Loading ...This is the second part of a series that will be assessing the frontline candidates contesting the 2019 Imo governorship election. The first part, under the same title and attribution, was widely published several days ago in major national dailies and in social media. Apart from the intro, the piece dwelt extensively on the person and background of Senator Ifeanyichukwu Ararume, the APGA Candidate for Imo governorship.
Given that we are serially profiling the governorship candidates on the strict alphabetical order of their surnames, this very second part will therefore be about Emeka Ihedioha of PDP. Now read on:
Emeka Ihedioha, who is of Mbaise stock was borne to parents who had migrated to Mbaise from Arochukwu in Abia State. So, Ihedioha is also of the Aro stock that is native to Abia State, and thus could have also chosen to run for governor of Abia State. However, since he cut his teeth in politics, he has always chosen to ply it in the Imo part, perhaps because it was easier for him or for other reasons not disclosed in the public.
But what we know is that Ihedioha has so far made a meteoric success of his ambition in Imo politics by ‘winning’ elections to represent Mbaise in the House of Representatives, where he rose to become the Deputy Speaker.
What we also know is that the Imo electorate will, for the first time, know that Ihedioha’s parents are not native to Imo State. So, you can also say that, by extension, Ihedioha himself is not native to Imo State. Additionally and curiously, Ihedioha’s running mate, who hails from Oguta also migrated to Imo from Arochukwu in Abia.
Before his stint in the House of Representatives, Ihedioha was neither known to have been gainfully employed anywhere in Nigeria, nor was he engaged in any private business. His secondary school life was spotty as he was said to have skipped school intermittently and eventually returned a very poor result that could not get him admission into a University.
Eventually, however, he managed – with his poor secondary school result – to ‘work’ an admission into Abeokuta polytechnic that later metamorphosed to a State university. While there, he barely managed to make his grades and ultimately graduated with just a bare ‘pass’ in HND. Anybody possessing any scintilla of tertiary education knows the true ‘worth’ of a pass in HND, as contrasted with the grades of Upper or Lower credits.
Thereafter, Ihedioha remained unemployed until 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy. That was when, by a stroke of luck, happenstance and his high sense of servility, he met Atiku Abubakar, who then was later to become the Vice President of Nigeria.
Sensing that Atiku was on his way to the top, Ihedioha cleverly attached himself to Atiku and followed him everywhere he went and reportedly served him as a slave will serve a master. That’s how Atiku noticed him and proceeded to accept his services (or servitude, if you will), and upon which Ihedioha was later to become some sort of an unofficial personal assistant to Atiku, even though on and off.
After Atiku clinched the vice presidency, mother luck smiled at Ihedioha as his stock with Atiku rose phenomenally to the point that Atiku singlehandedly saw to his nomination and subsequent election as a member of House of Representatives. It was said then that it didn’t matter at all if Ihedioha was qualified to represent his people. The only thing that mattered was the perception that he was, through Atiku, loyal to the Fulani caliphate.
So, despite being an unknown quantity and the widespread misgivings about his not being indigenous to Mbaise, he ‘won’ handily, assisted by Atiku and his northern Muslim friends, as well as the impunity and electoral manipulations that were, in times past, the hallmark of the old PDP.
At the local levels, Ihedioha’s first outing as a member of House of Representatives was greatly assisted by Ngor Okpala people with whom he had reached a zoning arrangement of Mbaise doing one term, then Ngor Okpala doing the next term. To be sure, this sort of zoning arrangement is common in all parts of Imo State where they are faithfully observed for the sake of equity. But with Ihedioha, it was not to be as he seized the seat to himself and blocked every avenue for other zones, especially Ngor Okpala to ever produce a successor. Little wonder therefore that Ngor Okpala people felt so hoodwinked that they voted massively against Ihedioha when he ran for Governor in 2015.
People close to him say that this sort of betrayal of Ngor Okpala people is vintage Ihedioha, as he also exhibited the same character flaw by betraying the PDP and former President Jonathan by aligning himself with former Speaker Tambuwal and the other core northerners who had ganged up against Jonathan. The crowning glory was in the 2015 presidential election in which Jonathan had trusted Ihedioha with all the money meant for electioneering in Imo State. It was widely reported then in the media that Ihedioha betrayed that trust without qualms.
Just recently, the same betrayal and trust issues played out again in the PDP presidential primaries where Ihedioha openly and covertly worked against Atiku and in favour of Tambuwal. Atiku was to later win the nomination but he has never forgiven Ihedioha to this day. This is instructive, because if Atiku wins the Presidency, Imo State will surely have a tough time with an Ihedioha as Governor. Conversely, if Buhari wins, Imo State will still suffer for all the alliances Ihedioha have had with Fulanis (Atiku and Tambuwal) that had been Buhari’s political foes.
What is also in play now is how Ihedioha betrayed Senator Samuel Anyanwu (Sam Daddy) and with him the entire people of Mbaitoli and Ikeduru. It is a classic act of betrayal and a questionable mandate that is still playing out in court to the detriment of Ihedioha’s ticket. Thus, if Ihedioha manages to survive the litigations, his next waterloo will be the protest votes that will surely come from ‘Mbaike’; and even Ngor Okpala.
All these are but a tip of the iceberg on Emeka Ihedioha’s true character and background but they are more than enough in helping Imo electorate to decide whether a man with such character deserves to be trusted with leading Imo State for the next four (or eight) years. The sages have said that “the propensity to betray is as tempting as it later becomes the achilles heel by which men fall”.
Odumegwu writes from sodumegwu@gmail.com
