Lawrence Chibueze Nwaosuagwu is healthcare practitioner from Abia State but based in the United States of America (USA). He is currently on a mission to bring peace and development in his community in Abia State. In this interview, he spoke on a number of issues, especially the need for peace and unity, developments in Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State, among others. GODFREY OFURUM brings the excerpts:
How has life been with you since you travelled to the USA?
Life has been alright with me since I went to the United States of America. We went there in the struggle to survive and most of us are surviving by the special grace of God compared to life in Nigeria. But we must understand that things are not really what they ought to be, globally.
Though you live in the USA, we are aware that you are constantly in touch with your roots here in Nigeria. How can you describe developments in your community in Abia?
Well, my feeling about what is happening in my community is not too pleasant to the ear when compared with the pace of development in other communities within and outside the state. We are not united in the real sense of the word; so, we need to be united because when I look back at the time of my father and other elders when we were growing up, there was cordial relationship among families. So, a lot of things need to be done to get the community together again so that there can be progress in the community and it is not something one can do in isolation. We need the combination of forces of what we have to get peace to reign in our community like the youths, men and the women in the community so that there will be progress in Nsirimo autonomous community.
Without good leadership there will be no togetherness; so, we need strong and viable leadership to pull resources together with the aim of achieving something for the growth and prosperity of our people. Any community without leadership is like a ship going without a sailor. So, we need leadership in our community. And, since our Eze (King) died about eight years ago, we have not had a leader who can bring the people together to make sure that the community moves in the right direction and I think the community needs it to make things functional.
So, what is your idea of traditional institution especially in Igboland and in Nsirimo autonomous community in particular?
Well, traditional institution has been our way of life under the customary law of leadership not necessarily in Igboland but all over Nigeria before independence and an acceptable way of life by people living in particular area for easier access to local, state and federal government in the country. So, we cannot shy away from it because that was the way our forefathers governed themselves peacefully without any rancour then. We have to follow it and modernise it to be in line with the 21st century.
Which type of modernisation are you talking about?
You see the type of modernisation I am talking about is for us to get good leadership with capable and able Eze cabinet that can attract development, peace and unity in our community and he should have idea of what can be done in the areas of infrastructural development in the community. With that, you will see development in our educational sector and our productive life will increase from consumption to production in agriculture, and so many other things that will improve our general development.
What is the strength of the Eze in Nsirimo autonomous community?
As I said earlier, a strong traditional institution requires good leadership and therefore, the strength of an Eze is with those around him. There should be a strong cabinet with capable hands and the support of the community because the Eze must have a supportive cabinet to move forward. He must also be accepted by the local and state governments, to be able to lead his people very well. We understand that you have your eyes on the kingship position and how do you think you can contribute to the development of your community if you become Eze. If I become the Eze, there are many ways I can attract development to my community because of the leadership experience I have acquired over the years both in Nigeria and in the United States of America. And, to start with on a personal level I have been doing the best I can to bring development to my community. First of all, we have to think about education because it is very important because education has to play a major role in bringing development in my community. And how that will happen is by thinking how we can refurbish our primary and secondary schools in the community that are in desolate conditions so that our youths can go to school and get education and knowledge and when they get education they will return their knowledge to the community for developments to continue to grow and function very well. So, education will be one of my priorities. And, we can decide to have an educational scholarship fund that can award scholarships to children to give them that strength that the community is behind them to move them forward to higher level of becoming doctors, engineers, nurses and lawyers and professionals that can bring development to our community but where we don’t have them it is a problem and developments becomes difficult and slow. We can also create small scale factories where we can train people locally and that will help to create employment in our community and as well enhance development in our community. So, there are so many ways to get development in our community like electricity and solar power energy so that we can have light any time our place is in darkness.
On a personal note, I have started doing that by installing solar panels from our place to in front of Assemblies of God church. I intend doing more. If our community has good leadership we can plan on how to expand it and achieve more for the betterment of our people in Umuako. And within a short period of time of five to six years our community will be a different place all together. From, there you will know that there are people working and planning for the community and they will see it happening.
But how worried are you about the low level of development in your community especially in the educational sector?
Well, as I said earlier, it is part of my concern and priority to see the development of education in my place as somebody who has been out for a very long time in United States of America seeing the development of education and its impact on their society so it worries me that we are not where we are supposed to be educationally. Education should be our priority to move the community forward and so how do we do that is to have schools where everybody can go whether they have money or not. When you have only private schools whose primary aim is to make money it becomes difficult to achieve quality education for all. But if we refurbish and modernise our primary and secondary schools in Umuako and Nsirimo with qualified teachers and professionals people will be happy to go to the schools. And try as much as possible to equip the schools with science books in biology, chemistry and others it will be the nucleus of moving forward. And in the next ten to fifteen years, you will see bright and qualified doctors and various other professionals in the community.
Your community appears to be in crisis over the kingship as so many people are laying claim to it. What is actually the problem?
Well, I should say that the problem of the Ezeship is selflessness because to me the Ezeship shouldn’t bring any crisis to our community but because of selflessness people are doing it as if that they can do it by themselves. Everybody is struggling to get in there by force without due process. No, it is not done like that. It is done by the people of the community because you cannot just come out and say you want to be an Eze without the approval of your community because you are not going to lead or serve yourself. alone. So, the Ezeship is done by the people of the community and therefore not an individual thing because you cannot rule over your people in isolation. Therefore, an Eze is chosen by the community who can make the community to move forward, who can function effectively with clear mind of leadership. And because of the crisis going on the community have to come together to end it for the betterment of our people. Secondly, we have to have a constitution which will be our Bible that will guide us for future reference so that this crisis that is going on now will not occur again in our community. It is very important we have a constitution to avoid future crisis.
But how far have you gone personally to mobilise for peace to reign in your community?
It is not something you can say you will or can do alone. I belong to three groups in Nsirimo that intercede in issues like this. The Nsirimo thinktank and we have meeting every two months to intercede in problems going on in our community like the Erim and Ezu Umuako and Umuaha and so on. And I also belong to other groups that look into issues and resolve them amicably. I have been playing that role very effectively so I don’t have to come out to blow my trumpet for what I have done or what I will continue doing for my community and my people.
What has your foundation done to touch the lives of your people in your community?
If you ask people from Umuako, they will tell you that I have given scholarships to people and I have told our kids that if any of them passes examination to study medicine, engineering, law and any of the professional courses they should call upon me as an instrument in making sure their school fees will not be a problem. And if eventually it reaches a level that I cannot personally fund it alone I will get other educational foundations to join me to make it big to fund it and encourage more people to go to school to study.
What is your take on the state of affairs in Abia State under Alex Otti in the last one year?
You see, Abia State has been very unfortunate in terms of leadership in the last twenty four years, due to bad governance. Abia State has suffered greatly but fortunately for the past one year, God has shown the light through Alex Otti. Alex Otti is a God’s gift to the state. In short, God brought Otti to deliver Abia from what the state went through If Otti continues like this, Abia State will wear different look and shape. I am very optimistic that Alex Otti is going to do well so we have to support him to succeed especially what he is doing in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state.
Finally, what is your message to your people?
My message to my people is let us leave in peace and be united so that we can achieve greatness together. We should try as much as possible to be united for the progress of our community and the society generally.
