Hocus Pocus is an American movie that showcases the celebration of hallowen. Hallowen is a christian festival celebrated on October 31st each year in the United States where children dress up in attires and play “trick or treat” But in the Hocus pocus movie, what should have been a festival of treat turned out to be of tricks, horror and suspense.
Hocus Pocus has become the bane or burden of the Agbasos who have thrown caution to the wind by telling those who care to listen that they are victims of high level political conspiracy.
What started like a celebration of treat has turned out to be a trick for the Agbasos considering the fact that their political romance with Governor Rochas Okorocha has gone sour. The bitter truth is that the Hocus Pocus has taken a tricky dimension and the rhythm of the surugede dance has taken a different tune. It has changed from low to high tempo forcing the dancers to change their dancesteps.
For the Agbasos, what began like a hot and sizzling political romance on the day Rochas Okorocha was pronounced winner of the May 6, 2011 Supplementary election in Imo State has become too cold for comfort. The umblical chord that ties the two partners is on the verge of being seperated. The late literay icon who sadly passed away last week, Prof. Chinua Achebe two books Things have fallen apart and the Gods Are No Longer At Ease’ perfectly gives the ongoing saga between the Agbasos and Okorocha a perfect description.
Between Okorocha and the Agbasos, things have fallen apart and they are no longer at ease indeed. Wounds have been inflicted, egos bruised and the calabash has broken. Even if the Agbasos whither the storm and come out clean of the N450 milllion naria scandal, Water don Pass Bridge already.
The desperation by the Agbasos to dispel allegations that Jude, the Deputy Governor, did not collect N458 million naria as kick back from Joseph Dina of JPROS Construction firm has continued to deepen whatever is left of the political animosity between Governor Rochas Okorocha and his deputy.
While the Agbasos continue to spit fire from their Emekuku fortress, Okorocha has maintained a dangerous silence and rather chosen to make a tactical retreat and perharps watch events from the comfort of the towers of Europe or America where he is on vacation.
From Abuja to Lagos, down to Owerri, the Deputy Governor in a bid to prove his innocence in the court of public opinion has not minced words to say that his boss might be the hand of esau twisting the contract scam saga just to impair a political agreement between his brother and his boss.
Jude’s elder brother, Martin, concurred what his younger sibling has been saying when he told members of Owerri Zone Political Leadership Forum ( OZOPOLF) that the ordeal of his younger brother is teleguided by Rochas in a bid to rubbish his family name and impair a subsisting agreement for Owerri zone to produce Okorocha’s sucessor in 2015.
The political dimension of the N458 million naria scam according to the Agbasos is bent on denying Owerri zone the governorship seat after Okorocha’s reign as Imo governor in 2015. In their interpretations and analysis, one of the partners (Okorocha) of the said agreement does not want to keep to the letters of the deal, thus now wants the Agbasos, nay Owerri zone out of the pact.
This is sounds like a perfect logic, but for some of us, this argument holds no water because the ongoing fireworks and altercations between the Agbasos and Okorocha does not in anyway derail the aspirations of the people of Owerri zone in 2015. And even if it is the gameplan of anyone to shortchange Owerri zone from the 2015 governorship contest, it is not feasible or realisable.
I say so because no one has the destiny of a people in his hands. No one has monopoly of power. If man had such control, the Isrealites would not have left Egypt after spending 400 years in slavery and captivity. The Jews would not have overcome their humiliation if they had allowed the pains of the war inflicted on them by Adolf Hitler to weigh them down. Today, the jews have attained commanding heights in the various sectors of the world economy.
The Agbasos do not need to remind the people of Owerri zone that it is their turn to produce the next Imo State governor. Even before Rochas truncated the zoning arrangement in the State by aspiring for the governorship contest in 2011 after his kinsman from Orlu Zone, Chief Achike Udenwa, had governed Imo for eight uninterrupted years Owerri zone was already due for the governorship seat of the State.
The zone has consistently stood on the altar of equity and justice and this is partly responsible for its unrelenting desire to assist other sister zones to secure the governorship seat of the State. And because it remains a major stakeholder and partner of the Imo polity, there is absolutely nothing wrong if it insists that 2015 is its year of glory.
The bible tells us that the prayers of the righteous availeth much and there is an Igbo proverb that says ‘ihe onye metara ya buru” Owerri zone has consistently yearned and prayed for the governorship seat of Imo State. And they do have the right to shout to the heavens that 2015 is a a year of its destiny and actulization. Having remained in political wilderness for 20 years after late Evan Enwerem served the State for a meagre 22 months, it is only natural that the agitation continues to expand in leaps and bounds.
Therefore, the present ordeal of the Agbasos in the hands of whoever does not in put a cog in the wheel of progress of Owerri people to take power in 2015 or beyond. Neither does it stop any Owerri son or daughter, including the Agbasos, from seeking to take over from Rochas as governor of Imo State in 2015.
Those who wallow in the thinking that the allegations of contract scam against Jude Agbaso automatically nails the desire of the people to take a shot for the governorship seat in 2015 are day dreaming or simply ignorant of the dynamics of the unspoken policy of power sharing among the three zones . Imo State is made up of three zones and each of the zones deserve to have a feel of the seat of governnace to promote mutual harmony and peaceful co- existence. Therefore it is in conformity with the laws of nature that each of the zones have a sense of belonging.
That the Agbasos, who are sons of Owerri zone, are at the centre of a seeming war without end with Okorocha does not rub off on the people of the zone. It is preposterous for anyone to say that the fate of Owerri zone in 2015 has been eroded because of the ongoing contract scam involving one of its sons . In otherwords, the fate of the good people of the zone cannot and should not be tied to allegations of fraud against one of its sons. Besides, the allegations has not been substaintially proven to be true or false considering the fact there are too many questions that are unanswered concerning the Jpros contract scam.
If Rochas had a deal with the Agbasos that the latter will take Owelle’s position as governor in 2015 (as claimed by the Agbasos), such a pact is only binding on the Agbasos and not on the people of Owerri zone.
To the best of my knowledge, no prominent Owerri Zone elder such as the I.D Nwogas, the Umez Eroninis, the Agunwas, the Ubochis Osuigwes, the Nath Onyeukwus, the Anyanwus, the Duke Njiribeakos, the Eustace Ekes, the Agunnanes, the Njemanzes, the General Ogbonnas and Charlie Amadi’s OZOPOLF were witnesses of whatever pact scribbled on a piece of paper that says only the Agbasos are bound to take over from Rochas in 2015.
And since they did not witness such an agreement, such a pact exist only in the hearts of the originators. Adolf Hitler said a pact made in time of peace becomes a scrap of paper in times of war.
The general consensus in the zone is that Owerri Zone, including the Agbasos are entitled to contest for the governorship in 2015 in line with the spirit of give and take that has been the bedrock of mutual political harmony amongst the three geo political zones in the State.
If the Hocus Pocus had not turned to a festival of treat to trick between the Agbasos and Okorocha, the Agbasos would have been the sole beneficiary of such agreement with Rochas in 2015. But now that the calabash has broken, the coast is clear for any aspiring or intending governorship
