2028 IMO GOVERNORSHIP: Owerri Must Engage and Negotiate with Okigwe Zone or Face Regret — Prof Protus Uzoma: Orlu Elders Council Secretary

2028 IMO GOVERNORSHIP: Owerri Must Engage and Negotiate with Okigwe Zone or Face Regret — Prof Protus Uzoma: Orlu Elders Council Secretary

As political permutations gather momentum ahead of the 2028 Imo governorship election, the Secretary of the Orlu Elders Council, Professor Protus Uzoma, has issued a stern warning to political leaders from Owerri zone, urging them to engage Okigwe zone in sincere negotiations over the state’s political future or risk severe political consequences.

Uzoma, in a strongly worded statement, said it would be a costly mistake for Owerri zone to dismiss the legitimate concerns and demands of Okigwe zone for a fair shot at the governorship seat, especially in light of long-standing grievances over underdevelopment and marginalisation. 

He emphasized that ignoring Okigwe’s aspirations would plunge the state into needless tension and political instability, urging stakeholders to embrace honest dialogue and equitable power-sharing arrangements to sustain unity and peace in Imo State.

His statement reads in full:

“I have listened with  a Keen iunterest and deep understanding to the conversations arising out of the weighty pronouncement made by Chief Tony Chukwu that Owerri zone should concede the Capital City to Okigwe zone if they won't allow an indigene of Okigwe zone to succeed Governor Hope Uzodimma in 2028.

“His immutable arguement which is the equivalent of a political missile strike serves as a catalyst for balanced zonal development and inclusive governance. 

“Chief Tony Chukwu has raised a storm which is raging across the state. According to Joseph Joubert, "the aim of arguement, or of a discussion should not be victory but progress" Effective political discourse relies on respectful dialogue, critical thinking and respect to opposing viewpoints. However, in many cases especially on social media, conversations can devolve into polarisation, misinformation  and personal attacks undermining constructive debate. There is therefore a need to foster mutual understanding to engender civility and better democratic participation.

“Truth burns like fire. Chief Chukwu's contention is that more than 80% of developmental projects in Imo since 1999 are concentrated in Owerri zone by the virtue of its advantage as the host of the capital city. This isn't hate but reality baptised in cold logic. Unapologetic truth isn't for the weak. It is for the strong. His comment is an awakening and this topic is now an ark in the flood of political discussions.

“Truth is not comfortable, it is confrontational. We can't all suffer selective perception which is an instinctive cognitive bias that  predisposes us to align with pre-existing prejudices. Our politics must be tailored to dismantle the architecture of concentrating developmental efforts mostly in Owerri zone so as to avoid future agitations. We must resolve this challenge not erase it by gaslighting those with courage to speak up.

“Isn't it worrying to us as a people that Okigwe zone looks like an abandoned space? Everything has been done mostly for the benefit of Owerri zone since 1999. Truthfully, our governors have maintained a tradition of unequal distribution of resources, infrastructure and opportunities. Our political leaders should urgently address the needs of the under represented and simulate growth in neglected zones of the state. 

“It is only Governor Hope Uzodimma that has made deliberate efforts to develop the three zones with road infrastructure in order to resolve zonal disparities and ensure that all parts of the state feel valued and heard in the political process. Okigwe zone evidently lags behind in all human development metrics in the state. This is why Imo people are happy with Governor Uzodimma that he consented to and adopted the Charter of Equity against the virile opposition of some of our kinsmen in order to give Owerri and Okigwe zones due sense of shared ownership in the Imo Project.

“I have followed Chief Tony Chukwu's politics since 2006. The nuclear core truth is that he understands the business of politics like a sniper. He carefully studies it, dominates, outwork and out thinks his opponents like a martial arts specialist. He acts as if the unseen is more real than the seen especially during lenten season. 

