest minds, but of blessed memory, Ikenna Ndaguba would often say, “The words of elders are words of wisdom which if the young harkens to will become wise”. Just for the records, Anambra NorthSenatorialDistrictcomprises:a). Anambra East, West, Ayemelum and Oyi LGAs as one Zone;b). Ogbaru; Onitsha North and South LGAs as the other Zone. Before we can objectively discuss the issue of Turn creditably, it’s important we go down the memory lane of who has taken as hot at the stake, and which zone h er she is from and the frequency.”
According to him, “The very first position that came to us as we are now as Anambra North, though a different nomenclature (Anambra, Onitsha, and Ogbaru Divisions) then was the Constituent Assembly of 1975. That threw up three great Omabala leaders of all times and a fourth who couldn’t leverage on his network. The venue for that congress to elect the representative was St Augustine Primary School Umuoba Anam Otuocha. The aspirants/contestants were Rt Hon Dr Wilberforce Chuba Okadigbo (lkenga Omabala Oyi of Oyi), handsome, elegant, sagacious, erudite, and flamboyant and Barr Balonwu, (Akunwafo Onitsha), urbane, reserved and calculative. HRM, Igwe JC Emeka, (Akajiaku), royal, intimidating, and decisive, and Dr Tim Menakaya (Ide Umunya), urbane, calm, and maverick led the Omabala solidarity for Chuba Okadigbo and Chief Mike Nwakalor (Omelora Nteje) youthful and courageous young man who took everyone by surprise and did what he did which made Chuba ran unopposed and that gave Omabala the first turn and representative in the Constituent Assembly.”
He added, “The next event was the 1979 National Assembly; this won’t count because the then Senatorial district went beyond the present Anambra North, despite the fact that Senator Barr Chief Nathaniel N Anah (Ozoigbondu) who represented the zone then was resident in Onitsha.
“In 1983 Senator Dr Edwin Onwudiwe (Otigbuanyiya) won the election to the Senate, this time the constituency was beyond the present Anambra North District just as it were when Senator NN Anah represented.So this is off the calculation again.
“Then came the third Republic of IBB, Anambra North was represented by Chuba Okadigbo that was in 1992.Omabalatakesanotherturn, the second.
“In 1995, Hon Barr Mrs Jesse Balonwu won the election to represent Anambra North but for the death of Gen Sanni Abacha, that group wasn’t inaugurated.
“In 1999 with the new Republic, Chuba Okadigbo won the Senatorial election, another Omabalaontheorchid.The third turn.
“In 2003 Senator Emmanuel Anosike won the Senatorial election and inaugurated. But was removed by Senator Joy Emordi in the tribunal and inaugurated as well. Thus this four year tenure was shared by both.
“In 2007, Senator Joy Emordi won and was inaugurated. Again as she did Anosihe, Senator Alphonsus ObiIgbeke won his petition in the court thus removed Emordi and was inaugurated. The two sessions were shared among the three of them with Omabala taking the lion’s share. We can conclude that Senator Anosike (Omabala) took the fourth; Senator Emordi(Ogbaru/Onitsha) took the first Ogbaru/onitsha turn while Senator Igbeke (Omabala) took the fifth Omabala turn.
“In 2011, Senator, Barr Chief Mrs. Magory Okadigbo(Odibeze Oyina Omabala)won the election and represented the district, another Omabala shot, the Sixth.
“In 2015, Senator, Barr Chief, Stella Adaeze Oduah (Omueze,) won the election and represented the zone. The second shot from the Ogbaru/Onitsha to take a turn.
“In 2019, Senator, Stella Oduah, won again the election and represented the Zone. This makes it the third time the Ogbaru/Onitsha had a shot.”
He stressed that “Cognizant of this chronology Omabala Zone has taken six turns while the Ogbaru/Onitsha Zone has only three. The other issue that could be raised is that Senator Stella Oduah has had two turns, why her again. This again is not a novel argument as it has happened before when Omabala had leaders with cohesive solidarity among our people. When great Omabala leaders like Igwe JC Emeka, Dr Tim Menakaya, Ogbuevi Patty Nwokoby, Chief Muofunanya Iheme, Chief Gab Akwaeze and Chief Mike Nwakalor led us this discordant tune were rare. We should have a rethought to find out what is wrong with us. We should go into a soul search to discover how we got to this point? That the Ogbaru/Onitsha Zone has confidence in Senator Oduah should not be our headache now, rather we should try to find out why she remains the best choice for them and the rest of us to do another. That reason is not farfetched. It is their ability to build strong cohesive solidarity as Omabala when we were led by those mentioned above.
“Peter Obi has raised the issue of character, competence and compassion as his salient mantra.This is what should guide our thought process as we go into this election that is within days now. This should be our operating principle as prudent and fair minded people. Peter Obi has raised the issue of character, competence and compassion as his silent mantra. Many want to ride on the chest of Peter Obi but have they asked themselves if their character will rhyme with his or just being opportunistic.
“This is the time when Omabala people should aspire critically to reinvent itself than wallowing arrogantly on turn, pay back and emotional blackmail. Can Omabala honestly say they are fair enough to these our Ogbaru /Onitsha Brethrens? Ogbaru/onitsha Zone have taken three turns and Omabala has taken five; rationalizing that Senator Anosike and Senator Igbeke shared on term. Senator Emordi having shared a term with Anosike and another with Igbeke.”
Nnelirk-Mmalive said, “This is the time to cultivate some of these our leaders who made Omabala solidarity in the past thick and cohesive who are still around. This is the time to start afresh building Omabala solidarity towards the next season; the time is very short to make any credible impact now. Let us back the Ogbaru/Onitsha Zone as they have done to us in the past in days of Rt. Hon Dr Wilberforce Chuba Ohadigbo Oyi of Oyi, the lkenga Omabala and by the grace of God a former President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.This is the time for us to assist once in making our own a Principal officer in the Senate. This is time to show brotherhood, friendship and solidarity to our Ogbaru/Onitsha Zone. I recall with nostalgia the solidarity of men of impeccable repute, we did the extra mile during the run for Chuba Okadigbo for Senate in 1999, Rt. Hon. Chief Okwudili Uzoka (Ojiba Atani), Dr. Chief Fred Oduah to mention a few.We all know that in the Legislature ranking matters most and should we get Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah (Omueze) back to the Senate, the chances of her emergence as a Principal Officer is guaranteed. The distinguished Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah has performed creditable magnificently extraordinary. The proofs of these are verifiable in the infrastructural and super structural development she attracted and impacted to people in the district. Let us join in the making of another Principal Officer and make Anambra North Senatorial District great again.
“However, taking cognizance of the prevailing milieu which call for character, competence and compassion,we recommend that Nltt.25:32be the operating principle in this election; Let us be very careful in the choices we make in this election. Let us avoid being stereotype as well in the choice remake. Let us make Anambra North Senatorial District great again. Let us support Ogbaru/Onitsha Zone in this Senate Election. Let us vote widely.”
