The bomb explosion and other incidents of security breaches in the city have amplified the call for something to be done to rescue Orlu from its sorry state. As Orlu bleeds, Imo shrinks, Nigeria loses.
By Emeka Alex Duru
I was settling for a piece on the unnecessary drama by high officials of the state in releasing the minors on trial for their involvement in the August 1-10 #EndBadGovernance protests, when the news filtered in about a bomb explosion in Orlu International Market, Imo state. In such situation, it was difficult to settle for one and leave the other. Both items mattered, considerably. The spoke on our unsteady steps at nation building and national development.
My people, the Igbo, have a saying that a man that refuses to take advice at home, learns the hard way at the village square when he is mocked by outsiders. Perhaps, more than any other incident in recent time, the trial of the child protesters, reasons adduced for their arraignment and the conditions attached to the bail granted them – N10 million each, in addition to other stringent requirements, only succeeded in making mockery of the human rights record of President Bola Tinubu administration before the right-thinking public outside Nigeria.
The subsequent choreographed and make-believe reception organised for the kids at Aso Rock which aimed at portraying the government as attentive to the plight of the people, did more harm than remedy. Whatever public relational objective that was aimed at achieving by the thoughtless display, did not register any positive marks. So also, was the video in the social media on the youths in an airplane to Kano.
I could not confirm the authenticity of the video. But it also spoke on the undue emphasis on propaganda by foot soldiers of the government, rather than offering genuine insights on governance. A simple reflection could have exposed the needlessness of the action. Here were famished and malnourished children arrested for protesting the acute hunger and biting economic situation in the country, being served a farcical very important persons (VIP) treatment in an aircraft.
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In Orlu, the ‘war’ is not yet over
These were children of the extreme poor, many of them, out-of-school, whose parents, due to the poverty in the land, may not have accorded a ride in open-body combi vans. What the government really intended to gain by that misguided action, remains a big question. But no matter the agenda, by the silly theatricals that unfolded in the trial of the minors, Nigeria has further been diminished in essence and substance. The entire thing has exposed the hypocrisy of the Tinubu presidency.
Here is a leader who presumably rode to office on the crest of protests and opposition politics but would have none of it under his watch. As it is, the remarks by Harvard University political scientists, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, in their 2018 publication; ‘How Democracies Die’, that “Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders – presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power”, resonate eloquently in Tinubu and his gang. That is a huge irony.
But there is an extent falsehood and propaganda can travel without losing their steam. That is the point at which Tinubu and his men are. For long, they had been playing the ostrich and thinking that they were getting away with it. But events and circumstances are beginning to expose their underbellies. Presidency officials can go ahead in humouring themselves with comparing Tinubu’s economic policies to the transformative leadership of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew.
Of course, in a system as Nigeria in which the political class, in this case, the presidency, appropriates the position of a player and the referee, the scorecard is obvious. But Nigerians are not fools. They are also not blind to their environment. It can only be easy to deceive the blind on the presence of oil in a meal but certainly not the salt. The tongue deciphers that.
Lee Kuan Yew, for the record, was the first and longest serving Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Widely regarded as the founding father of modern Singapore, Lee transformed the city-state from a small, resource-poor British colony with high illiteracy rates into the most prosperous country in Southeast Asia. Under his leadership, Singapore developed a robust economy with one of the highest per capita GDP figures in Asia. If you compare that brilliant performance credential with that of Tinubu, there is hardly any match. In the 18 months of the Tinubu presidency, Nigerians have had it terribly bad. It is the axiomatic case of from frying pan to fire.
While the erstwhile Muhammadu Buhari government visited Nigerians with hardship, Tinubu has literally thrown them to Hell. Most citizens do not have access to basic necessities of life. Many kids of school age are at home, due to the inability of their parents to see them through. There is anger everywhere, there is animosity between and among groups. Agitations are on the rise, insurgency, rife. Life is gradually losing meaning in all ramifications.
That is the surest way of explaining the upsurge in uncertainties in Orlu. According to reports which the police confirmed, two people were killed, many injured when a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at Orlu International Market on Tuesday, November 5. The explosion caused stampede and confusion as people ran in different directions. The market was said to be in full swing when the detonation occurred. A trader in the market, added the blast is the second of such occurrence lately, coming on the heels of an earlier explosion on Amaigbo Road.
The latest development has brought Orlu to the fore, again, for the wrong reason. In my article on Friday, January 6, 2023, titled, “In Orlu, the ‘war’ is not yet over”, I cried that one only needed to live in Orlu or visit the city, to appreciate level of the uncertainties in the area. Orlu (Imo West) is the largest senatorial district in Imo. It has 12 local government areas, leaving Owerri (Imo East) with nine and Okigwe (Imo North) with six councils. In terms of economic and commercial engagements, it is the second city after Owerri. It also has name recognition that resonates across the country.
The zone has the rare privilege of producing three out of the four governors of the state – Achike Udenwa (1999-2007), Rochas Okorocha (2011-2019) and presently, Hope Uzodimma in the current democratic dispensation. If Uzodimma completes his second term, Orlu would have been in the saddle for 24 years, leaving Okigwe (through Ikedi Ohakim – 2007-2011) with four years and Owerri (through Emeka Ihedioha) with eight months. But that is perhaps, where the allure of the Orlu story, ends.
Almost every other thing about Orlu, throws up a feeling of uncertainties, deep fears and in extreme case, revulsion. The city has refused to grow or has been denied growth by successive administrations in the land. Since the 2020 #EndSARS protests when the peaceful atmosphere of the area was violated, Orlu has not been its usual self. The people currently live in fear – fear of the overzealous law enforcement officers, fear of the unknown gunmen and fear of secessionist agitators. Businesses have gone down completely and social life, virtually obliterated.
The bomb explosion and other incidents of security breaches in the city have once again, amplified the need for something to be done to rescue Orlu from its sorry state. As Orlu bleeds, Imo shrinks, Nigeria loses.