Marginalization of Aninri local government: A call for Justice and representation.

By Chiekezie Emmanuel Ezesinachi

Since the inception of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, Aninri local government area has been facing drastic marginalization by its sister local government areas in producing a representative at the federal lower chamber.

This has led to the local government being neglected in terms of development projects and initiatives that would foster a good living in Aninri.

Starting from Hon. Uche Ekwe,(1999-2003) who hails from Agwu local government area, to Rt. Hon. KGB Ogu Akwa(2003-2011) from Oji River, to Hon. Toby Okechukwu,(2011-2023) who served three terms from Agwu, and currently Hon. Anayo Onwu Egbu,(2023 till date who is also from Oji River, the constituency representation has been dominated by other local government areas. Does this mean that Aninri local government has no stay in Agwu/Aninri/Oji river constituency or can’t produce a representative at the federal level ? This has caused less representation of Aninri people at the federal green chamber .

Despite Aninri being a significant part of the Agwu/Aninri/Oji River constituency and the main land source of food in the constituency, it has been consistently overlooked, leading to a dearth of progress and development in the area. From time to time, there have been false promises of zoning the federal representative seat among the three local government areas, while they keep using party lines for representation instead of zoning the position to reach the three local government areas.

The improper representation of Aninri at the federal level due to marginalization is alarming, as it is killing the political consciousness and adequate representation of Aninri people from Greater Agwu. If care is not taken, the next election will still not be zoned to Aninri local government area. My question is, are we still in a democracy or a hereditary system of government?

Today, Aninri local government faces numerous challenges, including insecurity, poor infrastructure, and inadequate access to social amenities, with several residents killed in Okpanku in a recent attack.

The lack of development and progress in Aninri has led to widespread disillusionment among the local government area. When offices are hijacked by a group of people and others are left out, proper representation is not achieved. Community development is not only left for the Governor of the state; when justice is done, infrastructure and development comes in, rather than political brouhaha and jeopardize. Let’s call a spade a spade and stand for justice to retrieve joy and proper representation of Aninri local government in the next election.

I urge the Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Gov. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, who is known for justice and all political stakeholder in Agwu, Aninri, Oji River constituency, to look into this matter. This is discrimination and marginalization, and if left unchecked, it will synchronize political apathy in Enugu State. We often talk about Igbo’s marginalization, but within our own midst, we still marginalize ourselves, confiscating Aninri local government area from taking part in decision-making at the federal house of representation is a call for Justice.