By Afam Echi
Drawing from the activities going on in Imo State Gov. Hope Uzodimma is not leaving any stone unturned in his bid to secure tenure of four years again. He is galvanizing support from all corners including sponsored endorsements to pull through his ambition. One of the moves has come from the Ohaneze Ndigbo led by an elder statesman Chief Emmannuel Iwuanyanwu talking about what it called the Charter of Equity.
Charter of equity is supposed to rotate power among the three zones in the state with each taking turns in power sharing. According to the group the incumbent governor representing Orlu should be allowed to serve out his tenure after which either Owerri or Orlu zone will begin to take turns. The so called charter of equity in Imo State has remained a controversial discussion since it emerged in Imo politics.
Whereas in many zones in Igbo land power is equitably shared seamlessly rotating among communities, the same cannot be said of Imo where one zone, Orlu has monopolized the governorship seat. We must not fail to underline that many Imo people do not believe in the concept because they hold their various positions one of which is the insincerity of politicians to keep faith with promises.
For politicians that cannot keep faith with what they promised the electorate that voted them into power, is it the promises they make to themselves that they will not breach. To some people the so called COE does not exist. According to a keen political observer, Emma Nwosu, “I don’t believe in this noise about COE, politicians play it up to serve their purposes when it suits them.
“Once they are done they begin to sing a different song. Can you trust any of them? If it exists why not allow it to work, why sabotage it. What is the reason that they have not sustained it since? What is the guarantee that they will sustain it”
The hypocrisy and insincerity of Imo politicians lies in the fact that at the centre they will be agitating for Igbo presidency insisting it is the turn of Igbo people. But when it comes to the state they will never allow the same people it is their turn to grab the power. At the national level the majority Hausa/Fulani has dominated power. Here in Imo, the majority Orlu has demonstrated more appetite and has monopolized the governorship seat.
Commencing from 1999, Orlu zone featuring Achike Udenwa, Rochas Okorocha and the incumbent Uzodimma has grossed up 20 out of 24 years of governorship power. Okigwe zone was lucky to have a shot once through Ikedi Ohakim before Okorocha pushed him away from doing another term of 4 years. Owerri zone, the seat of power is yet to smell the office and can only boast of Ihedioha’s seven months.
If Uzodimma wins again as they are waving him on by 2027 Orlu zone would have done 24 out of 28 years of democratic governance in the state. Where is the equity? Let’s drill down further this so called equity principle. There is manifest inequity already at the moment, 20 for Orlu, 4 for Okigwe and 0 for Owerri.
If the advocates of equity are sincere to the cause why allow the inequity to continue widening in favour of Orlu. How the gap would be closed remains anybody’s guess because there is no clear statement on that. Will Orlu be charged to stand still until Owerri and Okigwe balance the number of years that they have held power? Would these years be dismissed for them and they continue to share power with the other two zone?
If power of equity exists and it has never been respected what is the guarantee that the scenario will not continue to play up. What is the process of enforcing strict observance especially among politicians who have penchant for breaking the rules and no respect for the rule of laws? Who are the enforcers and what sanctions should apply to defaulters? It cannot be confirmed that there are answers to these posers before the Igbo socio-cultural group went into gleefully announcing support for Uzodimma under the principle.
People who attack the pronouncement by Chief Iwuanyanwu allege that Ohaneze Ndigbo as presently constituted is a creation of Uzodimma and that he is maximally utilizing the tool. They maintain that it was the turn of Imo to produce the present leadership and in the election after the so much brouhaha that greeted the election Uzodimma had his way installing the late Prof George Obiozor.
His demise saw the ascension of Iwuanyanwu which also got some attack from the other stakeholders in Ohaneze. It was like the case of a king maker who now became the king. It would be foolhardy for anyone not to expect what would favour Uzodimma coming from the Ohaneze. There is therefore no altruistic purpose in the so called noise about charter of equity. It is a political tool weaved now to serve some selfish ends.
However, it has been established that the reason the equity is not materializing is possibly caused by the supposed beneficiaries. People point to the fact that some foot soldiers from Owerri zone rather than weave things in favour of their marginalized zone would instead go the way of the same Orlu that have monopolized power.
They mention the case of Ahaejiagamba (Chief Iwuanyanwu) who wields so much influence in Igbo circles especially in Imo State. He backed Obiozor to become the president before he died and when the opportunity fell on his lap to succeed Obiozor, rather than use the opportunity to cede power to Owerri zone under the equity principle if there is one, he pushed it to Orlu. Would anyone still blame Orlu when Owerri is yet to show sufficient appetite for power?
The argument that Uzodimma shd be allowed to run a second tenure for equity to commence does not hold water. It is never mandatory. After all Okigwe zone through Ikedi Ohakim did only one tenure of 4 years and it is counting for the zone. They should have taken a break from Uzodimma.
We have not forgotten how the Imo Elders Council rallied together in 2019 to weave support for Ihedioha in the bid to ensure power parity. Voice of elders which they say is the voice of wisdom was very manifest in their choice. That was a great opportunity begun to balance the power equation but the wicked ambition of one man torpedoed the efforts. Let’s take another example of the unseriousness of Owerri zone people at work.
A former commissioner in Imo State, Barr. Kingsley Ononuju who was the secretary of OZOPOLF (Owerri Zone Political Forum) described the COE as the Glass House Accord.of 1991 and 1998. He went on to say this in an interview with yours sincerely in 2019:
‘’There was an agreement for the rotation of governorship seat in Imo State and that is called Imo Charter of Equity and as far I am concerned, the Rochas emergence was an accident and a clear aberration and distortion of that Master Plan on Imo Charter of Equity and the only thing we owe each other now for Imo State to enter the reign of sustainable development is to return the Imo Charter of Equity to the right course which is ceding power to Owerri before it returns to any other Zone’’, he said.
Today the same politician left APC for Labour Party to rejoin APC again to promote another return of power to Orlu zone. One who made the above comment naturally would be expected to fight for the interest of the zone. I can tell you for free that Owerri zone is her own problem in the struggle for power rotation. Nigerian politicians are the most insincere people.
...Dr. Afam Echi, is an Owerri based journalist, columnist and public affairs analyst.
