Okija Tragedy: Obi-Jackson Not A Ritualist --- NOA

 

RAYMOND OZOJI reports

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has said that what happened at Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State recently where some people lost their lives in a bid to cart away bags of rice meant to be distributed to them in an orderly manner had no ritual connotations as wrongly presented in the social and online media respectively. 

The Deputy Director Planning, Research and Strategy of the Anambra State Directorate of the National Orientation Agency Mr. Chinedu Okwelogu who spoke at the end-of-the-year get-together organized by the Anambra State Civic and Social Reformation Office (ANCISRO), said the tragedy that occured at the country home of the Okija-born billionaire philanthropist would have been completely averted if people had some sense of public order and decorum. 

Okwelogu recalled that the last time Nigerian citizens had some sense of public order was during the Buhari-Idiagbon regime which he said was the era of war against indiscipline; when people queued and waited patiently on the queue until it was their turn to be attended to. 

Although Okwelogu stated that he was also an indigene of Okija community but his worry was the modus by which people lose their lives which he said was a replication of what happened in Abuja, Ibadan and most recently Okija, noting that the incidences were clear pointers to the fact that there is something endemic about the Nigerian society especially in the way and manner in which things are done. 

He maintained that what happened at Okija was a mere absence of decorum and people not waiting patiently for their turns to get goodies, adding that Chief Ernest Azudialu Obiejesi (Obi-Jackson) has antecedents of an uncommon philanthropy to the people of Okija community and beyond without incidents of stampede whatsoever. 

The NOA Deputy Director stated categorically that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Obi-Jackson to turn around and use people's blood for money rituals because Obi-Jackson, according to him, has a very humble beginning; describing social media reports against Chief Ernest Azudialu Obiejesi as absolute nonsense. 

He therefore reiterated the fact that if people were orderly the stampede over bags of rice wouldn't have occurred and those who died in the commotion wouldn't have lost their lives even as he observed too that Nigerians have a problem of always trying to outsmart and over-power one another especially when what is being scrambled for is sufficient for everyone. 

He emphasized that Obi-Jackson is not a ritualist by any definition of the term but somebody who makes money through legitimate means and uses his money very well especially to uplift humanity. That he doesn't see the reason why someone would say he uses people for money rituals, saying it is arrant nonsense !

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