Orsumoghu Holds Annual General Meeting

. . . Decides on Electricity and Security as Next N20m Project

By Nkechi Amunike

The Orsumoghu town in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra state witnessed an assemblage of her illustrious sons as they returned en masse from all over the country and beyond, for their Annual General Meeting which took place on April 22nd, 2019 at the Orsumoghu Town Hall. The meeting which was held under the auspices of Orsumoghu Development Union (ODU) usually takes place every Easter Monday and this year, the next project to be carried out by the community was the focal point of the meeting.

The President General of the Town Union, Ide Chika Dennis Muomaife, during his opening remarks said that the union was working on the third batch of her 20 million naira ‘build your community project’ from the Anambra state government. He said that the first batch of 20 million naira brought by the government was used to rebuild the Orsumoghu Customary Court that was originally built in 1932. A legacy building inherited from the colonial masters was also converted to the Divisional Police Station which led the Anambra state Commissioner of Police to give them a D.P.O. Their magistrate court was also reconstructed which made the union apply to the Chief Judge of Anambra State, for a magistrate. According to him, the second batch of N20m brought by the government was used in building a central market in the community. He however called on the people to decide on what the third batch of the money will be used for.

The members deliberated extensively on the different options in their agenda as to what the third batch of the N20m would be invested in. After weighing the options of fencing the secondary school in their community, providing electricity in the town and making security a priority, Mr Oliver Iguaba, a member of the union, stressed the need for electricity in the community. He said that the community was fast becoming developed all thanks to the government and some philanthropists in the community but that power was lacking in the town and that it affected the growth of certain businesses. He was particular about a factory and filling station newly erected in the community and how important it was to have electricity in place, in order to run the business efficiently and also for light in individual homes of the community members. He however didn’t discard the idea of fencing the secondary school but suggested that the principal of the school should write to the Ministry of Education, Awka to come to their aid.

On the issue of security, there were complaints of countless robberies from the transformers in villages. A member, whose field of work is electricity, advised that aluminum should be replaced with copper in order to reduce theft on these transformers. That way, when the thieves come and see that it is aluminium, they would be discouraged to go ahead and steal it. The chairman however suggested that each village should have security that will look after transformers in respective villages stressing the importance to have village security to aid the Central Security and police.

In an interview with Fides, the PG, Ide Muomaife added, ‘This money is given to the 179 communities in Anambra state but there is a condition you must meet before it is given to you. The condition is, just like we are about getting the third one, we must have completed the second one before going for the third one and normally they said they will only give it to a community where there is peace and people are not fighting over one thing or the other. We have met up with that criterion because, even though here in Orsumoghu, we have individual differences, it is being managed on a higher level.’

By the end of the meeting, the town concluded on Electricity and Security as their next projects for the community. The meeting was attended by over a two third majority of her members.