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•Umunwoha Ofo Ise women, Imo bemoan destructive activities of herders
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
This year’s August Meeting took a different dimension in Umunwoha Ofo Ise, the five communities in Owerri-West Local Government Area of Imo State. The communities, Ohi, Orogwe, Irete, Ndegwu and Amakohia-Ubi, in addition to Irete 2, make up a political ward.
Before now, these communities marked the August Meeting separately but this year their women united and held a joint meeting to address their common problems.
At the heart of their discussion was the plaguing issue marauding herdsmen who invaded their farmlands at random.
Coordinator of Umunwoha Ofo Ise Women, Evangelist Francisca Owuamanam, highlighted some of the problems peculiar to each community but dwelled on the general challenge of herdsmen’s menace: “Irete, Ndegwu and Amakohia-Ubi communities are struggling with the menace of cattle invasion on their farmlands, resulting in significant losses to food production and high level of insecurity.
“We can no longer go to the farms alone except in groups, most times we ask our husbands and vigilantes to accompany us and the day they couldn’t, we relax at home.”
She lauded their ‘August Visitor’ for this year’s event, Dr. Chima Matthew Amadi, popularly known with his foundation’s name, The Mazi Organisation (TMO), for initiating the coming together of women from the six communities to hold their maiden joint August Meeting: “We appreciate your willingness to listen to our concerns and understand the plight of our communities. As representatives of six different communities, we’ve come together to highlight the pressing issues that affect us, especially Orogwe, requirimg your attention to boost its economic prospects such as developing a shopping mall that can stimulate business.
“Further our children’s safety is at risk due to the lack of fencing around our schools which expose them to potential harm.”
Amadi, a philanthropist and governorship hopeful from Ikeduru, no doubt has been passionate about women in the state. He recently doled out N20 million and paid bills for women at the Federal Medical Teaching Hospital, Owerri, who could not afford the hospital bills after childbirth.
This show of love to motherhood and others too numerous to mention actually prompted his choice as their visitor.
Responding, Amadi told them to take seriously the advantage of the continuous voters’ registration (CVR) to arm themselves on deciding who their next leader would be: “I’ve not come for campaign but you will have your destinies in your hands with the commencement of the voters’ registration exercise, you will choose your right leaders. But I’m here for your development and will keep supporting women.”
Leader of Amadi’s political structure in the state, Dr. Haroldwilson Onumo, explained that the benefactor’s recent engagements with women in the state was to “sensitize them to strengthen their role in societal building through assisting them solve some immediate challenges.”
