A Thank You Note To Archbishop Obinna – By Onwuasoanya FCC Jones
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Loading ...There have been several versions to the incident that occurred during the requiem mass of Chief Alex Mbata’s mother at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ngwoma Obube in Owerri North LGA of Imo State last weekend. Many opposition politicians and enemies of Imo State were anxious to ensure that the real story of that incident is twisted to favor their political interests. We thank God first for the social media, which made it possible for the video of the event to be uploaded quickly and shared among thousands of people, who immediately appreciated that the version that the Archbishop was in anyway harassed or manhandled is false and a deliberate attempt by haters of the Mother Church to use the Archbishop and the Holy Roman Catholic Church to fester their selfish and anti-people political interests. We are also grateful to His Grace, Archbishop AJV Obinna for promptly denying that he was in anyway manhandled, harangued, harassed or in any way, assaulted. Left for these enemies of the people and haters of the Church, if it meant the Archbishop falling dead, so that they can blame the State Government or Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, it doesn’t matter to them.
Apart from being a holy Man of God and the leader of the Catholic Church in the entire Owerri Province, Archbishop AJV Obinna is also a respected academic in his own right, an activist and a politically conscious Nigerian. I agree with those who argue that the Archbishop’s position as a clergy does not and should not deprive him of the right to speak on issues of politics and governance in the State and the country at large. After all, our Lord Jesus Christ whom he represents on earth also spoke on issues of governance and politics during His brief earthly ministry. What Christ didn’t do however, is to project one politician over the other or to stand in the Synagogue and campaign for one leader while maligning the other. The Archbishop is obviously a better Bible scholar than myself, so he certainly knows that what the Bible charged all of us to do is to pray for our leaders and as well accord respect to constituted authorities, for none of them would be there, if God did not approve of them.
The Archbishop’s demand that Imo desires a seasoned technocrat and administrator to govern her after Governor Rochas Okorocha is also a very patriotic call and I suppose that the Archbishop will understand that there is none among the crowd of people vying or pretending to be vying for the Imo governorship seat who better qualifies as a seasoned technocrat and administrator than Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. If the Archbishop’s statement is put in more proper perspective, it will be clear that he has no reason to be opposed to Ugwumba Uche Nwosu’s candidature for Imo governorship.
The simple truth is that; if we truly need someone who would take Imo to the next level, that person is Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, if we need a seasoned technocrat and an excellent and tested administrator to run the affairs of our great State from 2019, that individual is no other person than Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. I want to assume that the Archbishop was not properly informed about the rich exposures and antecedents of Ugwumba Uche Nwosu.
Ugwumba Uche Nwosu’s exposure to public service and administration started over 20 years ago as an undergraduate, when he was overwhelmingly elected by his fellow students as the Director of Transport of Imo State University, Owerri. He shone like a million stars among his comrades who were elected the same time with him into the Students Union Government. He was not found wanting in anyway and was actually rated as the best performing official of that SUG regime. He won many awards from students to the extent that when that administration was thrown into some crisis, Uche was not found wanting on any of the issues for which that administration came under fire. He was later to serve as the Secretary of the National Association of Nigerian Students’ Joint Campus Committee and got other opportunities to develop his administrative knowledge.
Immediately after his National Youth Service, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu got the second most important administrative position in one of Africa’s biggest Non Governmental Organizations, the Rochas Foundation. As the Deputy Chief of Staff of that organization, he was involved in the formulation of the organization’s policies, plans and development. You cannot talk about the success of the Rochas Foundation today, without giving some credit to Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. Nwosu had served as national secretary of the Action Alliance (AA), which was at a time, one of Nigeria’s most promising political Parties. He also served at a time as the Director of Finance of the Party. Nwosu had cut his teeth in the private sector, too, before the age of 35. He had modest investments in the real estate and agricultural sectors before coming down with his mentor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to deploy his wealth of administrative experience to rescue Imo from the pit of dilapidation, corruption, insecurity, poverty, crime, educational backwardness, unimaginable filth, and mind blowing intimidation.
