By Uduma Kalu

Is it easy to cage an Ngwa man, and one with a Phd that will be first Ngwa as governor? It has never worked and not in Igboland. But in Abia, some people are going about deceiving the people that it is easy to cage an educated mind, and that the state’s PDP guber candidate Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Theodore Orji.

However, in Aba, a political analyst and lawyer,  Chief Elekwachii said  godfatherism has never worked in Igboland.  And Ikpeazu agrees, “You can’t show one example of somebody that has been tied and put in the pocket and he is a governor…nobody is contemplating such.”

Igboland is in a hurry to develop. A  week- long independent tour of the  South showed a people ready to fly.  And this is where the anger sets in: a people full of energy, ready to burst and fly but stalled by incompetent and inept  leadership that cannot match their haste. And the fear of godfatherism or stooge.

The seat of a governor is powerful, another analyst in Umuahia, Mr. Torti said.  A study of godfatherism  in Igboland since 1999 shows that it never worked. For example, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu state was installed by some Enugu state elites such as Chief Jim Nwobodo but the romance crashed and Nnamani liberated himself. Nnamani in turn installed Chime Sullivan. But as we have seen, Chime fought out Nnamani and freed himself.

In Anambra where Dr. Mbadinauju could not free himself from Emeka Offor, perhaps due to time issues, he was voted out, paving way for Dr. Chris Ngige who fought his godfathers for  Peter Obi to step in. Today, Chief Willie Obiano is reportedly fighting his installer, Peter Obi. Dr.Chidi Ohakim of Imo state fought Orji Kalu to free himself even in his first term. In Abia state, Orji freed himself from his Orji Uzor Kalu grip whom he accused of stalling his development plans for the state. From hindsight, therefore,  it will be difficult for anyone to think that Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Orji. It has never worked and won’t work now.

In Abia what drives the politics and campaigns  mainly are the issues of stooge. Followers of the APGA candidate Dr Alex  Otti argue that the PDP Dr Okezie Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Gov Theodore Orji who they said  propped him up as PDP gubernatorial candidate. For anti Orji followers,  therefore, an Ikpeazu government will be an extension of Orji’s  which the opposition is vehemently against, and the opposition appears to be growing. But the PDP alleged that Otti himself is a stooge of the capitalist world like Dangote and Zenith Bank who  the allege are sponsoring him with the hope of reaping the state’s resources.

But the anti Ikpeazu group thinking that he will be a stooge appears  all sentiment,  founded on  nothing.  In fact, as it is said, the first victim of war is truth.  A critical mass judges Ikpeazu on his own merit.  A corps member, Ndidi, in Umuahia, asked Abians  in a country like Nigeria where politics is controlled by the party,  Ikpeazu could only emerge  from a structure powered by the governor’s machinery but like others will break free.

And Ikpeazu had already spoken out in this vein, saying in his task of tackling Aba’s problem, he is ready to step on toes if that is what it will take to get Aba right and reposition Abia State. But the question is: Why would the people trust Ikpeazu that he will not be a stooge? Ikpeazu has worked 20 years for Abia, under various jurisdictions unlike his main rival.   His work as ASEPA deputy general manager attests to this.

This is man who worked like a labourer in Aba, day in day out clearing the dirty. He carried the dirt of the city with his own hands and shovels.  He was with cleaners and truck driver in the day. And helped shovel the dirt in the night. He informed the wish of the people to the governor. He had no office when he was posted there and was in the rain and in the sun in under a tree besides a recharge cards seller. He had cash problems but he worked with whatever he had. He got shovels, tippers, trucks, personnel and all and worked till he cleared Aba and the people still applaud him for this. In the course of that, he also discovered the drainage and other problems of Aba. And he  worked out a development plan for the city and Aba having lived and worked with and for them day and night.