Engr. Emma Ndiokwere, Orlu – A concerned citizen
As I was reading my Sunday newspapers in the morning of March 1st, 2015 I stumbled upon a full page advertorial in the Sunday Nation by a group that goes by the above name. As an indigene of Orlu I was naturally attracted to go through the entire announcement, titled ” Resolutions on the March 28th’ 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections”. The fact that this is an election season when emergency councils and forums (elders forum, youth forum, baby forum, etc.) Spring up from all the nooks and corners of the country for the mere purpose of yanking money off desperate candidates, did not deter me from perusing the entire publication. In the said publication they said they have endorsed Senator Hope Uzodinma for re-election as senator representing Orlu Zone.
Naturally I was irked and saddened, having come to the realisation that people still exist in our society who take pleasure in seeing that Orlu remained in darkness and in the mode of underdevelopment, thereby perpetuating that age-long derogatory song, “obodo nile emepechala, ofodu Okigwe na Orlu…” roughly translated, that all communities have developed except Okigwe and Orlu.
I would have thought that people who regard themselves as elders were such that should conduct themselves in soberness, upholding truth in their actions and utterances because the younger ones are looking up to them for leadership and guidance.
How could a group of people who called themselves elders shamelessly make resolutions, knowing same to be based on utter falsehood? These people have spuriously claimed that “Hope Uzodinma has made Orlu people proud in his first tenure through his brilliant contributions on the floor of the Senate and quality motions and bills he has sponsored all of which have helped to position Orlu Zone at the centre stage of national politics”. I am flabbergasted! Which are these bills and motions? Couldn’t this dubious group have mentioned one or two of these bills, if only to support their claim. As a regular watcher of the proceedings in the national assembly I have not for once observed Mr. Uzodinma contributing meaningfully to any debate on the floor of the Senate.
Another bogus claim by our elders is that the senator has attracted so many projects to Orlu Zone, ranging from roads, electricity, water etc. This is a thoughtless claim because none of the “elders” can confidently point at one single project facilitated by Uzodinma. Where are these projects sited? Where are they? Can we all be so blind that we cannot see when good things come to us?
If the elders council is requesting all well meaning indigenes of Orlu and Senator Uzodinma’s opponents from others parties to join hands and actualise the re-election of Hope Uzodinma , I ask : in a saner and more orderly society where the rule of law prevails, would Senator Uzodinma have been allowed to contest for a senate sit? Then they are asking well-educated candidates with great personal integrity and transparently verifiable track records like Dr. ThankGod Nnamdi Ezeani to join hands for the re-election of Senator Uzodinma, a semi-illiterate whose only credentials are rooted in his “personal poise” and fashion consciousness. What an insult!
Without mincing words, Dr. Ezeani is a renowned entrepreneur who has set up industries in the zone and beyond, giving employment to hundreds of youths. Presently Dr. Ezeani is building a private university in his home town Uzii, Ideato North L.G.A. In addition he is offering scholarship annually to deserving undergraduates. If Dr. Ezeani can be involved in these philantropic activities now as a private person, would he not be motivated to do more for his people if he gets into the senate.
It’s now time to sift the wheat from the chaff. I sincerely believe that Orlu people now have a golden opportunity offered by the forthcoming elections to reject Senator Uzodinma and give a chance to a man we can trust, not a trickster. He is Dr. ThankGod Ezeani.
Let me conclude by asking my good people of Orlu, have you or any of your children benefitted in any tangible way from Senator Uzodinma’s representation of our Zone in the Senate of the federal republic of Nigeria? If the answer is No, why give him a second chance? Let us then take our destiny in our own hands.
