What Ndi Imo Did On Saturday In The Interest Of Ndigbo

By Mac Durugbo

On Saturday, April 25, 2015, the last lap of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections was concluded nationwide. Just to refresh your memories, the said elections, which were first held on April 11, 2015, were declared inconclusive in three states of the Federation – Abia, Imo and Taraba – by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In Imo State, INEC said the declaration followed the number of cancelled votes in relation to the margin of win by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Owelle Rochas Okorocha, over the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Emeka Ihedioha. Before the INEC decision on Sunday April 12, Governor Okorocha had garnered 385,671 votes compared to the 306,142 votes scored by Ihedioha. In reaching the decision, INEC said the number of cancelled votes, which stood at 144,715, far outweighed the 79,529 votes margin that the Governor had over Ihedioha.

Whatever the argument is about the conduct of the April 11 elections in Imo State, the reality is that the people of Imo State voted to return Owelle Rochas Okorocha to office for a second term. And why not; after all, one good tenure, they say, deserves another. He has performed far and above all the previous governors of Imo State. His Education policy has revolutionised Education in Imo State. His rural development programme has brought dividends of democracy to those who had never experienced it before. In terms of infrastructure development, no previous Imo governor can hold a candle to him.

So, it is not a matter of political grandstanding if anyone would predict his success in any election in Imo State today. He is a grassroots man whose rather unconventional style of leadership has brought government to the doorsteps of Ndi Imo at the remotest corners of the state. Those who argue otherwise are, no doubt, the conservatives who see governance as a relationship between the boss and the servant. To them those elected into office are the Lords of the manor. They are in office to dispense the commonwealth the way they please. They are there to lord it over the electorate, granting them as favour what rightfully belongs to them.  They feel scandalized when the Peoples’ Governor breaches protocol sometimes to reach out to the rural people, the grassroots people, those to whom governance had hitherto been a remote conjecture. They hate him for exploding some of the myths that had hitherto surrounded government and governance and made it sacrosanct. In the last four years, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has revolutionised governance and demonstrated that it is all about service to the people.

But that is not just why Ndi Imo voted him back to the Government House Owerri on Saturday. Owelle Rochas Okorocha is today the light of not just Ndi Imo but the entire Ndigbo of Nigeria’s Southeast geopolitical zone. When he stepped out of the traditionally Conservative politics of the Southeast to embrace the Progressives, he was called unprintable names by those who felt he was committing abomination by joining forces with political parties of other tribes. They ostracized him from the forum of the Southeast Governors. They sought to convince Ndi Imo that he was about to mortgage their freedom to other tribes. But the Owelle had one ace which they did not have and which they could not deny. He left the precincts and the exalted throne of the State House and, perhaps, busting all “the rules of the game”, met the grassroots people in their lowly place to know and do what they really wanted. He embraced and comforted them in the language they understood – the native language. He completely removed politics in his approach to the people. Whatever he said he would do he did. If he did not, for any reason, he ensured that he gave explanations and sought to do that at a later date. He knew and spoke to their pains and grievances and ensured that they never expected in vain. These constitute the character of the progressives.

Today his “antic” has paid off. But for him, and perhaps few other Progressives in the zone, Ndigbo would be completely out of Nigeria’s political equation. Just see how the Southeast has lost out in the leadership equation. They are out of the National Assembly leadership; they are not likely to be considered for any significant position of leadership in the incoming administration of the Progressives; all because some hardcore and visionless Conservatives, who refuse to see the handwriting on the wall, who, blinded by their own personal ambition, have continued to play the old drum of tribal jingoism to hold the Igbo nation to their old but fast fading (thank the Lord) views. It did not need the predictions of a prophet to see the fall of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was there for all to see. But the so-call Igbo leaders chose to lean on a falling wall, perhaps hoping for a last minute miracle. It did not need a crystal ball to predict that Change was inevitable in Nigeria. But the self appointed leaders, obviously never wanted Change.

So, thank the Lord for the foresight of Owelle Rochas Okorocha and the Progressive Imonites. He will keep the candle of the Igbo Nation burning still in the nation’s political firmament. He will continue to identify, on behalf of the Igbo Nation, with those who are out to rebuild Nigeria from the rubble of inept and visionless leadership. He will participate actively, on behalf of the Igbo nation, in fighting corruption, insecurity and other vices that have kept this Giant of Africa from attaining its leadership status in the African Continent. Knowing this great Igbo son, his candle will certainly burn bright and cannot be ignored in that assembly of the Progressives. And being a passionate lover of his people, the dividends of democracy must flow to Ndigbo, in spite of the political misjudgment.

That is why Ndi Imo went out enmasse last Saturday and convinced the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Owelle Rochas Okorocha is their choice for Governor of Imo State. Those who parade themselves as saviour of the Igbo; only visiting them every four years to renew their mandate; have been told in no uncertain term that Ndigbo have become wiser; that Imo State will remain in the Council of the Progressives to keep the fire of the Igbo Nation burning until the conservatives’ stranglehold on Ndigbo is broken finally. That was the assignment of Ndi Imo on Saturday, April 25.   

SO CONGRATULATIONS MY FELLOW IMONITES!

•Durugbo is a political analyst and social commentator