By Cyril Aririguzo, KSM
I join other well meaning Nigerians to express gratitude to the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri for throwing more light on what truly transpired during the last Odenigbo lectures. It was where the brandishing and use of miscreants to protest against the visit of former governor of Kaduna, His Excellency, Mallam El-Rufai who was invited as a guest to witness the event is now dominating discussion nationwide.
The use of hoodlums to disrupt and desecrate a high profile event like the Odenigbo lecture is a shameful act, an embarrassment of the highest order which must outrightly be rejected by well meaning individuals. Let me observe that it has become a fact and a reoccurring decimal that, each time a national program of this magnitude is organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, the All Progressive Congress APC, is in the habit of embarrassing and creating scenes and in most cases disrupts the program with thugs.
This open display of thuggery is an act condemnable in the strongest of terms because the perpetrators are not only causing huge embarrassment to the Catholic Church but also are threats to the societal harmony, peace and tranquility that exists in Imo state despite the imposed hardship, insecurity and unfathomable insensitivity of APC led government of the day.
Resorting to the use of state power to attack and assault perceived political opponents, priests and desecrating the Altar of God was an evil taken too far and unreasonable too.
We may recall that in 2011,the same political debate which was instrumental to the emergence and acceptance of Rochas Okorocha as governor of Imo State was never allowed to see the light of the day in 2015. It was at the same venue that Okorocha’s supporters in APGA then used the debate ground to garner support and launder the unknown image of Okorocha to Imo electorates as the alternative then, when it was obvious that Governor Ikedi Ohakim has fallen out of favour with the entire Imo people for allegedly assaulting a Catholic priest. He, Governor Ohakim not minding the level of attack and being in such limbo humbled himself to the debate and never used state power to muzzle anybody or encourage his supporters to go haywire and attack all the opposition,even when Okorocha’s APGA supporters were mobilized to physically boo and intimidate Governor Ohakim at the venue.
When it was the turn of Governor Okorocha to test real opposition through the debate, he chickened out in fear and resorted to open fighting and discretion of the Altar of God at Assumpta Cathedral causing confusion and embarrassing all those that came for the debate. Hon Uche Nwosu, the governor’s son in-law and anointed governorship aspirant of the APC for 2019, Prof Anwuka the Minister of State for Education another in-law to the governor in the company of Sir Jude Ejiogu, the former Secretary to State Government, SSG were allegedly said to have been present when the thugs moved to destroy the Altar of God, assault priests and fight the opposition with dangerous weapons when they perceived they were not prepared with anything to defend themselves.
The action of the trio by disrupting the governorship debate was a deliberate ploy for Governor Okorocha to be absent and avoid direct debate on barrage of accusations bothering on financial impropriety and looting of Imo treasury then.
The present government has also come under heavy criticism for the same critical condition of the state economy going by the alleged staggering debt profile running into a trillion and $120 Million which seem to cripple the socio-economic fabric of Imo state. The state has allegedly accumulated so much debt that it can hardly sustain the management of its debts, resulting in severe distortion and contradictions in Imo domestic economy. The government is yet to address Imolites on the application of the bumper allocations from the federal government, the 35% Derivation Fund, Ecological fund, Local Government allocation for the past 5 years.
It appears the APC government and cohorts having fallen out of favour with the masses, may have decided to use the opportunity to vent his anger and rubbish the Catholic Church with the view to humble them to always supporting them against the general perception of the dwindling economy which has brought untold hardship in no small measure to the citizenry. Ndigbo has continued to criticize Tinubu’s led APC government for alleged misgovernance and, unconventional style of not doing what they preach.
Time of reckoning is fast approaching and APC should watch the body language of Imolites of today and ask some critical questions rather than compound their trouble. People are fed up and angry and if APC should continue in this direction the outcome may not be difficult to imagine. No one group has monopoly of violence, I expect APC to show and exhibit political maturity. Imo people of today are yearning for good governance, and not the kind imposed on us by the Supreme Court judgement on 14th January, 2020.
Imo State has always stood as a beacon of peace, learning, and hospitality. Our people are industrious, tolerant, and deeply rooted in good values that celebrates dialogue, engagement, and respect for law and order. Using paid provocateurs, or acts of violence to redefine our heritage or tarnish the image of our state is an evil wand stretched too far. Our people remains steadfast in discipline and civility, showing that true strength lies in ideas, dexterity, humility, integrity, and peaceful action, not in chaos or intimidation as done by the APC.
