By Sixtus Enyeribe
One unanswered question on the lips of most Imo people is,what really does Imo Harmony Project (IHP) want? Though the group claims to be canvassing for Imo Governor of Owerri zone extraction, many however, takes this bait with a pinch of salt.
Imo Harmony Project being one of the groups advocating for Owerri zone governorship come 2027,I have my personal reservations about its real intent or agenda,which from all indicators appear clannish and self-serving. Ample reasons for this assertion can suffice without much ado.
The crusaders of Imo Harmony Project,in their quest to foist their agenda on Imo people, have been everything other than circumspect. The idea of IHP running with the hare and hunting with the hounds at the same time should stop.
Last week, a video clip surfaced on social media wherein members of IHP were seen on a courtesy visit to Prof Maurice Iwu, former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The venue of the hob-nobbing was Prof Iwu’s residence in Abuja.
At the meeting, according to the video clip, members of IHP were seen soliciting the support of Okigwe geopolitical zone for the Imo governorship. They addressed Maurice Iwu as if he alone embodies Okigwe zone’s leadership structure.
The bizarre episode, though had in attendance a handful of Okigwe personalities, who may have coincidentally been at Iwu’s residence at that material time, was mistaken for a properly constituted Okigwe zone leadership circle.
To any discerning mind, that encounter which smacks of desperation by the IHP members, was well choreographed and may have had the imprimatur of Prof Iwu for reasons which will sooner than later surface. For IHP members seeking to chart a new political paradigm shift in Imo, you don’t go about it with deceit. You don’t goad or lead people by the nose. Rather, you convince them with your vision and mission.
Without mincing words, and in case a section of the unsuspecting public does not know, Imo Harmony Project is basically an Owerri Federal Constituency agenda,particularly Owerri North Local Government Area, to wrest governorship from Imo people. At the meeting with Prof Iwu, we saw Amb Kema Chikwe,Chief Nick Oparandudi,Lady Chiaka,Chief Willie Amadi, Rev Father Gerald Njoku,who is representing the interest of the immediate past Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev Dr A.J.V. Obinna, amongst others.
Nobody can be fooled again. The IHP is on a corrugated mission. It is appalling that Maurice Iwu allowed himself to be drawn into their midst.
To IHP, meeting people of any zone for political discussions, must follow appropriate channels. Going about it in a brash manner will do more harm than good to whatever aspiration they are pursuing. One person does not constitute a geopolitical zone in Imo State, and Abuja, is an inappropriate place for such discussions.
Again, the manner some of the IHP leaders are going about their quest is becoming nauseating. A few weeks back, its Director of Strategy, one Dr Sam Amadi, took an unwarranted, unnecessary and provocative swipe at the Governor of Imo State, Dr Hope Odidika Uzodinma. As expected, Sam Amadi got more than he expected or even deserved, in response.
Why IHP leadership is breeding political enemies for itself is very puzzling. It appears that their approach is “by fire and by force.” But, in reality, such method is a recipe for outright failure. Mark my word.
Owerri Zonal Political Forum (OZOPOLF) and OZAC are already at daggers drawn with IHP’s modus operandi and agenda. Perhaps, IHP has not read the biblical injunction that ” A kingdom divided against itself can not stand.” Do they even draw lessons from history?
Another puzzling thing discovered from the video clip in question, was Prof Iwu arrogating to himself as being the brain child behind the rebirth of Imo Charter of Equity. Habaaaa!
This is pure lie,nah! How can someone of Prof Iwu’s calibre descend so slow to make false claims ? Whom is he struggling to please at the expense of his integrity?
If Iwu wanted to curry favours from the obviously desperate IHP apologists, he should have sought for a less contentious lie to tell his guests rather than trying to distort or rewrite an incontestable fact, which is already in public domain.
As watchdogs, media professionals owe it a duty to the public to correct perceived wrongs or falsehood for posterity sake. It is part of the media’s social responsibility obligations to society.
Prof Iwu lied. It was a well calculated lie. He knew the truth but chose to lie to his guests. It is condemnable and speaks eloquently of his character and personality behind the scene.
From newspaper reports and more authentically, from Google reports/records,it was one prominent traditional ruler from Isiala Mbano Local Government Area, who raised the issue of the resuscitation of Imo Charter of Equity in Imo state and not Prof Maurice Iwu, QED. The traditional ruler’s name is HRM Eze (Dr) Oliver Ohanweh, JP. He is Prof Iwu’s kinsman.
From reliable investigations, Eze Ohanweh had, while introducing the issue during one of the plenary sessions of Imo State Council of Elders, told his colleagues that the Charter will enthrone a culture of political peace and harmony in the State, reduce financial wastages during governorship election which could be channeled into more productive ventures, and more importantly, ensure that the three geopolitical zones viz, Orlu, Okigwe and Owerri zones, have equitable shot at Imo’s governorship seat on streamlined rotational basis.
The Council,according to investigation, overwhelmingly adopted this well-thought proposition. The rest is now history.
You see,Google never lies.Even Barr Willie Amadi and Co, can attest to this incontestable fact.
I don’t have any personal qualms with Prof Iwu, but to distort obvious facts is appalling for a man of his pedigree. I hope I am understood.
My own is to place truth accurately and not on its head. Elders should live by examples and not by mere precepts.
In this part of the world, some people relish in falsely out-shining others even a non-competitor as in the instant case. What was Prof Iwu’s motive in distorting facts about the rebirth of Imo Charter of Equity? I guess only him can answer such a question.
On a final note, it is advisable for our respected Prof to recant himself now. Let him give honour to whom it is due and take the one that is rightly his. He should remember that “if a lizard of the homestead does not do the things for which it is known, it might be mistaken for a lizard of the forest.” These are words of wisdom and I pray that Prof Iwu harkens to them and do the needful.
The world is watching him.
