“Home Base” and his irritating comedy

Home Base

 

By COLLINS Ughalaa 

Comedy, like music, is food for the soul; but bad music could be very nauseating. Likewise a bad comedian, instead of entertaining the audience has the tendency to annoy, to irritate; and what the comedian gets most of the time is that while he is shouting himself hoarse on the stage, the audience is withdrawing home, and those who perhaps do not want to go home begin to sleep. In all, a bad comedian is bad business; he does not move anybody and he is usually deserted by the same people he thinks he is entertaining.

This irritating comedy is what Chima Anozie, aka Home Base, is engaging in. This irritating comedy has become his trade, yes, his trade mark. He is behaving like one of our masquerades called Mgbagbo. Mgbagbo, a masquerade in Obudi Agwa Autonomous Community has the notoriety of having no respect for anybody, including respect for the young, women, elderly, and even his own “parents”. He draws no difference between the natives and the strangers: he bulldozes anything and everything on his way and what he enjoys is the shouts of praise from the people; from the same people who cannot dare come close to him, who cannot tame him, and who do not like him and what he does, but only cheers him on; for his nuisance value. That is what I see Home Base doing: he is destroying everything and anything in sight just to gain political relevance in Orji, and like the masquerade described above, he is doing so without respect to anybody, even to his own “parents” – those that made him.

And this attitude is also reminiscent of the proverbial nwanza that had his fill and challenged the gods to a duel. The consequence? It did not live to tell the story. Again, there is lesson in the fable of the hen that swallowed a needle. It too did not live to boast about it. Then came Chinua Achebe’s ever green warning, that those whose kernels are cracked for them by the gods should not be ungrateful. In this era when many people shy away from assisting others grow, those who have benefitted from other people’s philanthropy should not despise those who are their benefactors. It has serious consequences.

For the sake of those who do not know, Home Base comes from Orji in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, and by profession he is an Estate Surveyor. I hear he is a brilliant chap, but what he seems to have in quantum is lack of respect. He is arrogant, and this has not gone on well with him. Yes, he is a Lawyer too, but some people said he attended night school; that may not be relevant. What is relevant is that he has acquired the said knowledge, and we can’t take it from him. But my people have a saying that when Amadioha begins to misbehave the elder would disclose the tree from which it was made. The issue of Home Base attending a night school might not have surfaced if he had not been disrespectful to his elders and benefactors, to those higher than him and those who made him.

Home Base was the former Managing Director of Owerri City Development Agency (OCDA), an agency of government that takes care of development issues in Owerri, and by all measures, the MD of OCDA is a powerful person. But like every other transient thing on earth, Home Base lost his job. Yes, no condition is permanent, even though I am forced to agree that Home Base thought that his appointment as the MD of OCDA would be permanent. He did not believe he could leave the office. Such thinking belongs only to the insane. And of course, he had not seen such power and influence in his life, so when he woke up and found himself to be the MD of OCDA he saw himself as the biggest thing and person in Orji. And as characteristic of him, he began to raise his shoulders and to see himself as the beginning and the end and to talk down on every other leader in the area, including those that paid his school fees. And by the way, Home Base’ entry into OCDA was the Governor’s strategy to continue to hold influence in Orji following the exit of the member representing Owerri Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Reps, Hon Ezenwa Onyewucchi, from the Governor’s All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The search for continued relevance in Orji produced Home Base as the MD of OCDA.

And of course, power corrupts. A story is told that Home Base, upon assuming duty as the MD of OCDA began to brag that the Governor brought him to OCDA to help redeem the agency; that he would talk about the agency as failure and that only him could fix things there. There is another story that he did not show any respect to the Commissioner for Land and Survey, Hon Uche Nwosu, the Governor’s in-law, and by implication, the Governor’s first son. It was said that Home Base would go to the office of the Commissioner and cross his legs while talking to him. It was also said that Home Base bragged that he made the Commissioner and that it was him that saw the Commissioner through school; and it was said that the Commissioner took exception to that but refused to confront the MD who was one of his staff.

The story did not end there. There was another story that he picked quarrel with the Chairman of the OCDA Board, and that it was this quarrel that led to his inglorious ouster. First, it was said that he did not show respect to his boss, the OCDA Board Chairman, Hon Chris Ubah. It was also said that he never listened to Ubah and did things the way he wanted. For example, it was said that he went on vacation abroad without informing the OCDA Board Chairman and without getting the Governor’s approval. While he was gone the Governor asked about him and the Chairman said to the Governor “that is the kind of man we have as the MD; he went on vacation without anybody’s notice.” The Governor, it was said, did not take this lightly. And while Home Base was still vacating abroad, his job slipped off his feet. And now he is out of the government circle. He thought that in the event of a quarrel between him and Ubah the Governor would chose to kick Ubah out. He thought to be more relevant to the Governor that Ubah. But that is a naked lie. Ubah is a strong politician in Imo State and he has his followers. Ubah was the state Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); and what was Home Base? Ubah has played major roles in the politics of the state over the years, and it is only a neophyte that could kick Ubah out and retain Home Base. And of course, the Governor saw that it was better for him to keep Ubah and kick Home Base out. He did that just, and nobody was there to plead for him. Not even his claim of being the leader of Orji politics could save him or stop the Governor from kicking him out. And truth be told, the Governor knows that his claim of being the leader of Orji is nothing but a ruse. It is a booboo trap. The Governor knew that he could sacrifice Ubah for Home Base. There was no reason for doing that. Even if Ubah commits all the sins in the world there is no way the Governor can sacrifice him for somebody like Home Boy. What for?      

