Rejoinder: The conspiracy against Enugu state

BY MALACHY CHUMA OCHIE

My attention has been drawn to an article published on May 19, 2022, in TheCable. The article written by one nondescript fellow called Godwin Udeh, who obviously is suffering from an identity crisis, is ill-intentioned, full of his vain imaginations and can, at best, be described as a potpourri of falsehood, wickedness and divisiveness. The author, obviously, is not from the Awgu area. I can swear on my father’s grave on this.

His mission, evidently, is to sow seeds of discord, create enmity and bad blood in the state. He also intends to pitch Nkanu against Isi-Uzo. This is lamentable.

That he could not even own up to his article of mischief is a mark of his cowardice and inclination for treachery and evil. I have checked out the register of the NBA and there’s no entry as Godwin Udeh. Albeit, you are an incorrigible liar; and that underscores the lie you dished out to the public.

The kernel of Godwin Udeh’s ill-fated essay is anchored on the following grounds: Isi-Uzo is Nsukka and therefore unqualified to contest the governorship of Enugu state, that it will be unconscionable for Governor Ugwuanyi to contemplate an Isi-Uzo person as his successor, that Chijioke Edeoga is the cousin of the governor, that the Nwodos of Ukehe, Igbo-Etiti LG are playing a mischievous power game to install their in-law, Chijioke Edeoga, as governor of Enugu state.

Godwin Udeh, in trying to justify his irresponsibility and supine understanding of the political dynamics of Enugu state, used so many unedifying qualifiers to refer to the Nwodos, Chuka Utazi and any other person that catches his fancy.

He even alluded that Chijioke Edeoga is such a pauper that the aggregate of his salaries as a commissioner cannot afford a Prado Jeep. Let me address these issues in their outline.

Of Isi-Uzo, Enugu-east zone and Nsukka

One conversant with the issues raised above would be forgiven if one runs away with the conclusion that Mr Godwin Udeh is suffering from a mental disorder bordering on schizophrenia. His assertion that Isi-Uzo is Nsukka is otiose.

Enugu state has three senatorial zones namely: Enugu-west, Enugu-east and Enugu-north. The governorship, since 1999, has rotated among these senatorial zones.

Isi-Uzo is in Enugu-east senatorial zone. For the records, there is no senatorial zone in Nigeria known as or called Nkanu senatorial zone. I recall that recently, prominent Nkanu personalities like Chief Anike Nwoga and others, have at various times clarified this issue by reiterating the fact that Isi-Uzo is a bonafide LG in Enugu-east zone; and that no LG in the zone is superior to the other.

Did Isi-Uzo force themselves into Enugu-east? The answer is No! It was Nkanu elders that made the move to excise Isi-Uzo from Nsukka into Enugu-east senatorial zone on the grounds that they were their lost kiths and kin.

Nkanu had always depended on Isi-Uzo to win elections; why wouldn’t Nkanu reciprocate this gesture, especially when Isi-Uzo is presenting a credible and qualified candidate in Chijioke Edeoga?

Why all of a sudden should the Godwin Udehs of this world rise to trumpet the puerile assumption that Isi-Uzo is no longer in the Enugu-east zone?

Perhaps, Godwin Udeh does not realize that Anioma is Igbo, yet they are ruling in Delta state; the Ikwerres are Igbo but they are in charge in Rivers state.

Until the Nigerian constitution affirms a new political delineation, Isi-Uzo remains in the Enugu-east senatorial zone; and to that extent qualifies to enjoy all the benefits thereto including aspiring for the governorship of Enugu state.

Is Chijioke Edeoga Ugwuanyi’s cousin?

The allegation that Chijioke Edeoga is a cousin to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is ridiculous. First, both men are from two different senatorial zones; they are from different LGs and have no blood relationship. Please do your background checks and you will find out the lie in this claim.

Therefore, your crass reference to Dr Okwy Nwodo, Nnia Nwodo, Chuka Utazi, Chris Ofor and Okey Ezea is unfortunate. Whereas the men you set out to malign and impugn are men who have distinguished themselves in various spheres of life and in nation-building, it smacks of disrespect for elders that you could stoop so low in portraying them in the vilest language merely to rationalize your pedantic ideology of nihilism and atavistic inclination towards the annihilation of Isi-Uzo.

Your pity-pat, thumb-sucking and naïve blackmail on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is jaundiced and dead on arrival.

Why Chijioke Edeoga stands out amongst the rest

For the avoidance of doubt, Ugwuanyi has assured Ndi-Enugu that he would, at the appointed time “select a candidate from Enugu-east who will sustain his multiple legacies of peace, infrastructural development, industrialization and human capital development”.

