Igwe Achebe holds seventh Ofala, laments poverty level in Nigeria

Okodili Ndidi, Onitsha - 11.10.2008

The Chairman of the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers and Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, has called for concerted efforts at reducing the poverty level in the country.

Achebe, who spoke at his Seventh Ofala festival (coronation anniversary) in Onitsha on Friday, where he also called for the immediate construction of a second bridge on the Niger at Onitsha, stressed that the second Niger Bridge was long over due.

According to him, the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria is frightening and ominous and government ought to come up with effective measures to reverse the trend.

“There is a palpable feeling of near despair at the condition of living of ordinary citizens. The poor seem to be getting poorer and the rich, richer. We as a nation must address this widening gap before we have a bigger crisis than the Niger Delta now poses,” Achebe stated.

The monarch said that while Nigerians should be grateful to God for sparing them the ongoing global economic crises and natural disasters, it was imperative that they should understand that the world was now a global village, where one part cannot be insulated from the problems of the others.

He maintained that the financial crisis in the United States was still unfolding, and wished that “the measures put in place by the Federal Government, the Central Bank and the other relevant agencies would protect the economy from the crisis.”