By EMEKA Omeihe

A scene from the theatre of the absurd played out on top of the newly constructed Orashi bridge linking Imo and Anambra states through Ideato South and North Local Governments’ axis. The new bridge at Umuchima on the Orlu-Akokwa federal highway, was host to a peculiar gathering last week.

The dramatis personae were drafted from the legislative chambers of the two local government councils. Mounted canopies provided the weather protection for officials while plastic chairs and tables established a semblance of the legislative dais.

Microphones meant to ensure public transparency and event recording were also very handy. Beside the high legislative tables, sat the speakers of the two legislative chambers of the local governments. There was also a clerk to record the proceedings of the sitting. 

Councillors sat in no particular order around the plastic tables and chairs even as construction trucks moved around apparently putting finishing touches to the road construction and the bridge yet to be opened for public use. Suspense filled the dusty air regarding what the gathering was all about. The scene wore the semblance of a tent parliament or canopy assembly. 

Then, a lanky and fat Councillor from one of the wards in Ideato south rose to his feet to introduce what brought the two legislative chambers to converge on top of the bridge. After quickly establishing protocols, he proposed three motions. The first sought to bar a former governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha within five-kilometer radius of the bridge for neglecting it during his regime. 

The second sought the endorsement of incumbent Governor, Hope Uzodindma for the Imo West senatorial seat in the 2027 election while the third was a prayer for the endorsement of president Bola Tinubu for the coming presidential election.  

Members took turns to speak on the three motions after which they were adopted through voice vote. With the adoption of the motions, Okorocha was banned within five-kilometer radius of the bridge or in the worst case, he would be declared a persona non grata.

Curiously, his country home falls within the five-kilometer radius the two legislative chambers purportedly banned him from accessing. Their grouse is that as son of the soil, he failed to reconstruct the bridge when serious erosion threats set in during his regime as governor of the state. That negligence or outright abandonment allowed the gully erosion to deepen and cut off the road. They are piqued by untold sufferings and inability of the Ideato people to use that vital road link in the last couple of years.

Houses were washed away with parts of the nearby Umuchima market swallowed up even as properties of inestimable value went down the drains before the current state government intervened. Before then, Okorocha had during his regime dualized that road and constructed a bridge. 

But the bridge was seriously threatened by a rampaging erosion due to lack of impact assessment before the construction work even as Okorocha held sway as the governor. What started as a small crater was curiously allowed to degenerate into an existential threat. Ideato people cannot forget in a hurry the shoddy job and poor quality of materials used in the construction of the bridge as it was being washed away. 

It was a sorry sight to discover as the bridge was being washed away, that it had no iron rods’ reinforcement at all. Rather, what was seen was the piling of gravel and cement on the center of a bridge that was supposed to carry heavy duty vehicles.

It did not take time for the bridge to collapse like a pack of cards, effectively cutting off the people of Ideato from the state capital. In the last seven years or so the road was cut off, it has been an unmitigated nightmare for the people of the area. 

Now that a new standard bridge is to be put into use, the councilors felt Okorocha has to be punished for his misdeeds. The position may have stemmed from frustrations on the inability of one of their own to come to their rescue when he had the opportunity.

The theatrics on top of the bridge may have been carefully choreographed to embarrass and diminish his political reputation. That much was evident in the statements of the councilors who spoke in support of the motion. Their frustrations could be understood   

The method is suspect and faulty. If the intention is to get the three motions passed by the two legislative chambers, they could as well do that within their council chambers. Erecting canopies, plastic tables and chairs on top of a bridge still under construction just for the purposes of the three motions is a drama taken to the extreme.

The event may have been designed to discredit Okorocha who is still laying claims to the candidacy of the All Progressives Congress for the Imo West Senatorial seat. The last time I checked, he is still in court challenging the candidacy of Uzodinma for that senatorial seat in the 2027 elections. That is a matter for the courts to decide irrespective of the positions of the councillors.

Even as Okorocha stands faulted in his utter neglect and poor job on that road during his regime, the counsellors went beyond their mandate by passing a motion barring him from a five-kilometer radius of the bridge. If the motion is enforceable, Okorocha will not be able to return to his ancestral home since it falls within the stipulated radius.

 Good enough, the councils lack the constitutional authority to restrict the movement of individuals on the roads. So, no useful purpose was served by that razzmatazz as it was just an attempt to erect obstacles to his political ambition.

And that makes the canopy parliament more laughable. It was nothing but a publicity stunt designed to attract public attention. Had they passed the motions within their respective chambers, they may not have attracted the kind of media attention it is currently gaining. The end may have justified the means but it is clear that all that charade was targeted at Okorocha.

Nothing was really achieved. Neither will the ban prevent Okorocha from using the bridge nor will Uzodinma’s endorsement stand as the final resolution of an issue in court. Outdoor legislative sessions are not entirely strange. Across history there are copious records of legislative sessions and parliaments that have officially convened outside their chambers.

But such instances are largely driven by pandemics and safety rules. A recent case happened in the US in 2020 when the New Hampshire General Court Session swore-in a 400-member House of Representatives during COVID-19 pandemic.

 The Ideato canopy assembly did not satisfy this condition and therefore served no useful purpose. It was act of sycophancy, the verity of the theatre of the absurd and a waste of valuable time and public resources. 

There are more serious developmental challenges confronting the two local governments than the uninspiring drama on top of Orashi bridge.