By: Hon Ezechukwu N Obonna
(Special Adviser On Narcotics And Illicit Drugs Monitoring)
There are moments in the life of a people when silence becomes betrayal and solidarity becomes duty. For the College of Special Advisers to the Governor of Imo State, this is one of such moments. And they have chosen, boldly and without equivocation, to stand shoulder to shoulder with their principal, Senator Hope Uzodimma, in a season that demands courage, loyalty and truth.
The story did not begin in a courtroom. It began in the towns and villages of Orlu Zone, where the good people of the zone, in their numbers, rose in one voice and took a historic decision. They pooled their resources, purchased the APC Orlu Zone Senatorial Primary form for the Governor, and pleaded with him to come and represent them in the Red Chambers. It was not a political gimmick. It was a cry from the heart of a people who had seen leadership, tested leadership, and trusted leadership.
Senator Uzodimma, being a man who loves his people deeply, listened. He accepted their call. He did not run away from service. He embraced it. He went into the primaries, faced the contest squarely, and won overwhelmingly. The victory was not narrow. It was not controversial. It was emphatic, a clear expression of the will of the party members and the people of Orlu Zone.
As the great Winston Churchill once said, “In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.” True leadership is tested not when the applause is loud, but when the storm gathers. And indeed, the storm gathered.
Only for Rochas Okorocha, a man who had abandoned the party long ago and did not even participate in the primaries, to emerge after three months to go to court to contest for the same position. Three months after the people had spoken. Three months after the primaries had been concluded. To any discerning mind, it was obviously an afterthought, a desperate attempt to reap where he did not sow.
Yet, in a ruling that shocked the conscience of many, the court ruled in his favour. The College of Special Advisers sees this judgement as a travesty of justice and condemns it in its entirety. How can a man who did not contest an election claim victory in that same election? How can the will of thousands be set aside for the ambition of one who stayed away? Justice, as Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.”
The Special Advisers are not confused. They are not wavering. They stand in total solidarity behind the Governor and the government he leads. They know very well that the appellate court will upturn the judgement of the High Court, because truth, no matter how long it is suppressed, will always rise.
This solidarity is not blind loyalty. It is loyalty founded on performance. Senator Hope Uzodimma has transformed Imo State in a manner no one before him can equal. From roads that now connect communities once cut off, to the rebuilding of critical infrastructure, to the restoration of confidence in governance, his achievements speak louder than any propaganda. As the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, once observed, “The children of the poor, you have been given a chance to live, learn and grow.” Uzodimma has given Imo people that chance again, to live with dignity and to hope with reason.
He met a state battered by neglect and turned it into a state bubbling with construction, development and renewed pride. That is why the people of Orlu Zone called him. That is why they still stand with him. And that is why his Advisers will not abandon him now.
It is in this spirit that the College of Special Advisers decided to put up a publication in Vanguard Newspapers to show unshaken solidarity with the Governor. It was not mere publicity. It was a public declaration, a covenant written in ink for all to see, that they are with him in season and out of season.
But the College will not stop at Vanguard Newspapers. Their unwavering solidarity and loyalty to their boss, the Governor, will be extended to almost all the local tabloids in Imo State. From the Statesman to the Big Truth, from the Horn to Trumpeta and Announcer Express, and to the online news blogs, the message will be carried to every corner. They want the world to see, to read and to know how much they love and cherish their principal. This is not a solidarity hidden in closets. It is a solidarity proclaimed on the rooftops, for all men to witness.
They have pledged to stand by him throughout the court process, from the first filing to the final verdict, confident that it will surely end in praise for Senator Hope Uzodimma. For as Abraham Lincoln said, “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.” And public sentiment in Imo State today is firmly with Hope Uzodimma.
The College therefore calls on all lovers of democracy, all lovers of Imo State, and all lovers of justice to remain calm, remain prayerful and remain steadfast. The journey is not over. The final chapter has not been written. And when it is written, history will record that when it mattered most, men and women of conscience stood up and said: We are with Hope Uzodimma, now and always.
Chief Ogbonna is Special Adviser On Narcotics And Illicit Drugs Monitoring
