By Clement Nwadike

On March 10, 2025, Governor Hope Uzodimma hosted stakeholders of Owerri zone at the Government House, Owerri. The meeting, which was at the instance of the Imo Harmony Project (IHP), one of the groups championing the clamour by the zone for the office of the governor of Imo state in 2028. The IHP, led by former Internal Affairs Minister, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, had written to the governor requesting for an audience. But according to the governor, he had, after receiving the request, made inquiries as to those who constituted the membership of the group. And upon discovering that the IHP was not quite inclusive, he had told Iheanacho and his group to invite other critical stakeholders in the zone to the meeting.

That was how it came to pass that the meeting had in attendance members of the Owerri Zone Political Leaders Forum (OZOPOLF), a rival group struggling for supremacy with IHP and led by Chief Charles Amadi. But the meeting still ended up still more or less an IHP show. The only three persons that spoke on behalf of the Owerri stakeholders were all of the IHP – Captain Iheanacho, himself, former Minister of Aviation, Mrs Kema Chikwe and another fellow from the same Emekuku as the first two. Chief Amadi, the leader of OZOPOLF, sat silently all through and was not even invited to speak.

Now, fast forward to Wednesday August 20, 2025. The occasion was another meeting between Governor Uzodimma and stakeholders in Owerri zone. The venue was the same Sam Mbakwe exco chambers, Government House, Owerri. Again, just like in March, the audience was made of political stakeholders from every strata of Owerri zone: former and serving legislators, former and serving political appointees, party officials and faithful, notably of the All Progressives Congress (APC) etc. But the big heads were the same: Captain Iheanacho, Ambassador Kema Chikwe, Prince Lemmy Akakem, Prince Marcelenus Nlemigbo, Dr. McDonald Ebere (state chairman of the APC), Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Prince Alex Mbata, Chief Henry Njoku (Haritex) etc.

Still, there was a big difference. This time around, the meeting was a return match! It was at the instance of the Charls Amadi-led OZOPOLF and unlike the March 10, 2025 meeting, Amadi was the unmistaken leader of the delegation. After preliminary protocols including the presentation and blessing of kola nuts, Chalvon, as Amadi is more popularly known, called on Barrister Kingsley Ononuju, the Secretary-General of OZOPOLF, to introduce the top stakeholders in attendance. Then followed the meeting proper with Amadi taking the lead.

As expected, he showered encomiums on the governor for his numerous achievements especially on infrastructural development. His main message, however, was that both the leaders and the led in Owerri zone had come to tell the governor that they have finally become united in their quest to produce his successor. Amadi bellowed by inviting attendees from each of the nine local government areas to affirm what he said and the crowd roared in concurrence. But that was where the matter of unity ended. In a glaring evidence that Amadi and his group had come to pay back Iheanacho and his own group in their own coins, he immediately handed over the microphone to Henry Njoku, a close ally of his and one of those widely believed to be eyeing the office of governor in 2028, to make a “vote of thanks”. The hall immediately erupted. Vote of thanks? After only him had spoken in a gathering that had such a galaxy of Owerri zone stars?

Amid the murmuring, the governor came to the rescue. Wearing a wry smile – he understood what was at play – he directed that a few other stakeholders should be given the opportunity to speak. And so it happened that Kema Chikwe, Iheanacho, Placid Njoku – Governor Uzodimma’s former deputy – and Mr L.M Alozie, a renowned lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria from the Mbaise clan, took turns to speak. Iheanacho reechoed the unity affirmation but in what was a glaring evidence that the talk about unity is but an illusion, he quickly reminded the governor about the existence of his IHP and, indeed, made reference to the efforts of the group in propagating his achievements even outside the country.

Again and not surprisingly, there was murmuring but this time subdued. Why would he, Iheanacho, make reference to one particular group if the talk about unity was sincere and genuine? This is the question the leaders of the over five groups – including IHP and OZOPOLF – contending for supremacy over which is the champion of the Owerri zone governorship project, have to provide answer for. Iheanacho’s reference to his IHP merely complemented Amadi’s earlier gaffe – attempting to conclude a meeting which had in attendance other leaders like him without giving them the opportunity to say a word. Where then is the unity the leaders were talking about?

Needless to say, the August 20, 2025 meeting was another disastrous outing for Owerri zone leaders and their gullible followers. Clearly, the bad blood is still flowing and the so-called leaders merely came to display it; and so shamelessly. But thanks to Governor Uzodimma who again seized the opportunity to educate them on what they do not know or perhaps have refused to learn. If the governor were not a true leader or were as mischievous as those who led the gullible followers to him, he would have looked the other way and the meeting would have ended the way Chief Amadi had wanted it – without inputs from his rivals, even though inputs from the likes of Iheanacho, Kema Chikwe etc would not have changed the monotony of the proceedings, to the point of irritation it has now reached.

