Obizie-Carl Azudibia Challenges Mbaise Elites & Media to Abandon Loquacious Consumption, Build at Home

Obizie-Carl Azudibia Challenges Mbaise Elites & Media to Abandon Loquacious Consumption, Build at Home

By Vivian Iwu 

***




AHIARA MBAISE — In a stinging yet visionary keynote address that electrified a gathering of media practitioners, royal fathers, and community leaders, independent publisher and commentator Obizie-Carl Azudibia delivered a profound wake-up call to the Mbaise nation.

Delivered on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at the Chris VI Hotels in Ahiara Mbaise, the lecture—titled "Mbaise Strategic Advancement: The Role of Journalists"—formed the intellectual core of a grand reception honoring Comrade Ezenwa Adiuku JP on his election as the Vice President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Zone C (South-East).

Rather than indulging in passive self-praise, Azudibia confronted the painful paradox of a land blessed with extraordinary global and national icons yet lagging in localized structural development.


While proudly reeling off the monumental achievements of Mbaise sons and daughters—from legal trailblazers like Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili, to pioneer industrialists, top military brass, and the highest concentration of academics and Catholic priests in the world—Azudibia posed a hard-hitting question: How have these individual successes failed to translate into group success?

"Mbaise in all its might has no town in the modern sense of the word," Azudibia stated bluntly, pointing out the absence of a regional Catholic university, a federal or state higher institution campus, or a designated industrial business community within the clan.

In one of the most poignant critiques of the day, the guest lecturer slammed the redirection of communal resources into "unproductive loquacious consumption". He revealed that communities spend upwards of 100 to 150 million Naira hosting annual cultural festivals centered on products like yams and kola nuts—crops that are largely imported from Abakaliki, Benue, or elsewhere—while local schools remain dilapidated and children lack scholarship funds.

"When a culture ceases to establish building blocks for development and advancement of the society, it loses its values," Azudibia warned, declaring that "agriculture takes a people out of poverty, while sports and mere celebration are just icing on the cake".


Invoking the foundational tenets of journalism championed by Walter Lippmann and Eric Hodgins, Azudibia reminded the Fourth Estate that their sacred duty is to seek the truth, provide accurate context, and rigorously interrogate societal norms.

He charged Mbaise media professionals to spearhead a structural transformation by:

Establishing the Mbaise Integrated Agenda for Development (MIAD): Utilizing a democratized Ezurezu Mbaise as an apex unifying body to formulate a collective, long-term economic blueprint.

Institutionalizing Interrogation: Mandating that every major cultural festival feature a public lecture or talk shop to preserve positive traditions while discarding decayed practices.

Reviving the Pioneer Spirit: Urging the elite and successful diaspora sons to bring their investments home without fear, ensuring that the region creates a conducive, safe environment for economic growth.


The powerful keynote resonated deeply with the day's celebrant, newly elected NUJ Zone C Vice President, Comrade Ezenwa Adiuku. Accepting the honor from his home chapter through the Federation of Mbaise Media Professionals (FMMP)—led by Comrade Patrick Chinenye Mgbaja—Adiuku echoed the sentiment that true development must start at the grassroots.

Pledging to fight fake news, elevate professional ethics, and improve journalist welfare across the South-East, Adiuku made an earnest appeal to his people to support the upcoming establishment of an NUJ Zonal Liaison Office in Imo State.

As the historic event drew to a close, the message from Ahiara Mbaise was unmistakable: the era of dwelling solely in past glories is over. Armed with a renewed commitment to accountability, intellectual rigor, and home-based investment, Mbaise media practitioners are stepping up to lead the charge toward a prosperous future.


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