STILL ON IMO CHARTER OF EQUITY: WHERE FACELESS GROUPS GOT IT WRONG

Penultimate week, an episode of market place dance by some groups of faceless and amorphous organizations paraded themselves in Owerri, the Imo state capital and claimed to be talking as leaders and political stakeholders for the three senatorial zones of the state, and majority of Imolites discarded them by laughing off their anxiety occasioned by the clueless and junketing administration currently overseeing the state.
The people’s major reason for making a mockery and caricature of these groups and stakeholders was instead of their paymasters to think deeply of how to handle the insecurity bedeviling the state currently, they were busy singing the 2023 governorship song.
As a concern Imolite, I also felt ashamed of this group because all of us in this state are worried of the insecurity at the moment. If those clamoring for the second tenure of Governor Hope Uzodinma are sane enough, when he has not even find his feat in the almost two years of steering the ship of governance of the state, they needed to encourage him to show quality leadership at home by providing the required dividend of democracy to Imo people than camouflaging of running the state from Abuja.
However, nobody is against a governor hobnobbing with his friends in leadership or the power-brokers in Abuja, but as a governor and chief executive, as well as the chief security officer of the state, he ought to be always present in the state and not the other way round. The ability of a leader to attend to the worries and needs of his people is one of the key qualities of good leadership, therefore, when such characteristics are lacking in a leader, then something is wrong.
Back to the braggadocio expressed by the so-called leaders and stakeholders, for a right-thinking person or group to come out to campaign for the continuation of an Orlu man or woman to run for the office of governor in 2023 without taking into consideration the Imo charter of equity is nonsensical. It is, however, a baseless argument because in the words of Abhijit Naskar, “Equity isn’t a belief, it’s the foundation of a civilized society.”
Moving forward, Sharan Burrow reminded us that “Globalization has much potential. It could be the answer to many of the world’s seemingly intractable problems. But this requires strong democratic foundations based on a political will to ensure equity and justice.” It is therefore, on that basis that the founding fathers of modern Imo state agreed on power shift among the three senatorial zones of the state, which started from Orlu zone in 1999 when the nascent democracy was founded. How then should power continue to reside in the same Orlu zone, 24 years after with Okigwe zone testing the slot for four years while Owerri zone, the seat of the state capital has been denied the slot with only seven months on the saddle?
Let me point out here that we are not struggling to establish the fact that the incumbent governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma has the constitutional right to vie for the second tenure in office as governor, but we have to apply wisdom, civility and justice as DeRay Mckesson observed “Justice that is not rooted in equity, in social welfare, and in community is not justice at all.”
According to the charlatans, it is hereby resolved that Equity and Zoning of the Governorship of Imo State shall go forward beginning with the incumbent and Orlu zone. The implication is that the Governorship position shall rotate to Owerri and Okigwe zones in 2028 when the incumbent must have exhausted his constitutional second tenure. To guarantee the effectiveness and practicality of this political arrangement and understanding, the other two zones are advised not to field candidate(s) or contest against the zone upon which the Governorship is domiciled. The bottom line of this resolution is that Owerri and Okigwe zones will not field a Governorship candidate in any of the competing political parties until 2028.
This scornful statement no doubt coming out from the bottomless pit of hallucinators should be disregarded in its entirety because the messengers are not credible and cannot be trusted. We are talking about moving the state forward and not hanging on the ethos of discord and confusion to bring down our dear state at the detriment of mediocrity.
Calling for the unity and justice to prevail in the state, one time legislator, Hon. Oliver Enwerenem, however, likened the scenario in the state to that of the game of football (soccer) which is played as a team. “The team spirit determines its success. The man who scores the goal is usually the one who is well positioned at the moment to do so. He may not be the best player or the one who had worked hardest in the team.”
According to him, Rashidi Yekini who scored most of the goals in the Super Eagles was not the most hardworking member of the team, but he depended on the great exploits and maneuvering from the right wing of Finidi George and other central defenders. But Rashidi Yekini was always well positioned to score the goal, and he never missed to deliver. No wonder the Super Eagles of Nigeria at their time became the 5th best rated team in the World, an enviable position they earned by hard work, discipline and team spirit.
I, therefore, call for all hands to be on deck to achieve the desired unity in the state which is our collective dream. It is also imperative for this generation to bequeath justice, equity and fairness so that from generation to generation, a solid foundation must have been laid for a better and progressive Imo state. Let us not sell our birthright for a pot of porridge because the future of our children lies in our hands.