HE Dr Ikedi Ohakim : A Sonly Note

 *HE Dr Ikedi Ohakim :  A Sonly Note*

              By

Nze James Chinonyerem 

His Excellency, Dr Ikedi Ohakim, former Gov Imo state is a great son of the state and nation in general. He has rich endowed qualities with  engaging noble personality which is admirable and adorable. The dept of his intellectualism is evidently manifest in his sagacious scholarly dissections of public issues. He is an intellectual resource person at any time and day as well as a good manager of human and capital resources.

As a politician, he is unique in style and practice. His political dissertations are laced with pedagogical beauties. As the governor of the state, he was innovative, courageous, bringing beauty, duty and pomp into governance. He had great visions which he evidenced smartly on motion pictures, many times, congesting the social media traffic with his designed projects. Many then were wont to refer to Imo state as the Internet state because of the lacks of correspondent projects on ground. Another memorable recall of his era is his love for sesquipedalian vocabulary. His eloquence in English language is not in doubt. I am always captivated by the ease with which he sources the syntax, going freely, through the morphological processes with a high measure of phonetical discipline in all his speech deliveries, in private and public. Truly, he is a delight to behold. I simply love him. I regret like many Imolites, the arrest of his second term attempt. I do not intend to go through that here. Suffice it to say, I participated actively in that election in his favour. I was detained along side other actors(in PDP) by the security agents who said they're acting from "orders from above." He was a victim of combined and coordinated conspiracies from within and outside. The rest as often said, is history.

Since leaving office, he has tried, unfortunately, without success to bounce back to the top seat. He had also tried his hands on the Okigwe senatorial district election, but had to withdraw in some mysterious circumstances. I think the gods want a higher role for him because, politically, he has transited unto the ancestral realms. This is why I see the call for him to re-present himself for the governorship election come 2027 to, according to the political salesmen, "complete his term of eight years" as a disservice to the noble man. Those who want to drag him into the race for the governorship election are his enemies, masquerading as friends. He should watch them cautiously.

Gov Ikedi Ohakim is a gentleman par excellence, who loves order and discipline. He understands the rules of the game. Selfish people asking him to run are only out to get their pounds of flesh and pints of blood from him.  Most instructive are those from Owerri zone pretending to be voices of reasons. They are what they have always been, people in search of personal gratifications. The charter of equity by implications, favours Owerri zone and must be respected as such. History shows, that Owerri zone has on two occasions, made significant sacrifices to allow Orlu and Okigwe zones  shots/slots at the governorship position. Gov Ikedi Ohakim was a beneficiary of this and hence, should not allow himself to be persuaded to do the wrong thing by running against Owerri zone. As I said this of him, I also say to others in Okigwe and Orlu zones. 

If Gov Ohakim considers the gains and loses in the deceitful campaigns for him to run against the tides, I am sure he will, as a great thinker, know and appreciate that the position God has lifted him seventeen years ago, is greater and more dignifying than the present inducements unnecessary  search for relevance. Truly speaking, it will be like trying to reinvent the wheel for him to think he can step into the same shoes he left seventeen years ago. Let him be the great statesman he has become while expanding his coasts nationally and internationally in the service of his people, Ndigbo and Nigerians.

Let him look back as we say in the local parlance, "carry the breadfruit bunch"