By Micheal Nnebife
As the November 8 gubernatorial election in Anambra State continues to gather momentum, the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria, TOAN, Anambra State, has launched campaign stickers as part of arrangements to reelect the State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo.
According to the Chairman of the TOAN, Awka South Zone, Prince Collins Ozojiofor, the essence of the campaign stickers, which he described as a sticker for continuity of good governance in Anambra, was to tell Ndi-Anambra the direction the entire Keke riders in the state were taking for the November 8 election.
‘What we did today was to tell our people that we are going for continuity of good governance which Mr Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, and his Deputy, Dr Onyeka Ibezim, are known for.
‘They have performed creditably well, especially in the area of road infrastructure where our members benefit a lot.
‘Before now, we would be on the road today, tomorrow we would be at a mechanic’s workshop repairing our Keke as a result of bad roads.
‘So, we the entire Keke riders in the state are massively supporting Mr Governor and his Deputy one hundred percent for them to do more.
‘Our votes are for them come November 8 election,’ Prince Ozojiofor emphasized, revealing to newsmen that soon, the Keke riders would organize a statewide endorsement rally for the reelection of the Governor and his Deputy.
Ozojiofor further said that the stickers, from now on, would be carried by the entire commercial tricycles in the state so as to ward off the opponents of the Governor who might intend to woo the Anambra Keke riders.
The keke riders’ helmsman urged his subjects to ensure that they got their voter’s cards ready for the November 8 ‘reelection’ of Governor Soludo.
He thanked the State Commissioner for Transport, Hon Patricia Igwebuike; the Managing Director, Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, Hon Ossy Onuko; the Managing Director, Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, OCHA, Brigade, Hon Celestine Anara; the Patron of Awka South Zone of TOAN and Chairman, Eke Awka Traders Association, Ozo Jude Agumadu; among others, for what he described as their unflinching support to keke riders in the zone.
Prince Ozojiofor further appreciated them for their various support for a town hall meeting of the 21 local government areas TOAN coordinators, as well as their executive members during which the campaign stickers were unveiled.
Dignitaries that graced the town hall meeting, which took place at Awka South Local Government Secretariat, Amawbia, on Monday September 15, included the Anambra State Commissioner for Transport, Hon Igwebuike; the Chairman, Awka South Local Government Area, Hon Prince Chinedu Okafor; the Anambra State Chairman, TOAN, Comrade Donatus Ezeanwuna; his Secretary, Comrade Linus Ufoh; the Chairman, Awka Youths, Comrade Philip Ezenwa; among others.
Addressing the Keke riders’ leaders, who gathered for the meeting, the Commissioner for Transport, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Transport Ministry, Engr Mike Obiekwe, thanked the members of TOAN for being united and committed in making themselves available for capturing into the tax net of the state government.
Engr Obiekwe, who affirmed that the state government and the law recognized TOAN as a genuine trade union, also appreciated the members for coming up with the campaign sticker initiative and pledged to convey their request for setting up a keke park around Eke Awka to the Transport Commissioner.
Also speaking, the Awka South Chairman, represented by the Secretary to the Local Government, Sir Peter Uyanwune, thanked the Keke riders for supporting the State Governor, whom, he said, had done well.
In their separate remarks, the Anambra State Chairman and the State Secretary of the TOAN, Comrades Ezeanwuna and Ufoh, respectively, expressed gratitude to Governor Soludo for, according to them, deploying the taxpayers’ money well.
They emphasized that Soludo had resuscitated many roads in the state and still doing more for road users, especially Keke riders, whom they said, suffered most from the effects of a bad road.
‘So Keke people all over Anambra State have accepted his second tenure universally for him to continue to do more,’ they told their members.
Speaking with newsmen, the Chairman, Awka Youths, Comrade Ezenwa, who applauded the leadership of the TOAN, Awka South Zone, appreciated them for initiating the idea for the campaign stickers which he described as a wonderful initiative.
Pasting of the campaign stickers on tricycles by the dignitaries led by the representatives of the Anambra Transport Commissioner, and the Awka South Local Government Chairman, climaxed the town hall meeting in which the Keke riders’ leaders laid complaints about the intimidation their members passed through in the hands of the OCHA Brigade officials, especially around Eke Awka Market.
