What brings out the best from any leader is passion for service which drives him to action – Lekwuwa

Ifeanyi Lekwuwa is a grassroots politician and community leader in Abia State. He is the president general of Nsirimo Amaise Development Union (NAIDU) in the state. In this interview with some select journalists, he spoke on recent developments in the area, his achievements as leader, and challenges facing his people. Lekwuwa said that there was need for unity and peace for peace for any community to make progress. SABY ELEMBA brings the excerpts:

What is the motivation behind the Nsirimo Amaise Development Union Day celebration on December 30, 2024?

Thank you very much for this question. The celebration is done every two years and it offers all sons, daughters, in laws, friends and well-wishers the opportunity of coming together to identify with our community and it is celebrated with a project launch for the development of our community. And from inception, it is the duty of NAIDU executive to organise it and get the blessings of the Royal fathers of the three Autonomous communities. Now, we also use it as a way of celebrating of our culture. During this occasion, we honour our illustrious sons and daughters who haves excelled in their chosen careers and who have done something good to the community. The honour is usually bestowed on such people by way of Chieftaincy tittle which is done by the Royal fathers.

May we know some of the highlights of the occasion?

The highlights of the occasion will be the awards that will be given to our sons and daughters who have excelled in their chosen careers. As a matter of fact, in the whole of Nsirimo Amaise as I speak with you today, we have four professors among the distinguished and respected professors in the nation’s universities; these four professors, we are going to honour them with an award of excellence. We will also honour our sons and daughters who are dead like Professor Uchenna, Professor Ekeke. We are also going to honour His Royal Majesty, the late M. I. Akpaka and Highness, the late Eze Okwuonu with a posthumous award for their services to the community while they were alive. Nsirimo Amaise does not have a City Hall because sometime in 2013 the then government started the idea of the project but unfortunately, until now nothing has been done from where they stopped; so, this present government, in a bid to remove that shame from us has decided to do a fresh launch of N200 million. We will also have other activities.

Can you provide an overview of your stewardship since you assumed office?

I think one of the things that bring out the best from any leader is passion for service because it drives you to action and as a matter of fact, I can say without fear or favour that I have the passion to serve my people.

I love the community with passion and I want it to be the best. I want the name of that community to be heard in virtually every part of Nigeria and many parts of the world. And when I took up the mantle of leadership as the president general of NAIDU, I looked at what could hinder progress in that community and I observed that one of them was the high level of misunderstanding and crisis we had in the three Autonomous communities. So, I set up a reconciliation and peace committee and the members of the committee went to work with all their hearts; but of course, you know that to destroy is always very easy but to rebuild is usually very difficult. The committee didn’t find the task easy because there were lots of ups and downs in the cause of doing their jobs. So, I will say that we really did not achieve the much-expected results but you know, as it is said, it is not over until it is over. We are still forging ahead; working hard to see how we can resolve all the crises that we have in the community, and even as at today, we are still doing that.

And the people of Nsirimo Amaise know that my government is passionate about peace and reconciliation and we strongly believe that there will be no meaningful development in any community if there is no peace; so, that is very cardinal to our government. We have successfully paid all the vigilance groups for a full one year and all the security personnel received their salaries even though what we are paying them might not be enough in the present-day economic challenges facing the country. But the greatest achievement this present government recorded was that one of our sons in the person of Chinedu Enwereuzo became the Chairman of Umuahia South Local Government for the first time in the past twenty five years in the history of Abia State, because Nsirimo Amaise has been seeking the opportunity of having one of our own elected as the executive chairman of Umuahia South Local Government. But it is worthy to note that some months ago, as a result of cooperation, NAIDU was able to work with our sons and daughters, and we are proud to say today that Nsirimo Amaise has a local government Chairman at Umuahia South, Abia State in the person of Engineer Chinedu Enwereuzo. This is the greatest achievement I will say this government has achieved so far, and I am glad it happened now. And also, there will be more we will achieve if we are able to get a favourable environment.

What are the major challenges facing your government and how do you want to overcome them?

Well, the major challenges we face is lack of understanding among some of our people and funny enough, some of them are leaders in their rights and this is the same problem that Nigeria has. Perhaps, I did not appreciate it before now, until I came to power because I realised that in the minds of past leaders many of them did not want their successors to achieve more than they achieved while in office and that is actually what is affecting what we are doing right now. I will say that part of the problem we are having has to do with people who were supposed to know and do not want to know, and it is causing a lot of issues for us. But let me correct myself; we do not see it as a problem so to speak, but rather, we are beginning to see them as challenges and because they are challenges, we are moving forward and we are convinced that we will overcome. We also believe that more challenges will come and as they come, we will tackle them and we are not running away from them. There are lots of challenges and differences in the Autonomous communities and we are having two Autonomous communities that are saying that a particular Autonomous community that is answering Nsirimo should change their name and things like that. But for us as an executive, whatever needs to be done will be done; the only thing is the approach we use may become a problem. Honestly, we are in it because I am working tirelessly with the Mayor of Umuahia South who is our son to ensure that this grey areas are ironed out as soon as possible so that Nsirimo Amaise Day celebration will be a huge success.

What should Nsirimo Amaise people expect from you in the remaining days of your tenure?

What I think they should expect from me and my executives is what they give to us and if they give us the support that we need and create an enabling environment, I can assure them that we will take Nsirimo Amaise to greater heights and restore the lost glory of Nsirimo Amaise and also create an enabling environment for developments to thrive in the five villages of Nsirimo Amaise. We will want to ensure there is more unity and want to see that our Royal fathers enjoy their respect and honour due them. We are prepared to restore the lost glory of Nsirimo Amaise and make our forefathers who laboured seriously in spite of their shortcomings, because of their lack of education, awareness and exposure, yet, they were able to coexist peacefully; so, we have no option but to see that there is unity in Nsirimo Amaise. And Nsirimo Amaise must remain one because we are better together than divided. This is the major project we will continue to pursue vigorously and we are hopeful that with God on our side, we will continue to excel.

Finally, what is your message to Nsirimo Amaise as the celebration holds?

My message to Nsirimo people is that wherever they are, they should come on 30th December 2024 to be part of the new era of Nsirimo that is emerging gradually because there will be no wedding, no burial or event that will take place in Nsirimo Amaise that day. And then, as they come, they should invite their friends, professional colleagues and business associates to that occasion with the mindset that we are going to have a peaceful occasion and we all will leave there to continue the next day because there are lots of activities we have packaged that will keep our sons and daughters busy and make them feel the spirit of being together.