Ruga: Monarch lauds Abia’s restriction on land sales

A prominent Abia monarch, Prof. Sunday Owualah, has expressed joy over the state government’s resolve to henceforth regulate the sale of land above five hectares in any part of the state.

Owualah, who is the traditional ruler of Umuobasi autonomous community in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia state, stated this in a statement he made available to journalists in Umuahia on Sunday.

He said that the state government’s policy justifies his fears about the large expanse of land acquired by the federal government for a trailer park at Umuonyeukwu Village and Umueje Village in Arongwa autonomous community on the Enugu -Port Harcourt Expressway.

He was reacting to a media briefing in Umuahia, where the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Uche Ihediwa, accused him of “malicious insinuations that Abia has already set aside land for Ruga settlement at Arongwa.”

In the statement entitled: “Truth of the matter: Trailer park not ruga,” the monarch described Ihediwa’s accusation as false, saying that “nothing can be farther from the truth than this smear and aspersion on my name and image.”

He admitted that he took up the issue of the land for the trailer park with Ihediwa and the traditional ruler of Arongwa, Eze Edward Enwereji, but said that he never alluded to the Ruga settlement.

“I never alluded to Ruga (which by then was not known in popular lexicon of Nigeria) nor did I maliciously insinuate land being acquired for it,” the monarch claimed, adding that he merely cautioned Enwereji on the need for circumspection, in view of the unfolding developments about cattle colony and cattle route in the country.

“My word of caution stemmed from the size of the land involved and the facilities to be hosted in the park,” Owualah said, asserting that specifically, in his discussion with Ihediwa, he shared his concerns and fears with the commissioner about the size of such a project in a land-scarce environment.

He said that his worry further stems from the possibility that the land could be “diverted for the purpose it was not intended in the long run in the unfolding events in Nigeria.”

Owualah also said that he drew the attention of Ngwa Social Club to intervene in interrogating the location of the trailer park at the appropriate quarters.

“As a traditional ruler whose community is contiguous to Arongwa, particularly the two villages in the location of the proposed trailer park, I consider it my moral and ethical duty to protect the overall interest of my people and others resident in it now or in the future.

“That is exactly what I did in taking up the task of drawing attention to the unintended consequences of this decision that might affect generations now and those yet unborn,” the monarch said.