Public affairs analyst, Chief Sam Nwosu has said that Dr. Chidimma Uwajumogu, the only female All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant for the Imo North Senatorial Zone bye- election is going to reposition the Okigwe that has suffered poor representation. In an interview with VINCENT KALU, Nwosu noted that Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma is doing very well putting the state on the path of development.
Many Imo State indigenes seem not to have come to terms with the emergence of Governor Hope Uzodimma thus, referring to him as Supreme Court Governor. What’s your take on this?
Spirit of sportsmanship seems farfetched to most Nigerian politicians. This is why vile opposition has not allowed any ruling party to have a breath of fresh air since independence. Once opposition loses, they instigate their supporters to sabotage government efforts. This accounts why PDP apparatchik in Imo is applying Machiavellian principles of propaganda, defamation, riots and protests to blackmail and sabotage the governor’s purpose-driven 3Rs of Recovery, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.
It is indeed disheartening and alarming for PDP to herald, applaud and respect Supreme Court’s technical verdicts in Zamfara and Bayelsa, where APC candidates overwhelmingly decimated PDP candidates only to selfishly disrespect, discredit and despise similar judicial verdict in Imo State. Do they expect the apex court jurists to be awake in Zamfara and Bayelsa and be blind in Imo?
PDP must note that Onwa Oyoko is not a political novice or rookie. He was not only the most popular of all the candidates that contested the 2019 governorship election, but the most politically experienced. Apart from his political tutelage as NPN Youth leader in 1983, he was also UNCP stalwart; pioneer BoT and NEC member of PDP (1999-2017); ex AD gubernatorial candidate, ex PDP gubernatorial aspirant, PDP Senator (2011–2019); APC Senator (2019) and APC candidate (2019) etc.
The fact remains that PDP had lost woefully in the first ballot if internal power play didn’t balkanise APC. Thus, aggrieved Imo politicians should shed their swords and learn from the lessons of nitty-gritty of politics for posterity. They must understand that politics is not mathematics, as anything can happen. It could be likened to a soccer match, where a team is leading by a wide margin before their opponents upturn the table in extra time. During the Under 21 World Cup, the Nigerian side performed the miracle of Daman when the 4-0 lead by Russians was cancelled in the second half.
In 2010, influential PDP bigwigs in Anambra never believed that APGA’s Peter Obi could defeat them. Ararume is yet to fathom how strange politics made Ihedioha to emerge during 2015 PDP gubernatorial primaries. Who could believe that Saraki dynasty would lose their political grip of Kwara. What could have made PDP’s Dankwambo who worked miracles could lose Gombe to APC. Ajimobi’s powerful federal might could not stop PDP’s Makinde in Ibadan. Despite massive grassroots support, Kwakwansiya power failed to unseat Ganduje in Kano. APC chieftains who swore to capture Sokoto the spiritual home of Arewa met their waterloo in PDP’s Tambuwal.
Rotimi Amaechi felt that no man born of a woman will take Rivers but indomitable Wike, the Duncan proved him wrong. What God has done, let no man query it. Governor Uzodimma is a child of destiny. Since his political ascendency is an act of immortal God, there is nothing mortal man will do to destabilise him. Instead of crying wolf, PDP should allow sleeping dog to lie and wait till 2024, for another governorship election in Imo.
Very soon, the by-election for Okigwe senatorial zone will come up, notable politicians are gearing up to occupy the seat following the death of Benjamin Uwajumogu. What are your expectations?
Since the sad demise of Sen Ben Uwajumogu, the Okigwe by-election has dominated the media space. I believe male aspirants are in the race to recoup their investments than to uplift the socially vulnerable or salvage the zone from bondage of ages. This is because Okigwe has remained the Siberia of Imo State despite several years of male representation by senators Agunnanne, Ararume, Anyanwu, Nwagwu, and Achonu. I wonder what some of the former senators forgot in the senate.
That is why we are clamouring for paradigm shift for the election of a female senator, as justified by the latest public opinion polls conducted in Okigwe by Network of Authors and Research Professionals (NARPS), which gave 90 per cent votes for female representation. Because of the desperate and aggressive mindset of these male aspirants, I am pleading with Prof Iwu, a highly respected academic guru, political godfather and power broker of Okigwe extraction to liaise with other leaders for an Okigwe stakeholders meeting to counsel our men to give their sisters a chance in the senate.
Such summit will not only address some nagging problems in the zone, but also forestall unforeseen cut throat political dogfight, hate, blackmail, antagonism, acrimony and backstabbing that might destabilise the zone. A stitch in time saves nine. I don’t want a repeat of such night of long knives that prevented Okigwe’s Governor Ohakim to complete second term in 2015
Dr Chidimma Uwajumogu, the sister to the late senator is also aspiring to replace her brother, but some kick against it, arguing that, it’s not a family business. Do you share in their sentiments?
There is nothing sentimental about this family continuity campaign for Dr Chidimma to succeed her late brother. What matters is able representation, competence and genuine heart of selfless service to restore Okigwe’s lost glory which she possesses in abundance. After all, the same scenario of family continuity played out in Osun State, where Adeleke replaced his late brother as senator. Apart from being well abreast of her late brother’s people’s oriented agenda, over the years, the intellectually endowed amazon has proved her mettle as committed and honest leader of impeccable integrity. More so, she has the wherewithal to restore the Okigwe’s socio-political needs and positively restructure her decaying architecture by addressing her multifarious developmental challenges. Nwa Ada always wants the best for her people, when a situation is beyond the control of men in Igbo community, Umuada are invited to better the situation. Okigwe zone needs it this time. Those who want women to vote for them and never want women to contest for an election are not true democrats. With God’s grace, she will definitely emerge as the next Okigwe senator.
The Uwajumogu family has paid their dues in Imo politics. They must be allowed to reap the fruits of their labour for stabilising APC as a strong party in Imo. Where were the current male aspirants when the late Senator Uwajumogu, the first elected APC senator from the entire Southeast in 2016, collaborated with his sister to weather the accompanying storms that besieged APC in Imo State? Didn’t some of them abandon APC to prostitute with other parties like PDP and APGA?
Chidimma Uwajumogu has been a frontline leader of the party since the day of its formation; she served as a national delegate of the party for Ihite-Uboma in 2014 and 2018 and voted for President Buhari in the primary election of 2014 and 2018. She has since then remained a highly respected and revered leader of the progressives within and outside Okigwe senatorial zone.
Maybe, you are not aware that APC in Okigwe started in the Ihite-Uboma home of the Uwajumogus with Chidimma and her late brother, as the prime movers and facilitators. The party was rejected by majority of those who are now aspiring to be senator under it but the late Ben with the sister and other progressives stood firm to make the party a great choice within the area today.