By Lancelot Obiaku
The first thing noticeable from Gov. Hope Uzodimma’s State of Imo Address on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, is that it was drab, uninspiring and filled with old tales, such that are usually associated with con artists and tricksters. There was nothing new from his last address a year and half ago. He literally read the same script but an edited version bearing new set of lies and make-believe.
Uzodimma again spent quality minutes blaming an unnamed opposition for the insecurity that has ravaged the State since his infamous ascension to power as Governor in 2020. It was the same old and empty rhetoric. In addition, he lied that his administration has now overcome the menace of insecurity, whereas many parts of Okigwe, Onuimo, Ihitte-Uboma, Owerri West, Oguta, Ngor-Okpala, Orsu, and Orlu LGAs are currently under the siege of hoodlums, kidnappers, terrorists, and organ harvesters.
He intentionally forgot that on the 6th of May, 2025, a sad incident occurred in Ngor-Okpala when 26 passengers were kidnapped on the Owerri-Aba road and one of them reportedly shot dead on the spot by suspected Fulani terrorists. The whereabouts of the rest 25 are unknown up to today. Also, on May 8, in what has become a routine strike in the LGA, unknown gunmen launched in Umuna in the Okigwe LGA, burning over twenty trucks, razing shops, and reportedly taking more than 20 innocent lives, leaving many families in agony.
What about the scores that have lost their lives in the Agwa community in Oguta LGA of the State, according to the community sources which said that over 100 people have been lost to attacks by suspected Fulani terrorists. In addition, Amakohia-Ubi in Owerri West LGA, has been experiencing constant lethal attacks from similar sources lately. In that community, many cases of kidnapping by the same sect have been recorded. This is the situation in parts some parts of Avu, Obinze and Okuku, and it is clear that the cases of kidnapping, ritual killings and terrorist attacks on communities are spreading like wildfire across Imo State with many communities now captured by the terrorists.
Gov. Uzodimma’s denial means he saw these recent deadly attacks and deliberately turned a blind eye on them just to pretend that his administration has not failed to secure the lives and property of Imo people. This is not just the height of his irresponsibility but also beastly callousness. He does not feel the pain and agony of the people he claims to have been elected to serve. What a failure!
To crown it all, after spending over an hour massaging his ego, and reeling off his purported achievements, Gov. Uzodimma did not tell Imo people how much has accrued to the State, both as federal allocation to the State and Local Governments, intervention funds, and internally generated revenue, in the last five years, and how they were spent.
It is disturbing that the Governor feels that being accountable means to spend tax payers money every 18 months to organise an expensive State Address to blame people and exalt himself as though the governance of the State is his private business, while neglecting the nitty-gritty of such an activity. He could not answer questions about contracts claims by his administration to say to whom they were awarded, when, how, and for how much. Where lies accountability and transparency?
The recent State of the State Address by Gov. Uzodimma like any other he did in the past is a mere jamboree. It is worthless, empty and useless.
Obiaku is the Publicity Secretary, PDP, Imo State
