By Val Igwebuike
The recent and still ongoing political skirmish in Imo State between former governor Rochas Okorocha and his successor, Hope Uzodinma, did not come as a surprise to many political watchers in the state. The unguarded and shameless fray was long expected. From the opinions of public affairs analysts, the long awaited spat didn’t come from the angle initially anticipated.
Discerning observers of political rigmarole in Imo state believe that the immediate cause of the current fight as tactically portrayed was a mere camouflage. It was a hard product to sell to the members of the public as to why the deafening noise was made by the two gubernatorial gladiators in the Eastern Heartland.
The open confrontation and physical combat in the estate of the former Imo State first lady, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha was a carefully orchestrated plan to distract the attention of Imo people from getting to know the true account of the story.
From a critically authentic source, the main reason for the whole brouhaha in the state has got nothing to do with the good of Imo State and the welfare of her citizens.
The major cause of the entire political altercation is believed to be powered by undercurrents from some powerful political individuals outside the South East political enclave. The desperate political disposition of the Fulani political hegemony to still retain the presidential powers, and the conspicuous and unpretentious ambition of the Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba man, to take over Nigeria’s biggest political seat in Aso Rock come 2023, is the unarguable cause of the war between Rochas’ men and Hope’s camp.
Respected Igbo political affairs analysts in the state all agree that both the northern political gladiators and their South West counterparts fear the persistent clamour for Igbo presidency in 2023 may jeopardize their chances to actualize their personal presidential ambitions. Neither the Fulani political hegemony fronting Rochas nor the Tinubu protagonists using Uzodinma wish for the actualisation of a President of Igbo extraction in Nigeria.
The trouble did not start recently, but only began manifesting lately. The political intrigues and intricacies at the federal level as well as the ever changing political romance between the fulani political gladiators and the politicians in the South East was the potent factor that necessitated the not too meticulously articulated fight on the side of the incumbent governor, Hope Uzodinma.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the unseen man behind the current Imo political feud, had thought his clandestine antics to disorganise the Igbo sociocultural leadership for his presidential ambition did not yield expected result. And seeing Rochas as the man doing everything possible to mend the falling walls of Ohanaeze Ndigbo sociocultural leadership, decided to continue the fight through Hope Uzodinma, his political eye in the South East. To deflate the widening balloon of Okorocha’s presidential support base in the country, so as to position himself as the biggest presidential personality from the Southern Nigeria, Tinubu decided to harvest his seeds from the political farms of Uzodinma as benefits of his investment in Uzodinma’s successful gubernatorial ambition.
To actualize the target for Tinubu, Uzodinma chose the option of using Okorocha’s known weak point to attract public sympathy and support to deal with the former governor. In Imo state, it is generally acknowledged that the former governor’s greed for land ownership is to a superlative degree.
During his time as Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha was notorious for using the state’s gubernatorial authority to covert people’s and state government’s landed property to himself. There were many land disputes and court cases as a result of his rapacious quest for land grabbing.
Uzodinma and his men saw that area of public interest against the former governor as the best pathway to reducing his political clout and possibly scuttle the chances of actualising his presidential ambition.
By the political permutations, of Uzodinma’s camp which is ferociously projecting the presidential ambition of Tinubu in the South East, was grossly infuriated by Okorocha’s visible capacity to challenge and prevent the realisation of Prof George Obiozor’s lifetime ambition to be the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo from Imo State.
Knowing Prof Obiozor as the right-hand man of the incumbent governor and fearing that his emergence as Ohanaeze President General may tamper with his presidential dream, Okorocha aided in the establishment of a formidable faction that formed a parallel leadership in the apex Igbo sociocultural organization. That formidable and vibrant factional leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is headed by a young technocrat, Engr. Chidi Ibe.
That was the last sin of Rochas Okorocha that broke the camel’s back. His perceived involvement in the creation of a parallel leadership to challenge the authority of Prof. Obiozor was the remote cause of the spat in the estate on Akachi road. It was surreptitiously orchestrated to hide the role of powerful influence from the north west and south west geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
Of course, the northern political friends and associates of Sen. Okorocha didn’t live the delicate situation unchallenged. Their retaliation was the EFCC going after the properties of the Jagaban in Lagos State. The immediate reaction from the political bigwigs in the north, who are strong supporters and protectors of Okorocha’s political strategies checkmating the entire south brought the power equilibrum that halted the malady in the interim.
