By Jude Atupulazi
Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) and the Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) Projects of Nigerian Refineries, has responded to Mr. Chinedu Okoli (aka Flavour Nabania’s) recent statement regarding his decision to hold his father’s funeral in Enugu due to insecurity in his hometown, Umunze, Orumba South LGA, Anambra State.
Ubah said he would have provided the popular musician adequate security if the Anambra State Government had allowed him to replicate the Nnewi Model Security he put in place in the entire Anambra South.
In a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Strategic Communications, Hon. Kamen Chuks Ogbonna, Senator Ubah stated: ‘I would have secured Orumba and the entire Anambra South Senatorial district if the state government hadn’t stopped my security initiative, despite its success in the Nnewi Pilot programme.’
It will be recalled that Ubah in 2023, launched a security initiative aimed at providing a comprehensive security coverage for the Anambra South Senatorial District. Following its success in Nnewi, plans were underway to expand the programme to Orumba North and South, Aguata, Ihiala, Nnewi South, and Ekwusigo.
However, the state government’s interference halted the initiative’s progress, introducing politics into security matters and prioritizing the governor’s second-term bid over the welfare of the people, Ubah said.
Senator Ubah expressed his disappointment over that, saying the state government’s actions had left his constituents vulnerable to security threats, particularly in areas currently under siege by non-state actors, which, he said, would have been liberated by now.
‘I will continue to advocate for the security and well-being of my people, despite the obstacles,’ he said.
On his Nnewi success story, he said that Nnewi was currently the safest town in Anambra State which had been plagued by insecurity.
‘The town hosted several families who braved the odds to return to the state during the Easter Holiday Celebration. It is on record that several businesses, fun spots, and hotels in Nnewi made brisk sales during the period under review while the Easter Holidays lasted. This is largely due to the laudable security architecture I deployed, using a combination of artificial intelligence, local intelligence, walkie-talkies, and 4G High Definition CCTV security networking systems.
‘Additionally, my efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home in Nnewi markets were met with resistance from the state government, which promptly sacked the Chairman of the market union and replaced him with another who was instructed to disregard my directives aimed at reopening the markets on Mondays,’ the release stated.
‘Let me use this medium to apologize to Chinedu Okoli (Mr. Flavour) for missing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate the life and times of his father in his hometown, while also ruining the revenue and tourism potentials that such an event would have brought to Umunze, Orumba South, and Anambra South Senatorial District,’ the release concluded.