The governor would not want anyone with multiple baggage to succeed him. Look at the array of persons you mentioned and tell me which of them is not heavily ensconced in corruption and had been a regular visitor to EFCC, ICPC or Code of Conduct Bureau and other anti-graft agencies.

In other words, it is not Chijioke Edeoga that has unearthed the putrid deeds of these aspirants but as our people say, their day of reckoning has come and their sins have found them out. So, it is not the exposition of the burdens on these men that are necessarily the matter here, but rather people like you whose self-conceited sycophancy incapacitates making an objective analysis of how a combination of negative forces ushered your preferred men into the corridors of power, whereby they stumbled and fumbled with power, not knowing what to do with it.

Facts are sacrosanct

I will like to make one more point before I come to another issue you raised in your article (if an article it is): facts are very stubborn things, and they are never silenced by merely wishing them away.

Facts are facts, period – whether or not they are rooted in the purview of a man you despise. Governor Ugwuanyi cannot be maligned by people like you just because he believes in equity, justice, fairness and competence; neither can Chijioke be castigated because he boasts of immaculate track records far beyond the comprehension of his distant runners-up.

Rather, people like Godwin Udeh are identified against the factual background of the lies they tell; by reference to their lies- and you have them in plenty.

What becomes implicitly clear is that Chijioke Edeoga’s state-wide acceptance and marketability have become your greatest source of headache. But you know what? Our people say that a good product immediately commands extensive market share. That is the truth here.

Thus, your advocacy for the return of Enugu state to Egypt is an obvious call for the return of Hammer House of Horror in Enugu state, the preview of which we saw in the tragedy that befell Chiene I. Chiene a few days ago.

It is therefore not surprising that in your article you regurgitated the advocacy for atavism in the state, which in blaming the governor and others, reinforced the fascist link between anti-democratic principles and a grim contempt for the people’s power.

Campaign of calumny

Your claims that “the devious schemes are being executed using the governor’s name to deceive and intimidate people”… and that “it is worrisome that Edeoga’s campaign activities bear the imprimatur and trappings of connivance with the highest level of authority in the state”, are understandable since they are the generic traits of Isi-Uzo haters, and advocates for the return of anarchy to Enugu state, which you recommend.

What is very clear from the above is that you have fallen into the same ditch as those who are “coming” and “going”, the same “man of the moment” and their cohorts – nothing but words everywhere; words anchored on frustration, failure and despair – “shenanigans”, “zoning”, political machinations”, “ mystical forces”, “politically jinxed”, “fatal tumble”.

The only solution in terms of practical strategy is another phrase: “Accept defeat and join the winning team”. I believe you fell into these errors because, even as a lawyer, which you claimed you are, you lacked an adequate understanding of Enugu state’s political dynamics rooted in our history.

Allegations of a campaign of calumny

Your accusation that Chijioke Edeoga has been conducting his campaign with malignity is pitiable because you know you are lying to yourself.

If any governorship aspirant has conducted his campaigns in civility and openness, that aspirant is Chijioke Edeoga.

Little wonder he has been accepted by the people of Enugu state as the next governor. Godwin Udeh, you claim to be from Awgu, but I doubt your citizenship of Awgu LG.

Funding Chijioke Edeoga’s campaign

Finally, it is a measure of your delusion to assume that Chijioke Edeoga cannot afford to conduct his campaign. In your own estimation, he cannot afford a Prado Jeep, not even with his accumulated salaries as a commissioner. One thing you do not know is that Ka Isi-Uzo Jee Movement is a mass-based movement with men and women of means that are capable of the unexpected.

Chijioke Edeoga has enormous goodwill within and without; his goodwill is almost inexhaustible.

Let me shock you, Sir, Chijioke Edeoga has been LG chairman, member, national assembly,  commissioner, and special adviser to the president.

But even with all these positions, Chijioke Edeoga has only two Prado jeeps, which he got in his two tenures as commissioner in the state.

Remember, he was the former commissioner for LG Affairs and later the commissioner for environment. Each tenure of commissionership ended with a Prado jeep.

Any other car in his convoy belongs to his friends and supporters with verifiable ownership. Barack Obama, whose election campaign was massively funded by the American people should be instructive here. God is not asleep.

Billboards

The billboards you referred to are not sponsored by the government. A closer observation of the billboards will reveal the persons or groups that sponsored them.

Chijioke Edeoga may not be a money bag but has a massive war chest anchored on his immense public goodwill.

I am sure you have not read Chijioke Edeoga’s profile. Please try and get a copy. I wish you luck.