Everything on Earth has its season and time. By virtue of democratic ethos in contemporary Nigeria, politicking is what is in vogue today. Change of batons of leadership are expected to take place at the Federal level and in majority of the thirty-six States of Nigeria in 2023.
At moments like we are in now, political relationships and alliances are often reviewed. While some would be strengthened, others might break down. No one should be surprised because Politics is all about interest. Individuals stick to where their interest has chances of being protected. This is why I have always told my audience that it is our interest that determines our loyalty. Therefore, there is nothing like 100% loyalty in Politics.
Towards 2023 general election in Abia State, a lot of diverse interests are beginning to manifest. In all these, it is either individual interest or group interest that is the determinant factor. The summary is that relationships are on the scale. Some erstwhile friends or allies are beginning to let the world see them from contrasting perspectives. Some are coming out to disparage their former friends. Some individuals who have been deeply involved in initiating and implementing policies of Government now, erroneously believing that the masses suffer from amnesia, come out to condemn the Government they have been part and parcel of, describing it as a monumental failure. Yet they never left the Government by resignation. Of course, many of them are oblivious of what is known as Collective Responsibility in Government.
In the recent past, three videos have gone viral in Abia State, courtesy of a former Chairman of Umuahia-North, former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Governor of Abia State, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and former Commissioner for Trade and Investment in Abia State, Chief Charles Ogbonna.
The first video captured him pouring libation and making hateful incantations against Ngwa People.
Probably not expecting that the video would leak, he made a second one which was a futile effort at damage control via a Press Conference. In that one, he tried, albeit in vain, to recant what he had earlier consciously uttered by trying to give the impression that he does not hate Ngwa People.
In the third and most recent video at Flo FM Radio, Umuahia, he had the temerity of categorizing Abia State as a failure. He saw nothing good in Abia State. Yet he had severally served in almost all the Administrations that had governed the State since 1999. At no time did he complain while serving that the Government was not getting things right. He also did not, at any time, resign in protest.
Charles Ogbonna said his grievance stems from Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s refusal to allow Governorship Seat rotate to Abia-North where it started in 1999.
In order to buttress his point, he said that Abia Charter of Equity should be discarded because it has become an ‘old document’. Yet he acknowledges that there is Old Bende. The question he avoided to address is, if there is Old Bende in Abia State, is there no Aba Division in Abia State? Why did he think he was clever, though by half, by not telling his audience how many years Umuahia Senatorial Zone, as contained in Abia Charter of Equity, has governed Abia State? Why on Earth should Charles Ogbonna think his Old Bende should govern Abia State for eighteen years and go for, at least, another eight years that would bring it to, at least, 26 years while Old Aba Division should be stagnated at 8 years?
Charles Ogbonna, it would appear, has not taken time to read The Abia Charter of Equity he wants to be discarded. If he had read it, he would have appreciated the intendment of The Charter.
The issue here is that some people allow greed and selfishness to drive their vision and passion. Abia State is made up of two major groups, Aba Senatorial Zone and Umuahia Senatorial Zone, with Isuikwuato District as an appendage. The above three components are the Peoples whose leaders applied for the creation of Abia State in 1981, using Abia Charter of Equity as basis. But for selfish calculation, former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu should have handed power over to someone from Aba Senatorial Zone, instead of Chief T A Orji who is his fellow indigene of Umuahia Senatorial Zone. If he had handed over power to someone from Aba Senatorial Zone in 2007, that person would have handed power over to someone from Ikwuano/Umuahia area of Umuahia Senatorial Zone in 2015. In 2023, the Governor from Ikwuano/Umuahia would be handing over to someone from another section of Aba Senatorial Zone. By now, the issue of power rotation would have been settled and stabilized.
Once you eat your cake, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, having it. Leaders of Umuahia Senatorial Zone selfishly murdered sleep, they, therefore, can not sleep. If Old Bende Mafia had been humane enough to appreciate that no condition is permanent, they would have advised Governor Orji Uzor Kalu to allow Equity prevail between the People of Umuahia Senatorial Zone and the Peoples of Aba Senatorial Zone. Today, they are crying wolf just because they had supported evil and the enthronement of inequity against the the Peoples of Aba Senatorial Zone. Again, no condition is permanent!
Charles Ogbonna and his cohorts might be hinging their calculation on the widely-held belief that the Ngwa Man is the worst enemy of the Ngwa Man. Yes, going by the alleged antecedent of the Ngwa Man, none of the four Ngwa Governorship Aspirants would like to step down for only one of them to emerge. Going by their characteristic pedigree, they have allegedly vowed to destroy each other and would only be satisfied when the four of them would have failed and a foreigner seriocomically reaps from their internal fight-to-a-finish. What a shame to these Ngwa Aspirants!
One of the things that is worthy of drawing attention to Charles Ogbonna’s refrain is his claim that he ‘introduced Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to those who made him Governor’. In as much as it is clear and beyond any iota of doubt that Dr Okezie Ikpeazu had been prominently actively involved in the political dynamics of Abia State thirteen years before becoming Governor and, so, makes a total mess of Charles Ogbonna’s claim, it is important that Charles takes cognizance of the fact each one aids another in life. Charles was, sometime in his life, a Butcher. He was hired and paid to slaughter cows and goats and retail to consumers. For him to have migrated from cruelty to harmless animals to the plum positions he had held in Abia State, someone or some persons must have provided a platform that served his purpose for social mobility. No body is an island to himself.
On development in Abia State, since Charles Ogbonna scores the State he has served severally in different official capacities very low, Charles should muster enough morality to tell Abians how he allegedly raised more than Fifty Million Naira he used in decorating International Conference Centre for his daughter’s wedding. He should be able to tell Abians what his business was when he built two magnificent Duplexes in his Ibeku compound. As Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, why did he allegedly have running problems with Local Government Council Chairmen, for which he was removed from that Ministry? Allegedly, Charles Ogbonna was always wanting to head viable Ministries as a Commissioner. Subsequently, he also headed the Ministry of Trade and Investment. Could Charles Ogbonna point at any legacy, positive legacy, he left at Ministry of Trade and Investment?
The truth of the matter is that Charles Ogbonna is only aggrieved just out of frustration. The cheap money he was getting left, centre and right does not flow any longer. Having realized that all his early morning libations have proved illusive and abortive, he now beats about the bush. He has already almost joined APGA. The earlier he leaves PDP, the better for PDP. PDP does not win in his Polling Unit because of the way and manner he treats his kinsmen.
Charles Ogbonna should not live in falsehood of transparency. His antecedents are known in this State. By the way, if he accuses Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of having done nothing in Ohafia, why did he not advise his brother to do, at least, half a thing in Asa land (Ukwa-West) which is the only Oil-Producing Area of the State, when he was Governor?
Charles Should know that the Office of the Governor deserves decorum and respect. He should avoid being vulgar and disrespectful while talking about his State Governor in a public forum.
One piece of advice that must be offered here is that taking into consideration the alleged egoistic and recalcitrant nature of some of the Ngwa Governorship Aspirants on the platform of PDP, an Ngwa Man from Umunneato-Ngwa in Abia-Central should be on yellow on any other Party, so that if the Ngwa destroy themselves in PDP, the Ngwa Man in XYZ Party could bridge the gap.
Sir Don Ubani is a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State and writes from Asa.