Since losing his OCDA job Home Base has been going about raising all manners of threat against the state government in the form media publications and he has secured the services of some media houses to launder his image and make him appear so important so that he could be considered for another job or for reappointment in OCDA. He is going about insinuating that he would defect from the APC to another party in a bid to get the arms of the government twisted. But the Governor is not swallowing this pill. But from which party does he want to defect? Form APC? Is he actually a member of the APC? Does he have APC membership card? Is he APC in the day and another party at night? Is he APC in the flesh and another party in the spirit? Was he not the same person who helped fight the APC in Orji? Was he not among the persons who distributed money for the PDP against the APC in Orji?

Home Base thinks his attachment to the Chief Of Staff, Sir Jude Ejiogu, will save him. But he goofed. His antic is that of a desperate man seeking nothing but relevance in Orji and in government circle. He insinuates he is defecting from the APC and debunking same, to give the impression that his “defection” could be of some consequence. Who cares what party he belongs to? Home Base claims to be the leader of Orji politics when he has nothing to show for it. As the leader of Orji politics, which politician has he made? Which politician has he helped get to power? Which politician has he sponsored? What is his grassroots influence? Who are his followers? What structure does he have? When Home Base contested election under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples party (ANPP) he did not win, he lost.

You don’t become a leader by proclaiming to be one; you become leader by concrete actions taken which are recognizable by the people who then recognize you are their leader. A leader is recognized, accepted and not proclaimed. If leadership were by proclamation we could have just everyone as leader because everyone could just come and proclaim his own leadership. Leadership is not is not sold in Ekeonunwa Market! It is serious business. How can Home Base be the leader of Orji politics in the midst of the people like Hon Ezenwa Onyewuchi, Prince Lemmy Akakem and others who have become king makers and rain makers over the years? Yes, they make the rain, and for people like Home Base who show ingratitude and disrespect, they make the rain fall on their day.                                        

Photo Speaks...

Sir Innocent Igwe (L), State Chairman Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ), Imo State in a warm handshake with Mr. Collins Ughalaa, Editor Nigeria Moment newspapers during the NUJ State Exco's meeting at Nigeria Moment newspapers office recently.

Nigeria Moment newspapers Publisher, Chief Dr. George Nkwoji and Mr. Collins Ughalaa, Editor receiving a parcel from the State Chairman of NUJ Sir Innocent Igwe during a visit of State Excos at the Nigeria Moment newspapers office, recently.

Nigeria Moment newspapers Publisher, Chief Dr. George Nkwoji and Mr. Collins Ughalaa presenting a copy of the newspaper to Imo State Chairman of NUJ, Sir Innocent Igwe during a media tour to Nigeria Moment.

Staff of Nigeria Moment newspapers in a group photograph with members of the Imo State Excos of NUJ, recently.

A cross section of staff of Nigeria Moment and the State Excos of NUJ in Nigeria Moment newspapers' newsroom, during a media tour recently.

 

