“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...

When I saw the trending pictures of Dr. Tim Menakaya’s 90th birthday, the first thing I quipped was that Ide Umunya is neither in his Anambra hill-top home nor his Abuja residence. Dr. Tim is a man of many positive parts and he is no stranger to opulence and good care. Hence, I was curious to unravel the location of the birthday celebration that apparently appeared like a private event. I later looked at some...

“…As it stands, it is Umudim that should produce the TC in Nnewi North” —Ebuka Onyekwelu For about two weeks now, there have been all sorts of agitations, machinations, and accusations in connection to the selection of the next Transition Chairman – TC, of Nnewi North local government. This followed Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s plan to change the Transition Chairmen most of whom have now spent about two years on the job. The current Nnewi North...

“In Governor Willie Obiano’s two terms of eight years, there was no mention of local government election” —Ebuka Onyekwelu For over a decade, Anambra State has not conducted a local government election. The last local government election in Anambra State was conducted by Governor Peter Obi, just three months before his exit as governor, after two terms of eight years. It is not clear if what Obi conducted can be rightly regarded as an election,...