……… As Nsukka Council Boss Hon. Jude Asogwa Takes His Political Survival to CEC Hall, UNN
The Nsukka Elders Forum has cautioned traditional rulers in the council against getting involved in politics.
The group said the meeting where the council chairman called some persons, including traditional rulers, to help beg stakeholders to follow him on a re-election visit to the Governor should not be tolerated.
In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Silas Onyishi, and sent to newsmen on Tuesday, he stated that the council chairman, who has performed abysmally, is using every available avenue to manipulate the people.
He stated that one of the manipulative strategies was a meeting he called at the CEC Hall, located on the University of Nigeria campus, Nsukka, where he begged the Chairman of the Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Highness, Igwe Ikechukwu Asadu, to help him beg stakeholders to follow him on the said journey, adding that such a request is antithetical to the virtues that guide traditional institutions.
He stressed that Hon. Jude Asogwa, who suspended over 12 councillors, was begged by the same stakeholders he now needs to allow them to operate, which he refused, and wondered why he is now seeking their assistance.
He also stated that Igwe Asadu was part of the leaders in Nsukka who advised that the chairman resolve all issues with the suspended 12 councillors, advice he refused to heed, and urged the monarch to focus on his traditional leadership responsibilities and allow Hon. Jude Asogwa to face his political battles alone.
The elders further noted that repeated attempts by respected leaders and community stakeholders to mediate the lingering crisis between the council chairman and the suspended councillors have been ignored. They warned that dragging traditional institutions into partisan political struggles could deepen divisions in the area and erode the respect accorded to traditional rulers. The group called on political actors to separate governance from desperation and allow due process and dialogue to prevail in resolving internal council disputes.
According to him, “Hon Jude Asogwa called a meeting at the CEC Hall at UNN recently. Ogadagidi (Igwe Asadu Ikechukwu) was among those present. The purpose was to beg him to bring stakeholders to follow him and see the Governor. He was practically pleading, yet he keeps shouting that some leaders are his. How can you alienate councillors, elders, and stakeholders and still expect them to follow you on a political journey? People were surprised because the same individuals he sidelined are now the ones he needs. This approach is confusing and shows a lack of political tact.”
Nsukka Elders Forum also stated that the level of anarchy experienced in the local government under Jude Asogwa’s administration, especially among traders, is what no human being should experience.
“It is clear that his leadership favors and thrives on anarchy. Within six months of his ascendancy in office, he visited virtually all markets and trade unions within the locality with policies that can best be described as divisive measures. Today, from Ogige Market to Aku Road, from Afor Opi to Timber Market, it has been the same tale of invasion and devastation of their preexisting organizational unity. No human being deserves such treatment, and we pray not to have a leader like him again.”
