The Imo Guber Poll: Epitome of Masterminded Quagmire

THE IMO GUBER POLL: EPITOME OF MASTERMINDED QUAGMIRE

        

It was in 2007, February 12 to be precise, that I was almost drowned by Njaba River situated in my lovely home town, Awo-Omamma when the construction of the bridge biding the said river was in progress. At the night to the day of that misfortune that befell on my person, I had a terrifying dream. None of my dreams had failed me since my childhood. Suffice to say; I wouldn’t had gone to that river due to that dream I had, talk more of indulging in a swimming exercise. In other words, I was extremely stubborn that I couldn’t listen to my dream unlike me. The incident was indeed a quagmire.

In the same vein; the night to the day of the gubernatorial election – Saturday April 11, 2015 that took place in my beloved home state, Imo alongside other twenty eight states in the federation that needed to have/witness the said election, I encountered a horrible dream. In the dream, someone heckled the amiable seating governor of Imo State, Chief Owelle Rochas Okorocha in a public gathering that took place in the state Capital Territory – Owerri.; and when the governor’s aides wanted to take care of the person who displayed such an intolerable antics, the governor asked them to remain calm.

Similar incident was what transpired on that very day the election was conducted. Denying the seating governor’s victory at the polls, which was obvious, is no doubt not unlike heckling him while addressing a public gathering or attempting to slap the ‘number one’ citizen of the state. Yet, when Imolites wanted to react to such cruel maltreatment, the governor instructed them to remain calm.

I’ve been observing Chief Rochas Okorocha with keen interest since he assumed duty as the governor of Imo State – the Eastern Heartland. And so far, what I’ve enjoyed mostly from his person remains his high level of tolerance. Surely, the man in question is too tolerant that, even a tree can testify to the fact.

Let’s delve into history. In the first place, it was between the governor and Cletus Ilomuanya – the dethroned Traditional Ruler of Obinugu Autonomous Community in Orlu. Gov Okorocha remained resilient until he was pushed to the wall by the traditional custodian. The one I cannot forget in a hurry was the one that had to do with him and some youths of Oguta extraction; on that fateful day, the governor’s entourage was assaulted, but the governor resisted the venom of his aides when they made effort to retaliate. Another one was between him and the former interim state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Marshal Okoroaforanya – a promising young man the governor brought to political limelight but along the line he became a rebel. Let’s ride on!

As if we have forgotten, the one that happened between the governor and Mr. Charles Oputa (Charlie Boy) during the burial of the late father of the latter at Oguta clan. The governor was heckled when he wanted to make his speech at the church; and he exhibited his usual tolerant posture. As if that was not enough; the current Minister of State for Education, Prof Viola Onwuliri of Mbaise extraction came up with hers, to the extent that the governor was almost treated like a ‘house boy’ in a state where he is the ‘number one’ citizen. Yes it sounds paradoxical, but it occurred. Honestly, tolerance is a distinguished quality I have observed in Gov Okorocha’s person; without mincing words, I’m yet to see a leader who possesses such high level of maturity. Apparently, he is leading by a good example.

Please let’s discuss what we have for today. Surely, the just conducted Imo gubernatorial poll, which I tagged an ‘epitome of masterminded quagmire’, is a scenario that I shall live to remember. It would be recalled that the said election was declared inconclusive by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof Oye Ibidapo Obe on Sunday April 12. An election that was duly conducted in the twenty-seven (27) Local Government Areas in the state, and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Rochas Okorocha who happens to be the seating governor, won in twenty (20) LGAs against his closest rival Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who recorded victory in the remaining seven (7) LGAs.

An election in which the APC candidate is leading with almost eighty thousand (80,000) votes coupled with the fact that he emerged victorious in more than two-third (2/3) of the total number of LGAs in the state. What additional prerequisite is required to declare him the winner or to return him as the governor of the state? even if the PDP candidate is leading with the highest number of votes but only recorded victory in just seven LGAs, which is less than one-third (1/3) of the total number of LGAs in the state, will he be qualified to be declared the winner of the poll? Who is deceiving who? I’m just thinking aloud.

