OPINION: Nde Ohafia, a word is enough for the wise!

• By Peter Kalu, Esq.

Ohafia used to be regarded as a community of highly intellectual people, having produced the likes of the first indigenous Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Eni Njoku; Dr Kalu Ezera; Justice Anya; and others.

A community with a galaxy of academics is now being cajoled by mediocres and people with questionable educational and professional backgrounds.

It is time for the Ohafia people to wake up, galvanise themselves, and reclaim their place with intellectual minds. In each election cycle, selfish politicians use one reason or another to exploit Ohafia for their own selfish political interests. Ohafia was used against a Senator in the build-up to the 2023 general elections by some desperate politicians, but it failed woefully.

During the 2023 general elections, about four Ohafia sons ran for the Federal House of Representatives seat for Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency. One of them had his name omitted by INEC until a court order ruled that he be included, along with the logo of his party.

Then INEC had already printed ballots. It was the reprinting and the inclusion of his party that delayed voting in Ohafia and Arochukwu. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu had nothing to do with it, as voting had commenced in other places. A single individual cannot cancel an election in an entire community.

When INEC materials started arriving in wards in Ohafia and its environs, those interested in the process went to the INEC office and picked up materials because the whole delay affected logistics. Amaekpu also started voting before some people disrupted the process, claiming that it was late and they would not be voting again.

Pause and ask yourself as an educated fellow: Do you think security agencies would not give a report on that? It was not Orji Uzor Kalu, and he had absolutely nothing to do with elections not holding in those places. If he did, is there a video or any written statement by him to show that he said so?

This is the simple finding that bloggers and their sympathisers have failed to reveal to you.

So, accusing him is libelous, and he is right if he decides to seek redress because it is becoming too much. Under Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), every person is entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.

However, this right is not absolute and must be exercised responsibly, as limitations exist to protect the rights and reputation of others (as recognised under Section 45 and common law principles on defamation). False statements that injure reputation can constitute libel under the Criminal Code Act (Sections 373–380), exposing the maker to civil or criminal liability.

Ohafia Improvement Union and the new Udumaeze must not allow politicians to infiltrate them. They should focus on the welfare and progress of the Ohafia community. After all, the same election that produced OUK also produced an Ohafia son in the Federal House.

Shalom!