From the Desk of the Editor, ISEA Annual Conference Magazine:
The theme of the ISEA Annual Conference, Community Development: the Isiugwu Situation is a succinct choice for a rural village like Isiugwu, Enugu Ezike, in Enugu State. The United Nations Development Programme has made the concept of development easier. When the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expired in 2015, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs encompasses the best elements to conceptualize development. The elements serve as the indices for measuring development in any society.
The indices are best called the 17 SDGs or Global Goal. They include: Goal 1: No Poverty. Goal 2: Zero Poverty. Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being. Goal 4: Quality Education. Goal 5: Gender Equality. Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities. Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Goal 13: Climate Action. Goa 14: Life Below Water. Goal 15: Life on Land. Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
The 17 goals were so carefully crafted that they cover all aspects of a community. Whichever angle you want to look at development, you will find it falls into one of the 17 Global Goals.
Our dear community Isiugwu, Enugu Ezike is a rural village. There is barely any presence of social amenities. Government is distant. The only thing that looks like a health facility is the health centre. Roads are tracks until cleared through community efforts or a member of the community deems it fit. The educational institutions in Isiugwu all came to be through community efforts. Hence, their names: Community Secondary School and Community Primary Schools in Aguogbara, Ajara, Odoru, and Ogbegu. The schools have kept deteriorating since our community handed them to the government. It is interesting to note that Community Secondary School, Isiugwu maintains largest students’ population in Igbo Eze North. Yet, the school has one of the worst structures in Enugu State. Facilities are near absent. Government short-change the school in posting teachers. This situation obtains in other aspects of social amenities.
What should the community then do? Shall we continue to fold our hands while goats give birth with a rope on her neck? Why are we not asking ourselves heart-reaching questions? We once built one secondary school and four primary schools, all through community efforts!
The central aim of this Annual Conference is for us to deliberate on our developmental needs and how we can realize them. Beyond what the government and other agents should do, how can we the Isiugwu people come together to make our community good for all? We need to know the rope wrong our neck as one of the articles here put it. We need to understand the roles of the youths in development. We need fresh perspectives on the roles of traditional authorities in community development. What about the place of peace and unity in development? How does family planning affect our progress? Can we see true development without human empowerment? What does that even mean? How do we relate community development with the origin of Isiugwu Ejagu, the first son of Ozzi who was the last son of Enugu Ezike Oba?
You will find the answers to these questions inside the pages. Just keep reading. But we know that to an inquisitive mind, answers are only the precursors to more questions.
This is why we selected well-qualified authorities to speak to us and speak for on the situation of development in Isiugwu community. The three speakers are persons who have got the answers from studies as well as from life. Dele Maxwell Ugwuanyi, PhD, is a distinguished literary scholar of International status, an entrepreneur, a renowned Political analyst and social commentator and faculty member of Social Sciences and Humanities, Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Another Speaker is our amiable Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Oliver Udaya.
The third speaker is Mr. Remmy Omeje. He is a highly accomplished and result-driven Information Systems Executive with proven record of success in both private and public sector covering Education, Government, Financial Institutions, and ICT. He is a 1984 computer science graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is currently the Chairman/Founder of RKL Associates and Vantijd Technologies Limited.
At the event, well-deserving individuals receive awards of Merit, Honour, and Recognition.
Like every prayer for progress, we believe that The ISEA Annual Conference 2021 is the beginning of a new forward thinking page for Isugwu Ejagu.
Nduka Odo,
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