By Cajetan Mmuta
A leading female governorship aspirant in the forthcoming November 6 Anambra 2021 election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lady Chidi Onyemelukwe has deployed the growing cases of insecurity across the country, particularly, the Sunday night attacks on B-Division police Station and headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Awka, the state capital.

Lady Onyemelukwe who is the daughter of former Vice President Dr Alex Ekwueme also urged the aggrieved youths or groups behind the attacks to sheathe their swords, insisting that armed confrontations could not bring about the kind of progress the south-east needed at the moment.

Onyemelukwe called on leaders at all levels to redouble their efforts to regain the confidence of the people.

She said, “I’m aware of prevailing challenges, unmet needs and related issues that need to be discussed. But the solutions we seek cannot be realized by the force of arms and violence.

“I’m conscious of the disconnect between the political elite and the masses, including disenfranchised and unemployed youths. Yet the questions confronting the south-east calls for dialogue.

“Those of us at the upper echelons of power need to work doubly hard to regain the confidence of our people. Should we continue to speak and act in manners that further deplete that badly damaged trust, then the south-east could be in for a serious decline as the loss of confidence, resort-to-arms and self-help will only prove destructive.”

Onyemelukwe who was the deputy governorship candidate of the party in 2017 and former Board Chairman, Federal Housing Authority, also expressed worry over Police High Command’s shoot-at-sight order in Enugu, saying it fell short of both international and broadly acceptable policing standards.

Female aspirant wants God-fearing winner for Anambra’s Nov. governorship election

“Police must not, in a bid to restore normalcy, resort to high-handed and extra-judicial engagements. That will only exacerbate the situation and further alienate the police from the public they serve.”

“Nigeria has gone through this before. The essence of having the hindsight early days of Boko Haram offers is to better instruct today’s policymakers on options that work and those that don’t.

“There are several stressors and contributors to the problems at hand. Addressing them will require placing all the cards on the table. We can’t simply shoot our way out of situations like this.”

The governorship hopeful also condoled with the families of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and the ten military officers who lost their lives in last week’s Kaduna air mishap.

She further mourned Police, naval, military, vigilantes, and other citizens who lost their lives during repeated attacks on Police and other paramilitary formations in parts of the south-east and south-south geo-political zones.