Indigenes of Oloko in Abia State are still angry over the failure of Abuja to include the late Ikonna Enyia in the centenary awards in February. They are also upset over what they claim is the distortion of history.
The people say Enyia, who orchestrated the Aba women’s riot in 1929, was excluded from the honours list because the community refused to pay a bribe of N50,000 demanded by officials.
“They told us to forward her name and we did. They insisted that we should grease their palm and we felt there was no need for that,”alleged Anyandiegwu Uzondu, President-General of Ikwuano Development Union.
The allegation of bribery has been denied by Sam Nwaobasi, Special Assistant (Media) to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.
Nwaobasi said “there was no contact between the committee and those who sent the names, since the name of the committee members were not known to the public.”
But Okeugo Enyia, grandson of Madam Enyia, insisted that “they asked us to build a profile of her which we did; [then] they asked us to pay N50,000 which we could not. Eventually, she was not listed among those who were honoured.”
Okeugo wondered whether the failure to pay the bribe led to the exclusion of Enyia from the list. “We are not happy. How can we be happy? But what can we say?”
The government on February 28, 2014 honoured 100 Nigerians at the awards ceremony marking the amalgamation of the northern and southern parts of the River Niger in 1914, the ‘Niger area’ from which Nigeria got its name.
Those honoured included the living and the dead who have contributed to building the country.
In 1929, women revolted against the imposition of tax on them by the British colonialists. The agitation produced far-reaching results.
The anger in the Oloko community goes beyond the exclusion of Enyia’s name from the honours list. Uzondu said it distorts history.
“There was never an Aba women’s riot in 1929. The event took place in Nchara, Oloko clan in Ikwuano Local Government Area, not in Aba,” he insisted.
At the time of the event in 1929, he stressed, “The late Margaret Ekpo had not started her political activism.We consider it a grave injustice that Madam Enyia’s feats and struggles are being ascribed to Ekpo.”
Uzondu argued that the honour of the women’s riot in 1929, which began affirmative action for women in Nigeria, “must be given to whom it is due.”
However, Nwaobasi said nominations for the centenary awards were “either sent online or by mail” to the committee.
“No fewer than 3,000 nominations were received by the committee headed by the Minister of Solid Minerals. A shortlist of 200 was sent to the committee headed by the Minister of FCT, Bala Mohammed, where we looked at the briefs and cross-checked the facts.”
He described the pruning of the 200 names to 100 as “a very difficult task” but insisted that every name in the final 100 merited the honour.
“We have received several complaints over exclusion and the president has already offered his apology and explanation that not all the names could be accommodated on the 100 list.”
The award, Nwaobasi argued, cannot be quantified in money.“Of all the complaints we have heard of, this is the only allegation that bordered on bribery. It is unfair and unkind.”
Regardless, the Oloko community plans to lodge a formal complaint to the Presidency.
“We will continue to fight until the woman is given her proper recognition in the country,” Uzondu said.
