'I Have Solution To Gbagyi Villa Controversy' - Chief Sunny Okogwu

Posted By Trace reporter on 19 August 2016
By Hassan Ibrahim, Kaduna
As the controversy between the el-Rufa'i led government in Kaduna state and
residents of a community known as Gbagyi Villa rages on, Kaduna based
multimillionaire businessman, Chief Sunny Okogwu has appealed to Governor
Nasiru Ahmed el-Rufa'i to be patient and suggested a solution to the
problem.
Okogwu,who is the President of Black Gold, a conglomerate of aeronautical
industries and an air strip on the outskirts of Kaduna,had spoken on the
Gbagyi Villa in a Hausa Liberty Radio Programme monitored in Kaduna.
He also said that some of the inhabitants of Gbagyi Villa who had spent
fortunes to erect structures in the contentious community , had strived to
keep Nigeria one.

" Some of them are retired Generals,I am calling on the state government to
be patient for sometime and also appealed to the inhabitants to stop
threatening and making provocative statements on the matter," he said.
Although the Chief was not categorical on how he had intended to proffer
solution to the Gbagyi Villa issue ,a source close to Black Gold confided
in journalists that he may perhaps,sought for an understanding between the
government and Kaduna Polytechnic for a possible land swap with any of his
vast estate ,to let peace reign.
It could be recalled that Governor Nasiru Ahmad el-Rufa'i had visited the
tensed community and said they had built houses on KADPOLY land illegally
and without following due process.
In spite of pleas from several quarters and even,a widely orchestrated
rumor that the governor and the deputy governor had even,engaged in
fisticuffs over the matter,el- Rufa'i was seen on television reiterating
that the residents of Gbagyi Villa violated state laws and they would "
take the buildings down ."
Sources from the land authorities in the state ,disclosed that state
government officials and local chiefs alleged to have been involved in the
allocation and sales of land in the polytechnic community,were now under
investigation while others have since been suspended.
In another development ,a prominent Gbagyi son and seasoned civil servant
in the state was said to be relieved of his job as the Managing Director of
a state owned property company,for reasons yet unknown.
Keen observers of happenings within government circles ,said  the former MD
,a Barister at Law and doctor of philosophy candidate,was not given fair
hearing as he was being investigated ,but was just served with a letter of
suspension and asked to leave.
This development had,caused serious upsets in the Gbagyi chiefdom who
history said,were the original inhabitants of Kaduna and were not known for
any divisive acts or tendencies.
Some concerned members of the ruling APC in Kaduna state ,took exception to
these developments,describing it as " political  miscalculation " that may
not augur well for the APC in the state ahead of 2019,in a situation where
economic recession and the continued depletion in the economic capability
of many households,had made a larger percentage of the Kaduna population
,feels nostalgic about the immediate past PDP administration.