2024 Ofala festival: Obi of Onitsha laments poor economy, insecurity in Nigeria

By Cyprian Ebele, Onitsha

The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, Friday , expressed deep concern over the combined harmful effects of poor economy and insecurity in the country.

Achebe, in his 2024 Ofala message tagged: “Courage Perseverance, Self-reliance which he translated into Igbo language as , “Onye kwe, Chi’e ekwe”, said the combined effects of the duo of poor economy and insecurity are the spiraling ride in the cost of living, business closures, loss of employment, a general feeling of hopelessness and lack of trust in the government.

According to the monarch, “At last year Ofala, I. did state that the previous 12 months were marked by uncertainties occasioned by the aftermath of the general elections, further exacerbated by the continuing insecurity and the effects of the sudden removal of the fuel price subsidy”.

” Unfortunately, the well-being of the polity has declined even more steeply in the past. 12 months, leading to a 10-day national protest in August 2024 tagged: #”, said Obi Achebe.

He regretted that the Federal Government had rebuffed some of the specific views put forward to it to return the country to a part of glory, including devolution and down-sizing of government, the Nexus between insecurity, agriculture and high cost of living, the impact of fuel price on the cost of living, bad governance driven by corruption and ostentatious lifestyle of our political leaders

He therefore called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to consider alternative views and urgently convene a non-partisan national economic and security summit to forge a collective way forward for the country.

He also decried the enormous economic and social losses to Nigbo who he said still face the unrelenting scourge of the unknown gunmen who kill, mail and kidnap their fellow Ndigbo for money , meaning to the closure of schools, Markets and public facilities remain closed on Mondays in the name of sit-at-home.