By Fortune Ngozi Onwordi
The name Hon. Pastor Jude Chukwunwike, came to National limelight in October 2022, when out of 774 LGAs in Nigeria, he was nominated, profiled and awarded with the prestigious Nigerian Local Government Chairmen Merit Award (LOGMA) of Excellence, at the 21st annual award ceremony held at the National Merit House, Maitama, Abuja.
Prior to his emergence as Council chairman in 2021, Hon. Chukwunwike served as a Special Assistant and later a Senior Special Assistant to Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, the then Governor of Delta State.
Working under Honourable Commissioner for Housing, Chief Festus Ochonogor, he superintended the disbursement of the widows’ empowerment fund in Aniocha South LGA, an assignment he discharged so efficiently that he earned trust of all the widows and womenfolk in Aniocha South.
In 2021, he was overwhelmingly elected as the Council chairman of Aniocha South Local Government.
In two years and three months in the office, he has proved himself as the most vibrant Council boss in Nigeria.
From the resuscitation of many abandoned critical infrastructure to the execution of many life changing projects, Hon. Chukwunwike has written his name in gold in the hearts of the good people of Aniocha South LGA.
It must be noted that Chukwunwike’s phenomenal achievements started with the massive reconstruction and makeover of Aniocha South LGA Council Secretariat Complex where he also built a Christian chapel.
The chapel serves as a worship centre for all staff of the Council as done in the Government House of Delta State.
Having given the council a facelift, Hon. Chukwunwike made a very courageous move to clean up and beautify Ogwashi-Uku, the headquarters of Aniocha South and other towns within the LGA.
The daunting task of cleaning up the LGA headquarters was directly supervised by Hon. Chukwunwike and his dedicated environmental team. This boosted confidence in the process and laid the foundation for the success eventually recorded in the cleanup of Ogwashi-Uku and environs.
Make-shift structures that constituted nuisance, blocking government setbacks and right of way for vehicles and other road users were evacuated and where convenient, beautified with aesthetic flowers.
At the popular Afor Market, traders were compelled to sort and dispose their waste appropriately for the Private Sector Participants in charge of waste management to evacuate them. He also built a modern abattoir at the market for meat sellers.
Motor parks that hitherto constituted nuisance on the major roads by causing traffic gridlocks were confined inside a purpose-built park located inside the market.
The drainage channels blocked by sand and waste matter were desilted to give Ogwashi-Uku a befitting look as one of the oldest council headquarters in Nigeria.
Working with the presidents-general of community development associations and the community vigilante groups, the Chukwunwike-led administration promoted peace and security in every community within Aniocha South.
He procured a bulldozer machine to fast-track the grading of access roads across the three clans of the LGA.
In Nsukwa clan, he completed the construction of a modern market at Ejeme-Unor, the rehabilitation of the Health Centre at Egbudu Akah and the reconstruction of an agro commodity market at Nsukwa.
He also gave out a Toyota Sienna Bus each to the vigilante groups in the three clans of Aniocha South. He equally distributed over 20 motorcycles to the different community vigilante groups to boost logistics.
Even in areas where most heads in the executive branch find it hard to strike a balance between staff of the civil service and politicians, Hon. Chukwunwike built a bridge between the two important classes.
Recently, he completed the renovation of the INEC office Ogwashi-Uku as well as asphalting of severely damaged spots at Umuneze Junction and the road leading to Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku.
His administration saw the purchase of brand new official vehicles for the Vice Chairman, NULGE, the HPM, LGA Secretary and Leader of the legislative arm amongst others.
In the last two years, the council Chairman has distributed two trailer loads of rice, over 10,000 birds and cash as Christmas gifts to boost morale of the council workforce. Dozens of grass mowers were acquired and distributed among all the primary schools in Aniocha South. This has put to an end the era of manual labour of grass clearing in primary schools.
In Ubulu-Uku, he completed the reconstruction of classroom blocks at Abuedo Primary School. A portable water project with solar energy powered pumps has been completed in Ubulu-Uku while the comatose weaving centre has been rehabilitated and revived to train prospective applicants on how to make the popular Anioma attire known as Akwa-Ocha.
At the Ubulu-Uku Eke Market, the Council chairman has completed the construction of an ultra-modern motor park to ease transportation of agricultural products away from the community to their target markets.
These and many more undocumented projects of Hon. Chukwunwike has led to his nomination by Anioma Voice, the leading community online platform of Delta North, as the Best Performing Council Chairman among the nine LGA chairmen in the senatorial district.
As his first tenure draws to a close, Hon. Chukwunwike has lined up more groundbreaking projects that will herald the great leap forward for the Council.
It is therefore no longer a surprise that groups have started calling on him to run for a second term in office in order to consolidate on the progress recorded in his first term.