How 25 PDP LGA, ward Chairmen endorsed Ohakim

BY COLLINS Ughalaa
In a document titled RESOLUTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF HIS EXCELLENCY CHIEF (DR) IKEDI OHAKIM AS THE PDP CANDIDATE BY PDP WARD CHAIRMEN FROM THE THREE ZONES OF THE STATE, the chairmen of the Peoples Democratic party in the state adopted Governor Ikedi Ohakim to be their candidate in the 2015 governorship election. The group which met at Ohkim’s Okohia residence said: “We, the grassroots chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party from across the three zones of Imo state, hereby ADOPT Him (Dr Ikedi Ohakim). And we so resolve.” According to the group, “following developments that has transpired in our party since the unfortunate accident of 2011, and recently, the visit of the South-East integration committee headed by His Excellency Dr Ahmadu Ali, we the heads of the organ of the party closest to the grass root that feels the purse of the generality of Imo electorate, felt compelled to make a resolution to be forwarded to you Mr. Chairman, and to both the NEC and NWC of our party based on the following indisputable facts: “Our party (PDP) remains the overwhelming majority party in Imo state. “As the heads of the lowest organ of the party, our individual reach does not extend to Abuja, where most of the party decisions are made, but collectively we felt, maybe, we the grass root leaders of the party could make an input to the decision making process regarding our great party in Imo state, in choosing a candidate with the best chance of winning the Imo Governorship election. “Both individually and collectively, we have all suffered tremendous hardship, and yet, we all managed to keep the party together, so that PDP remains the overwhelmingly majority party in the state despite being in opposition. “We are the first grass root leaders of PDP since 1999 that did not serve under a PDP Governor in over 90% of our tenure, despite winning the Governorship of Imo state in the 2011 election. “As ward chairmen, we can say without equivocation that we won the 2011 Guber election in at least 68% of the 305 wards of Imo state. This feat we accomplished despite the treachery and conspiracy pepertrated by some leaders of the party in the state. Some of whom are now seeking to become governor of Imo state under PDP. “On February 22, 2014, most of these leaders returned back to PDP Imo state at the reception of Mr. President, His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan held at Dan Anyiam stadium. “We have received with open arms all our brothers and sisters who left the party. We did so because our people say “without wrong doing, there will be no forgiveness”, but more especially because our great party’s logo is the umbrella, and it is big enough for all. “Although, we have received these returnees with open arms, but the wounds created by their conspiracy and treachery are yet to be completely healed. Most of these individuals have only been back for about seven months, but we have suffered for over three years, both individually and collectively as a result of their treachery. “Based on the foregoing, therefore, we, the grass root leaders of Imo PDP collectively appeal to the integration committee, the NEC, and NWC, to allow at least a full year of a process of assimilation before a ticket is given to any returnee, to fly the flag of the party as a governorship candidate for such an action does not only communicate the rewarding of treachery but could potentially tear the party apart, further ensuring that PDP remains out of Imo state government house for another four (4)years. The constitution of our great party says that a returnee to our great party must be a member of the party for at least two (2yrs) years before he/she may be sponsored for an election or by a waiver by the party. This is most important when considering who flies the party’s Guber ticket. The underlying reason for this provision is to ensure that adequate time is given for assimilation process to take place. “Based on our knowledge so far, we are unaware of any person who has been granted this waiver for the governorship candidacy of PDP except in the rare occasion of an incumbent governor elected on the platform of another party decamping and coming to PDP. We believe that this is because of the rare advantage that such an incumbent governor affords our great party in retaining the governorship in such a case. “Without an incumbent among the PDP returnees, we therefore make our resolution based on who among the aspirants gives us the best opportunity to win Imo Governorship, come 2015. “We take note of the agitations of Okigwe and Owerri zones that the governorship ticket of PDP should be zoned to them, however, there are aspirants from each of the three zones of the state. Our concern at this point is not which zone of the state that should produce the candidate of our great party, the PDP, but what candidate gives us the best chance to win the Imo governorship election, come 2015. “The individual among all the aspirants, is His Excellency, Chief (Dr) Ikedi Ohakim, and these are our reasons: “Ikedi Ohakim is the only aspirant who has structure in the 305 wards of Imo state, and who incidentally is aspiring to fly the flag of our great party, come 2015. “His Excellency Dr Ikedi Ohakim is the only aspirant with requisite capacity to match the incumbent Governor, project for project, in the state, having served as a governor in the state for four years, just like the incumbent. “No zone in the entire state could claim marginalisation under Ohakim’s administration 2007-2011, as such he is the most acceptable aspirant that could potentially cool frayed nerves because he has only one term of four years constitutionally to serve as a governor. “His Excellency, Dr Ikedi Ohakim is the only candidate, if given the PDP ticket that could guarantee the revival of the life sustaining projects and programs abandoned and jettisoned by the incumbent administration because he is the author and originator of these life sustaining projects and programs. “The vindictive actions of the incumbent Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, in dissolving all institution of governance, both tenured governance institutions and the ten thousand (10,000) graduate jobs of the Ohakim’s administration, including the recent revelations that he had never been in the same physical enclosure, let alone, flog Father Eustace Okorie as was alleged, by one of the most highly respected men of God in the entire South-East zone, have sparked an unprecedented movement in the nooks and crannies of Imo villages such that the tape of that man of God’s revelation has become the highest selling tape in the entire South-East. With the avalanche of sympathy created by the by the recent revelations, coupled with the return of all returnees, if genuine, we the heads of the lowest party organ in Imo state will guarantee PDP return to Imo state government house if his Excellency Ikedi Ohakim is given the ticket. Again, we feel compelled to make this resolution, and graciously appeal to you Mr. Chairman of the PDP integration committee South-East and to the other two highest organs of our party, the NEC and NWC that Imo state remains a PDP state. However, PDP cannot afford another four years out of power because our great party the PDP cannot continue to maintain its majority status if she remains out power for another four years. “Based on the sentiment generated among the rank and file of Imo electorates as a consequence of the maladministration of the incumbent in his vindictive dissolutions of tenured institutions of governance in the state coupled with the ten thousand graduate jobs, Dr Ikedi Ohakim is guaranteed at least two hundred thousand (200,000) votes from affected people of this class even before the real campaign starts. “With or without zoning, our resolution is based on simply who is the candidate that guarantees PDP return to Imo government house, come 2015. Nevertheless, the precedent established by His Excellency Chief Achike Udenwa of Orlu zone, makes it acceptable that Okigwe zone must complete her remaining term of four years before the governorship of Imo state is rotated to Owerri zone to complete the first cycle. “Mr. President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s transformation agenda has changed Nigeria for good: “Today, for the first time in twenty (20yrs) years, goods can be hauled from Lagos to Kano via Rail transportation further reducing road accidents occasioned by big trucks. “The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria was quickly nipped in the bud reducing the casualty rate of this deadly disease to the bearest minimum. “Nigeria economy is the best it has been for a long time because of the sustained economic growth that has maintained GDP at over 6% for the past four years under the watch of Mr. President. “For these and other goodies, we now experience under Mr. President’s masterful control of the administration, we collectively resolve to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as the PDP presidential candidate, come 2015. “The group also appealed to “the President, the Chairman of our great part, the PDP, the national executive committee of the PDP, the national working committee of the PDP, and the Chairman of the integration committee: “That our thinking is that the granting of a waiver to returnee is simply an exception and not the rule under the constitution of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as such granting such exception should be based on extraordinary circumstances. That being the case, we the grass root party chairmen respectfully recommends that a returnee to PDP Imo state applying for waiver to fly the Guber PDP ticket in Imo state must have been back in the party for at least a period of twelve (12) calendar months, to allow for needed minimum period for assimilation before a general election. “His Excellency Dr Ikedi Ohakim remains the best chance for PDP to capture back Imo state Government House and for that reason” Ohakim

