By Prof. Nathan Protus Uzorma…
In the fable of the great philosopher Aesop he told a story of a certain man who fell ill, and, being in a very bad way, he made a vow that he would sacrifice a hundred oxen to the gods if they would grant him a return to health.
The fable consequently has it that the gods wishing to see how he was going to keep to his vow, caused him to recover in a short time. When he recovered, he hadn’t an ox In the world, so he made a hundred little oxen out of fallow and offered them up on an alter, at the same time saying to the gods, “Ye gods, I call you to witness that I have discharged my vow”. The gods determined to be even with him, so they sent him a dream, in which he was bidden to go to the sea-shore and fetch a hundred crowns which he was to find there.
Hastening in great excitement to the shore, he fell in with a band of robbers who seized him and carried him off to sell as a slave; and when they sold him a hundred crowns was the sum he fetched. This fable appears funny but it reflects a reality in our society especially those who do not keep their vows.
When sin graduates it becomes iniquity and when iniquity graduates it becomes abomination. It is because of abomination in the Christian holy book {Bible} that the good lord cast out his children from his presence. The lord detects abominable things; they are such that defy the nation. In a country or state where abomination is the order of the day, what one expects is the worst.
When the land is desecrated it becomes a sacrilege, in such case, the society becomes ruined. This is the state of Imo State now.
The fable of Aesop as stated above is a true reflection of the political life of our governor Chief Rochas Okorocha. During the 2011 guber campaign, Chief Okorocha like the sick person in Aesop fable, promised heaven on earth to Imo people in order to attract the attention of the electorate. I remember that he promised Imo workers of having the best salaries in the world. To health workers, Chief Rochas made them believe that his administration will put smile on their faces. We were informed by Okorocha that hospitals will be at our door post. The keke riders were promised of having air craft while pregnant women were promised of delivering their babies at different space hospitals that his administration will build in order to put Imo into the Guinness Book of record.
He made these and other related promises in order to be voted into Douglas house. Imo people were hoodwinked and thus voted for him as a result of same, he is the executive governor of Imo State. Today, what has Chief Rochas Okorocha done for Imo people? The civil servants in Imo State got only one gift from Chief Rochas- which is changing their uniform. Imo workers now put on black coats with red ties to match in order to look nice. A family of six with monthly salary of N20,000 or N40,000 is mandated to appear in his office on black coat with red tie without any ward-rope allowance. This is an abomination!
Workers are working and gnashing their teeth in pain especially the low income earners. Have you seen them at any time at the closure of work? You see them working under the sun, sweating angrily while going home. oh I pity them a lot!
Like the sick person in the fable who promised the gods a hundred oxen if they made him recover, failed in his promise, Governor Rochas Okorocha in the same vein, has refused to fulfill any of his promises to Imo people. If I may ask, where is Roach company today? What has happened to our money? Abomination in the land!
Due to bad system of governance what happened in the bible during the time of Elisha as was recorded in II Kings 6:24-30 has repeated in Imo State in a different way and manner. People are dying so much due to bad government, when you go to Aladimma mortuary you will be shocked to notice that every weekend upon the good number of ambulances , the number of deceased bodies out numbers the ambulances. This is also applicable to both Federal Medical Centre (FMC) and other mortuaries. Has this administration bothered to know why many Imo people are dying on daily basis? Many Imo youths are dying due to frustration, no job, no good food, no good medical assistance as was promised, no direction and vision ; all we hear every day is ‘My people, my people.’ Our Governor has forgotten one thing which is, many of his so called “my people my people” are already in the mortuary and unless God intervenes in Imo state, we shall soon become else.
In the bible as quoted above, due to how Syrian sieged Samaria there came a strong famine to the extent that an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver. The situation turned some people into cannibalism. This however, made a particular woman to kill her son for food the bible reports, “… This woman said unto me, give thy son that we may eat him today and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and did eat him. And I said unto her on the next day give thy son that we may eat him, and she hath hid her son…” II Kings 6:28-29.
The above biblical story truly happened in human history. In Imo State, the case is different, it was the case a man 44 year old who tied his triplet and four others on a wheelbarrow for sale- What an abomination! The story as was captured by a local newspaper Frontline Express Newspaper, January 29-30, 2014 page 2 with this caption, “Man ties own triplet, four other children on wheelbarrow for sale” consequently has this to say, “Scene was last Monday created in Owerri as a man 44 tied his seven children including the triplet to a wheelbarrow heading to an unknown destination before being intercepted by officers of Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development following a tip off.
Frontline Express gathered that 44 year old Israel Dike from Udenkume Obowo LGA of Imo State residing at Ugwu-Ekwema along Egbu Road carried his children with their alms tied in a wheelbarrow with the intention to sell them due to economic hardship the family has been facing… According to him the governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha was the cause of his plight having failed in redeeming the pledge made to him some time ago”.
If the claim of Mr. Israel Dike is true, between Gov. Rochas and Mr. Dike who shares the greater part of the reciprocal effect and punishment of the action before the DIVINE? “An Ethical issue”, the philosopher replies. The fact remains that our actions whether they are positive or negative, contributes to another person’s action or reaction. What this implies is that a particular administration will determine how the masses would react. You don’t expect everybody to react the same way. No! It is impossible because an extrovert will react different from an introvert. You don’t create a bad event and expect everybody to react the same way. Therefore Mr. Dike reacted the way he feels he should even when his action is against the law and he will face the music but he does not give a dam because to him, Gov. Okorocha is responsible. We need another rescuer to rescue the rescue mission.