By Pascal Onu
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men-men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall”.- Ellen White
The punches are becoming severe, the kicks harder, tantrums are thrown at reckless abandon, insults are hurled at will. They are not footballers in the pitch of play as witnessed in the ongoing African Cup of Nations hosted by Cameroun. Neither are wrestlers contesting the world wrestling championships nor boxers in the ring jostling for who will clinch the world heavy weight title. The issue in contest is which zone should produce the next governor. But little did protagonists and antagonists in this trophyless contest know that the debate has gone beyond which zone would produce the next governor of Abia State and has shifted to a position embraced by a good majority of Abians that what needs from 2023 henceforth are men of good will stem the tide and dismantle the unjust status quo.
Indeed, the recent article by a former Commissioner in Abia State, Don Ubani, in response to Dr. Eme Okoro’s interview in one of the national dailies, has seriously stirred the hornet’s nest and the hornets have vacated their nest stinging ferociously.
Eme Okoro had lambasted the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abia State, Asiforo Okere for honouring the visit of Chief Raymond Dokpesi, who had visited to canvass support for Atiku Abubakar, at the expense of a planned visit of PDP stakeholders from Abia North where the stakeholders were to reiterate their resolve for the governorship seat to shift to Abia North in 2023.
Ubani in the article titled” Must Dr. Eme Okoro Fume To Make His Point” berated the elderstatesman for a caption in one of the national dailies” Rumble in PDP Over Dokpesi’s Visit”. At this point, excerpts from Ubani’ s article would go a long way in driving home the issues at stake:”I knew Dr Eme Okoro in 1999 when he was the Programme Manager of Abia State Agricultural Development Programme, ADP. That was when Chief Orji Uzor Kalu was newly sworn-in as Governor of the Abia State. Dr Eme Okoro, Chief M D Ofo and late Sir Bob Ogbuagu were like a tripod in what could be described as the Interior Advisory Structure or Council of Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. Three of them were principally the description and face of Old Bende in Abia State at the early stage of the Administration of Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.
“Intelligence allegedly had it then that three of them had strongly cautioned Governor Kalu never to have any form of confidence in any Abian that was not of Old Bende origin. The same intelligence reportedly reminded Governor Kalu that the late first Nigeria’s Military Head of State, General J T U Aguiyi-Ironsi, an indigene of Old Bende from Ibeku, was assassinated because of his trust in non-Igbo Military Officers.
“Reportedly, it was the three Musketeers that drew up ‘the Old Bende Agenda’ for Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. The resume of the Old Bende Agenda’, according to their projection, was to hold power in perpetuity in Abia State, not minding what Abia Charter of Equity implied. The goal of that invisible Old Bende Advisory Council was to make sure people from Old Aba Division were marginalized, emasculated and ridiculed in whatever position they were given in Governor Kalu’s Government.
“By the dictates of Abia Charter of Equity, Governor Orji Uzor Kalu should have handed over power to a successor from Old Aba Division. Even Governor Kalu openly agreed to this written understanding at Aba Township Stadium about November 2002 when Chief Reagan Ufomba organized a very colourful and well attended Ukwa/Ngwa Declaration. Unknown to the Peoples of Old Aba Division, all was a deceit.
“Therefore, in 2007, Governor Orji Uzor Kalu perfected the Old Bende Agenda sold to him by the trio of Dr Eme Okoro, Chief M D Ofo and late Sir Bob Ogbuagu. Contrary to the intendment and understanding inherent in Abia Charter of Equity , Governor Kalu enthroned another indigene of Old Bende in the person of Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, from Ibeku-Umuahia, as Governor of the State in 2007.
“It would be recalled that Dr Eme Okoro was among those that had fallen out with Governor Kalu before the 2007 Governorship election. He, however, did not deviate from the agenda of holding power in perpetuity by the people of Old Bende. In pursuit of that horrendous agenda, he was a strong pillar of support for the Governorship Ambition of yet another indigene of Old Bende, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu from Ohuhu in Umuahia”.
What could be deducted by the above statements by Don Ubani is that the “Abia Charter of Equity” is more of a ride. Because, if as alleged by Don Ubani the likes of Eme Okoro and cohorts ganged and thwarted the power shift to Old Aba division when Orji Uzor Kalu completed his eight years two terms in 2007, the spirit of the founding fathers of Abia in drawing such a document was highly defeated and has rendered any argument proposing power shift to Abia North null and void.
What is decipherable here is that power should remain in Old Aba Division, comprising the nine local government areas of Ngwa and Ukwa ethnic nationalities. But now, another argument has popped up. And the argument is that while the retention by the Old Aba Division to complete the 16 years the Old Bende did remains non- negotiable, the best hands with the right exposure and intellect should be deployed for this great assignment despite which section of the divide the candidate is coming from.
What buttresses this argument is that the Abia situation is critical and demands urgent attention to bail. Like an analyst posits” the A is situation is critical and demands urgent steps to resolve. What Abia needs in 2023 is a stabilising force that would beat certain things that have gone wrong in the state to shape. What is most important is that there is an unjust status quo in the state that demands urgent dismantling. Abians should vehemently oppose imposition of candidates at all cost because it has remained our albatross and has kept us where we are today”.
Besides, with the recent indication of interest to run for the 2023 governorship race by a former Deputy-Governor in the state and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnya Harcourt Abaribe, a huge segment of the Abia populace are heaving a sigh of relief. The sing song currently is that the man, who is popularly addressed as “Nma Agha Ndi Igbo” has all it takes to deliver Abia in 2023.
Could it be that Senator Abaribe is the Messiah Abians are looking forward to in 2023? Only time will tell!
