Emeka Ihedioha At 57

Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha CON, Omenkeahuruanya, celebrated his 54th birthday as Governor-elect on March 24, 2019. The day was memorable because the good people of Imo State, who had just given him a four-year mandate to run their affairs, as well as Nigerians who had been following the events in Imo, congratulated him. However, by his 55th birthday, he was no longer their governor, thanks to a contentious judicial decision two months before that had put the people’s collective fate in jeopardy.

Imolites have yet to recover from the shock of that episode, though they are comforted by the fact that Ihedioha’s seven-month tenure as the state’s seat of government was remarkable; a period in which, most importantly, an ugly trend of elite conspiracy was reversed and government was returned to the people.

Two years later, the people are still as enamored with him as they were when he first arrived. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha is easily the most talked about person in the state outside of office and power. Of course, it is not always to edify him, but he has dominated political discourse in the state, whether on the left or the right. It’s not difficult to figure out why. Imolites have praised his sheer resilience and steadfastness in the face of a highly debilitating political and psychological assault on his career, in addition to his leadership of a populist mass movement that won victory after years of struggle for a people-oriented government.

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Ihedioha has remained as inspiring to the people as he was in the years leading up to their first victory in 2019. He did so not through grandstanding or bitter braggadocio, as many ex-governors are prone to doing, but by returning home to be with the people and sharing in both their grief and triumph. In fact, his hushed demeanor has alarmed a number of people, particularly those in positions of power in the state. “Why hasn’t Ihedioha said anything about this?” is a common remark among the current helmsmen’s handlers.

Hon. Ihedioha decided to mend fences with hitherto real or perceived political enemies, ostensibly following the Zikist philosophy of “Show The Light And The People Will Follow,” with the ultimate goal of returning the people to the path of peaceful coexistence. However, that did not appear to sit well with those in charge of the state’s affairs at the time. They haven’t stopped asking, “Why should Ihedioha attend funerals of relatives of our “enemies?” And, because your enemy’s friend is assumed to be your enemy, they’ve gone to great lengths to demonize this long-time foe who has remained their nemesis despite his temporary demise. The people, on the other hand, have been unmistakable in their assessment of his seven months in office and his successor’s 26-month reign.

Take, for example, the question about the state’s recent spate of insecurity. Why were there no Unknown Gun Men (UGM) in the state during Hon. Ihedioha’s seven months in office, or the eight years before that? To those in power today, the answer is that the UGM were brought in by “politicians” who were dissatisfied with their removal from office! It’s so simple to say, but the public is not fooled. They are familiar with Ihedioha’s history as a peaceful, meticulous, and patriotic leader.

“Since your best isn’t enough, we’ll revert to those who know how to keep unknown gunmen away come 2023,” they say in response to the current administration’s despair over insecurity. That is where we are now, and it is why, as the 2023 general election approaches, the darts at Omenkeahuruanya (the one whose strides are visible) will continue to fly.

Some hatchet groups, all known as surrogates of the current administration in the state, simultaneously issued statements accusing Rt Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of “over heating” the polity and requesting law enforcement agencies to interrogate him for simply receiving applause after an inspiring speech at the fourth anniversary of the Owerri Renaissance, also known as the “Egbu Declaration” last November. Since then, no day goes by without one of the current administration’s hirelings speculating and, in some cases, losing sleep over Ihedioha’s likely candidacy for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship elections.

Only a few days ago, one of Senator Hope Uzodimma’s supporters posted on Facebook, ‘advising’ Ihedioha not to run for governor in 2023, but instead to run for the Owerri zone senatorial seat! Can’t we see that Ihedioha’s fear is real? Why is Ihedioha’s candidacy for the 2023 election causing such a stir?

The answer is not improbable. Those of us who are familiar with social media, however, should go there and see the responses and comments that greeted the aide’s meddling.

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To summarize, the main issue in the 2023 elections, in the eyes of the majority of the good people of Imo state, will be to ask how Ihedioha was able to restore peaceful coexistence and economic stability in just seven months; and how, in the 26 months since he left office, the state has witnessed the highest level of social and economic disequilibrium ever experienced by the people in the collective history.

Yes, it could have been due to the cumulative failure of previous administrations, but in dealing with the past, Imolites will begin with the present, as in the aphorism of two logs colliding. To clear the road, you must first remove the log from the top. To put it another way, people would first disassociate themselves from the current administration’s perfidy (the top log) before moving on to the log(s) below.

The people are, of course, encouraged by Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha’s sheer strength of character, stability, and calm temperament, which he demonstrated during his seven-month administration and which he has maintained since leaving office. They see a man whose words are his only means of communication. They see a man who lives up to his philosophy of prioritizing the welfare of the people over the absurdity of endless summons at the Abuja Villa.

They see a man who has led the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State with selfless, objective, and result-oriented leadership; a party that, despite the shenanigans of those in power today, offers the hapless masses of the people a credible alternative.

Birthday greetings