What I have for Mr Idoko is sheer pity. Yet my pity for him doubled after he was roundly trashed in court. Still more piteous is the scolding and scoffing that followed him out of the court for wasting the time of highly respected judicial figures. He cut the pathetic picture of a child marred by a failed upbringing. An arrogant, starry-eyed braggadocio now reduced to a woeful, lamentable image of a confused political upstart. All his swagger and bravado deflated in one clean sweep!
Those who called Mr Idoko brave have probably seen the difference between bravery and bravado. One is the mark of heroism, the other an emblem of self-absorbed folly.
Mr Idoko and his small club of fans were taking selfies in the morning as they were headed for court. Imagine! Our aspiring honourable posing for selfies, such a comedian with his funny cap perched at a funny angle. Anyway, little did he know that what awaited him that fateful day was a judicial doomsday.
To say that Mr Idoko knew from day one that he had no case, and that he was in a fruitless pursuit for imaginary justice amounts to stating the obvious. But he seems content just to have his name bandied around in high-profile circles; he seems content just to have his name mentioned by the likes of Peter Mbah and Ifeanyi Ossai. His godfathers tell him he is building his political profile by sparring with high-achieving personalities. But what a terrible way to build one’s profile!
It is said that when a dancer suddenly appears in the middle of the road, there is a drummer close by. In an under-developed continent such as Africa, politics is like a bet: one would stake some money and sit back to wait for the jackpot. Political power in our own part of the world is considered a ready-made passport to affluence and a licence to dominate others. The consequence is that all manner of money-bags and god-fathers contest elections through proxy candidates all in a bid to gain hold of the public till.
No governorship candidate in the history of Enugu State has been subjected to the trauma and pain such as Peter Mbah and Ifeanyi have been put through. Since May 25, 2022 when the mantle fell on Peter Mbah and Ifeanyi Ossai to lead Enugu State for the next eight years, political traducers have dogged their steps with nothing but a barrage of lies and falsehoods, a litany of slander and traducement, and a potpourri of fabrications and defamations. These lies are fired in salvos, but the One On High has continued to fend off the demonic arrows of the malcontent and disgruntled.
Of course, political power is competed for; it hardly comes on a platter. But every competitor has to have a bargaining chip. Pray, where is the bargaining chip of our opposition parties? Less than one week before we line up to begin casting our votes, neither Enugu State LP nor APC or ADC or APGA has presented any development agenda for Enugu people.
Peter Mbah and Ifeanyi Ossai have marshalled out visionary ideas for the good people of Enugu State ranging from agro-allied industrialisation centres, E-commerce, hyper-scale tier 4 data centres to attract the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. to cinema parks of Disneyland standard and movie academies, all targeted at creating massive employment opportunities and mopping up the energies of Enugu youths.
The character the opposition parties in Enugu State are manifesting today is the same as exhibited by the APC in the run up to 2015 General Elections - aggression, bitterness, rancour and fight. By the time they managed to wangle their way to Power, it became clear that they had no idea where to begin. Now, we are all witnesses to the real definition of failure. God forbid that affliction shall befall us a second time!
I heard that Mr Idoko is planning to appeal the ruling of the High Court. He should do so by all means; it is his fundamental right to pursue his own version of justice. Our people would say that the sickness that will kill a dog will, first of all, take away its sense of smell.
What nobody can guarantee, however, is how long Enugu people will continue to tolerate these detractors and slanderers. They are putting too much strain on our polity. I fear it might come to a point when the people themselves will rise en mass to boo them out of the stage. May we continue to place premium on peace, fairness and equity.
God bless Enugu State!
God bless and prosper Mbah/Ossai 2023 Project!
Dr Hyginus Eze
