MEMBERS of Anambra State Land Acquisition Committee led by its chairman and Tim Menakaya, former health minister, on Tuesday, visited Ben Emeka,  traditional ruler of Umueri at his Palace, at Udabor Umueri.

Receiving them, the traditional ruler thanked them for keeping an appointment which was  scheduled to discuss the Umueri Airport City Project the ground breaking of which was recently done by Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State.

Expressing the gratitude of Umueri people to the governor for choosing Umueri out of three communities for the siting of the project, Emeka expressed worry that out of the three-fold compensation plan for the airport project, only one  and half have been executed.

He wondered why the surveyor has withheld the outstanding part of the compensation and retained the money in his personal account instead of paying it to Ivite Umueri who are the land owners. The traditional ruler added that the reasons given by the surveyor for his actions are as frivolous as they are nauseating, remarking that there is no crisis in Umueri as falsely claimed by him. He urged the committee to prevail on this surveyor to do the needful without further delay, pointing out that the surveyor has since been furnished with the banking information of Ivite Umueri to facilitate the complete payment of the compensation.

He promised that as soon as the government completely pays the compensation as well as fulfills two other conditionalities which it duly agreed with Ivite Umueri, his people will happily discuss the new idea of further land acquisition for the airport city project, remarking that there is only one leadership in Umueri. He also alerted the Anambra State Government on the fact that Umueri has clearly-marked boundaries with her neighbours such as Nteje at Oyi Bridge and Nsugbe at Okpinka, respectively, adding that the community would want to be taken along in their negotiations with these neighbours so that these boundaries will be respected and Umueri not-shortchanged.

Earlier, Menakaya, leader of the Anambra State Land Acquisition Committee, said that the ground breaking ceremony of the airport city project which was done shortly after the coronation of Emeka was a sign that Umueri made a wise choice of him as their traditional leader, a choice which according to him, is akin to the selection of Josiah in the Bible.

He recalled that the original concept was to construct a mere cargo airport, but added that that original plan had to be changed to an airport city project, the first of its type in the spirit of Anambra being the Light of the Nation. 

According to him, this airport city project will have two runways rather than one; it will have all the attributes of a city; it will be busy 24/7 and there will be a collaboration between it and a refinery which will be providing aviation fuel. Sitting on about a five-kilometer land area, Menakaya said that this airport city will transform Umueri into the nucleus of Igboland, which is why there is need to take more land from Ivite Umueri.

The former minister of health assured the traditional ruler and Umueri community that government is willing to pay adequate compensation for the land, remarking that adjourning communities like Nteje and Nsugbe will also have to part with some land so that necessary expansion of the project site will be effected.

The committee chairman in line with custom and tradition of Ndigbo made a presentation of kolanuts and money to Umueri people.

In a vote of thanks, Sam Umeadi, a lawyer, thanked the visiting committee members for coming to Umueri and reiterated the need for the Anambra State Government to produce the map of the land so far given to them by Umueri. He reminded them of Emeka’s earlier remark that proper demarcation of the land so far acquired by Anambra State Government should be made both on paper and on the ground with Umueri people vetting such demarcation. He also repeated the warning made by the traditional ruler that the committee should be careful not to deal with self-appointed agents or representatives who are acting on their own and are not endorsed by the Umueri General Assembly and the traditional ruler.

Other members of Anambra State Committee on Land Acquisition include Emeka Iluno, traditional ruler of Ifite Dunu, C.C Umeanibo, traditional ruler of Azuigbo, Umeoji (Oba Aguata), Mike Ogbuekwe, an engineer, J.A.P Okolo, Chinasa Ekpunobi, and Ibukum Chinweze

—  Jun 21, 2017 @ 09:10 GMT