ABIA NORTH CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY IS HERE TO FIGHT INSECURITY IN OUR FRONTLINES.
It is no longer news that a new advocacy group, Abia North Consultative Assembly, ANCA came into the social political lexicon with promises for a better future for Abians from the five frontline states of our northern border, Arochukwu, Bende, Isiukwuato, Ohafia and Umunneochi LGAs.
The formation of ANCA on Easter Monday sent shock waves across the political stratum of Abia North among the leading political parties who had started jostling for 2027. Both APC and PDP in Abia North for fear of the unknown, quickly convened their own versions of Abia North meetings to counter the would be effect of ANCA which they believe would rub political shoulders of relevance with their various political parties.
But ANCA by their released communique after their Easter Retreat were emphatic that they are not in competition with any political party nor are they rubbing shoulders with the government of the day. Rather, the advocacy and non partisan group was birthed to fill the void left by myriad of unaddressed issues of governance which are of utmost concern with the people of the zone.
The Abia North zone are confronted by common problems of power blackout, insecurity arising from foreign fulani herdsmen, poor farm yields, poor road infrastructure, non availability of public water supply in the zone, apparent neglect of industrialization in the zone, erosion and ecological menace, abandonment of vast agricultural estates in the zone, massive youth unemployment in the zone, INEC perennial incapacity to conduct free and fair elections in the zone, poor leadership selection processes in the zone, the list goes on.
Having a general non partisan consultative assembly like ANCA provides a clear road map in resolving some of these problems rather than relying on party based political affiliations and the government they bring about. Both the political parties and the government are known to avoid certain sensitive issues due to being politically correct and the Nigeria factor. We must find a way to keep these issues on the front burner till they are resolved.
Membership requests to our group invite links from members of the Abia North divide are massive and a clear indication that the people are in search of alternate answers to plethora of existential problems confronting the zone. ANCA leaders are not taking these requests for granted but rather see it as a call to duty in bringing succor to our people.
Buoyed by these inundating requests, ANCA leadership has embarked on building local government chapters of the body to accommodate the influx of our people who want to be involved in the self determination agendas of the group. We have set a target of 1000 members for each of the five LGAs before our next general meeting in July.
ANCA leaders while explaining our agendas to a select few Abia North stakeholders in Umuahia on Thursday, 9th of May has made it clear that we’re not going to fold our hands and watch our communities overrun by a sponsored insurgency group fighting for domination while the government continues to look the other way. While their fight for domination remains very serious, our own fight to defend our people should be even more serious. Our security committee are presently studying the pattern of incursion into our various communities and would soon present our reports to the government, security agencies and the communities to adopt strategies for self defense.
ANCA will not play politics with our people’s security. ANCA will be in the front to defend our communities against foreign invaders. We are by this notice calling on Abians of goodwill to support ANCA to strengthen our common voice by enlisting in our various local government chapters of the body. ANCAAAAA, our voice, our strength, our future.
Engr. Dr Odo Ijere
Reverend Dr O.C Obioha
Chief Arch. Eme Uche.
