By Kenneth Uwadi
Saul looked like royalty: tall, handsome, noble. He became king when he was 30 years old and reigned over Israel for 42 years. Early in his career, Saul made a fatal mistake. He disobeyed God by failing to completely destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions, as God had commanded. A key part of the conditional covenant between God and Israel was obedience. Saul, as God’s anointed king, was responsible for keeping that command. The Lord withdrew his favor from Saul and had Samuel the prophet anoints David as king. Sometime later, David killed the giant Goliath. As the Jewish women were dancing in a victory parade, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7, NIV) Because the people made more of David’s single victory than all of Saul’s, the king went into a rage and became jealous of David. Rochas Okorocha is the biblical Saul who lost the favour of God to David. God took away Okorocha’s Kingdom and gave it to Hope Uzodinma.
Today is yesterday’s tomorrow and tomorrow is today’s future. Therefore, the most important and only available moment for us to act is today. Where we are today in every sense is a direct result of the decisions we have taken in the past. I read a story on This day Newspapers of 6th January, 2022 where former governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha openly accused incumbent governor, Hope Uzodimma, of instigating the killings of a former presidential adviser, Ahmed Gulak, some traditional rulers and over 140 people during the unknown gunmen reign. In the Bible, Saul Instead of building up Israel, wasted most of his time chasing David through the hills. Okorocha is a Senator. He has wasted all his time in the Senate chasing after Uzodinma.
Okorocha’s stories about Gulak which judging from his past, are nothing more than an unappetizing combo of cassava-market nonsense, careless hawking of plenty of lies and further attempt at self-celebration. Whenever Okorocha is on air, he usually presents himself as one of the world’s most righteous human beings and competent leaders. If anyone has a reason to kill Gulak, it should be him. Every Imo man knows how angry he was with Gulak over the APC governorship primaries. It was even reported that two weeks before Gulak’s death, He met him in Abuja and threatened him that he will never forgive him for the role he played in the last Imo APC Governorship Primaries that returned Hope Uzodinma as Governorship Candidate instead of his son in law ,Okorocha claimed that if Gulak had not helped Uzodinma he would not have become Governor of Imo state and be recovering his family properties acquired during his tenure as governor .But that is a security matter and such matters are for the security agencies.
Rochas is now a political carcass in Imo politics. When he was governor, Imo’s condition under his watch was too dangerous for silence. He and his clique of thieves turned the state into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. He is a man who sees himself as a demigod of some sorts and takes pride in looking down on everybody and would order an elected Governor around as if he was dug from the earth. Since Hope Uzodinma threatened to publicly name the sponsors of Insecurity in Imo he has taken over the airwaves, visiting radio houses, Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Channel TV to buoy his ego and selfish interests. Shall we call this guilty conscience? The irony of this madness is that this man who should cover his face in shame is the one dominating television and radio stations and the pages of Newspapers. Time shall tell.
In 2019 when Uzodinma sought to run for governor under APC, some self-serving people including Rochas hiding under the garb of progressives tried to use the same style of “Media Blackmail” which they applied against Former Governor Ohakim but they could not succeed. In fact, there was nothing ‘fetish’ they did not do or say to ensure that Uzodinma did not succeed. Still, they failed woefully. They have started again. They will do all they can to dethrone Hope but they will fail again. In all modesty, Governor Uzodinma deserves a second term and he will get it. He has demonstrated unparalleled zeal and commitment in the development of the State. He has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with the welfare of the State. He is also a compassionate Christian. Though solid in his faith and standing for traditional family values, he’s not an uncaring extremist. He lives what he believes and respects others’ beliefs even when they disagree with him. Only the blind cannot see what he has done, and will continue to do. Only the deaf cannot hear what he is doing presently and only the dumb cannot pray to God for him to win a second term mandate. He is simply phenomenal, irresistible and insurmountable. Imo is the land of Hope. And so shall it be.
-Kenneth Uwadi lives in Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State.