Onitsha South LGA

Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State, is one of heavily populated council areas of the state. Businesses and communal activities are on the rise and thriving as well.

While the council may be unarguably the most famed as and busiest as well, however, it has also be involved in quite a number of controversies, with some of those controversies easily resolved and forgotten about just in the same manner that they emanated.

While for inexplicable reasons some of those controversies just refused to go away despite efforts by the council management to dispel them. They somehow waved themselves into what has become the narrative of the council.

What is even more intriguing about all of these controversies is that the figure at the centre of its all most times is the number and leading figure of the council’s management, that it Chairman, Chief Emeka Joseph Orji. For all you know, Orji has since ran out his tenure as chairman of the council, however, some of those controversies have trailed him even now in his private life.

This development, for many people and those who have followed the antecedents of Orji, is very worrisome, leaving many to wonder whether Orji’s middle name is originally controversy, as many now refer to him in their private discussions and even in public arena, that for those daring enough, as Mr Controversy.

Controversies

While in offices legion of controversies trailed the former chairman. The countless list include; that of a two storey building, which collapsed at Ochanja Market; demolition of alleged illegal structures and shanties; dispute with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) over ownership of either lands or parks.

Added to this list is a number of court cases, some of which emanated from the actions of the council as headed then by Orji. One of those areas that generated series of litigations for Orji and the council is that of buildings either demolished or legal rights reclaimed by the council.

At some point he had issues with traders that were obstructing the high ways and access roads into the Onitsha main market following the level of damage done by an inferno at the Bridge Head Drug Market, which would have been battled. It is still at Onitsha South LGA that a certain video went viral that the state government was fetching water with water can to supply water to the ongoing water fountain at Ochanja Market.

Also, Orji was accused of using members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as members of the Vigilante Services (AVS) to intimidate members of the public. This development almost raised hell as he was locked in a tussle with the Spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful. His battle and controversies also brought him on the battle line with revenue collectors, who he accused of stealing the government blind and ripping off the unsuspecting public. A number of the revenue collectors fought him to a standstill over this legation.

Demolition of property

Orji, for many was not only brutal in his handling of his official duties especially in fighting perceived illegal activities but was also uncompromising and never spared anyone that went against the laws regardless of whoever was involved.

This nonsense stand of his was better exemplified by Orji not only ordering the demolition of his late father’s property but actually saw to its demolition. The building was said to have contravened building law as the setbacks went beyond the statutory setbacks mandated by the Anambra Physical Planning Board.

Back in the news

With him out of office, one expected Orji to live a quiet and simple life as a private person, but it is like the controversies that have dogged his heels all over the years are not having none of that as once again the former chairman is back on the news as another controversy regarding his dealing in the office has reared its head.

This time, making the rounds is a certain viral video on the Social Media alleging that he diverted 1,300 sanitation buckets meant for the public to his house in Onitsha, a development that has put him in the eye of the storm.

His traducers are accusing him of not being clean in his duties as a public office holder, urging Governor Charles Soludo not to reappoint him as Chairman while also calling for his probe. Following the tenor of this accusation, many have said that it is politically motivated as Soludo is in the process of naming new council chairmen for the councils’ again in the coming months.

The fact that those accusing him of diverting the sanitation buckets, are among others asking the governor not to consider him for reappointment is a pointer to this angle.

Contractor’s defence

As this accusation rages, the contractor who supplied the said diverted sanitation buckets by him, has come to rescue, disclosing that nothing like ever happened. According to the contractor of Menezes International Limited, Sir Edwin Ukaora; “The attention of Menezes International Limited has been drawn to a video and report alleging that the former Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Chief Emeka Joseph Orji, stocked Anambra state government sanitation buckets at his private residence in Onitsha.

“Against this backdrop, the management of Menezes International Limited wishes to state as follows; That the said allegations are not only false but unfounded as the property in question belongs to the company; That the true position is that Menezes International Limited was contracted to supply sanitation buckets to the Anambra State government;

“That by the time the buckets were procured for distribution the firm had serious challenge of where to keep those buckets totaling 300 as first batch of the supply and later 1,000 buckets; He further stated that: “Menezes had no option but to search for space, and it is on record that the company approached warehouses in Onitsha, and they charged her high cost of storage, which the company found too expensive to pay.

“On a second thought, Menezes International Limited approached the then Chairmen of Onitsha North and South local government areas, and they accepted to allow the firm to store those buckets under their custody; “Onitsha North LGA had enough space to store some of the buckets while Onitsha South had no such space hence the Chairman Chief Emeka Joseph Orji offered his residence in Onitsha for the company to store those buckets at no cost at all;

“Consequent upon the above, the board and management of Menezes International Limited wish to state categorically that the said buckets is owned by the company and was not diverted by the former Chairman of Onitsha South LGA Chief Emeka Joseph Orji;

“That those buckets still bear the name of the company that supplied them, which is Menezes International Limited; the management sees those spurious allegations as a calculated attempt by some bunch of paid agents and rabble rousers to dent the image and reputation of Chief Emeka Joseph Orji.

“The management of Menezes International Limited wishes to urge the general public to discountenance those reports as they are misleading and smack of campaign of calumny targeted at the former Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area.”

Appointment of Transition Committee Chairmen Speculations are rife within the state, especially among the faithful of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that this present allegation against Orji may not be unconnected to the search for chairmen to head the Transition Committees of the 21 LGAs.

This is coming on the heels of Soludo’s directive to the stakeholders’ of the party at the local government level to nominate three names from each LGA from which he would select the next local government Transition Committee chairmen.

Ex- LGA secretary speaks

Just as the contractor has come to the defence of Orji so also has the former Secretary, Mr Paul Onuachalla, of the council, who worked with him at the council, has come out to speak in the favour of his former boss.

Onuachalla told this reporter that the allegations of diverting the buckets is part of the plot to malign the reputation of the former LGA chairman so that the governor would not reappoint him.

According to him, “they tried to stop him from making the list but they failed and now they are applying new tactics of name dropping.

“We know those behind this and in due time we shall expose them and one of them was even arrested recently by the police for going to demolish a fence at a Housing Estate here in Onitsha, claiming that the chairman asked him to do so.

“Another one is one of those that contested for the nomination of the post of local government Chairman and the other person is known to everyone in Onitsha South.”