The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese in Enugu State, Prof Godfrey Onah, has described the politicians from the Nsukka Cultural Zone of Enugu State as “deceivers”.
According to him, the politicians confuse the government by lying that all is well “when indeed all is not well in the zone”.
THE WHISTLER reports that the cultural zone is made of the local governments of Nsukka, Udenu, Isi-Uzo, Igbo-Etiti, Igboeze South, Uzo-Uwani and Igboeze North.
Bishop Onah spoke during a sermon at the Nsukka Cathedral. He lamented the neglect of the zone by successive governments. He specifically bemoaned human and material losses caused by the demolition of some parts of Ogige Market, the hub of commercial activities in the zone.
Quoting him, “Nsukka politicians have continued to deceive the government, claiming that everything is in order in the cultural zone. People have been hurt. What do we have? The only thing we have is Ogige Market. How many more people will die before our politicians rise up and tell the government that it was wrong, and that nothing can repay the death of those that lost their lives? Something can be done to prevent more deaths, and to console the living: build another market and assign them freely to all those whose shops were destroyed without compensation. Nothing short of that is justice. I don’t belong to those telling the government that it is doing well in this regard.”
He said the location of the University of Nigeria at Nsukka by the federal government does not confer the ownership of the university to the cultural zone. He also expressed sadness over a recent recruitment exercise in the university.
In his words, “Does the University of Nigeria belong to Nsukka? I learnt that UNN is recruiting! How many Nsukka sons and daughters were employed? The only thing is that we have an Nsukka man as the vice chancellor. Our politicians are busy dancing around the ruling party, and our nation is sinking. What has Nsukka achieved in this government?”
It would be recalled that Gov Peter Mbah during a political rally at Nsukka Township Stadium last month promised to compensate Ogige Market traders whose shops were demolished. The demolition was to pave way for the construction of a mega bus terminal by the state government.
Our correspondent gathered that since the inception of the operations of the university in 1960, a vice chancellor from the cultural zone only emerged in 2025.
(The Whistler)