Drama as PDP stops Ararume, Udenwa, Anyanwu, others

Araraume Udenwa Chris Anyanwu

By COLLINS Ughalaa 
The chances of success for the governorship bid of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume might have suffered a setback as he was stopped from attending the caucus meeting of the party which was held at the residence of the state chairman of the party, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie in Owerri. Apart from Senator Ifeanyi Ararume who was stopped from attending the meeting in what turn out to be dramatic, Senator Chris Anyanwu, former governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udnwa was also stopped from attending the meeting while Chief Uche Nwole was walked out of the meeting. Hon Ezenwa Onyewuchi, member representing Owerri Federal Constituency, was also stopped from attending the meeting. A source at the meeting who spoke to Nigeria Moment on the condition of anonymity said they the PDP bigshots were stopped from attending the caucus meeting because they are new comers who are not allowed by the constitution of the party to be members of the caucus of the party. He said though the party’s constitution said those returnees could be given waivers to vie for election, they still remain new comers and must be under probation for one year before they are entitled to attend such meetings. He pointed out that Senator Ifeanyi Ararume was particularly stopped from attending the meeting because he allegedly brought thugs that attacked the members the party caucus when they had their caucus meeting three months ago at the residence of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and disrupted the meeting. There was heavy presence of security men to prevent a repeat of what happened three months ago and to ensure that only members of the caucus were allowed to attend the meeting. The meeting also looked at the crises in Orlu Zone where former Governor Achike Udenwa was said to be causing trouble and destroying the party’s structure in the area and refusing to work under the recognized leader of the party in the area, Sen. Hope Uzodimma. They directed the Orlu Zonal PDP to look into the matter and also to reconstitute and strengthen the disciplinary committee of the party at the zone. Our source further said that the meeting also directed all the zones and the state chapter of the party to also reconstitute and strengthen the disciplinary committees of the party in order to enable the party enforce discipline Those in attendance at meeting were: Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps; Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a member of the party’s BoT; Chief ID Nwoga, former state chairman of the party; Senator Hope Uzodimma, current Senator representing Orlu Zone and a member of the BoT; Dr. Kema Chikwe, PDP National Woman Leader and BoT member; Sen Eze Ajoku, Sen Matthew Nwagwu, Eze Duruiheoma, Chief Uwakwe Regis, PDP National Assistant Auditor, Hon Bethel Amadi, Barr Leo Awazieama, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie, current state chairman of the PDP; Gen Chikwe, current Deputy State Chairman; Sir George Egu, State Secretary, Hon Gerald Irona, Hon Nnanna Igbokwe, Hon Jerry Alagboso, Chief Demian Ezeagu, Chief Okey Ezuruike, Chief Nkechi Mbonu, State Woman Leader; Barr COC Akaolisa, State Legal Adviser; Prof Viola Onwulirir, Minister of State 1 for Foreign Affairs; Hon Chudi Umezuruike, Hon Jeff Ojinika, Chieef Eddy Anyanwu, Hon Levy Oguike, Chief Magnus Chilaka, Hon Pat Ekeji, Hon Pat Udogu, Hon Austin, Hon Ernest Ibejiakjo Nwandaa and Hon. Omire .

Kpaduwa: clear thinking, clear message

Dr. Kpaduwa
BY COLLINS Ughalaa 
Time has gone when people of the state paid attention to empty but high sounding phrases. They no longer hold the attraction or the allurement; they have been bereft of those fancies because we have been through that road before and we cannot walk through it again. If you are the Commander of Free Education we would want to see it in the quality of education in the state, not in your high sounding phrases. We will not regard you seriously when you speak of commanding free education and you churn out several data, but what we practically see is that the quality of education has fallen in a free education regime. I was shocked when I learnt of recent that the standard of education has fallen in the state, so much that Imo State, of all states, now occupies the ninth position in the WAEC ranking and 34th position in the overall ranking of education. This is happening in a state that used to have education as its number one industry. That is abysmal and shameful. But in this era of confusion, a period when the government seems bereft of ideas on what to do to get things running again, a period when the government cannot help but repeat old non-entertaining songs, a period when the government admits that its projects are of inferior quality; a period when lying has become the trademark, there is a man who comes with clear thinking and clear message. His name is Dr Julius Kpaduwa, an American trained medical practitioner. He comes for the Imo State governorship with a clear understanding of the problems of the state, and without making the claim of a rescuer, comes handy with practical things to do about the Imo situation. Kpaduwa is not a know-it- all and he makes no pretence to it; he has the knowledge of all that it takes to fix what has been bastardized by the rescuers whose ship has sunk, and he has the competence to do so. That is the thinking that Kpaduwa brings, and it is clear. That is the message that he brings, and it is clear and scintillating and soothing. Kpaduwa is a native of Ezike in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State and he learnt the values of fairness, entrepreneurship while growing up in his community. He learnt that everybody deserves a chance, and he lives by these time tested values. Unlike some people, he is not a superman. He travelled to the United States after the civil war where he became a Medical Doctor and ran a successful business. In America he became the President of the Association of Nigerian Physicians. It was his belief that everybody deserves a chance that pushed him to return home after a long sojourn in the US so that the people of the state could actually have a chance to enjoy good health and live, and not die. And to achieve this, he set out with free medical services, with about 20,000 patients benefiting. This did not fail to get the notice of the state government who made him the Chairman of the Imo State University Teaching Hospital Orlu during Ohakim’s tenure. And as a person that has value for life he did not disappoint. Kpaduwa's thinking is that Imo State is not jinxed but that it is not where it is supposed to be; that current effort by those on the rescue seat will at best jinx the state if there is no rescuer's rescuer. He knows what should be, not can be, done about the Imo situation. His message is the can-do message, that we can fix the problems of the state only if we make the right choice of our leaders. Only if we can think clearly on the Imo project. He says that "Imo State has resources, but its greatest resources is its people. With good governance, we have the potential to turn our state into something truly special - into the Taiwan of Africa." That is the thinking of the man that has a vision and wants to be the Governor of Imo State come 2015 - a vision to turn things around. This thinking passes across the message that we are not in a helpless situation as they forced us to believe in 2011; that we can fix things; that we have what it takes to fix the problem; that we should believe in ourselves; that we need only someone to bring in good governance and the state is changed for the better. Because of the failure of our education system, because the standard of education has nosedived in a supposedly free education administration, we need critical intervention in that sector, and we need just the right person with the right mental attitude to the issues, and one who can move the people with a convincing message devoid of rhetoric. We need the man who understands the challenges. Then I ask, what does Kpaduwa think about the fallen standard of education and what message does he have for us? He says: "Our educational system needs to be revamped and realigned, with a focus towards vocational, digital, technological and entrepreneurial skills to provide the expertise [that is needed] to drive the planned rapid industrialization of Imo State." That is the thinking of the man with the clear thought on the situation of education in the state. The statuesque will not remain as far as education is concerned: it should be revamped and realigned to bridge the skills gap. That is one thing the current educational policy of the state government does not provide for. The government is interested in churning out figures of the number of enrolment, but there is no plan for quality. What is the worth of education if it has no direction, if it cannot serve a need? That is why we should pay attention to the man whose tenure will place the emphasis "on scholarship and student participation, high quality teacher development and welfare, as well as building capacity and incorporating technology in all levels of education system." No doubt, this is a clear deviation from the lame concept of building 305 model schools in the 305 INEC Wards in the state. Kpaduwa's thinking and message for the education sector is practical, not choruses that sleep inducing. There is need to situate Kpaduwa's thinking on the education sector to the real needs of the state, which is that if the future of the state would be guaranteed, we need to have functional education system that would produce the necessary manpower for the various sectors of the state economy. This is true considering the fact that the state cannot talk about industrialization and building a robust economy when we don't have the requisite manpower. We would only end up exporting our jobs and impoverishing our people if we don't have the necessary skills that are needed to drive the state economy. If we want to make our people rich and happy; if we want a secured future for the state; if we want to truly prepare the future leaders of the state, we need to begin now to think that time will come when the battles of this country will be fought, not with guns and bombs, but with intelligence, and the basis upon which we can achieve this bright future is that we equip the youths and the children, not by giving them stipends in schools, but by creating opportunities for them through the provision of high quality education.

