By Desire Uzochukwu
The Association of Igbo Town Unions (ASITU) has urged the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) to take development to grassroots communities across the five states of the South-East through strategic partnerships with town unions.
The association said the commission must move beyond its administrative offices in Abuja and Enugu, adopt practical development initiatives and establish stronger ties with community leaders to ensure its programmes directly benefit the people.
National President of ASITU, Chief Emeka Diwe, made the call in an interview with journalists in Aba, Abia State. He said town unions, with their established leadership structures and deep roots in local communities, were critical to achieving the commission’s development objectives.
Diwe lamented that many government agencies established to promote development often failed to reach the grassroots, concentrating instead on their headquarters and producing programmes and policies that had little impact on local communities.
He urged federal and state governments to work closely with town unions, noting that they had played significant roles in building schools, hospitals and churches, awarding scholarships, and training artisans and graduates across Igbo communities.
According to him, town unions have historically served as a vital support system for the Igbo people, particularly during and after the Nigerian Civil War, when many families lost their livelihoods and needed assistance to rebuild their lives.
He said: “The SEDC does not need to be reminded that the town unions are the heart and survival of the Igbo man. Even after the Nigerian Civil War, it was through town unions that war victims got reliefs. Town unions gave them hope, gave business loans, granted scholarships for education and skills acquisition, and built schools, hospitals, churches, etc.
“It is only through the town union structure that relevant government programmes and policies could be marketed and communicated to the people and interpreted in the language they will understand.
“There would have been no grassroots development in Igbo communities without government-town union partnership. This is why the SEDC must not be used for politics.”
The ASITU president warned that the South-East could not afford to have the commission fail in its mandate, insisting that effective engagement with town unions was essential to delivering meaningful development.
He said previous development commissions had failed to achieve their objectives partly because of ineffective approaches, urging the SEDC to adopt a distinct strategy that prioritised the needs of local communities.
“The South-East is crying for development, and the SEDC can’t afford to fail. Therefore, the SEDC needs to partner the town unions if it is really interested in achieving the objective of development, which is the reason for its establishment.
“We have witnessed many commissions which were set up for development but didn’t achieve such objectives because of their wrong approach. The SEDC should be focused and unique,” he said.
Diwe recalled that some people who lost their wealth during the Civil War and faced severe hardship were able to rebuild their lives through interventions by town unions.
He described town unions as the people’s original grassroots institutions, sustained by the Igbo tradition of communal support and collective responsibility.
“The town union is the structure in Igbo land that is deeply rooted in being your ‘brother’s keeper’. When you talk about being your brother’s keeper, you are talking of development beyond self. It’s the hallmark of the Igbo society.
“This philosophy gave rise to what we call town union. The SEDC should not fail to engage this important agent of grassroots development,” he said.
