What Uzodinma wants to achieve is simply to demonise Senator Rochas Okorocha as brain behind all the untoward developments in Imo.
By Sam Onwuemeodo
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, wants the “congregation” or his audience to believe that, Senator Rochas Okorocha is the sponsor of the worrisome and lingering security situation in Imo.
And the only reason behind his accusation is that, Okorocha, at the Senate plenary, drew the attention of the RedChamber of the National Assembly and by extension, Nigerians and the World over, to the deteriorating security scenario in Imo.
That is what Uzodinma wants us to believe about Okorocha. If we believe him, we can also believe that two plus two is twenty; which is not true, both in Arithmetic and Mathematics. It could also be called ” Sum”. Have you forgotten? So soon? No way. Have you done your ” Sum”? That’s your Arithmetic or Mathematics.
The “congregation” should not also have forgotten that, this latest accusation is not the first of its kind from Gov. Uzodinma against Senator Okorocha.
In April 2021, when unknown gunmen struck in Owerri, the same Governor Uzodinma, via his brother, who is the Commissioner for Information, Declan Mbadiwe Emelumba , went on National Television to also accuse Okorocha.
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They later accused the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). They later accused youths from the North. They later accused youths from Rivers. They later said that they had arrested One Hundred and Sixty youths who were responsible. They later said it was the opposition in the state that was behind the attack.
What do you get, when a government is chasing shadow? Or, when a government chases shadow or rat when its house is on fire? They talk from both sides of their mouths. And they want us to believe them. Do we believe them? l do not think so.
Okorocha left as the governor of Imo State on May 28, 2019. Reason being that, by May 29, 2019, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha had taken over as the governor of lmo state. My brother in whom, l am well pleased!
From that May 29, 2019, Okorocha has been stripped of his constitutional immunity. He has become an ordinary citizen like any other Nigerian. Even as a Senator, he does not enjoy immunity.
And if governor Uzodinma had had his facts or the correct information on who is behind the insecurity in Imo, shouldn’t he have got the person arrested and prosecuted? Why does he keep on repeating the same accusation?
In other words, Uzodinma wants the “Congregation” to believe that he knows who is behind the insecurity in the State and has not done anything to arrest the situation. This is doubtful.
Chief Uzodinma wants ” Ndi Nzuko” to believe that, security agencies in the country do not have their own relevant information on the security atmosphere in Imo.
He wants us to believe that, Okorocha was wrong to have drawn the attention of the senate to the killings and arson, going on in his State and particularly, Orlu zone, which he represents in the senate. That’s what Gov. Uzodinma wants us to believe.
The Imo governor wants the “Congregation” to believe that, he wants the carnage or the turbulence going on in Imo, to stop. Yet, he is always allergic to superior ideas from patriotic citizens of the State, on how to stop the “inferno”. That’s not advisable.
Nothing hurts than when someone prides in failure instead of being humble in failure. Humility is a virtue. And indeed, tolerance and accommodation. They are assets or virtues.
Governor Uzodinma wants us to believe that Okorocha, as governor for eight years, had no right to develop layouts and Estates for Imo citizens and others who wanted to invest or build.
The lmo governor wants us to believe that, Okorocha for the eight years he was governor, had no right to approve lands for Imo citizens and others, who had asked for them.
And Uzodinma wants us to believe today that all those actions of Okorocha as governor, have become illegal. That’s what he wants us to believe. All the investments or structures in the 32 layouts and Estates developed by Okorocha, have all become his properties, in governor Uzodinma’s own assessment!
If you believe Governor Uzodinma on all these, you can believe anything or everything; even believing that, a man can become pregnant in lgbo land. That it is not possible.
Few days ago, the government of Gov. Uzodinma, using Ukachukwu Awuzie as tool, announced that they were returning lands recovered from Okorocha to their original allotees. In line with that promise, the government published eight hundred and ninety-four (894) names. But he left quantum lacunae.
The locations of the lands allegedly recovered and those who had them before now, were not part of the publications. Such valid or necessary pieces of information would have let Uzodinma’s audience to know the facts about the purported returned lands. Who and who were the lands recovered from? How did they get the lands?
Or, does the government also want us to believe that, the 894 lands were recovered from Okorocha as a person? Perhaps with his family members? That’s not the case. lf that was the case, the government in lmo, would have published it like that. I hope you have been following me?
Governor Uzodinma should find out why the publication did not generate the excitement and reaction he had envisaged. He should find out why it appeared as if nobody was keen in what he did and even in the accusation on Imo insecurity.
Let us also know what has made all Okorocha’s actions as governor illegal. We need to be tutored. We need to be taught. We need to be educated. And the lmo Governor is the lecturer or tutor; the guest lecturer.
And regrettably, Uzodinma has Information Commissioner who is like putting old wine into a new bottle. It doesn’t synchronize. It does not work out. It does not connect. lt does not stick.
You took Akachi road, constructed by Okorocha and renamed it Evan Enwerem Road. And also Commissioned it. You want the ” Congregation or the choir” to believe that you acted in good faith.
You want us to believe that you were right. You renamed Heroes’ Square built by Okorocha, Ndubuisi Kanu Square and also commissioned it. Why?
You renamed the Ultra-Modern Nick Banquet Hall built by Okorocha, Government House Banquet Hall and equally commissioned it. And you want us to believe that you had acted well.
You demolished most of the strategic roundabouts constructed by Okorocha and replaced them with demarcations done with 5-inch blocks. And that has seen the return of terrible traffic jams in Owerri and environs.
You want us to believe that Okorocha was wrong in building the roundabouts and tunnels. And you were right in demolishing them, without replacing them with better things than what Okorocha did.
If Achike Udenwa had desired to demonize or stigmatize Col. Tanko Zubairu who handed over to him, he would have done that.
If Ikedi Ohakim had wanted to drag Udenwa on the floor, he would have done so. If Okorocha had desired to make mincemeat of Ohakim, he would have also done that .
Governor Uzodinma has decided to scratch Okorocha and he is doing so with all his strength and to the best of his ability. But why?
Uzodinma’s Special Adviser on Sanitation, Willie Amadi, gave a very valid information in his book, the “Second Chance”.
He wrote that Okorocha was not allowed to produce a successor because of his 2023 Presidential ambition. And we are having the feeling that Governor Uzodinma is acting a script against Okorocha because of his presidential ambition. But it does not matter.
God gives power. Men also give Power. When someone is enjoying or having God-given power, you must know. The people feel at home. The people rejoice. But when someone is exercising or enjoying or having men-given power, you would also know. The people groan. They lament. Nothing works. One ugly tale or the other. Buck-passing. And so on.
If Joseph’s brothers didn’t sell him into exile, he would not have become the Prime Minister of Egypt (Genesis 39). If Haman didn’t plot for Mordecai to be hanged, King Ahasuerus would not have crowned Mordecai with gold and with a garment of fine linen and purple (Esther 8).
Chinua Achebe had written in his Things Fall Apart; “There was once a man who went to sell a goat. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. But as he walked through the market, he realized that people were pointing at him as they do to a mad man. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat, but a heavy log of wood”. The rest is history.
You do not quench the flame you did not lit or the fire you did not put on or you did not know when it was put on.
Onwuemeodo, Media Adviser to Senator Rochas Okorocha, wrote from Owerri, Imo State