The journey of the stubborn fly

BY COLLINS Ughalaa 
There is a story of the stubborn housefly. This house fly has refused to listen to the warnings of the undertakers and mourners. The mourners and the undertakers didn’t want the fly to perish; they wanted it to stay alive and not be buried with the rotten, smelling corpse. But the fly would rather go the grave with the corpse where it thought it could continue to enjoy the smell of the decayed corpse. Little did the fly know that there is no work in the grave where he is going to. There is also the story of Eze Onyeagwalam; the All-knowing King. He knows everything and does not need anyone’s suggestions or advice. You risk his anger when you venture into making a correction to him; and before you open your mouth, he knows what you want to say. He will not let you say it because he will help you say it. And by so doing he shuts you up! But because he would take no one’s advice or correction, one day he woke up and wanted to go to the market for some shopping. He picked his best regalia and dressed and walked majestically to the market. And while he was passing in his royalty, his subjects saw that instead of fine smelling ointment, excreta was oozing from the king’s wrapper and covered him all over. He had worn, unknown to him, a wrapper that was covered with feces. He did not see it. The people saw it as he passed on his way. But instead of pointing out this anomaly to the great All-knowing King his subjects ignored what they saw and instead did obeisance to him for fear of the power of his majesty, the power of the throne, the power to banish and imprison, the power to torture, etc. As the King acknowledges greetings from his subject, he gets to the market eventually, and by the time he gets to the market, the market is already at the peak of business. Then the king goes into the market with his excreta-smelling regalia, and everybody that gets close to him runs away to the shock of the king. He does not know why they are running away. He thinks the first few people running away from him are probably insane. So he continues to move on, in his royalty. As he goes close to the people, the people run away; including those he wants to patronize. It continues like this until the people stop running away and begin to cluster around him, to behold the king who came to the market with feces covered regalia; to amuse themselves with the king who has so much ridiculed his community and throne; to see for themselves the epoch making king who rejected all wise counsel and went on solo trip. Buying and selling stops as everybody closes his shop to watch the king that has messed up royalty, the king that has killed himself. Still the king does not know what is going on; he probably thought the people gathered to pay him respects and he is waving his hand to the people that have become ashamed of his foolishness and his ridiculing of his throne. The king continues in his ignorance until one mad man came from the crowd and approached the king. He has a message for the king. He has placed the king on a scale and found him wanting. And since the King did not listen to sane people, would he listen to the mad man? “You are smelling, Eze Onyeagawalam!”, announced the mad man. While the mad man attempts to utter another “forbidden” word to the Eze, his people rush and drag him by the side and took him away. But while this is going on, a boy of five years goes to the king and says: “Onye Eze, this people say you are smelling!”. Hearing the small child address the Eze with such damnation, the crowd burst into laughter and they all chorused “Onye Eze, you are smelling.” As the song rents the air, the king comes to his senses and realizes he had messed up himself. He realizes that he made a mockery of himself and the throne. But any redemption for the king? He has brought ridicule to the throne. There is also the story of Abiku, and according to JP Clark, the Abiku is known for his “coming and going this very season” while Prof Wole Soyinke quotes Abiku as saying “I am Abiku, calling for the first/And repeated time”. The Yoruba believe Abiku to be the “wanderer child. It is the same child who dies and returns again and again to plague the mother.” He delights in tormenting the mother and thus he would die and reincarnate to be born of the same mother and he would continue the cycle of incarnation until something is done to stop it. And this is what Soyinka says can be done: So when the snail is burnt in his shell,/Whet the heated fragment, brand me/ Deeply on the breast - you must know him/When Abiku calls again.” And when this is done, Soyinka continues: “I am the squirrel teeth, cracked/The riddle of the palm; remember/This, and dig me deeper still into/ The god's swollen foot.” The wailing of the mother does not touch the spirit of Abiku; in fact he finds fun with it and would return to be born and to die again. All the curses, all the libations do not move the spirit of the Abiku to show mercy to the wailing weary mother, and Soyinka puts it succinctly: “Once and the repeated time, ageless/Though I puke, and when you pour/Libations, each finger points me near/The way I came, where/… Night, and Abiku sucks the oil/From lamps. Mothers! I'll be the Suppliant snake coiled on the doorstep/Yours the killing cry. The presence of the Abiku, which the Igbo call ogbanje, brings sorrow and no good to the family. And despite that the members of the family wants a child, one that will stay with them, Abiku does not like the sweet company that awaits her in the family but likes to destroy the joy of the family by her “coming and going these several seasons”. The Abiku does not care how many times she has been disgraced at death so that she does not return until she has made up her mind to remain in the family, she see her reincarnation as a beautiful fun game. This is what JP Clark says about the Abiku: “For good. We know the knife scars/Serrating down your back and front/Like beak of the sword-fish,/And both your ears, notched/As a bondsman to this house,/Are all relics of your first comings./Then step in, step in and stay/For her body is tired,/Tired, her milk going sour/Where many more mouths gladden the heart.” The way Governor Rochas Okorocha is running his education policy reminds of the Abuki story and gives me the temptation to call it the Abiku policy. It also reminds me of the story of the fly that would heed no warnings but follows the rotten corpse to the grave where it will not have the time to enjoy a bit of it, contrary to what it thinks that it will have all the time to enjoy the corpse when left with it alone in the grave, where no man will disturb it; but the fly would be dead in the grave and will enjoy none of the corpse. It also reminds of the story of the king that refused to heed advice and rather messed himself up in a public place. It paints to me the picture of a people in trouble. I have written a lot about the free education policy of the current rescue mission government and I have always said my mind that the policy will not help us. My position is not born out of the fact of politics but patriotism because I see that the programme is all about displays of popularity and beautiful talks and gestures that do not add up to the equation of the wellbeing of the people or the future of the people. I see the free education policy as having list the opportunity to address the job creation value; and I see free education as having filled with a lot of lies and deceptions on the part of the government. I see the free education as being wasteful because it lacks no adequate planning. And if I may ask, what does the Governor want to achieve in the state, using his current free education model? If what the Government wants to achieve through the current free education policy is to see increase in enrolment in schools, then