....................EGBU DECLARATION A FARCE, CIRCUS; NOT EMEKA'S CELEBRATION
Excluding the absurdity of thrusting Emeka Ihedioha upon unsuspecting attendees, GACIY a good governance advocacy forum views the 4th anniversary commemoration of 'Egbu Declaration' as a mere exercise of the right to peaceful assembly. Nothing more.
4th anniversary? Oh come on!
After seven and a half months of impersonation, of posing as Governor of Imo State, of senseless borrowing, he should have been rounded up and cast into prison; instead, his accomplices, using 'Egbu Declaration' as a front, reward Emeka with a mic, a stage, and a pliable audience?
They allowed that resentful man whip up sentiments in a bid to prepare the ground for another flaccid, ill-fated, negotiated gubernatorial project hedged against fictitious votes from Emeka's kindred thus wasting a chance to stimulate useful conversation about the political future of Owerri Zone.
Emeka lied to his kinsmen that he served them while he occupied government house illegally. But there were some in the crowd who mumored: don't mind him! True, Emeka did not serve anybody. He served only his pockets. That is why there is no project today standing to his credit in the whole of Imo State. He could not even complete any of the conduit pipes projects he initiated: the needless 27 stadia and 27 LGA secretariat.
We had thought that Emeka could use the opportunity of his holding the microphone once more to explain to his kinsmen what happened to the N3.5bn he secretly borrowed. We also expected him to explain to his kinsmen that he did not win the 2019 governorship election; that he rigged himself in but God Almighty who sees even secret things caught him and retrieved the mandate from his jaws and claws. But Emeka will do no such thing. He prefers to deceive his people.
Here are the real lessons from that unnecessary jamboree:
1) Sen. Hope Uzodimma is the most tolerant governor to lead Imo. We recall that when Emeka seized power, he pursued his predecessor everywhere and never allowed him leave to freely enter Imo state let alone hold court anywhere in the land. But here is Emeka roaming free, unhindered, unmolested, because Governor Uzodimma is a self-assured, people-focused, leader unencumbered by insecurities or complex.
2) Emeka sought this crowd for affirmation. As far as we know, he has always felt illegitimate. His political journey is replete with curses invoked by persons whose mandate he hijacked. This outing, a departure from the customary burial cameos, must have sated his desire to feel like a 'governor' again.
3) A section of Imo PDP elite invented this so-called anniversary so Emeka could subtly declare for 2023 and gauge public reaction. Feedback was uninspiring.
4) Sensing a homogeneous crowd who would not know to demand accountability for the locust months, Emeka mocked his gullible audience, inciting them against Governor Uzodimma.
GACIY will continue to wonder: why is Emeka not in jail for impersonation? But we believe that the onus lies on all of us Imo people, especially Owerri Zone, to send a strong message to the PDP and to Emeka renouncing that farce, that circus, that one-man stage play. Owerri is not Emeka, Emeka is not Owerri. Egbu Declaration is not _Emeka Celebration_. It is time, too, party faithful took ownership of their common destiny, the governorship ticket of the PDP must not be printed for Emeka alone.