
After the baptism of Jesus Christ in River Jordan, a dove descended from heaven as testimony of the divine anointing of Jesus as the son of God and the Prince of peace with whom God was pleased. Ahead of Ebonyi guber elections in 2023, the dove testament was re-enacted in Ebonyi State, not in a river, but in an open arena, Ebonyi Unity Square.
The occasion was the solemn and sober National Heroes’ Day – a day on which Nigeria’s fallen soldiers, especially those who died in the Civil War, were remembered and honoured, with wreaths laid on their graves or terminals symbolised by an open cenotaph. At the end of the wreath laying, pigeons or doves which stand for peace were usually released as a sign of the return of peace.
In this ceremony which held annually on January 15, one of the released doves flew up, soared in the sky in apparent communion with God who reigned and still reigns in the affairs of man before it descended and settled on the head of Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru who, as Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, had accompanied the former Governor of Ebonyi State to the event.
Many, including yours sincerely, dismissed that incident as a mere political gimmick contrived to sway Ebonyi votes. However, to discerning minds, supernatural forces as well as Ebonyi martyrs were just pointing to Ebonyians and the entire world, the incoming governor of Ebonyi State who, like the dove, would heal and develop Ebonyi State through the instrumentality of peace.
The rest about the Ebonyi 2023 governorship contest have become verifiable history. However, it is trite that on May 29, 2023, Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru took over a State troubled on all fronts by war and violence. For instance, in Ebonyi North, there was an internecine war which lasted for three full years and turned Effium community into a human abattoir.
In Ebonyi Central, the Ohankfu community of Ikwo LGA and Amana community were at daggers drawn over border mining sites; while in Ebonyi South, Ukawu and Ishinkwo communities were locked in an age long fratricidal war. Communities in Edda, Ivo and elsewhere were beset by fatal conflicts over quarry sites, and pedestrian issues like town union and village head contests.
In what was generally resented as state capture of residual leadership recruitment rights, the Ebonyi State Government of that time banned discussions about elections into vacant youth leadership, village head, town union and traditional stools in Ebonyi State. About 60 communities in Ebonyi State were rudderless and bereft of traditional rulers, town union executives when Builder Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru took over the reins of power in Ebonyi State.
Governor Nwifuru, the only human being on whose head a dove rested, knew that the best gift a leader could give to his people was peace which had remained a precursor to development in any given society. Nwifuru hit the ground running to return peace and tranquillity in war-torn communities of Ebonyi State.
His channels of peace delivery were truth, courage and the Nigerian constitution. Governor Nwifuru’s comments on the recommendations of the Effium Peace Committee espoused the truth and justice which people vested with either ecclesiastical or modern state powers did not dare to speak or do.
The unassuming governor insisted that in Effium, Ebonyi State and, indeed, Nigeria, there was no second class citizen and that the laws of Nigeria and not folklore should apply to determine the rights of people to royalties and other accruals from minerals! This position of Governor Nwifuru poured ice on the holocaust in Effium, and baring the escapades of profiteers of the war, the killings which are still going on in Effium will soon give way to total peace.
Governor Nwifuru applied the same truth and justice measure in the Ohankfu-Amana conflict over mineral sites, the Ukawu-Ishinkwo war and the conflicts in Edda and Ivo council areas. This patriotic stance of Governor Nwifuru opened springs of peace which have continued to douse the wars.
Nwifuru, through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters headed by Uchenna Stephen Igwe, launched the programme of democratisation of the vacant Ebonyi traditional stools…
In the labour and economic sectors of Ebonyi State, Nwifuru’s empowerment programmes and positive remunerations have infused confidence and good measure of self-reliance in the youths, the business class and workers.
This is why the nascent tradition of protests has no place in Ebonyi State. Nwifuru, through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters headed by Uchenna Stephen Igwe, launched the programme of democratisation of the vacant Ebonyi traditional stools and town union executives with a solemn charge on impeccable transparency.
Igwe who, like the governor, is noted for lean appetites, infectious goodwill and commitment to the Ebonyi People’s Charter of Needs administration, went to work on the governor’s exact terms, shunning all distractions, taking jibes and jabs from desperate and unpatriotic elements. Igwe stood unflinching on the solid and imperishable principles of his principal.
Today, about 50 traditional rulers peacefully elected by their respective communities were handed their respective staff of offices and certificates of recognition in a colourful ceremony by the governor. That this event took place on the day that Nigeria and Ebonyi State are marking their respective anniversaries is instructive.
The communities of Ebonyi State have become free and independent from misanthropic godfathers! As Ebonyi State turns 28 today, it is safe to announce from the rooftops that the dove’s prophecy that Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is the ‘Ebonyi Prince of Peace’ is manifest upon Ebonyi State. May this peace suffuse Effium community – my home town. Congratulations to Ebonyi State and her people of honour and integrity! Congratulations, Governor Francis Nwifuru, Ebonyi’s man of peace.