IHEDIOHA REMAINS THE PEOPLES' CHOICE

 IHEDIOHA: THE MANDATE IS OURS

Davi-flash.blogspot.com

On January 14, 2020, a sacrilege happened in Imo state. The mandate which Imo people had overwhelmingly offered the Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha at the polls to be their Governor was stolen through a judicial coup. It was something very bizarre, an occurrence deeply abhorrent and abominable. It was a happenstance that rolled back Nigeria's democratic progress and stained an entire page in the country's judicial diary. It is now two years since that veil of darkness was placed upon Imo state. And this moment remains, to be clear, a bitter episode in the history of Imo state.

It is pertinent to highlight, however, that January 14 is not about Ihedioha or the PDP. It is, most importantly, about you and me. It is about us, Imo people. It is about our sacred and inalienable right to choose who should govern us. The stolen mandate is ours; it is mine and it is yours! By that infamy of January 14, our right was denied and our pride and prestige thrown to the dogs. We were seen as a conquered people by some overlords, and the devastations and woes being wrought upon us today by Chief Hope Uzodinma seem to confirm that he is only consolidating a conquest over a territory of serfs. January 14 is therefore  about our aspiration as a people for a better Imo, brimming with limitless possibilities, which has now been abbreviated.

The dreams held in the hearts of Imo people in the buildup to the 2019 elections were enormous. We saw the dreams in all the professional bodies and socio-cultural groups in the state which came together under the Amalgamation of Imo Professional Bodies and Associations and drew up a template for choosing who would be Governor of Imo state in 2019. By their metrics and criteria, Ihedioha was the best. They all chose Ihedioha. Today, the dreams have been aborted in the most horrible way. That stolen mandate is theirs, too.

 Even across many seas and countless mountains, the dream for a better better Imo reverberated. We saw it in Imo people in the diaspora under the aegis of Imo Community in Europe, who all came home, organized a debate for the governorship contenders. And Ihedioha floored the other contenders. That was at Rockview Hotels in Owerri. Inspired by Ihedioha's matchless preparedness to govern and his history of integrity in public service, they supported him and massively voted him at the polls. The mandate stolen is also theirs.

Throughout Imo state, citizens braved all obstacles and stood up for the persuasions of their hearts, and their spirits and their souls. In the remotest parts of the state, old women and men, and youths, defied the inclemency of the weather and came all out on election day. They were scorched by the sun. They starved till dusk, and many went thirsty all day. They were simply determined to make their views heard, to make their votes counted and to make their votes count. They voted, watched their votes being counted and rejoiced when their votes at last gave them the Governor of their collective dreams, Ihedioha. The mandate now stolen is theirs as well.

Imo people are Igbo. The world over, the Igbo are singled out as one of the earliest groups in the world to have practiced democracy. From the Aba Women Riot to the Ekumeku Uprisings, Igbo people have proven time and again that imposition of leaders on them must be resisted. It is a  serious cultural issue. They are republican by nature and they cannot apologize for whom they are. 

So, January 14 remains an assault on Igbo culture. It remains daring to our spirit and genetic configuration of abiding republicanism. A professor and lawyer, Lai Olurode, who was a National Commissioner at INEC, had once suggested that to move Imo out of restiveness, there was need to realize the political culture of the people and address the imposition of an unelected ruler on a historically egalitarian people. In a swift reaction to that, Chief Uzodinma declared the professor wanted and demanded security operatives to arrest him. Terrible!

Therefore, when Imo people boldly remind Chief Uzodinma that he wasn't chosen by them to govern, they are asserting themselves as that enviable democratic pride of the Black world. They are are making a statement, that no illegitimate, imposed leadership has ever thrived in their land. They are also speaking eloquently, that the mandate is theirs and cannot be taken away from them.

Someday, we all shall be witnesses to the ultimate triumph of justice, when the Lord will restore that which was stolen from Ndimo and salvage our land from the ravages of the locusts. The mandate is ours!