OKEZIE IKPEAZU OF ABIA CANNOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

EMMANUEL UGWUMBA

“Whiles thinking about Abia state today, I remembered a story about Abraham Lincoln of America and how he was forced into glory. The story has it that he was not any different from the average white folk who supported slave trade earlier on. But the American civil war made him a changed man. Because he needed the support of slaves who were mostly on the other side of the divide. He abolished slave trade, proclaimed liberty for the oppressed and gained alliances in order to defeat the opposing side and successfully brought America back together. The book: Forced Into Glory, tells it all”

“I saw this element of politics in Anambra when Dr Chris Ngige opposed his godfathers in 2003, he exposed the corruption that was holding the state backward and made the world realize that Anambra had enough money for her development, but that some forces we’re sharing the resources at the expense of the state. Since then, the state has taken a new turn for good. It has been difficult for those that came after him to loot the treasury and turn around to complain that there is no money”

“Originally Dr Ngige was part of the cabal, but when the time came he chose wisdom above churvnism and selfishness. He aligned with the masses and he was FORCED INTO GLORY”

“This is unlike Ikezie Ikpeazu, who is looking for cheap excuses to justify his failure in office as Abia State Governor. I’ve heard one of his aides say; the reason the stooge governor has not achieved anything is because he was facing court cases”

“Yet he did not say that Ikpeazu has not been receiving federal allocations and generating huge IGR; which he is sharing with his godfather. Neither did he say that those who had cases with him in court had taken over government bank accounts and are now in charge of the state resources. He did not also say that they had ambushed contractors who have been paid to do projects in the state. And he did not say that they stopped the governor from paying salaries of civil servants”

“But my worry is that if there is anything that should make him perform, those court cases that he is using as excuse should have been one of them. At least the pressure (if any) should have made him perform better in order to proof something to the people”

“For example, when Dr Ngige was under pressure from political opponents, he did wonders in Anambra state and he won the hearts of the masses”

“But nay, ikpeazu is using political opponents as excuse for his inability to perform”

“And one wonders: when having an opposition has become a reason for non-performance?”

“And the real challenge here is that, based on our experience in Nigeria, most governors perform better in their first tenure, because they want to be reelected. In most cases they don’t do much in their second tenure because they have nothing to proof”

“This was exactly how T. A. Orji came with excuses in his first tenure. He lied to Ndi Abia that Orji Uzo Kalu was the one holding his hands from developing Abia state. The people made the mistake of believing and sympathizing with him. But by the time he got his second term, he literarily buried the state in poverty. His second tenure became a metaphor for Abia degradation”

Almost three years into Ikpeazu’s first tenure, it is obvious that the worst will still surely happen if Abians don’t send him and his T. A. Orji’s relics packing”

“If Ikpeazu cannot perform in his first tenure to impress, what would he do if given a second tenure? Your guess is as good as mine”

“If Abia people make the mistake of returning Ikpeazu, they will have themselves to blame. The ongoing looting of the state treasury by himself and the T. A. Orji family in this first tenure will be a child’s play compare to what they will do if he is given another tenure. They will render the state irredeemably poor and scavenged”

“Ikpeazu does not have what it takes to make a difference, excuses are his method for stealing”