Tinubu’s signing of SEDC bill excites Igbo Nine Development Initiative
…Says Mr. President determined to reposition South East
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Igbo Nine Development Initiative has expressed excitement over the coming on stream of the South East Development Commission (SEDC), hailing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing into law, the bill establishing commission.
The group stressed that by this singular action, Mr. President has demonstrated that he is a focused leader determined to positively reposition the South East Zone since the end of the civil war.
Rising from a critical stakeholders meeting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, the foremost South East socio-cultural organization, commended Mr. President for graciously bringing the SEDC to be.
In a communiqué issued by the Chairman of Abia State Branch of Igbo Nine Development Initiative, Comrade Lucky Akabuike, and the Scribe, Comrade Uzomba Ekwuribe, the group thanked Mr. President profusely and urged him to ensure the immediate operationalisation of the Commission for it to satisfy the yearnings of Ndigbo as it was expected to entrench the long mouthed 3Rs that marked the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war.
“The Leadership and Membership of Igbo Nine Development Initiative, a foremost Social -Cultural Organization of South East Zone, rising from a critical stakeholders congress, Thursday, 25th July,2024, lauded Mr. President, His Excellency, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, for graciously giving his assent to the South East Development Commission Bill, thereby making it to become law.”
The bill was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, with the group saluting him for his foresight.
According to the Igbo Nine, the coming into being of SEDC was “a landmark decision most capable of enthroning the all-elusive genuine Rehabilitation, Reconciliation and Reconstruction of the region, 54 years after the civil war.”
It added that “Mr. President’s acquiescence paints an indelible picture of a focused leader determined to positively reposition the South East Zone.”
Urging Mr. President to ensure proper funding of the commission, the group said: “We call on all Stakeholders in the zone, to persuade Mr. President to quickly fund the Commission to fast forward the much awaited development of the zone which has witnessed decades of marginalization, deprivation and under development.”
It also praised the dogged efforts of political leaders of the South East for taking proactive steps to ensure that the planned street protest for August does not happen in the South East region.
The communiqué reads in part: “We express palpable satisfaction with the spirited efforts of South East Governors under the dynamic leadership of His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma, Ministers, Legislators and other stakeholders in the zone to de-market Street Protest and commends Ndi Igbo, both at home and in the Diaspora, for heeding the clarion call while also cautioning that ‘to whom much is given, much is also expected.”
