Author: Ikenga Online
Most Igbo men born in the ’80s down grew up with shoulders high, taking pride in their tribe’s glowing tributes. We were told how our fathers survived, with spartan spirit, the vengeful hardship visited upon the tribe by Nigeria troops in the 30-month Biafra war. How they bore the pain of defeat valiantly and rose from the rubble of £20 to become stakeholders in our national economy. The tribe outlived her adversaries and became the envy of other ethnic nationalities. Many in my generation agreed that our people were of “superior” stock. Some held the view that Igbos are…
If you have been in company of late, you would have met one, two or three opinions about the coming Enugu governorship election. And one thing would have featured prominently: the tendency to bring Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and speaker of the ECOWAS parliament into the discussion. I hardly know Ike. He had briefly lectured in the University of Nigeria where I studied and we were proud, while I was there, that one of our own had climbed so high. He visited the university on one occasion and we sat and listened with pride. He…
By Steve Oko THE ERA OF EPILEPTIC POWER SUPPLY TO ABA WILL SOON BE OVER. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Geometric Power Plant, Mazi Barth Nnaji, a professor of robotics, has assured that the company would fully come on stream in four to six months time. Nnaji who was former Minister for Power gave the assurance while addressing newsmen at the Geometric Power Plant Osisioma, said the company would not give electricity billing based on estimation. According to him, bills will be calculated on the benchmark issued by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, until the consumers are provided…
By Steve Oko PENSIONERS IN ABIA STATE HAVE THREATENED A SHOW-DOWN WITH GOVERNOR OKEZIE IKPEAZU-LED GOVERNMENT. This is as a result of months of unpaid pension which has plunged them into debts and misery. The senior citizens who claimed that a number of their members have been forced to their early graves as a result hardship following the backlog of pension arrears, vowed to fight back with their last pint of blood. In a communique issued after their monthly congresses in Umuahia, the pensioners claimed that the state owed them for a cumulative 37 months from 2014. The pensioners also…
By Our Reporter VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, HAS DESCRIBED THE IGBO APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME (IGBA BOI) as “the most popular indigenous Nigerian economic institution, globally recognized as the world’s largest business incubator.” Osinbajo who spoke at a national summit on ‘Understanding the Apprenticeship Model’ held in Awka, Anambra State, said the scheme had the potential to fast-track Nigeria’s economy. The Professor of Law who joined the summit virtually, expressed delight that several millionaires had been created by the scheme across Igbo land over the years. According to The Niche report, Osinbajo said the scheme known as ‘Igba boi’ in the local…
I hardly knew that returning to my hometown six years after I left would be a depressing experience for me. The last time I was a full resident of Nnobi, my hometown, was as a 15-year-old high school graduate leaving town for the university. Now done with my university education and National Youth Service program, I was returning home a free man, full of dreams and a desire to rest with my family and friends after all those years with strangers in lands far away from home. I stepped down at Nnobi, feeling like I’d been on a shuttle that…
The Federal Government on Thursday inaugurated and handed over a rehabilitated one kilo The Federal Government on Thursday inaugurated and handed over a rehabilitated one kilometer road to the management of Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu. The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, described the project as an important and critical intervention to support education. Fashola was represented by the Controller, Works, Federal Ministry of Works, Enugu State, Mr Olufemi Oyekanmi. The minister said that the gesture was part of deliberate efforts by the current administration to improve the human condition. He said that the…
The tone often strikes whimsical when a political activist like Omoleye Sowore is reminded that his reward is in paradise. That is to the extent that we believe his kind is unlike the motley crew that pride themselves as pragmatists and worship in the shrine of Nicollo Machiavelli. This second group have dominion over the levers of power and so for them, a bumper harvest here on earth is fully guaranteed. But there is a subset in between those two groups whose reward is neither here nor there. They are loathed by the political class, demonized by the masses and…
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama says the Federal Government has not contemplated imposing sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Onyeama disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Mrs Sarah Sanda and made available to Ikengaonline in Enugu. Recall that an online publication had quoted Onyeama to have said that Nigeria was ready to impose sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. However, the minister described such statement credited to him as false and misrepresented. The statement partly reads: “The minister clearly said”, ‘we would act in the framework of the United…
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama says only documented Nigerian nationals living in Ukraine will be evacuated as the Federal Government concludes arrangements for the first batch of evacuation. Onyeama disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement signed by the Spokesperson of the ministry, Mrs Francisca Omayuli and made available to Ikengaonline in Enugu. The minister said that the affected evacuees would return home via Romania, Poland and Hungary. He, therefore, appealed to those willing to return home to get documented with the Nigerian Embassies in order to be eligible for evacuation. Onyeama said that those without passports would be…