For the umpteenth time, the Owerri zone leaders went to the governor to ask him to anoint one of their own as his successor. It was the same message they took to him at the March 10, 2025 meeting. Before the meeting, some elements in the zone had taken it upon themselves to remind the governor of his “promise” to hand over to a fellow from the area. The premise around the blackmail was a gathering of members of the Imo State Elders Council, among who were several Owerri zone indigenes, at which the Charter of Equity was being discussed. In his contribution, the governor had expressed optimism that if the Charter is well followed and implemented, it may led to power shifting to Owerri zone after him 2027.

One of the members of the Elders Council, a native of the Owerri Municipal Council area (Owere Nchise) and a chieftain of the IHP continuously trended the video footage of that meeting almost on a daily basis. At the March 10 meeting, the governor was unmistaken in his response. He told the Owerri zone leaders that it is not in his hands to determine who will succeed him and actually went on to warn that he be allow to concentrate on his present assignment instead of the needless distraction of starting a campaign three years in advance. Before getting to that point, Governor Uzodimma had pointedly told the Owerri zone leaders to properly interrogate and understand their problem which, according to him, is that they are not united in their quest; that their leaders, so-called, were pursuing individual ambition either directly or by proxy rather than a collective dream. After the meeting, many observers were quick to ask the leaders: “How market, why didn’t the governor reaffirm the promise he was said to have made to you?” Of course, they had no answer other than to continue with the blackmail.

Soon after, the Owerri zone leaders through their Owerri Municipal social media warrior sexed-up the propaganda: “On Aburi We Stand”, an expression that has been irritating every well-meaning Igbo fellow who was old enough to know or understand what “Aburi” means in the collective existence of Ndigbo; a reminder of their painful experience more than five decades ago. The question has been, has the mere quest for a governorship position gotten to the level of evoking the evil spirits of Aburi? Curiously, those involved couldn’t care less and that was the reason the tragedy of August 20, 2025 occurred. As earlier narrated, the leaders again went to the governor to remind him of his promise to anoint one of their own as his successor. Haba! Won’t these people hear? And the governor response?

First, he gave them his own reminder: “You are not yet united”. Of course, the governor was right, far more than he was in March. More than ever before, the Owerri leaders have fallen further asunder. Otherwise, how would anyone explain what Chief Charls Amadi did as earlier narrated in this essay? How could Captain Iheanacho have begun to remind the governor of his own cleavage – the IHP – when the talk was about unity?

Again, the governor told them that he does not have the powers to anoint anyone as his successor; that his successor will emerge through a democratic process that will involve every part of the state not just Owerri zone. Since they came for reminders, Governor Uzodimma also seized the opportunity to remind his august visitors that contrary to their fallacious insistence that their zone has never produced a governor, the late Evan Enwerem from Owerri zone had occupied the office for eighteen This is besides the fact that apart from the Udenwa era , Owerri zone has been producing occupants at the Government House as Deputy Governors .He didn’t bother about the Emeka Ihedioha seven-month stint apparently because quite apart from the legal and constitutional encumbrances suffered by Ihedioha and his short-lived tenure, the Owerri zone leaders entirely on their own conveniently refuse to put it into consideration each time they do the Arithmetic of their gubernatorial marginalization.

Fortunately, the governor never gave the impression that the Owerri zone governorship project is a mission impossible. “It depends on how you go about it”, he told the leaders. He explained that if they fail to carry the other zones along, they – the latter – will work against it. Pointedly, the governor said “Okigwe people will sabotage it”. Is anybody listening?

The governor concluded by saying that rather than wasting their time running around and asking for endorsement, the Owerri zone leaders should go home and help in the efforts of his administration to improve the lot of their people. He alluded to his administration’s Health Insurance Scheme which is designed to make life easier for the less privileged but which many communities in the zone are lagging behind in the ongoing enrolment. Here, the governor scored a big one: At least three of the leaders told the gathering that they had to make a u-turn to fly back to Owerri once they heard that the governor had summoned a meeting of Owerri zone leaders – which is a big lie because the meeting, according to its convener, Charls Amadi, was actually at their own instance. One leader actually said he flew in from New York to attend the meeting! Meanwhile, the cost of those flights put together would have been more than enough to register several less privileged relatives of theirs in the Health Insurance Scheme.

The big question now to ask the so-called Owerri leaders is: When Is The Next Visit To Uzodimma? Before an answer is found, here are some pieces of advice to the younger elements in the zone. From the look of things, these present leaders of theirs are proving incapable of seeing the Owerri zone governorship project for 2027/28 through. What to do? They should stop presenting themselves to accompany their so-called leaders in endless and fruitless visitations to the Government House, Owerri. They should seize the initiative and work with the expo given by the governor:. Engage the other two zones in a meaningful talk and stop the Emilokan narrative .In particular, the governor’s reference to Okigwe is instructive.How do they stop Okigwe from scuttling their efforts since it has the capacity to do so?It is no rock science: Heed the advice by even many of their own kinsmen to allow Okigwe take another four years in 2027 and thereafter have an undisputed eight full years.Any thing outside that will mean endless trips to the Government House even after 2027 to ask for an anointment.