October 7th: Assault Against Ani Ahaba National Holiday

* Need For An Independent Ani Ahaba Secret Service Cum Intelligence Corp 

 * Why Ani Ahaba Youths Must Say Heavy NO To Cultism & Violent Crimes

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba

To all Nwa Ani Ahaba everywhere under the sun, the date 7th October is never a day we wake up celebrating, rather, it is one we do lots of sober reflection.

So sad and terribly bad on such a day so sacrosanct and sacred to our Ani Ahaba National Memory, calamity struck us far below the belt.

A day since 2009, the Ani Ahaba Traditional and Social - cultural institutions broke the silence over the age long, Ani Ahaba Genocide of 7th October 1967.

Since this date, as a nation, we had always sought ways to express both the horrible past and the terrors our Heroes past lived those days with.

What happened on the 6th & 7th day of October this year, can only be seen, studied and analysed in the light of what happened same date in 1967.

There is no other way one can describe what happened this year, than to qualify it as a huge slap and an assault against our collective Ani Ahaba Memory, an assault, we all allowed to happen, with our eyes wide open.

What happened was a clear example of living with and doing nothing about the Social evils of our youths enlisting into violent groups and associations commonly named Secret Cults.

For all intents and purposes, we still owe Ani Ahaba a lot of gratitude, especially, when we come to terms that what happened on the 6th & 7th October this year, was only an assault, as this gives us a lot of room to prepare against any future massive onslaught we may not be able to contend with as a people.

With the wake of 2010, Ani Ahaba was blessed with the yearly visitation of two American scholars, whose works on the Ani Ahaba 7th October 1967 Genocide, has since began to gains international attention and appeal.

To many of us who take pride in our weekly engagements as Ani Ahaba Activists, the yearly research works of Prof Liz Bird and Prof Frazer Otaneli on this Ani Ahaba Genocide of October 1967, has no human vocabulary enough to qualify it.

To us not even an Olinzele Chieftancy title will be enough a town wide reward for these two grand parents, whose love for both Ani Ahaba research works and community development, no human words can express.

To us, with their works they have to us become like the stars of the heavenly host, which according to the legends says , EVEN IF HUMANS FORGET, THE SKYS WILL NOT, BECAUSE, YOU LIKE STARS SHINE BRIGHTLY DAILY'

Same is how we Ani Ahaba Activists feel about our own Prof Bird and Frazer.

For the sake of the needless and mindless killings of three youths between 6th and 7th October this year, it in many ways remind us a lot about the 1967 Ani Ahaba Genocidal experience.

Coming back from work on 6th October, with lots of tiredness and about dozing off on the Chair and like a News that is not true but very true in all sense, it hit me so hard that a youth in his prime have just being killed by folks believed to be Cultists.

That news robbed me my night sleep, as earlier that day with some Ani Ahaba Activists, we had worked hard and planned on how to stage peaceful march, candle light memorial night event and to attend an early morning church services to pray for the repose of the souls of our Ani Ahaba Heroes, like flash of lighting, all these planning lost their meaning and bearing.

We had to face the new reality, the killings of three youths between 6th and 7th October this year.

With these three souls gone down on days that are our Ani Ahaba National Holiday, there became great need and the challenge for the town's youth leader and his executives to had before now address Ani Ahaba Youths on this horrible and violent attack on the eve and on the day of our National Holiday.

That the town's youth leader and his executives are yet to make any public statement nor embarked on visitation to the affect Families and at least use all means at their disposal to begin calling for town wide town hall meetings, does not in any way, demonstrate pro youth leadership.

That even on the Facebook Page of Asaba community youth (ACY) nothing proactive has been done nor that platform used effectively to address this sad experience, is indeed a poor pro youths representation.

Also the horrible experience of this year is a wake up call to the town's newly inaugurated traditional legislators (Ndi Otu Ihaza).

If the past and present corp of Otu Ihaza had successfully in the past and currently enacted a rule and sustained same, that at our Ineh Festival, no Jupiter will empower any youth to celebrate the Festival with either sharp objects or weapons of any sort, without attracting sanctions of the traditional legislature and that of the Asagba In Council.

If the town had succeeded at this, we believe that these traditional institutions can enact new rules banning the least show or existence of any of these violent cult groups in the land.

At this point of our Ani Ahaba communal trying times, all the churches in the land must wake up with ideas and proactive ones too, beyond just praying, ideas that can offer practical solutions to this ZERO friendly foreign investment attractive happenings and killings.

As no meaningful Prosperity thrives in any community that folds its fists and watch its youths kill off their mates, what sane investor will invest in such community.

The leadership of our traditional institutions should carefully sit amongst themselves and constitute means of hand picking their mates who can design the best formidable air tight Intelligence and information gathering Network, call it some form of Ani Ahaba homeland secret Service, to help us stop all these violent crimes and hopeless killings, at times I wonder why the nation’s secret service, the Police and other relevant security outfits do not make the known leaders of these cult groups to suffer bitterly with each of these past killings, with such response, the lives of our future leaders would have been spared as Ani Ahaba mark this year's Ani Ahaba 1967 Genocide Memorial.

Please now to the leadership of all these violent cult groups operating in Ani Ahaba, be you an Ani Ahaba citizen or not, be it registered in your conscience that if you all do not seek out internal means to change the violent natural response of your boys to daily issues, one thing is constant, it is that you have directly through your leadership roles enthroned POVERTY in the land, as no investor will want to invest in Ani Ahaba.

There is no justification for the killings of these three youths, for Pete's sake, we are in a democratic era, whatever are the sins these three youths committed against any rival cult, we believe that those so offended can communicate same to their groups leadership to initiate an inter cult dialogue session, this response no matter how slow it may appear to any group, is the only sane way out of any sin committed against any individual, group or association.

Ani Ahaba Youths, you must begin to sharply disdain and publicly shun the least form, appearance and face of Cultism, you should as a matter of urgency replace it with more proactive engagements in sporting activities, entrepreneurial pursuits and educational cum career development opportunities.

Cultism and violent crimes are one of the worst Anti-Social engagements any Ani Ahaba youth should experience.

PLEASE ANI AHABA YOUTHS SAY NO AND MEAN NO TO CULTISM AND VIOLENT CRIMES