“I remember clearly in 2006 when in the heat of political permutations he pronounced with the certainty and exactitude of an ancient prophet that Okigwe zone would produce the   Governor in 2007. PDP toyed with Chief Tony Ezenna, Engr. Ugwu and Senator Araraume while  APGA presented the gumptious Chief Martin Agbaso from Owerri zone. In the end, Dr Ohakim from Okigwe zone won the election on the platform of PPA. Again, during the Holy Week of the lenten season of 2018, he admonished then Governor Rochas Okorocha to abandon the fantasy of getting Chief Uche Nwosu to succeed him. 

“He privately and publicly denounced that scheme predicting its catastrophic failure. It came to pass. As the lenten season of 2022 progressed into its Holy Week, Chief Tony Chukwu issued a public statement apologising to the people of Otanzu Otanchara axis for not having been able to produce a senator predicting that 2023 would favour them even against the interest of his own people of Okigwe South. 

“Today, Senator Patrick Ndubueze is the Senator representing Okigwe zone in the senate. These accurate and precise predictions could be attributed to cold political calculation, coincidence or just luck but such a man should never be ignored especially when he is crying for justice on behalf of his people. It is another Holy Week and he has made a demand on Owerri Zone.

“He wears the face of a lamb but speaks with the tongue of a dragon.  He is a messenger not a messiah. He is in the midst of a troop who have stopped thinking like victims. They have stopped crying for help. With an unbreakable mindset, they will not bow to oppression anymore. They want power. Their political tour de force is filled with weapons, blueprints and war manuals. They are inspired by the challenges of having been left behind. There is a huge awakening and there lies their hope and fulfilment of potential. 

“They are laying claim to the Governorship in 2028 not with permission but with purpose. They have cast more than an accusation of neglect, they have thrown down a political gauntlet not only at the feet of Owerri zone but before the conscience of the entire state. 

“They are asking for restoration. It is not about hate or division but about restoration. Okigwe zone only wants to be better not bitter. Their arguement is that in the evaluation of the Charter of Equity, developments consequent upon the location of the Capital City should form part of the consideration of which zone produces a successor to Governor Hope Uzodimma. Unfortunately, this arguement cannot be easily dismissed with a wave of hand.

“I strongly advise the people of Owerri zone to boldly confront the brutality of the truth of underdevelopment  of Okigwe zone and negotiate with their leaders within a predictable parameter. Ignoring the concerns of Okigwe zone would lead Owerri people into a nuclear meltdown of regret.

“Owerri zone should build bridges, build friendships and attract support from a place of  advantage not sense of entitlement. They should sit down with trusted leaders of Okigwe zone and collectively tell each other the truth and agree on the way forward. That's the only viable option.

“I will also want to place it on record that Isu Nation comprising Nkwerre, Nwangele, Isu, Njaba and most parts of Orlu LGA is suffering the same abject abandonment like Okigwe zone. While Owerri and Okigwe people are engaging, the collective interest of Isu Nation should also be discussed and protected.”

OPEN LETTER IN RESPONSE TO: NDDC- WHAT WE MUST DO AND THE PRESS STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF NDDC

NIGER DELTA JUSTICE FORUM
No. 86 Nwaniba Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Telephone: 08118054076.

To: The Presidency Abuja

       The National Assembly Abuja

       All Niger Delta Stakeholders

OPEN LETTER IN RESPONSE TO: NDDC- WHAT WE MUST DO AND THE PRESS STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF NDDC

We are compelled to respond to the above subject matters as patriots and stakeholders because nefarious actors are monolithic in their structure, with no option to retrace their steps or even branch off from the solidity of the inflexible trunk, the source of their implacable power. To counter them, the kernel of their malevolent frameworks must be dismantled and completely laid bare.

The most important piece of real estate to stake a claim is the human mind. You make the claim by creating a perception. You create the perception by controlling the context. Control the context and you control the mind. Control the mind and you control reality, that’s the essence of the Veblen Effect. However, social psychologists are quick to remind us that “herd mentality” or “group think” has severe limitations when subjected to critical analysis or hesitation.

