Imo: In Search Of The ‘Hope’ In Uzodinma

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

Now that Nigerians appear to have tried their best to put behind them the controversial Supreme Court judgment that made Mr. Hope Uzodinma the Governor of Imo State, the great task before him now is to hasten to convince Imo people that the apex court has not brutally forced a very bitter and impuissant pill down their throats, but, that, he is, indeed, that governor they have always hoped for, who will change the face of Imo for good! 

*Gov Uzodinma and President Buhari 

He does not have the luxury time. A delayed performance might begin to sow in the minds of the people the toxic thought that the pill they have swallowed lacks the power to solve the several debilitating maladies weighing the state down. And if their worst fears are eventually confirmed, it would then amount to another hope devastatingly betrayed (if you will permit the pun). And the cost, politically, might be too high for Mr. Uzodinma.   

Well-meaning Nigerians are becoming increasingly worried that the courts are brazenly usurping the power of the electorate to choose their leaders. They are beginning to think that the ever-swelling number of court-crowned leaders constitutes a dangerous threat to our democracy and a frustrating and discouraging experience to the masses who take the pains and defy the often very harsh sun and rain to vote. Why bother to vote when, eventually, the decision on who occupies the office will be decided by about five or seven judges – none of whom may even come from the state or constituency in question? The danger is that the people are often alienated from the leader since they are increasingly finding it difficult to convince themselves that they are being governed or represented by somebody they chose.

On no account must the judiciary become too comfortable with this strange role. Indeed, as more judgments like the one delivered in Imo are allowed to splash themselves on the faces of Nigerians like muddy waters, the judiciary will soon be forced to discover, hopefully,  not when it has become too late, that it has ingested more than a fair share from the poisoned chalice happily and generously offered to it by politicians, and that the effect has so shrunk its hard-worn esteem until it is left with nothing possessing the capacity to recommend it again at the convocation of the civilized.

So, please, our judges should hasten to resist what appears to be the peculiar animation they seem to have begun to derive from “electing” leaders for Nigerians. They should muster the resolve to send many of the mostly misguided litigants back to the polls to retest their popularity with the electorate instead of dignifying with controversial and process-diminishing judicial “victories” the often laughable cases they bring to our courts – the, supposedly, last hope of the common man. It would be tragic if our learned judges are yet to be aware that this is one unfortunate development that has left even unlettered market women dumbfounded and scandalized, and many of them have wasted no time in ripping such rulings apart and turning them to juicy materials for garri market jokes.

Who can easily forget an outstanding example of such judicial victories which occurred in Rivers State in 2007? Mr. Rotimi Amaechi had won the governorship primary contest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but was later replaced by his party which preferred his kinsman, Mr. Celestine Omehia. It was Omehia that went about in Rivers State selling himself to the electorate and soliciting their votes, and it was him that the people chose at the polls to become their governor during the gubernatorial polls on April 14, 2007, which was, however, reportedly, marred by malpractices and violence.

But Mr. Amaechi went to court to challenge his substitution by his party. In an unanimous ruling of seven Supreme Court judges read by Mr. Justice Iyorcha Katsina-Ala on October 25, 2007, the apex court declared Mr. Amaechi the rightful governorship candidate of the PDP and went head to order that he be sworn in as the governor. The implication was that the people voted for one man and got another as their governor. The expectation (at least among “unlearned” men like us) was that the court should have seen the wisdom in ordering fresh elections so that Amaechi could also have the opportunity to test his acceptance with the Rivers people.  

So, the uproar provoked by the Supreme Court ruling on the Imo State governorship elections was beyond Emeka Ihedioha and Hope Uzodinma. It was centred more on the widespread concern that such a judgment might constitute a problematic precedent for the Nigerian judiciary and our yet too fragile democratic institution tomorrow.

Now, as a citizen of Imo State, my concern now is on the positive impact I expect Mr. Uzodinma to make in my state. It remains true that every governor will serve his term and leave, but the state will remain there for all of us. If the state witnesses brilliant transformations during the tenure of any governor, we all will enjoy it, but if it is left in very bad shape, we will also all be there to continually sigh as we endure it. So, the loyalty of the citizens of any state should NOT be to the governor but the state. It is unfortunate that many people are yet to realize this, and that has been the bane of our development as a people. 

