ONITSHA – The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, on Saturday urged the Federal Government to ensure the completion of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe Mausoleum.
Achebe made the call at the 13th Ofala Festival and opening of a new palace in Onitsha, Anambra.
He said that it was becoming a national embarrassment that the Federal Government had not honoured Azikiwe 20 years after initiating the project.
“We acknowledge the progress of work on the second Niger Bridge and Onitsha Shopping mall.
“However, we are concerned that work has been stalled at Zik’s Mausoleum; while work on the mausoleum resumed with vigour at the start of the present tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, it stopped suddenly.
“It is a national embarrassment that we have not duly honoured this great nationalist,’’ he said.
Achebe also expressed worry that the last two years had been dominated by strife, particularly in the Middle East, Syria and Ukraine.
“The Boko Haram insurgents had become very audacious.
“The kidnapping of the Chibok school girls has become iconic for very sad reasons; no doubt international terrorism has arrived in Nigeria and is a distinct affront to our sovereignty.
“It is therefore incumbent on all well meaning citizens, irrespective of our diversity, to rally behind Mr President to defeat this invasion.
“We support the government’s strategy to cooperate with our neighbouring countries and the international community in meeting the challenge,’’ he said.
On the forthcoming general election, Achebe implored political parties to imbibe the best tenets of democracy.
He said National Conference and the successful containment of the Ebola Virus Disease crisis made Nigerians to renew their faith in governance.
“I implore Mr President and the National Assembly to ensure that those recommendations in the National Conference were implemented.
“While the creation of additional states is widely supported, it is paramount that further detailed consideration must be given to ensuring equity and balance in the overall distribution of states in the country. [eap_ad_1] “It must not be for those in leadership positions to appropriate the proposed states for sectional interest,’’ he said.
In a goodwill message, President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by Sen. Ben Obi, a Senior Special Adviser on Inter-Party Relations, said he would soon be in Onitsha on a visit.
“Your majesty brings pride to the Igbo man, to Nigeria and the country’s traditional institution, while I pray that Onitsha Ofala grows from strength every year,’’ the president said.
Also speaking, Gov. Willie Obiano attributed the increase in attendance at the 2014 Ofala festival to the security provided by the state government.
“People are moving without police escort; we have declared total war on criminals and we must win the war against criminals decisively,’’ Obiano said. (NAN)
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