It is our opinion that the decision of the Chairman of the Governing Board of NDDC to hastily distance the Board from the MOU signed by the Commission in its quest to attract private capital for the development of the region based on emotions, sentiments, sense of judgment and propriety in order to curry public appeal, on deeper introspection is ruinous and far from right. We are not fooled by the beautiful prose of hired writers, the cobbled arguments of her procured craven supporters or the eloquence of her Marxian postulations about transparency and accountability. Her ambition of naked power grab was made obvious in the sponsored Vanguard newspaper advert published before the summit in Lagos where a fictitious group made legally deficient solicitations to President Buhari to quickly amend the law and further promote her to Executive Chairmanship of the Commission with unlimited powers even at the twilight of his administration.

We have experienced the confusion and dread of watching the least qualified people get promoted even when they lack the authenticity and influence to build strong teams because they are out of touch with the needs of the citizens. The government needs to cultivate and measure leadership potentials instead of the current system where authority over others is based on who you know and not what you know. Granting promotion without assessing a person’s capacity for leadership reduces the role to a mere transaction and this seems to be at the core of the public tantrums emanating from the Commission. 

The allegations of a prevailing toxic work environment and management consideration of board members as meddlesome interlopers as contained in the Vanguard newspaper publication are not only manifestly false and frivolous but absurd and hogwash. Also, the wild allegations of illegal waivers of 3% levies granted to IOC’s and the back dating of contracts to unlawfully appropriate the Commission’s resources are the imaginations of a devious mind and patently defamatory. The prevailing sense in the region is that of satisfaction because for the very first time in a long while, the Commission has a duly constituted management team deploying its resources for common good.

The Chairman’s press statement condemning the widely hailed effort of the Commission towards transitioning to a new organization that would leverage private capital for sustainable development of the region through PPP and the subsequent signing of an MOU for preliminary processes for a rail network that would connect the nine NDDC States is both reckless and ill-conceived. Her attempt to create an imprimatur of illegality and deliberate litigation of the internal affairs of the Commission in the public space is an unprecedented embarrassment to the region and its people. No matter how cleverly disguised and presented, her grudge response is simply in furtherance of her ongoing schemes at total capture of the executive powers of the Commission not institutional bargain.

How else can any rational person explain her opposition to the transformational change and Blue-Sky thinking that led to the concept of the PPP? Is she not aware that the federal government has all but abandoned the Eastern Railway Corridor due to paucity of funds? What disadvantage would the region suffer if it secures a rail network that would connect all the states and complement the Eastern Rail Corridor if it is eventually completed? Is she not aware that the Atlanta based AGRI came recommended by the US EXIM Bank and that the US Consulate was represented at the signing ceremony? Is she ignorant of the fact that several board members were present at the event? Does she not know that the outcome of the Summit is attracting global interest to the region? What exactly are her interests? There is no rule that says her arguments must make sense but we must do away with the principalities of the past.

The Chairman seems to  be suffering from the “Peter Principle” whereof she may have been promoted beyond her level of effectiveness. The region needs leaders who will allow the collective good of the people overshadow their self-aggrandizement. In view of this critical need, we hope and pray that the chairman retraces her steps and detracts from public smear and misrepresentation.

For NDDC to make progress, there is no magic bullet. What is clear is that doing nothing is not an option nor is continuing as normal the way to go. We recommend that the Board and Management should have a Shared Vision Workshop to deliberate on workable strategies and innovative ways to attract scalable development to the region. What NDDC needs is that in exchange for the greater strategic goal of developing the region, the Board and Management must embrace peace over conflict. Instead of engaging in public fits and outbursts, the board should liaise with management to rethink job creation, retool youth unemployment thereby significantly addressing insecurity and engendering the flourish of enterprise. 

The people of the region are tired of living frustrated, anxious and overwhelmed. New habits can be formed. Fresh hope can be found in the Commission. The practice of gratitude and acknowledgment of good deeds by those who dare is the missing key to unlock the hope, joy and beauty around the region. It is not particularly helpful when we try to frustrate people with good intentions. Let good conscience prevail.

- Bassey Ime Idongesit.
Convener

Joachim Dakolo                                            Publicity Secretary.