By Lawrence Agbasoga.
The name
Chief Hope Uzodinma, the Senator from Orlu zone of Imo State has gone down in
the history of Imo State as the leader who rescued Imo State at this time from
the iron grip of an Emperor who had cowed virtually everyone in the state into
submission to his insistence on running a dynasty here in the eastern
heartland. Like Moses of ancient Israel, God had sent him to deliver His people
of Imo State who had been subjected to extreme poverty, deprivation and inhuman
treatment in the hands of an emperor who had found it unnecessary to partner
with them in the task of developing the state or in the business of governance.
According
to Woodrow Wilson, the 28th American president, "the ear of the
leader must ring with the voices of the people". That is Chief Hope
Uzodinma! As a leader his ears had been saturated with the voices of his people
and he could not help but respond.
The
"deliverance" of our dear state from the tight grip of Governor
Rochas Okorocha whose insistence on succeeding himself by proxy through Uche
Nwosu is an indictment on our so-called leaders who, at the most critical time
in the life of this state, preferred to do nothing but only complain, Complain
alone could not achieve much. Action was needed and the man of action came on
board and the result is the joy across the state in all homes. As a result of
the acceptance of Chief Hope Uzodinma's governorship bid, a royal father I met
last December told me he was not a member of APC but that he would vote for the
senator, just for being able to confront and engage Okorocha squarely and defeat
him, setting the state free from the injuries inflicted on it by the present
administration.
The
politics of Imo State today is of individuals and not of political parties or
zone of origin. It is a weak and infantile argument for anyone to say that Orlu
zone should not produce a governor again. Where were the so-called astute,
dogged politicians from Owerri, Okigwe and even Orlu zones when Chief Hope
Uzodinma took on Okorocha for the sake of Imolites? Why did they just look on
when Okorocha was carefully perfecting his plans to succeed himself through his
son-in-law, Uche Nwosu? The intervention of Senator Uzodinma proved his love
for the state. Materially, he is comfortable. But like our saviour Jesus Christ
who left his comfortable abode in heaven and became human, just for humanity's
sake, to save us, even so chief Hope Uzodinma counted his personal comfort as
nothing when the generality of his people of Imo State were crying and in pains
as a result of injuries inflected on them by bad governance. He could not
isolate himself from our excruciating pain, hence his intervention!
The
argument of zone of origin remains weak. Chief Sam Mbakwe of blessed memory
still holds |he record of achievements in the governance of this state. He
hailed from Obowo in Okigwe Zone.
Today, when
Chief Sam Mbakwe is mentioned, Obowo or Okigwe zone is not mentioned or
remembered. This is because Mbakwe did not consider himself as coming from
Obowo or Okigwe zone. He saw the entire state as his constituency and regarded
everyone in it as brothers and sisters. He did not run a family government,
neither did he treat Obowo or Okigwe zone as special. He is remembered today
for his good works which were possible due to his leadership skills that made
him place the best brains around into positions of responsibility. That is good
leadership. The opposite of this is Governor Okorocha's style of considering
members of his family first, associates, and then people from Ideato nation.
This is wrong and leads to poor performance as in the case of Okorocha. From
the same Okigwe zone as Chief Mbakwe came Ikedi Ohakim as governor. He didn't
do well and in 2011 even people from his own Isiala Mbano joined forces with
other Imolites to sack him. It is not about zone of origin, but about a leader's
heart. Hope Uzodinma is not materialistic. I was once told that since he became
Senator in 2011, this Oru East born "deliverer" has never bought any
piece of land or house, but has committed himself to serving humanity. Imo
needs such a leader who is not sectional. We need someone who will allow the
people's common wealth to spread across board. Imolites don't need a leader who
will stockpile their commonwealth for the purpose of financing the next
election and deceive them with sub-standard infrastructure. We need a true
servant -leader who will see the entire state as his immediate constituency.
Hope Uzodinma represents what this state needs at this time, hence everyone
sees him as the expected Hope of this state.
The choice
of Prof. Piacid Njoku as running mate and the recent Imo Stakeholders meeting
facilitated by Senator Hope Uzoinma depict a leader eager to deliver on his
electoral promise.
At the
stakeholders meeting, Senator Uzodinma required of Imo people themselves to
articulate a way forward for the State. He is not a man that claims to know it
all. The expected governor of the State believes that no person is a repository
of knowledge. Senator Uzodinma has on many occasions- by words and action
-agreed with former president George W.H. Bush who said thus: uuse
power to help people. For we are give power not to advance our own purposes nor
to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one use of power
and it is to serve people".
Imolites must get it right this time. Out-fashioned sentiments
like zoning must be abandoned, especially now that our dear state is in a
critical situation. We must not toy with our lives today and in the future.
This state needs a true patriot in the class of Chief Sam Mbakwe to re-position
the state after years of plunder and mismanagement. Hope can be trusted. He
loves our state. He is an Imolite who hates injustice, man's inhumanity to man
and greed. As an individual he has touched lives<cross the state. Igbos believes
that certain names have something divine associated with them. When the parents
of Senator Hope Uzodinma named him, they had no thought he would one day be the
expected Hope of a great state like ours. There is really something divine in
Senator Uzodinma's intervention in the governorship affairs of our state and we
must not lose sight of that. Imo needs him now. He listens, fears God, cares,
not materialistic, and he is one of us.