Please the electoral umpire should do what is right and justifiable. They ought to note that Imo State is too old to be treated like a kid. How can irregularities that transpired in a few polling units result to inconclusiveness of an election that took place in all the 27 LGAs in the state? If such principle holds water, or if the electoral act permits such, then the just concluded Presidential polls would have been declared inconclusive by the INEC boss, Prof Attahiru Jega because election never took place in all the polling units or even all the LGAs in the country during the said election. For instance, there was no election in my beautiful Local Government, Oru-East during the Presidential poll.

Even, going by what the Returning Officer said, that, the margin with which the APC candidate is leading is lower than the number of cancelled votes; if such inconsequential logic was to be applied to that of the Presidential election, then the latter would had as well been declared inconclusive, or Mohammadu Buhari wouldn’t have been returned as the President-Elect. Because, going by the statistics or the logic; if painstakingly considered, we would notice that the number of votes the President-Elect had ahead of his closest opponent, Dr Goodluck Jonathan was lower than the number of votes cancelled across the federation. But the man in question was declared the winner of the poll because he fulfilled other major requirements as stipulated by the electoral act.

They can’t continue to sing the same chorus every four years simply because some persons are of the view that the state belongs to them. Enough of this cock and bull story. Whosoever that is involved ought to acknowledge the fact that Imolites cannot be taken for a ride because they are socially, politically, academically, and of course intellectually on ground. While we await the so-called supplementary poll, I will not cease to pray for Imo because the state is in a comatose state.

When the World Trade Centre was bombed on September 11, 2001 via a suicide mission, the former President of the United States of America (U.S.A), Mr. George W. Bush who was then the seating President of the country said ‘Our great country has been tested again; but I tell you, we shall prove to the world that we’ll pass this test.’ And they passed the test just as the President assured. Similarly, Gov Okorocha’s level of tolerance has been tested again; thank God he passed this one. But that he has passed it doesn’t imply that he is a fool. Think about it!

 

COMR FRED NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
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frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

         

2015 International Day of Sport

PROMOTING NATIONAL UNITY THROUGH SPORTS AS THE 2015 INT'L DAY OF SPORT IS MARKED TODAY, MONDAY APRIL 6

        

Sport can be defined as any form of usually competitive activity that requires physical effort and skill, which through casual or organized participation, tends to maintain or improve the said ability and skill; and also provides entertainment for the participants as well as the spectators.

Indeed, sport has been confirmed as the only common language spoken by mankind in their entirety irrespective of age, background, race, status, or social affiliation, due to its universality, entertaining nature and unique economic value. This is why it is being referred to by most people as one of the backbones of the socio-economic state of any nation.

Generally, there are thousands of sporting activities in existence, from the one requiring only two participations, to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either as a team or competing as individuals. Sport is basically recognized as an activity that is based on physical athleticism or physical dexterity. However, a number of competitive but non-physical activities claim recognition as mind sports.

Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning or victory can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first; it can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance using either objective or subjective measures including technical performance or artistic impression.

In organized sport, records of performance are often kept; but for popular sports, the information might be widely announced or reported in sport news. Suffice to say; sport is also a major source of entertainment for non-participants. Thus sport which often draws overwhelming crowd at its venue, also reaches wider audiences via broadcasting.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the application of the term ‘Sport’ to a wider set of non-physical challenging activities to include electronic games owing to the large scale of participation and organized competition witnessed in the sector. But the truth of the matter remains that this set of sports are not widely recognized by mainstream sport organizations.

Against this backdrop, there are opposing views on the necessity of competition as a defining element of a sport, with almost all professional sports involving competition and governing bodies requiring competition as a prerequisite for the recognition of any sporting activity by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or SportAccord. Other bodies advocate widening the definition of sport to include all physical activities. For instance, the Council of Europe recognizes all forms of physical exercise or calisthenics including those done just for fun, as sports.

Considering the overall impact of sport in both individual and national developments, there is no gain reiterating that sports have contributed immensely in the uplift of the socio-economic state of most individuals, communities or nations across the globe through various avenues such as rejuvenation of physical fitness, human capital growth, provision of entertainment, and most importantly promotion of unity, just to mention but a few.

It is noteworthy that, the physical fitness and thorough entertainment derive from, either participation in or observation of, sporting activities have continually helped tremendously in sustaining as well as uplifting the healthy living status of the individual in question thereby helping to intensify the number of available manpower in the affected country.

Also, the recent total commercialization of sports has enabled the activity to be universally recognized as a lucrative profession. No doubt, most human capital developments witnessed among several youths or young ones are mainly attributed to sports or the entertainment industry at large. Taking the Nigerian football league as a case study; on the average, a player on a monthly basis smiles to the bank with not less than half a million naira (#500,000).

