Opinion
By Steve Osuji
THE HOPE CONUNDRUM: At a function in Umuaka, Njaba LGA yesterday, a fellow draped in the costumes of a juju priest was directing the traffic of cars exiting the expansive mansion, venue of the meeting. Most of the cars were posh. The guest list was cream of the crop; mainly diaspora kind and key monarchs.
There were also numerous armed Mobile Policemen escorting dignitaries and an assortment of broad-chested bouncers. The occasion was peaceful and joyous indeed. The affluent, US-based family sought to sensitise the cream of the community about a major project they seek to plant in the LGA.
Quiz to dear reader: From the scene described above, can you connect the dots?
Let’s give you another clue. By the 29th of December, nigh all hotels in Owerri, capital of Imo State and Nigeria’s ‘raucous Paris’, was fully booked. And Owerri probably has the most number of hotels per square metre in Nigeria.
Now what are we trying to say? The point here is that though Imo State has been marked as among the most insecure state in the land, yet the people still want to return to their beloved home, they want to invest still, they now secure themselves and they enjoy their lives to the fullest, regardless.
But the Hope Uzodinma conundrum remains, and indeed remains a blight to the state. Four years ago, during the dusty harmattan January of 2020, Hope Uzodinma in cahoots with the ruling APC , the Nigeria Police and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, stole the mandate Imo people gave to Emeka Ihedioha at the polls. Governor Ihedioha was only seven months in office when he was sacked by the Supreme Court. It remains the most asinine, most outlandish election ruling in Nigeria’s history. Those who know say that January 14th, 2020 was the day Nigeria’s Supreme Court (judiciary) auto-cremated itself. For the record, our current Chief Justice and head of the country’s judiciary, Olukayode Ariwoola was in the panel that executed the Imo heist…
FROM SUPREME COURT GOVERNOR TO 27 OVER 27: Since January 15, 2020 when Hope Uzodinma was installed as governor of Imo State, hell had been let loose upon Imo. But for the resilience of the people and sheer providence, the State may have vanished. However, in the last four years, Imo suffered much shrinkage and atrophy.
Governor (you are free to put that in parenthesis) Hope Uzodinma immediately got the troubling moniker of SUPREME COURT GOVERNOR. Himself in one moment of craze told an audience he got the position the BEN JOHNSON way. Need I explain that to you, dear reader? Please Google Ben Johnson if you must.
In their euphoria during the early days, Hope’s men would deride their victims in beer parlours, deploying a football analogy: “ if you have been dribbled quit struggling, make way so we may dribble others.” In other words, Hope and his gang made no bones about stealing the Imo people’s mandate.
Now it’s 27 over 27 governor, the code for winning (in parenthesis) all the 27 LGAS in Imo State in last November guber election. Even our dear Dee Sam Mbakwe could never have achieved this electoral feat. We doubt that any governor in Nigeria could muster 100% even with massive rigging. What we have here is perversion mating impunity. Shall we call it “mpu-nity?”
In a decent society, the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu would nit only have resigned, he would have long committed suicide after the 2O23 general elections coup d’etat he executed against Nigeria’s democracy. But he sits there still pretending to conduct elections. Shame on him!
THE WAY OF APC BRIGANDS: But of course, the All Progressives Congress is a perverse entity. APC would do anything to grab power and remain in power. We all are witnesses to how this evil leviathan orchestrated Boko Haram in 2014 in their quest for power; bombs were being spread like confetti even in Abuja until they stole power from hapless Goodluck Jonathan and his PDP. To be double sure, they camped armies of bandits in the hills and forests of Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto States. These bandits have since 2015 become Frankenstein monsters to the northwest of Nigeria and beyond, wreaking physical and psychological havoc on us all.
THE IMO WASTELAND: APC’s unstated mantra is power without responsibility. From Muhammadu Buhari to Bola Tinubu and Hope Uzodinma, to name a few, none of them know the smallest thing about responsible leadership. They are mere philistines who just want power for it’s fripperies, appurtenances and razzmatazz. They have no ability, capability nor vision to lead people to progress and prosperity. They merely pretend at leadership.
ORCHESTRATED INSECURITY: This is how come Imo has become a wasteland in the past four years with a mere semblance of governance going on in the last for years. APC has the uncanny capacity to invoke violence on any environment if only as a decoy to cover their ineptitude. This is what has happened in Imo since 2020. Hope, in collaboration with Abuja has inflicted violence never known in Imo. Wittingly and witlessly, Hope and federal APC radicalize the hitherto nonviolent agitators in Imo particularly and southeast generally. Buhari and his rapacious Gen. Buratai did their best to turn southeast to a war zone so they could make gains from war booty. Remember those phoney operation Crocodile Dance? Scams cooked up to raid the treasury.
RISE OF IDEOLOGICAL RESISTANCE: Now, the situation has hardened in Imo. Ideological underground resistance has formed in Imo. It will metastasize and grow more dangerous by the day. Of course this is the worst kind of violence. And one laughs at the infestation of cheap armoured tanks all over Imo State. Apart from taking a poke at the governor’s convoy, they have shown their hand in Mbaise. For Hope and his Abuja lords, they have applied more force and less intelligence so far.
Of course Hope blamed faceless political opponents threatening to release a list of masterminds. But that was mere blustery. He didn’t quite understand the situation initially. Later he took advantage of the insecurity, charging at it headlong as if in a fire-for-fire contest. Thousands of Imo young men have been wasted extrajudicially these few years. Many of them innocent. Patches of pain and anger linger everywhere. The overriding thought is: what manner or governor ( monster) is this who has come to vanquish our youth?! We have never seenbthis kind before!
IN SEARCH OF DENOUEMENT: EXPRESSO wagers that no government in history ever won a guerrilla war; especially in a semi-urban environment. By the way, this is now regarded by the majority of the people as a war with a ‘good’ cause. IPOB elements seems to have found soul mates in angry people.
The good thing however, is that Hope has all of four years to remedy all this mess if he’s minded. Another thing to say for Hope is that he delivered some goods even in a situation of ‘no governance.’ He managed to deliver two most important projects: Owerri-Orlu and Owerri-Okigwe highways. Don’t ask me the costs. He reclaimed some failed areas and roads of Owerri like World Bank, Prefab, MCC-Uratta, etc.
Going by the poor standards of governance in Nigeria this column would be bold to say that Hope Uzodinma with all his self-inflicted troubles, outperformed many governors these four years. But we must balance this by noting quickly that his performance remains utterly below par.
TIME TO HEAL: the major duty of Hope as he starts a second term is to heal and reconcile Imo – and throw in the work of his life. With the right approach and temperament, every disagreement can be reconciled. He must first climb down from his high perch, find noble men and statesmen and working quietly with them, Imo can be great again – in four years. Hope may still find a decent place in history.
Back to the beginning, the Umuaka meeting we started this write-up with is the best proof and testament that Imo can be better – if Governor Uzodinma desires to redeem himself.
Feedback: steve.osuji@gmail.com
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-January 11, 2023 @ 13:57 GMT|
Tags: Hope Uzodinma Steve Osuji
