By Hilda Ifegwu
The Daily Sun of Saturday, September 17 in a put away column of page 51 gave the news of an odd gathering of political dark horses in the house of a friend turned enemy.
As reported by Olunkwa Felix in Umuahia, the meeting was at the instance of the self-acclaimed Traditional Prime Minister of Ibeku ancient Kingdom, Chief Uche Akwukwegbu alias Bawas. In attendance were the Ogurube of Ibeku, Eze Samuel Onuoha, Igwe Laz Onwuneme, Chief Tony Ukasanya and some other irrelevant touts turned politicians.
From all indications, the gathering is the crux of the horribly disgruntled for no just cause. The question is what do they intend to achieve other than cajolery? Their Chief Guest of honour was former Governor of Abia State Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who has no love lost relationship with his successor Senator T. A. Orji. These are people who have done their worst against T. A. Orji in the past, through electoral sabotages and higher degrees of calumny without scoring any goal. From all observations, they are only nursing their injuries.
In Igbo belief system “Ogu” is a paramount factor in all that we do and Senator Orji has exercised his Ogu on these people. There is none that Senator Orji has not assuaged, assisted or sponsored in one way or the other. A few examples will throw some lights.
Chief Akwukwaegbu popularly known as Bawas fully identified with the T. A. Orji government for 8 years without grouses. In the eight years of Senator Orji’s governance, from a little known business man he was transformed to a major construction contractor and tolerated without indebt accreditation as a civil engineering contractor. He was awarded roads and even funded to buy equipment. Most of the roads he worked on cannot stand the test of engineering times. His wife was allowed two tenures in the Abia House of Assembly despite stiff challenges from her immediate constituency. He identified with all the activities of the Senator until the Ogah saga where he came to the open in stiff opposition. Having failed with Ogah, he assembled like minds, invited their Chief Guest of honour with the intent to deride Senator Orji at the pretext of apologizing to OUK.
Another one of them, who spoke at the gathering had no message and spoke from the two sides of his mouth. Chief Laz Onwuneme was at best a thug during the first republic, and today without any political relevance since electoral victories are the meter for assessment of any politician. In the eight years of T. A. Orji, he did not win his boots but was tolerated in spite of the obvious lack of political relevance. According to one sage, thugs are loose guns at the end of political struggles and should be kept busy or engaged for their nuisance levels. This man whose trade was debilitated by age was accommodated including the award of numerous contracts and retaining his empty son for eight years as adviser. Onwuneme’s grouses among other things was that Senator Orji did not appoint his son as an LGA chairman.
Chief Tony Ukasanya is the most idea-miserable of all. He was the pioneer chairman of PDP in Abia State. The same OUK he now adores as a hero was the man who disposed him and sent him into political oblivion. It was T. A. Orji who cleaned him up and gave him some reckoning, including Ohiya electrification project which he hardly completed. Despite all these he fled into the Otti camp and even deceived so many people into donating to Otti’s campaign that lost woefully. Most of those people withdrew their buses and are on his neck for deceiving them while others, including an Abuja based widow are in arms to reclaim their money, so what is his union with OUK going to yield?
The shameless disposition of Eze Onuoha is laughable and unfathomable. A man who would have been long deposed, Senator Orji saved him from other Ibeku ezes who aggressively wanted him to drop the Ogurube title as they have become more in number. He will continue to be a fool as he has now divided is own kingdom.
I urge them to enlist more hands as their multiple losses cannot make them winners. As was gathered, one of their aims was to get some donation from their guest who expertly dodged that aspect and decided to be a song leader. This peerless Chief Guest has been battling with loser-syndrome as many of his activities have been marked with monumental failures, check these out: failed attempt to rejoin PDP despite forged PDP documents, failed Senatorial bids, failed FIFA presidency, failed Njiko Ndi Igbo initiative. I urge them to take deep introspection. Why have they failed against T. A. Orji who has been soaring politically? It should be noted that pursuing an anointed obviously comes with a curse.
The question on sound minds is why have they waited for nine years to render this mockery of an apology. And how much donation did their guest give for their looming activities? On the much hackneyed issue of God-father and making a governor out of T. A. Orji is a question that has been belaboured and should be ignored.
Chief Orji Uzor Kalu constitutionally had no choice but to hand over to somebody. He did not pick T. A. Orji out of love but for his diligence for 8 years. Did OUK know where to append his signature on a formal document? OUK’s tolerance of colleagues and party heads is a known disaster and was diplomatically managed. Even at that he changed deputies with the speed of lightning but T. A. lasted for eight years. And the will of God prevailed. He now is free to make himself anything he wishes.