by Maazi Obinna Akuwudike
There’s this old Igbo saying that, “nwoke anagi ekwucha ihe nile anya ya huru” meaning that a real man doesn’t say everything his eyes sees.
Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha huru ihe. He saw a lot but like a real man, he kept quiet.
After the controversial ruling by the Supreme Court, which saw the mandate Ndi Imo gave Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, taken away and given to another, rumour broke of how Ihedioha was given conditions to retain his seat and he rejected them, ultimately costing him the Governorship seat.
The rumours amongst other things, claimed he was told to pay a huge amount of money which he refused to pay, insisting that the money belonged to Imo people and not him while other stories had it that he was offered to become a lapdog to some Abuja power brokers, which he reportedly turned down for the sake of Ndi Imo.
I’ve heard people complain how Ihedioha “lost” what Ndi Imo gave him. Some claimed he didn’t fight hard enough while others argued that he should have paid the alleged money or even joined the ruling party if that would have saved the seat for him.
What would you have wanted him to do? Sell his soul and the freewill of Imo people just to seat in office? Become a yes-man for some people in Abuja who would hold that judgement over his head for the entire tenure, milking him of our resources at will just to keep adjourning the case?
Honestly I shared similar sentiments at a time until I sat down to wonder what the man must have been through.
I cannot imagine the pressure he was under and if the rumors were anything to go by, it shows the kind of willpower it took to resist from dipping his hands into the state coffers to settle “Abuja” and retain his seat.
Ihedioha clearly wanted to be the governor of the people, who would live with us in Imo State, feel our pains and meet our problems as best and as humanly as possible, rather than a stooge who would be remote controlled from Abuja and be an instrument through which external forces decide what happens in the state.
Had Ihedioha agreed to play ball (that is if the rumours were true), he would have become a decorated statue at Douglas House who would answer to the whims of those who he paid to keep him in power.
Knowing the risks he was faced with, knowing what he was up against, he remained steadfast, knowing Ndi Imo voted for him and if the mandate was to be stolen, at least, he did not betray the trust given to him by the people by stealing their money to buy power or handing the affairs of the state into the hands of a few.
An English saying goes that, “there can be no smoke without fire,” while another one claims that, “in every rumour, there is an amount of truth.”
We don’t know what choices were presented before Ihedioha, but one thing we know if that he chose to stand with the people, even at his own detriment, rather than betray the trust handed to him.
That is the kind of man I will stand behind and allow to lead the way!