At last, my prediction and insistence that the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso will be impeached has come to pass. However, does this guarantee Governor Okorocha the needed peace of mind to concentrate on the Herculean task of Leading Imo State? Will Jude Agbaso’s removal restore confidence among the now fractious policy formulators of the Okorocha administration?
Will the Agbasos easily, and within a short time forgive and forget the trauma of losing out from the exalted position of the Deputy Governor after having “tasted the pie and not only seen, but visited the promised land”?
Will Okorocha quickly exorcise the “ghost” of Jude Agbaso from the Government House, even as the administration approaches its second year anniversary on May 29th 2013? Questions! Questions!! Questions!!!
As a writer and person who thinks about tomorrow, my minds-eye tells me that Jude Agbaso may not go down alone, and not only that, it will never be uhuru yet for the Okorocha administration if it thinks that the only stumbling block on its way is Jude Agbaso, and after removing him will now go home to sleep and enjoy forever.
Indeed, the Okorocha, Jude Agbaso saga was the first time Imo people witnessed a sitting Governor and his Deputy engaging each other in a tough battle in the public domain.
We all know that now that the war has ended, the Deputy will go home the bruised one. But having realized that his Boss wanted him out, Jude Agbaso resorted to fighting than begging a Boss who had already made up his mind.
Though Agbaso presented a fruitless resistance in fighting for his right, and to retain his office, wherever he goes now, Jude will not be a happy man and will continue to fight. But will not change any thing?
One of the reasons the Agbaso will feel bitter is not only that Jude has been removed from his plum job, but the circumstances under which it happened.
Secondly, the Agbasos saw the Deputy Governorship Seat as a temporary compensation or a stop-gap for the “Main Thing” in 2015, and are now being denied every thing, even before the Train could go half way.
It is more painful when the Agbasos realize that if not for them, Owelle Okorocha may not have been the Governor today. Recall that if not for Chief Martin Agbaso’s doggedness in holding APGA structure in Imo for years, Okorocha may not have met a vibrant APGA to stage his Governorship dream.
So, the present quagmire faced by the Agbaso clan in the hands of Okorocha will remain fresh in their minds for years to come. Even though it will serve as a case-study for students of history and politics. That in politics, any thing can happen, as nothing is certain.
Unfortunately, on the surface, Imo populace may not realize the consequences which the Okorocha and Agbaso feud has generated for Imo State until in the near future.
Whether any body likes it or not, the Imo landscape cannot be the same again, not until a new administration comes in, either in 2015 or any other time. The Agbaso albatross is a cross the Okorocha regime will carry as long as it lasts at the Douglas House Owerri.
The Okorocha and Agbaso fight heightened tension in the state, and pitted friends against friends. The populaces are still afraid and confused of what may be, or not. Who will not be afraid when the Chief Security Officer of the state and the Deputy are engaged in an open confrontation with each other? Every where is charged in the state already. We even heard that Mr Joseph Dina, the Lebanese born owner of JPross, the company said to have offered bribe to Sir Jude Agbaso may have been kidnapped in Owerri.
Pray, if the major player in the Agbasogate is kidnapped, then who is safe in Imo? For those of us who are Journalists, our safest place has become the Bush where you are sure of waking up the next morning with your head still on your shoulders. The mosquitoes and reptiles are no issue.
This was not what Imo people bargained for in 2011 when they voted in Okorocha and Jude Agbaso. Could the kidnap of Mr Joseph Dina be unconnected with this whole trouble in Imo? If so, has the state not turned into a porous entity without security where a foreigner standing as a prime witness and suspect in such grave allegations involving the two highest political office holders in the state could disappear just like that?
Since the issue is like this when the Agbasos have not entered “Second Bass”, now that Jude has been impeached what if he decides to “open mouth”? Heads will certainly roll, and Imo will be sitting on a keg of gun ponder, as those about to cover their tracks engage in various means to “clean up” the mess.
This is where I appeal that the Elders should come in now to nip the unfolding dangerous situation in the mud before it gets out of hand. It will get even worse now that Agbaso has been sacked and may be arrested by EFCC and then likely sing about all he knows of a Government that has disgraced him and the family.
Soon it will down on Imo people that there are processes through which money, such as the stupendous amount paid to Joseph Dina which consumed Jude Agbaso, go through before reaching the final hand.
This will be the time to ask about who brought JPross to Imo? Who gave the company the job? Before the money was paid, were there findings to ascertain if the contractor completed the job to warrant payment? Was the amount paid for the road worth the short distance of the said project in question?
Who gave the directive for the money to be released? Was the officers through which such amount would pass give their approval and appended their signatures? If that is true, why crucify Jude Agbaso alone?
There is no way you look into an anus without seeing a particle of shit. Or is there how you stick a finger into an anus without foul odour? Even if it is the anus of President of America. That is how corruption and fraud is in Nigeria. In order words we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of the Lord.
Therefore to abort an imminent trouble, the Okorocha and Agbaso should be “politically settled” even as the Deputy Governor has been impeached.
Okorocha should not thank his stars that it is good riddance to bad rubbish with Jude Agbaso gone. The young man needs to be taken to a room for a quiet and private discussion.
The hawks in the present administration will ask if it was the first time that a Deputy Governor would be impeached in Nigeria, and if heavens did fall in such states? But environment, culture and understanding of the populace differ from one state to the order.
I still repeat that Elders should step in now to end this imbroglio in a no winner no vanquished situation, at least for the peace and progress of Imo state.
But unfortunately, the conduct of the Okorocha’s administration, through its hostility to any person seen as an “enemy” has scared away all those who ought to have come in to solve this logjam, including the Elders. The administration sees itself as omnipotent and omnipresent, and therefore does not need any person, or groups advise. That is why the regime dabbles into various mistakes every time, and is not ready to accept mistakes and correct it. Neither does it do any no wrong and see no wrong.
If it were in the last administration, what happened between Okorocha and his Deputy would not have occurred, because the Elders are there to control the excesses of the Governor, because, power intoxicates. Is it not a shame that just after 20 months in office, the Okorocha’s administration is engaged in self indictment right from the top? Does any body need to be told that since the Deputy Governor was accused of corruption by his Boss, he too may not be clean. After all who is incharge and doles out patronages? Therefore, it is only whose teeth was seen that laugh more.
Our people always ask this Question; can the chicken be different from the mother Hen? This is the time for the Okorocha administration to exhibit maturity and look for a way of sorting itself out. The people of Imo may not be saying it, but they are shocked with what is happening.
This Agbaso matter has exposed Imo to ridicule. If you don’t agree with me, check the media, including social sites.
Not that any body is perfect or a saint, but the Okorocha’s regime has shown naivety in handling crisis.
