The much talked about Imo Political summit has come and gone. I had wished it was an Economic Summit where great sons and daughters of Imolites would have converged to come up with a roadmap to save our dear State from crushing poverty and unemployment ravaging the youths.
Since wishes are not bed of roses, I can only murmur to myself and pray to God to touch the hearts of our political leaders to think more of the well being and progress of Imolites than dissipate so much energy and time on politics.
Our leaders always gather for political reasons. And I wonder why they always shy away from socio economic issues that affect the well being of the people whom they profess they care about. What Imolites desperately need is economic prosperity and not political cock and bull stories, especially now that elections are two years away.
However, the just concluded Political Summit may be signs of good things to come in the future. I must admit after the 2011 general elections, I have never seen a congregation of Imo elites particularly the top brass of the political class congregate for a purpose. A good purpose for that matter.
The restoration of the Imo Charter of Equity dominated discussions at the summit. Infact, it was the crux of the matter at the event . It was the theme and its focus.
While some speakers at the event “pampered” political words, Senator Chris Anyanwu’s speech was the clincher. She hit the nail on the head. In her usual forthright and blunt character, she said the summit was an opportunity for political redirection of Imo State, saying it was a wake up call for a political revolution in a State hungry for progress, development and excellence.
However, the summit had two sides of a coin. While its theme was restoring the Imo charter of equity which Elvis Agukwe, one of the organizers of the event said, was violated as a result of the political accident in the state in 2011, it was a platform to evolve a roadmap for the political direction of Imo State as 2015 draws near.
It was also an opportunity for some aggrieved Imo politicians to vent their anger, express their displeasure over the distortion of Imo charter of equity which has made Owerri zone a mere onlooker in the political chess game of the State.
As I listened to the rendition of speakers at the event, I made a careful observation. My curiosity arose when I noticed that the organizers of the summit carefully invited those who are politically injured and aggrieved.
I observed that the summit was a congregation of those politically wounded or injured in 2011, the aggrieved and those who have political scores to settle with political adversaries. It was an assemblage of those who have an axe to grind over one political misfortune or the other that befell them. It was a rallying point for those who have suffered one political accident or the other especially in the last dispensation.
The summit afforded these category of Imo politicians an opportunity to regroup, cross pollinate ideas and roll out a marshal plan for the days ahead.
Aside Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Capt Emmanuel Iheancho, Prof( Mrs) Viola Onwuliri, others at the event are mainly those who suffered political wounds and bruises during the 2011 political era. I will resist the urge to mention their names but an unbiased observer at the summit will attest to this fact and agree with me.
Owerri zone was the beneficiary of the summit as some Orlu and Okigwe political leaders argued that the emergence of Rochas Okorocha from Orlu zone as Imo State governor in 2011was a negation and flagrant disregard for the Imo Charter of equity.
The zone has not had a fair share of the seat of power of the State, ruling for a meager 22 months compared to Orlu Zone who have occupied the seat for 12 years plus and Okigwe zone 9 years plus.
Only a blind man will not see the disparity or clear marginalization of Owerri zone in the scheme of things of Imo State. And Owerri zone has a good case if it can back up its agitation by adopting the right political approach and firmly insist that 2015 is the year it will change it’s political misfortune.
But it ought to go beyond round table political sweet talks, display of the latest political apparels and exchange of political banters to achieve its mission, aims and objectives in 2015.
The summit has successfully drawn attention to its cause. It has raised the level of awareness of its political predicament and attracted due sympathy to its agitation. But it has to go beyond this stage.
Sympathy, text book political theories, political talkshows, political gyration and endless analysis cannot give the zone the governorship seat of Imo State.
The zone must be seen to take a bold step and move further and ask why it has remained the weeping child of the Imo political family. Its leaders must reasses themselves and ask why have they failed in capturing the governorship seat of the State since democracy berthed on our shores in 1999.
Leaders of Owerri zone should ask themselves if it is an accident, design or conspiracy, nonchalant political attitude, the onyenakeya mentality, infighting, disrespect and disregard for political elders, jealousy, envy, avarice, greed, selfishness, deceit, betrayal, lack of consensus, callousness, Pull Him or Her Down Syndrome and other factors that has eluded the zone governorship seat of Imo State?
Beautiful speeches corroborated with clapping of hands and congregation of political elites for talkshows and debates complimented with little or no effort to carry the local people along in the quest to earn the governorship seat cannot get the zone the much cherished and desired seat of power.
The sympathy song or gospel has been overflogged. I have said it severally on this column that political power is never
given but taken. Mordern democracy has no place for unprepared bunch of political leaders who are either shy or whipping up sympathy and sentiments to capture political power. They ought go a step further.
This is the time to match words for action. This is not the time for political procrastination which has crept into the political consciousness of leaders of Owerri zone.
I have not only written on the need for the zone to take a shot at the guber seat but strongly lamented that some of its political gladiators should stop foot dragging and come out to signal their intention for the titanic governorship battle in 2015.
In my piece titled Who Carries The Cross Of Owerri Zone In 2015 published on this column I wrote “Political procrastination, delay tactics and indecision has been the undoing of the zone . Since1999, what we have seen are reluctant governorship aspirants who wait till thy kingdom come before declaring their aspirations. We do not desire eleventh hour guber aspirants that either wait for political anointing from the forces at Abuja or anticipate a“clarion call” from the people before they plunge into the guber race”.
I continued “This is a defeatist approach and it is unfortunate that such political trait has continued to manifest in the political character of some top politicians of Owerri zone extraction who are whispering to close political associates, family members and allies that they are aspiring to be governor of Imo State.
I have this conviction that the race for 2015 guber in Imo State will be dicey. It might not have the same colouration with what was obtained in the political dispensations of 1999 and 2003 that were less intense. That of 2015 will be keenly contested and fierce”
The Imo Political Summit has only succeeded to trumpet the marginalization of the zone, but how they manage the political gains and capital of the summit underscores the importance for an Action Plan that will transmit their expectations to reality.
The race for 2015 governorship cannot be won on sympathy. If Governor Rochas Okorocha decides to plunge into the race for a second term, it will certainly be a titanic political battle for any Owerri zone governorship candidate. This is the bitter truth. The zone must not only be ready but seen to be ready for the tough battle ahead. I rest my case.
