By Chiedu Uche Okoye
Obosi is a town in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State. It is bordered by other towns: Oba, Umuoji, Nkpor, and Onitsha. Its nearness to Onitsha has led to its becoming an urban conurbation. And its long-drawn battle with Onitsha over land matters, which were litigated in courts, has contributed significantly in making Obosi a well-known town in Nigeria.
But Obosi is a well-known town in Nigeria chiefly because many of her sons and daughters have achieved rare distinctions in their respective chosen careers. Their uncommon achievements in diverse fields of human endeavours make non-natives of Obosi town become aware of Obosi. Those high-flyers are the true ambassadors of Obosi.
Obosi is the hometown of Chief Emeka Anyaoku; the former Commonwealth secretary general; Chief Osita Chidoka, the former Aviation minister; the late Chief Chimezie Ikeazor, a legal luminary and founder of the legal aid; and the late Engr. Igwe Isaac Iweka, the first Igbo engineer. And we have not forgotten that Chief Clifford Eneli, an ace sports administrator; and Ogidi Ibeabuchi, former Rangers International Football Club of Enugu star player, hailed from Obosi.
However, sadly, in the recent past, Obosi town was assailed by disunity with prominent and influential sons of Obosi turning against one another in acrimonious fights. Personality clash and the matter of self-interests were adduced as the chief causes of those fights, which cropped up among the major actors in the Obosi leadership affairs. So Obosi became a disunited town.
One of the corollaries of the existence of disunity in Obosi is the arrested development of the town. While most of the trunk roads in the town are not asphalted, others are pockmarked with craters and gorges. And the Obosi inland town has no major market, commercial banks, and library.
More so, another consequence of the absence of unity in Obosi, then, was the recrudescence of cultic activities in the town and the prevalence of armed robbery operations in it. During the period, a large swathe of the town was an ungoverned space where pickpockets, armed robbers, thieves, and kidnappers roamed freely and carried out their criminal and unlawful deeds.
Happily, today, things have changed for the better in the town following the rapprochement brokered between the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka and a prominent son of the town. The warring prominent sons of the town have sunk their differences and presented a common front to tackle the security challenges bedeviling the town.
Their efforts to rid Obosi of sundry crimes have started yielding positive results. Now, the guns of the cultists are no longer booming in the distance. And dare-devil robbers, who did strike fear into the minds of the Obosi people, had fled the town. Pickpockets and thieves had been chased away from the town, too.
The eradication of crimes in the Obosi environs and the return of peace and unity among the Obosi people are traceable to the mediation of peace between the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, and his antagonists. So the people of Obosi have got a new lease of life. And they are hopeful that there will be a sustenance of the new-found peace and unity in their town as the existence of unity among the people of a town is an incentive for the development of the town.
In addition to the return of peace and unity in Obosi, the election of Chimezie Obi as the new Obosi Development Union (ODU) president general is an icing on the cake for the Obosi people. Chimezie Obi emerged as the new ODU President General with a runaway victory, garnering 106 votes while his closest rival got 27 votes. The result of the ODU election for the post of the president general is a testament to the popularity of Chimezie Obi. And it indexed his acceptance by the generality of the Obosi people.
Barrister Obi who was highly elated at being declared the new ODU President General said that his emergence as the ODU President General would mark the beginning of the journey of transformation, recovery, and revival in Obosi. His comment reflected the people’s thoughts and sentiments.
He further said that he would run an inclusive town union leadership to accommodate people who have different perspectives on pressing Obosi matters and facilitate the process of reconciliation of prominent Obosi indigenes who are at dagger’s drawn with one another. Chimezie Obi, the new ODU President General, who is broad-minded, is not unaware that the development of a town is predicated on the existence of peace and unity in the town.
Now, nobody can gainsay the fact that the new turn of events in Obosi, especially the mediation of peace among Obosi people who are antagonistic to one another and the election of the new ODU president general have set Obosi on the rebound.
The new dispensation of the ODU leadership will usher in sustained peace and unity and progress in Obosi town.
•Okoye writes from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State