For instance, if a governor or even the president is just an embodiment of mediocrity, incompetence or even disaster (or all of them put together) unleashed on a hapless populace, there will still be some people of low self-esteem who will be driven by primordial instincts to sing his praises and even defend his worst atrocities. And yet, these same fellows will wake up each day to lament the unchecked decay in the land. What a pathetic situation.    

   

Shortly after Mr. Ihedioha was declared the winner of the Imo State governorship contest (and before he was sworn in), I wrote a widely published article advising him to ignore the noise by professional sycophants who had once again converged like a flock of vultures and were striving to hold him aloft as the new “messiah” for Imo people. I counseled him to seek with verifiable accomplishments to satisfy the citizens of the state and earn their genuine admiration and love. Those who thought the article was premature at that time and the language too pointed and firm are entitled to their opinion, but for me, I had felt that I had the obligation to set an agenda for the governor-elect before he got carried away. For many years now, I have tried in my own little way to keep Imo governors on their toes, to ensure they left the state much better than they met it.  

So, in that article published variously during April/May 2019 (which is still available on the internet), I wrote:

“It would therefore be very unhelpful if [Ihedioha] allows any sycophant to lull him into the false belief that Imo people had suddenly seen in him an ability and charisma they were unable to see the previous time. This realization would now make his work more enormous but not impossible. He should go all out to win the people’s confidence (which, if he must tell himself the truth, is very low at the moment) and prove to them that they had grossly misjudged him by not voting him in earlier…He should confront headlong the problem of civil servants, especially, teachers and pensioners, and clear their arrears of salaries. Also, and very importantly, he would be missing it if he begins immediately to build new roads. Rather, he should solidify the ones constructed by Okorocha, especially, in the state capital, reopen the adjoining streets [blocked] by the open gutters of newly reconstructed roads to enable the free-flow of traffic in Owerri, and clear the mountains of refuse everywhere to give the state a facelift. Finally, Emeka Ihedioha should remember that he would once again face the whole of Imo only a couple of years from now to ask for their votes again. Indeed, Imo people have evolved a vibrant culture of clearly enforcing their acceptance or rejection of candidates with maximum success no matter how formidable the resistance launched to stop them.”

Incidentally, Ihedioha did not last long as Imo governor to sufficiently demonstrate whether he accepted my advice or not. So, today, I am extending the same counsel to Gov Uzodinma. Last week, some teachers in Imo State told me that they had just received their February salary. That does not sound good at all. The governor should investigate this and ensure that it does not continue. Any governor that maltreats civil servants, especially, teachers, is just toying with his political future. Such a preference has buried the ambition of many politicians!

No matter what anyone can say about former Governor Rochas Okorocha, the truth remains that he opened countless roads that almost completely eliminated the gridlocks that egregiously distinguished Owerri before he became governor. It was such that those of us who go to the airport from Orlu could now easily bypass Owerri town and access Aba Road to head straight to the airport with little or no stress. Although, the roads wasted no time before they began to wear off, thus, betraying substandard work, what Mr. Uzodinma should do now is solidify them and turn Owerri into a modern state capital. Fortunately, he is not being distracted by needless press war with any of his predecessors as was the case with Ihedioha. He has an opportunity to become the hero of the people and should seize it with both hands. He should hasten to destroy the growing and damaging insinuation that he is not his own man but is being manipulated by some strong forces outside the state for their selfish benefits. 

Finally, he should make Orlu people proud, who have once again produced another governor, by demonstrating a leadership that is excellent and fair to all and give Imo State a new face and the people a good reason to rejoice and forget the circumstances to brought him to power. We are watching...

*Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, is a Nigerian journalist and writer (scruples2006@yahoo.com; Twitter: @ugowrite). This article was first published in his Monday column on the back page of Daily Independent, April 13, 2020