As the deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) to the Imo State Government and Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Development, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu designed the new Owerri, as we have it today. He engineered massive development in the outskirts of Owerri, the State capital and made it possible for the hitherto forgotten satellite cities around Owerri to come to life. He also takes credit for the development of new cities in the State. That Imo is today rated by development experts as the fastest developing State in Nigeria is to a great extent due to Ugwumba Uche Nwosu’s ideas during his time as the Commissioner for Lands, Urban Development and Survey. The massive success which the State has recorded in all areas of governance today would not have been possible without the technocratic contributions of Ugwumba Uche Nwosu.
The Archbishop is also correct to have opined that Imo people cannot afford to have a governor imposed on them. Imo people will vote for their governor come 2019, like they have been doing since 2011. No one is planning and no one can impose any governor on Imo people. The Archbishop’s fears must have been informed by the misinformation sponsored by enemies of the people of Imo State. In reality, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu’s governorship ambition is the only governorship ambition that can truly be said to have been fully inspired by the people of Imo State.
His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha did not just wake one day to announce that he will support Ugwumba Uche Nwosu’s governorship ambition, the governor was rather convinced to do so by the people of Imo State. The governor’s first public support for Ugwumba Uche Nwosu came after political leaders from 20 LGAs, the council of Imo youths and other grassroots structures and ordinary people’s movement had come forward to declare their support for Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. On his own part, the amiable, humble, yet, ebullient Chief of Staff never told anyone that he will be running for the governorship of Imo State till after he had been overwhelmed by the support of the people. Uche Nwosu is the first politician in the history of Imo State who was called upon by the people to come and lead them. While others are running around seeking to convince the people to accept them as their leader, Uche Nwosu was minding his business and working hard to deliver on his current assignment as the Chief of Staff to the Government, when Imo people overwhelmed him with their call for him to come and serve them as their governor. It would have been very disappointing to majority of the people, if Ugwumba Uche Nwosu had turned the people down. Let me also remind the respected Archbishop that Governor Okorocha would have supported another candidate for the governorship, if the people had told him otherwise. Okorocha is the people’s governor and he goes wherever the people ask him to go.
Ugwumba Uche Nwosu is like King David of the Bible who was busy tending to his father’s flock in the field. When Prophet Samuel was sent by God to go into the family of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel, Samuel as a human being was looking at the older boys, but God had other plans. David was called back home from the field to be anointed the king of Israel, against the thinking of even Prophet Samuel, who thought it would have been someone else. Archbishop Obinna, even though he is a Man of God, just like Samuel, he thinks like a human being that he is. By the time he listens keenly to God Almighty on this without allowing his human sentiments to becloud Divine inspiration, he would understand that God has already anointed Uche Nwosu as the incoming governor of the State.Let me appeal to the eminent shepherd of God’s flock to concentrate on praying for the incoming governor.
His call for the people to get their PVC in preparatory to voting in the elections is also very welcomed. The Chief of Staff had always emphasized that. The Chief of Staff had always requested his supporters to go and register and obtain their voter’s card, because he knows that it is only the people’s votes that can make him governor, he had at several times, charged all those in support of his candidature to go and register and also to safeguard their PVCs. Let me assure the Archbishop that no one can actually impose anyone as governor of Imo State through undemocratic process. Those who are interested in becoming governor after Owelle Rochas Okorocha should leave their comfort zones and get in touch with the people, because it is only the people who can determine their fate.
The truth is that the people of Imo State are not ready to gamble away the many benefits they have derived from the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration. The people cannot gamble away free education, they cannot gamble away the prosperity they have enjoyed in the last seven years, they cannot gamble away the improved security, they cannot gamble away the massive job creation, they cannot gamble away their happiness on the altar of politics. The people want a continuation of the many good things that have happened to them in the last seven years and some improvement. This is why they are queuing behind Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, because he is the surest guarantee to the sustenance of these gains.
May God continue to bless the Archbishop.
GOD HAS BLESSED IMO STATE AND IMO STATE IS MOVING FORWARD