In addition, sports have succeeded in booming the global broadcasting industry due to its lucrative nature, which has made many potential investors to venture into broadcasting business. It is worthy to note that most media firms, regarding both the print and electronic, were established for the sole purpose of transmitting or publishing sporting activities having acknowledged by the prospective investors the financial implication of such investment.

Among all, the level of unity that is being derived from sports cannot be overemphasized. Several sport participants or organizers can attest to the fact that, sport has been the major engine room behind international unity among most countries. Survey shows that presently sport remains the only tool that truly unites the gathering or meeting involving millions of individuals from diverse backgrounds, races, or affiliations. Surely, it is only a dummy that is yet to know that it is only absolute unity that guarantees thorough peace and development among any group of persons, which is one of the paramount desires of any society.

Today Monday April 6, the world over is commemorating the 2015 International Day of Sport. On 23^rd August 2013, the Sixty-Seventh (67^th) session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly decided to proclaim April 6 of every year as the Int’l Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Previously, the Fifty-eighth (58^th) session of the said Assembly proclaimed 2005 as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education to promote education, health, development and peace.   

In regard to the aforementioned resolution, the UN General Assembly also recognizes the role the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) plays in showcasing the achievements of athletes with impairment to a global audience and in acting as a primary vehicle to change societal perceptions of disability sports.

As the global community marks the annual International Day of Sport, we are expected to embrace sport as a major tool for cordial unity/relationship among individuals or nations, thus ought to be taken seriously by any individual, government, or authority, as the case may be. Therefore, its teachings in every citadel of learning at all levels should be considered paramount and sacrosanct. More so, every parent or guardian is expected to encourage his/her child or ward in sports participation regardless of age considering the social, cultural, health and economic consequence of the said participation.

Above all, the governments at all levels such as local, state and federal ought to in their various capacities not hesitate to finance any sport activity or competition taking place at their respective areas. Also, the various schools ranging from primary to secondary and tertiary, should intensify efforts on the usual annual hosting or organization of sport competitions in their respective schools, and should endeavour to intimate or reach out to the entire public whenever such event is being organized.

It is obvious that in Nigeria recently, sport has been politicized by most concerned stakeholders. In view of this pathetic anomaly, the law makers should enact a strict law that would sanction or severely penalized a member of any sport governing body in the country such as the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) that is found guilty of any fraudulent or selfish act while discharging his or her official duty.

On the other hand, the civil society should endeavour to consistently condemn or criticize the ongoing fanaticism witnessed among sport lovers. They should be meant to understand that fanaticism, which invariably leads to extremism, is a cankerworm that might end up eradicating the prime essence of sports which is unity, peace and development. Statistics indicate that sport fanaticism has succeeded in killing thousands of people as well as maiming millions of them across the globe.

It is needless to state that we all, either individually or collectively, have a role to play in sustaining the overwhelming impact of sport in human development. Think about it!     

 

FDN NWAOZOR
(The Media Ambassador)
__________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

My Candid Letter to All Imolites

MY CANDID LETTER TO IMOLITES: A CLARION CALL TO VOTE WISELY

        

Dear Imolites, I sincerely bring you greetings from the powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no need withholding some facts since the majority of us belong to the same religious faith; I’m referring to the “Jesus Christ” I mentioned above. Of course it was used because it is no longer news that the generality of Imolites comprised of Christians or members of the Christendom.

Fellow Compatriots, frankly life is all about learning from yesterday, living for today and hoping for tomorrow. In the same vein, there comes a point in our lives when we realize who really matters, who never did, and who always will. That is to say; as we learn from our past, live for today as well as hope for or be optimistic over the incoming days, we ought to endeavour to stick mainly to those who will always matter in our precious lives. I sincerely tender my unalloyed apology for the digression, though the prelude was consequential. Meanwhile, let’s hit the nail on the head.

The caption of this open letter bears “A clarion call to vote wisely.” This implies that the letter, which is designated for my fellow beloved Imolites, has to do with the fast approaching gubernatorial cum State Houses of Assembly election. Apparently, it is only a dummy that is yet to acknowledge that the said polls are already by the corner or at our doorsteps.