the policy can go on, but if the government wants to create value and address the issues of development and job availability, then the policy must go back to the engineers who must rewrite the education “software”. It must go back to the architects who must come up with better designs that would address the said issues. This free education is tormenting us like the Abiku. In this free education, we have seen a drop in the quality of education in the state. In this regime of free education when the government is building upstairs and importing chairs and school uniforms, our courses at the owned state university lose accreditation and nothing is being done about it. And in this regime when we should be thinking about what to do about the condition of education, when we should be talking what we want to do and where we want to be in the next ten years and tackling that through education, we are sitting idly talking about whether education should be paid or free; we are making proclamations after proclamation. The events of recent weeks have confirmed my position that the free education in the state is not worth it. They proved my claims that students of the state owned tertiary institutions pay fees (whatever it was/is called). Those events also showed that the students of the state are not happy with the way the programme of free education was been implemented. And they staged a protest! It was under the auspices of the National Imo Students Assembly (NISA) that the protest was staged on Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at the gate of the government house. They students stormed the government house in buses and trailers, numbering about one thousand, and demanded that of the Governor removed the fees paid by the students at IMSU and IMOPOLY. They particularly mentioned the payment of Acceptance Fee by the students which they put at N70,000. They also talked about the payment of charges by students to the banks for cheques issued by the state government for the purpose of the school fees of the students, and the group said the bank charge was about N20,000. They demanded a stop to such charges. They also asked the government to include the students of Imo State origin who are in federal government schools in the state. And last but not the least, they said that if the Governor did not grant their requests they would seize to support him. And you know what that means in an election period. It meant that the students could keep their votes from the Governor and give them to any other person, whether the Governor is running for the Presidency (which is most unlikely because a bird at hand is worth more than a million birds in the forest. The disquiet caused the government by the protest can be seen by the recent visit of the Governor to IMSU where he announced the extension of the free education programme to non-indigenes in the state owned tertiary institutions. That was not what the students asked for. They wanted the inclusion of the indigenous students studying in the Federal schools in the state and the removal of all charges paid by the students, since to them such payments ran polluted the free education policy of the government. granted that the Governor announced that the Acceptance Fees by the students should stop, the Governor has scored yet another blunder. And he has shown his liking for not taking advice; did you say his penchant for not taking advice? The announcement of the extension of the free education policy of the state government to the non-indigenes is only a political move ahead of the 2015 general elections. That is all; nothing more. That announcement does not show any planning; it does not intend to achieve anything tangible other than to secure the patronage of the school community. What is the value of free education if you cannot write your name? The Governor has shown once more that he has not understand the problems of education systems and that he does not know what to do to address the problems. By the announcement of the inclusion of non-indigenes in the free education the government not only is playing politics than addressing educational and developmental issues. What the government seems to illustrate is that the people of the state do not have access to education and that removing the fees would attract them to education; or that the people want education but cannot afford it. I have nothing against the government saying nobody should pay but I have a problem with the way the government is running the policy. For example, while the Governor was commissioning a recreation center for the students – I learnt that the recreation center cost the government millions of naira to build – and including the non-indigenes in the free education policy; the Law School and Medical School of IMSU have not regained their accreditation. Now, how did the government place the priority – to get back the accreditation or spend millions of naira to build a recreation center for the students? What will a recreation center do for the students if they cannot do Law or Medicine in the school? What will be the value of the recreation center if they cannot be part of the compulsory one year NYSC programme? What is the value of the recreation center if their certificates are not recognized anywhere in Nigeria for that matter after they have spent years in school? And tell me, what is the essence of the free education policy if in the end the students cannot do Law in the school? Would it not have been better if the government got its priorities right and spent millions of naira it spent on the recreation center to get back lost accreditation? Would it not have been better if the government decided to use the additional money the inclusion of the non-indigenes in the policy to improve the quality of education, and perhaps see that quality returns to the school system? The Governor is not asking the question of where these students he is giving free education will work when they leave school. This is the matter with our leaders and it is particularly a matter with this government: planlessness. You give free education and spend huge amount of money with a concrete developmental plan of how it will work for the state. Will these students upon graduation join Imo Security Network? Will they join Imo Civil Guard? Will they Imo State Vigiante? What job opportunities await for them upon graduation? As things stand in the state now, my nearest guess is that there are no job opportunities in the state for the students when they graduate, and there is nothing to show that these can even right their own names correctly when they leave school, unless we will start today to inject quality into the system. We want to see our state top the chart, and not sleep under the chart. If we churn huge numbers of graduates from the school and have no plans for them, of what use is it to the state and the graduates? If we do this, we will be putting the state on the road to insecurity. And this will be double tragedy for the state, because after spending huge sums of money and the programmme turns out not beneficial, we have wasted our money and the future of the state and those of the students; that is why we need a pragmatic approach to the education policy of the state: it has put into perspective the development and future of the state. It has to have a goal; it has to be well planned and executed. It has to be tied to job creation and employment opportunities. It has to make the state work. A careful planning of the education policy of the state will not only lift the state up, it will give the opportunity to be placed side by side with other states such as Lagos and Ogun State, and others like them. We have the time to do what is good for the state, and if for any reason we fail to do it, then we only have ourselves to blame collectively. Okorocha

