OPINION: Obiano In Ogbunike; The Truth Of The Matter

The beautiful community Ogbunike, which historically is one of the sons of Iguedo, the daughter of the legendary Eri, has come under media analysis in the past couple of days.

As a worthy and concerned son of the land, I have made efforts to read the various perspectives of the argument being projected in the social and traditional media. Those are what great democracies are made of.

There must be various shades to every issue or it would no longer be a democracy but a tyranny.

That is the ideal Senator Chuba Okadigbo projected and died for!From what I discerned, Comr. Harris Chuma stoked the ember of ‘political cataclysm’ for writing an Open Letter, asking the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, to fulfill the promise (loosely seen as a debt in Igbo land), which he made to Ogbunike people in 2014.According to his letter, which I had to read repeatedly to know why it was disrupting the system, the Governor, while campaigning then had come before the people of Ogbunike to promise that he would deploy the influence of the office he was seeking to bring about the transformation of the Ogbunike Cave, a great historical site, recognised by UNESCO and other world bodies.In another satirical piece, the same Harris Chuma had gone ahead to remind the First Lady, Chief Mrs. Ebele Obiano, who happens to be ‘Nwa Ada’ (daughter) of Ogbunike, of her pivotal role in ensuring that her husband brings development to the town.This had exacerbated the matter, because a torrent of invectives has been published in all manners of platforms deployed towards smearing the writer, Harris Chuma, for daring to speak up. This for me is disheartening! And the reason is the level we have taken sycophancy to in the politics of Nigeria, especially Anambra State.For the sake of record-keeping, the Governor of any state is an employee of the citizens, with a solemn mandate to ensure the welfare of the people over a period of time, in this case, 8 years. By virtue of the term democracy, a Governor is not an emperor, who exists like a lord over fiefdoms.

For such a plea, demanding, rightfully I must add, that dividends of democracy come to his people in Ogbunike, the least I expected was some of the reactions I read online with the tone of paid agents, who wasted time and energy; if you ask me, insulting the writer rather than addressing the issues he raised. Responses to the issues raised by Harris Chuma, would have been in the shade of explaining why the Ogbunike Cave in Ogbunike, much like the proposed airport in Anambra North, is yet to be a reality.Perhaps the government, like someone pointed out, has realised it cannot handle it without partnerships, but the spirit of transparency connotes that this would have been communicated from the onset when the promise was made in 2014.

That is integrity!Those unseen hands hypocritically defending this maladroitness should have used their smart phones, invested in sycophancy for stipends to check what Egypt, Seychelles, Kenya and Gambia make from tourism and expand their imaginations to accommodate what it would mean to the economy of Ogbunike town.While the Government has considerably excelled in the area of security, there is also great need to factor in tourism, which is boosted in secured environments. But someone highlighted this in a letter of advice and a horde of faceless individuals rose attackingly with insults. While the writer, Harris Chuma, made his points as a known person with his photographs while all these other persons offering their defence had been doing so under pseudonyms. If one stands by his/her statements, no matter how stupid, the most dignifying thing to do would be to do so with one’s genuine identities.This brings me to the ugly trend where youths, having been denied jobs by the activities of people in power only get recruited as online trolls to insult whoever has spoken to power. Of course, that would not take the society any further than we can see or feel today. As an Ogbunike man, I should feel slighted that my traditional ruler, Igwe John Umenyiora, may God bless his soul, had prepared to host the Governor of the state, only for the gesture to be shunned without explanation.

I should feel angry that since my traditional ruler died, the State Government refused to send the town a message of condolence. These trolls, who claim to hail from our town, refused to see the insult to the entire Ogbunike people, insulated in these actions by the Government but can see the fact that Harris Chuma is always saying profanities about women on the social media or that he once campaigned for the Governor. Truth is that anyone by his conviction can support a political candidate stupidly or otherwise, depending on certain personal and mercurial convictions. If the government takes up the challenge being thrown at it today, to refurbish Ogbunike Cave, and complete the Oye Olisa-Kisa Road, which has remained abandoned for years now, who says Harris Chuma will not turn to praise the Government like he used to do?In a matter of this nature, let everyone focus on the message and not the messenger.

Sometimes, a mad person could be the harbinger of transformational prophecies. Let the Government mobilise the contractors back to work in Ogbunike; it will be best for all of us who are indigenes. E kwu si go mu o!

Barr. Johnbosco Okwuego (JP)