RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Contrary to recent false online news reports of increased gunmen terror in Nawfia community Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, the town union government, Nawfia Progressive Union (NPU) led by the President-General Chief Daniel Okoye and the entire people of Nawfia town, proved purveyors of false information that the community is safe, peaceful and convivial, when it celebrated the 2025 mass return on 26th December this year at the community's town hall.
The triennial event which was a showcase of the rich cultural heritage of Nawfia people, drew indigenes and friends of the community from all parts of the country and the diaspora to the 2025 edition of the general return.
The celebration was epic as the royal father of the day His Royal Highness Igwe Dr. Dan Ogochukwu Obelle, the traditional ruler of Nawfia, while performing kola nut rituals, prayed for peaceful atmosphere in the community and the success of all Nawfia people in their respective places of endeavours all over the world even as he urged them to bring development back home.
Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo's Chief of Protocols and Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Chief Chinedu Nwoye Glamour, who hails from Uruoji village Nawfia and a host of other very high profile personalities of Nawfia origin, graced the grand occasion which provided veritable platform for critical decisions to be taken on the progress of the community.
The President-General, Chief Daniel Okoye in his welcome address, called for strong and sustained support for critical community initiatives such as Nawfia security which he said was central to safeguarding lives and property in the community.
Okoye said Nawfia Trust Fund was another veritable scheme designed to provide a structured and transparent means of supporting development projects and programmes in the town.
According to him, the completion of Nawfia Civic Centre is of strategic importance because it stands as a symbol of unity, identity and communal pride for Nawfia people, adding that the aforementioned projects were not optional but fundamental to their collective future as Nawfia people.
The NPU President-General equally stressed the need for emphasis to be placed on the empowerment of youths and women. He said Nawfia youths need opportunities, skills and mentorship to channel their energy positively and productively too.
That women need support, inclusion and empowerment to continue playing their vital roles as pillars of the families and drivers of economic growth in the society.
He was therefore of the salient opinion that the 2025 Nawfia Mass Return Celebration should be a renewed pledge to support Nawfia, protect those in Nawfia as well as to build a Nawfia where peace, progress and opportunity reign supreme.
Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo's Chief Protocol Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Chief Chinedu Nwoye Glamour, who hails from the community, described the 2025 edition of Nawfia Mass Return Celebration as unique and very symbolic because it corrected the false impression of insecurity in the town.
Glamour said Nawfia people returned en masse for the celebration and all the ten villages of the community had one canopy each and the town hall was filled to capacity as the people relished the occasion with gusto.
The governor's chief protocol officer who bluntly dismissed claims of security breaches in the area, noted that the massive attendance to the occasion coupled with various acrobatic cultural dance displays and masquerade performances, showed that Nawfia community is far from being insecure even as he pointed out too that Nawfia people were grateful to Governor Soludo for attending to a road in the community.
Meanwhile chairman of the planning committee for the 2025 Nawfia Mass Return Celebration, comrade Joseph Okafor, who is a native of Eziakpaka village Nawfia, said that the mass return was a symbol of unity and bond for the people of Nawfia. He said it is an occasion that comes every three years and highly respected and honoured by the people. That all the ten villages were fully represented.
Chief Christopher Ndukaku Okongwu of Mmimi village Nawfia, said that the 2025 mass return celebration showed that Nawfia community is united. He said the community is safe, secured and progressive because the people are development-oriented.
Chairman of the 2025 Nawfia Mass Return Celebration, Chief Innocent Obelle (Omelora Nawfia) who was represented by a former president of Nawfia Progressive Union Lagos Branch, Chief Elochukwu Ebubealor (Akajiaku Nawfia) in his remarks acknowledged the efforts of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo in ensuring that Anambra State is safe and secured.
Ebubealor said that the mass return celebration showed that Anambra is secured because if the reverse was the case, some of them wouldn't have returned for the occasion. He said Nawfia people are peace-loving people and believes very strongly in being their brother's keeper.
According to him, past security breaches in the community were perpetrated by outsiders who swooped on the community to unleash evil and disappeared thereafter living the community in sorrow and pains.
He therefore admonished the people to love their community and think of the positive way forward for developmental progress in Nawfia town as one of the high points of the 2025 Nawfia Mass Return Celebration was the observation of a minute silence for the repose of the souls of those murdered in September 2024 and December 2025 respectively.
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