“Any aspirant given a party ticket to stand for an election will run for that election.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The 2025 Anambra State Governorship Election has remained in the front burner. With more than a year before the election, conversations around who becomes the next governor of Anambra State or if the incumbent will continue has intensified. A major part of this debate is the question of zoning. The clamour for zoning must first be seen,...

“Foreign exchange crises have now made remote learning more attractive and ultimately inevitable” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Patronage for foreign education in Nigeria dates back to pre-independent Nigeria. The country’s founding father, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was schooled at Howard University in the United States. Similarly, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nigeria’s founding father, was schooled at the University of London in the United Kingdom. At the time, both founding fathers had no luxury of options. But a few years...

“The elites must provide direction on how Biafra must be remembered.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu On Monday, June 17th, 2024, some innocent people in Nnobi and Nnewi in Anambra state, lost their lives to the activities of armed gangs under the aegis of “unknown gunmen.” This Monday’s episode was only one of the series in the speedy deterioration of Southeast security since 2021. The week before, some soldiers, needless to add of Abia origin, were murdered in...

“In the end, the Southeast would need to rethink not just its politics, but its leadership” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The Southeast has a peculiar problem of leadership challenge and this reflects on business succession, political succession, and general order across the zone. In business, for instance, most businesses owned by Southeast industrialists of high repute between the 1980s and early 2000s have shutdown upon the death of their founders. This is calamitous, but the zone has...

“Flavour went to Enugu apparently because the governor paid no attention to him” —Ebuka Onyekwelu A few days ago, one of Nigeria’s, nay, Africa’s finest and biggest musicians, Chinedu Okoli, more popularly known as Flavour, buried his late father, Elder Benjamin Onyemaechi Okoli. Flavour is from Umunze in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State. But shockingly, while the interment of Elder Benjamin Okoli was held at Umunze, the celebration of life was moved...

“Invitation by ICPC is part of their routine regulatory duties and this should not raise any concern.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The story of the arrest and detention of Mr. Paul Chukwuma is untrue in its entirety. Stories like this are easy to verify. The good thing, however, is that the fake story has once again raised a serious question of credibility and reliability within Nigeria’s media space. It is disturbing that media outfits can just pick...

“If the Anambra Assembly was unfriendly to the labour leaders, they would not be granted them access to the complex.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Some Labour Unionists led by Chikwelu Adigwe, on Monday, interrupted meetings being held by honourable members in the Anambra State Assembly complex. Several reports have unsurprisingly blamed the House of Assembly or the meeting honourable members, especially Hon. Tony Muobike who was captured in a video clip having an exchange of words with...

“Strengthening the political party is a well-proven template for political power acquisition in any party-based democracy.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu One question I have been asked multiple times is why I place the APC ahead of Labour Party in the coming governorship election in Anambra State. My answer is simple. The reality you see should guide you. First of all, there is a deliberate effort to ‘domesticate’ the APC in the state. Secondly, the party has the...

“There might be no better motivation for an enduring legacy in leadership.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu My first comment upon my recent visit to the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University Igbariam, is that leadership can do so much. A few days ago, I was privileged to assess the Anambra State-owned University, now known as Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University. I was intrigued by the level of modest improvements the institution has seen. This pleasant surprise instigated a random investigation around the...

“Biafra remembrance is about the people’s struggles and their faith in a glorious future” —Ebuka Onyekwelu As recent as 2020, May 30th was greeted with total wilful compliance in honour of fallen Biafra heroes. In 2024, the compliance is much the same but for a different reason; more out of fear of horror. On May 30th, 1967, the sovereign state of Biafra was declared by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. This declaration was in response to the...