The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the South East Development Commission, SEDC into law.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday signed into law bills creating two new regional development commissions in Nigeria.
The bills include the North West Development Commission, NWDC, sponsored by Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, and the South East Development Commission, SEDC, sponsored by Ben Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Reacting, Ohanaeze in a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, described the bill as “a quantum leap, a hope renewal and a significant part of a new beginning”.
The statement noted that the President General of Ohanaeze, Chief Engr. Dr Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was highly elated by the development.
Ohanaeze said the SEDC, which will cover Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States would go a long way to “assuage the feelings of the Igbos with respect to the 3R sophistry by General Yakubu Gowon in January 1970”.
“Ohanaeze seizes this opportunity to commend the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu and the co-sponsors of the all-important Bill.
“During a courtesy call to the National Assembly by the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the exceptional quality of Kalu did not go unnoticed.
“His suave, assertive, sagacious and visionary dispositions were very inspiring and a veritable source of hope. More importantly, he commands the respect and confidence of most members of the House of Representatives.
“It needs a mention that the SEDC which has remained in the pipeline for decades has come on stream through Kalu and his team.
“The Southeast Development Commission (SEDC) is expected to manage funds allocated from the Federation Account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, and other infrastructural deficits suffered by the region due to age-long neglect.
“The SEDC will tackle ecological problems and related environmental challenges that have devastated the Southeast for decades”, the statement added.
