Ayogu Mobilises For Adada State

The chairman,    Senate Committee  on Media and Publicity, Senator Ayogu Eze Monday convened a meeting in Nsukka  his country home, to mobilise agitators for the creation of Adada State for next week’s public hearing being organised by the Senate in furtherance of the process for review of the 1999 constitution.

 Addressing the stakeholders including, former information minister, Chief Nnia Nwodo, leader of Adada state Movement and former speaker of the defunct East House of Assembly, HRH, Igwe Charles Abangwu, National Assembly members from the area, chairman of the Enugu State Committee for Actualisation of the Creation of Adada State, Gen. Godwin Ugwoke ( rtd.) and   leaders of political parties, among others. Senator Eze disclosed  that of the 17 requests already before the senate for state creation, only that of Adada has had no opposition from either within the area or within Enugu State.

  The absence of opposition, according to him, places the request in a vantage over other agitations for state creation.

   He, therefore ,  recalled  how the proposed Adada state had emerged from the South East during the tenure of the immediate past leadership of the National Assembly, adding that the leadership of the movement for the creation of the state as well as the state committee set up by  governor Chime of Enugu State  had excelled in the task handed down to it, having met all the constitutional requirements for submission of all memoranda and necessary data to both arms of the National Assembly.

  While assuring that there was no  going back on stance of the pro-state creation legislators at NASS who came together to oppose any move to amend the constitution without creating states, he disclosed that the senate president was aware of this group’s disposition.

 While expressing optimism that the public hearing would be a huge success, he assured that the exercise would in no way duplicate the responsibilities of the Adhoc Committee on Constitutional Review headed by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

  According to him, the public hearing, which was set up in the six Geo – Political Zones of the country , would only listen to the views of different people on constitutional review, gather them and report back to the parent committee.

  Senator Eze, who  expressed satisfaction over the mammoth crowd that graced the occasion, expressed the hope that the dream of the Adada State agitators would surely be actualised.

  The Senate’s spokesman, who represents Enugu North district in the senate, announced a donation of 1,000 T-shirts and 1,000 caps, which will be won by the people as part of his efforts to actualise massive turnout of the people of the area at the venue of the two-day public hearing.

   Presenting an overview of the struggle in the past years, Gen. Ugwoke urged the people of the area to be ready to cover the entire length of the distance required to travel to get the state of their dream which was dropped during the last state creation exercise to pave the way for Ebonyi as Igbo leaders decided at that time.

   Also speaking, the chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in the state, Chief Vita Abba stated that the case for Adada was being presented also before the committee of state chairmen of the party in the South East zone “so that they will give their blessing”

  In his speech at the occasion, Hon. Patrick Asadu of the House of Representatives urged the people to remain prayerful, adding that efforts were on top gear to convince leaders of other influential parts of the country to accede to the requests for state creation.

  Meanwhile,  the people of Enugu  will take their turn at the public hearing on Monday, December 14,2009.