Okorocha should probe Louis Obodo now

Dr. Louis Obodo

By COLLINS Ughalaa
Governor Rochas Okorocha should do something very serious as far as Agwa electricity project is concerned, and he should do it now. He should not waste a minute; that is if he wants to get any votes from that area in 2015, either for his not-sure presidential ambition or most assured second term in Imo State, either way, we have our date with the Governor, and depending on what he does now and how he does it, that date might be a dooms day. What the Governor should do now is to uncover why the project was not completed despite the money that was released for the project. Agwa people need to know, and we cannot wait. He should probe the tenure of Dr Louis Obodo, the immediate past Chairman of Oguta Local Government Area on what he did with the Agwa electricity project. We want to know. We demand to know why we don’t have electricity and why we still lay in darkness after the state government was said to have released about N35m for the project. What happened to the money? Did it develop wings and flew away?

To ask for a probe is to ask for probity. It is to ask for accountability. It is to ask for inclusiveness. It is to ask for honesty in the management of our common resources, what belongs to all us. This game has been on for a long time, and we are increasingly becoming impatient with what seems to be a system of deceit and fraud; we are increasingly becoming impatient with our brothers who cannot do what they tell us, I mean those who refer to themselves as our leaders. I am more impatient at what I see: an ugly scenario where everybody who has got some money would think that because he has some money that many of us don’t have he becomes our leader. I am particularly upset with this, even if no other person is. When did we degenerate to the level where money or acquisition of wealth becomes the deciding factor for us? When did wealth acquisition become the criterion for leadership? Who made it so? I need the answers.

We cannot continue to pretend as if nothing has happened or nothing is happening, and we must begin to ask questions and hold our leaders accountable. That is the only way we can grow as a people. If we have leaders who are bigger than the rest of us, who cannot be asked questions, who cannot be held accountable, then we are gone and forgotten, forgotten like a plate of rice when eaten. Agwa as a people is not in short supply of the timber and caliber. We have them in their numbers, but what we don’t have is the person that would ask the questions; what we don’t have is the person that will lead. In a clime where leadership exists we should have been in the know of what happened to the electricity project, a project on which we were told lies from the high office of the Chairman of the Council, that Agwa now has electricity and that all should connect to the lines, when the TC Chairman, Dr Louis Obodo, to whom the lie was credited, had not connected to the lines, and as you read this piece it is his power generating set that powers his house. Whoever told the lies, whoever sold the lies that the electricity project in Agwa had been completed must come from the pit of hell and is anti Agwa and does not deserve to lead us, no matter the size of his pocket or the length and height of his connections and contacts. Such a person should first of all learn the essence of life and that honesty is required in every sphere of our existence on earth, and that moreover, dishonest people make bad leaders and leave the society worse than they met it.

