By Tony Okafor, Awka
Twenty-four years after a section of an Anambra community broke away to establish a separate autonomous community, peace and reconciliation have returned to the town following a Supreme Court ruling nullifying the disputed autonomous status.
The development has ended years of controversies, recriminations and counter-recriminations over the creation of the autonomous community, with members of the affected sides now seeking to rebuild their relationship and move the community forward as one.
The community is Achina in Aguata Local Government Area, where a section broke away in 2002 to form Isi Achina.
The Supreme Court judgment of June 5, which affirmed the decisions of the lower courts nullifying the autonomous status granted to various communities in Anambra State, effectively brought the long-running dispute to an end.
Following the judgment, the Achina community has embarked on a reconciliation process aimed at healing the wounds of the past.
Speaking with journalists in Awka, the President-General of Achina, Mr Anthony Ezenwaka, said a reconciliation meeting held in the community on August 8 brought together brothers and sisters who had hitherto been on opposite sides of the dispute.
He said the meeting was held in a convivial atmosphere, with participants discussing ways of putting the past behind them and working collectively for the development of Achina.
Ezenwaka described the reconciliation as a significant step towards restoring unity and strengthening the community’s pursuit of development.
He also announced that the community’s triennial Idegwu Day, last celebrated on December 31, 2024, would next hold on December 30, 2027.
According to him, the 2027 celebration would provide an opportunity for sons and daughters of Achina, including those in the diaspora, to return home and celebrate the community’s cultural heritage through traditional and other activities.
Ezenwaka further disclosed that Achina would conduct its general election on December 31, 2027, to elect a new town union executive.
He said his administration would formally hand over to the newly elected executive on January 2, 2028.
On the community’s traditional practices, the President-General said Achina did not celebrate the New Yam Festival, known in many Igbo communities as Iri Ji or Iwa Ji.
Instead, he said the community celebrated Ime Ala, a traditional festival held in October.
He explained that Ime Ala was a celebration of the land and its potentials to provide the positive things that nature could offer.
Although it was a purely traditional and non-Christian celebration, Ezenwaka said the festival continued to have some influence on the community’s way of life.
On the Anambra State local government elections scheduled for August 29, 2026, Ezenwaka said Achina was prepared for the exercise.
He urged eligible voters in the community to participate actively in the election, expressing appreciation for what he described as the “fatherly disposition” of the present state government towards the community.
He also appealed to eligible voters in Achina to support the Soludo administration at the polls, describing it as “their own.”
The reconciliation effort marks a new chapter for Achina after more than two decades of division arising from the disputed autonomous-community arrangement.