I’m not here to preach a ponderous sermon; rather I came here to tender only but a gospel truth. Thus I promise to summarize the overall content of the epistle. You would recall that in my last edition on this very platform, I did a work concerning the ongoing “Church interference in electoral matters”, which I also tagged as an epistle. In respect to that critique, I must tell you that this is exactly the right and ripe time our noble society requires the paramount and sacrosanct services of the church.

Taking Imo State as a case study, the church is expected to preach to entire Imolites the gospel truth. And the gospel truth is nothing but to let them know that they are meant to vote wisely and judiciously. Surely, the church is supposed to tell Imolites the basic criteria they ought to concentrate on regarding the idiosyncrasy of the various aspirants, while casting their votes. And the time to do so is now.

In my individual capacity, I thought it wise that as a Public Affairs analyst and Civil Rights activist, I’ve a very vital and cogent role to play as regards the aforementioned forthcoming political exercise. And my role is to tell Imolites that they are meant to vote wisely. But I can’t just ask them to vote wisely without letting them know the prerequisite that guarantees a wise vote, or what they are required to do to ensure that they wisely participate in the said election. And that is the prime essence of this letter. Let’s ride on!

My dear people of Imo State - the Eastern Heartland, as we are prepared to vote come April 11, 2015, I urge us to consider four basic factors critically while assessing the various candidates stipulated to participate in the polls. The factors are antecedent, vision, tolerance, and party affiliation.    

One’s antecedent is his/her background. Your background is your past. And your past includes, parental background, qualifications, accomplishments, and of course your previous public conducts. It is obvious that each of the candidates has a distinct background; therefore we must squarely assess theirs, one after the other. For those among them who have served in one public/political position or the other, we must thoroughly ascertain what they were able to accomplish or achieve while serving in such positions. Antecedents, I repeat is very, very necessary and paramount in a situation like this, thus must not be taken for granted.

Secondly, anyone who intends to serve us either as a governor or legislator as the case may be is expected to have a vision. Rather than concentrating on their so-called manifestoes that seem far-fetched, we should ask them to present to us how they intend to actualize their intentions; and that where mission comes in. I extensively wrote on ‘Vision and Mission’ in one of my previous pieces, which I tagged as “Interwoven veritable tools”. Believe me; a vision without an intended or proposed mission is simply worthless. So we must be extremely careful while assessing their visions.  

Most importantly, let’s discuss tolerance. Take it or leave it, a leader that lacks tolerance doesn’t worth being addressed as one. In other words, a prospective leader who lacks tolerance doesn’t worth giving an iota of space or chance to lead. Tolerance is the quality of letting other people say or do as it pleases them, even though you do not agree or approve of it. Suffice to say; tolerance is the ability to accommodate offensive opinion or action from anyone. I put it up to you that a leader must be tolerant irrespective of the nature of the leadership position.

Let me take you back to what transpired few days ago at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja during the collation of the results of the just concluded Presidential election from the various states of the federation as they were being presented by the respective returning officers on Tuesday March 31. On that fateful day, having granted the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe the privilege to observe as requested by him, he derailed profoundly while enjoying the privilege. In his observation, he called the INEC boss, Prof Attahiru Jega names, stating that the man in question was partial, biased, tribalistic, and illogical. Surely Prof Jega was tolerant enough over the opprobrium constituted by the unscrupulous politico, which was condemned by every rational person present at the occasion. I commend the high level of maturity exhibited by the Chairman of the electoral umpire; that is one of the most fundamental qualities of a good leader. This is why I personally dedicate the peaceful outcome of the said polls to Prof Jega having dedicated it to God Almighty.

Inter alia, I enjoin us to think beyond party affiliation while assessing the candidates because if we concentrate on their political parties, we would stand to make an indelible mistake; let’s concentrate on the individuality or eligibility of the candidates. This aspect was made clear in one of my past works captioned “Thinking beyond party politicking”. Please let’s be concerned with what the aspirant would offer if he eventually emerged victorious; and this could be seen from his past or present conducts, not the political party he belongs as we presume.

My people, we can’t afford to fail Imo State, therefore we must endeavour to do it rightly just as we are known for. A typical Igbo man would say: Eku cha kwa la’m, onye nwere nti nuru. Meaning; I’ve said it all, he who has ears should hear.  At this juncture I say; let’s stick to those who will always matter in our precious lives. Think about it!

 

 

FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
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frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056