It is a trite biblical saying that he who is faithful in small things will also be faithful in bigger things. And drawing from this biblical ageless saying, if a son-of –the soil is unfaithful with small things, can he get something bigger form the same people? I don’t know what you think or what your answer is, but I think that if the question were put to Jesus when he uttered that evergreen saying he would answered in the negative, that such a man would get nothing at all from his people. Jesus would have dropped the bombshell: that such a fellow had failed and that he should first of all be penitent and seek the face of God and the society for remedial acts of forgiveness. And if the person showed no such disposition as to penitence, he would have pronounced him doomed, just like he did the Pharisees of his time. But in our clime those who curry favours with the mighty or the fat pocket would never admit their masters could do some wrong. They tend to think their masters have some kind of immunity against wrong wrongdoing, and imitating Cypril Ekwensi in his Passport of Malam Ilia, they believe their leaders have swallowed medicine against wrong doing and probity; but they goof.

The way Dr Louis Obodo celebrated his appointment as the TC Chairman of Oguta Local Government Area on the busy social media platform, facebook, gave some people the impression that Agwa had got the man to fix things. But I did not buy that crap. To me, it was another political patronage to another Agwa man. To me, that could spell doom for the political career of the Chairman who had not occupied any public position, and until 2011 when he stormed politics like a thunderbolt, we never knew he was a politician. But such is human being and the human nature: they are entitled to pursue any course of their interest. What happened in his 2011 experiment is what happens in politics, and it has become part of our history. And now, as 2015 beckons, politicking has began in earnest and people are willing to go for offices that they crave most without having something to offer. So I hear that Dr Louis Obodo will be running for the Imo State House of Assembly (no longer the House of Reps, and I heard that the Governor asked him to look in the direction of the House and not Reps, that better things are in the House- but that is politics, because the Governor may have said that to some other people. So it is not guaranteed – after all despite the Governor’s backing, Ogbuagu Walter Uzonwanne is not in the House) to represent the people of Oguta State Constituency who have not had a representative in the House for over three years. The first in the history of our democracy.

But there is need to ask what Dr Obodo did at the Council. What did he achieve there, at least for the people of Agwa? Did he on the social front unite the leaders and the people? Did he as the Chief security officer of the council tackle the raging and smoldering insecurity and crisis that has engulfed Mgbala Agwa Autonomous Community, so much that our Eze now lives outside the community? Did he complete the general hospital in Agwa that was started by his predecessor, Engr Bernard Iroegbu? Did he initiate any project for Agwa people? Did he initiate any project for the whole of Oguta? Did he sink any borehole anywhere? Did he complete the nagging electricity problem in Agwa, even when that project has something to do with his name?

You know how information flies about politicians. And it was said that when the governor realized that electricity was a major problem to the people of Agwa he sought for somebody from Agwa who had a level of respect and credibility that the people could listen to and support him and vote for Ogbuagu Water Uzonwanne. That permutation worked, though some of us held the promise of electricity to Agwa just about two weeks to the election with the tip of the finger. And we were vindicated. The electricity project was a mirage. But the people, for the sake of the promise of electricity abandoned their favourite, Hon Eugene Dibiagwu, and voted for Walter, the governor’s anointed. But like his fate would dictate, he never got to the House. And when Dr Obodo was appointed the TC Chairman of Oguta Local Government Area, the joy of most people was that he would give us electricity. But some of us who had walked that road or who had seen others walk that road held our breath. We crossed out fingers, doing nothing, saying nothing; just watching. And at the end of the day we cannot be accused of distracting anybody from providing us the age long desired electricity for the people of Agwa.

And thank goodness, we never heard of sabotage or stealing of the cables or any such thing as reason for the non-actualization of that dream. What I heard so far about the botched but highly hyped electricity project makes me suspect fraud in the execution of that project. And that is why I want an inquiry into what really went wrong, or are we witnessing another $16b sunk into the power sector without a headway, without a lead as to how to get electricity in the country. This electricity project should not be something like that, it should be something different and realistic. Yes, what I have heard is that the state government gave the TC Chairman a whooping sum of N35m for the project. Dr Obodo has not said how much was released to him for the project, but those who told me said they are cocksure. I also heard that the project was botched because he spent only a paltry sum of N11m. There is a third twist to it: that Obodo shared the balance with a certain government officer. Is it the head of service or the chief of staff? We need to know. Or is it any other person, the SSG? We need to know. And of course, there is a fourth poser: that Dr Louis used his share of the money to acquire a property somewhere in Owerri or to complete his building. I have not seen the building but they have given me the address. For me, I am making no allegation; I was only making inquiry and asking for probe and probity; I was only told, and that is why I want Dr Obodo to tell his own side of the story. And you know the way some people talk: they will give you the impression that they are cocksure. Yes, they said they are cocksure, but that notwithstanding, we need to hear from Dr Obodo.  Did he get N35m from the government to do the electricity project? How much was spent? How much is remaining? What is the level of work done? Why was the project not completed? And of course, did he say the project had been completed and that the people should link up? If he did, why?

Don’t forget that Dr Obodo, despite what I have been told about the botched electricity project remains, under the law, innocent, until the court finds him guilty. But you know court process; it is not the same as the court of public opinion. That is the best where Dr Obodo will show his innocence. If he does not clear himself, if he does not tell his own side of the story we will be left to believe what we have been told. We will also remember what his uncle, Ferdinand Obodo, the first politician from the Obodos, did. A story is told in the ‘0s how he deprived Agwa a major road that would have crisscrossed Agwa to Egbema, just because that road was not planned to pass through his community, Obudi. He used his influence, and that project never saw the light of day. Till today, that project has not been realized. Let this one not be like that one.