By Anthony Iwuoma
One of the things that excited me as a young Catholic growing up before I was bitten by the Pentecostal bug was the Italian slant. The Catholic church, then being Roman, always used Italian words that fascinated youngsters like me.
For instance, Nunc Dimittis, the Song of Simeon in Luke 2:29 – 32, where the old man saw the long awaited Lord Jesus and would now gladly depart in peace. In other words, church agbasaala; let us share the grace and go home.
Strangely, there are people in Imo North who still yearn for Egypt, long after the slavery is over. These people need to come aboard the ship sailing to Canaan land now under the charge of Distinguished Senator (Sir) Frank Ibezim, DSSFI. The acrimonious contest for the coveted seat is over and that Ibezim is firmly in the saddle is a fait accompli.
The reluctance to face reality reminds me of the Ku Klux Klan, KKK, a white supremacist and hate group in the United States of America. Its extremist thrust is white nationalism, which seeks to sustain the supremacy and exclusiveness of the white over all other races.
It is shocking that people with such loathsome mentally could be hibernating in Imo North Senatorial District, who still see themselves as numero uno, even in crushing defeat. Strangely, they bear the same obnoxious KKK acronym and in their bid to sustain their myopia have chosen to impugn the generosity of Ibezim, the senator, representing Okigwe, otherwise known as Imo North Senatorial Zone in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.
Incidentally, I don’t know the composition of our KKK but I believe they are gifted and well endowed with the capacity to love, to be objective if they put off the acquired coloured lenses with which they see things.
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Ibezim offended them because he extended a hand of fellowship to the FCT where he encouraged a school library project. His accusers feigned ignorance of his membership of the senate committee for basic education.
So, they wrote: “How on earth will our Senator waste our money in school in Wuse, Zone4, Abuja?… He should stop using our money for self-glorification and aggrandizement. Abuja is not your primary Constituency. Sen. Ibezim should come home and let’s find ways to make this place better and not the Abuja media show he’s doing.”
It is noteworthy that the purveyors of this self-destructive mindset are the same people that insisted that Ibezim would never be senator. They now recruit minions to disparage public peace with jaundiced and ill crafted opinions.
Unfortunately for them, they find it difficult to mask the triplet hatred, envy and bitterness behind their action. This much was evidenced in their quibble: ‘OKIGWE ZONE BELONGS TO ALL OF US, AS NO MAN IS MORE OKIGWE THAN ANOTHER.’
They also wanted to know who is deceiving DSSFI. This, indeed, is laughable. Deception has been the stock in trade of this breed of politicians in Imo North right from the trumped up certificate forgery scandal during the electioneering campaign till Ibezim’s superiority was affirmed by the apex court in the land. However, it is like these people are yet to learn from the political lesson 101 that Ibezim taught them few months back despite their armada of humongous wealth and sleaze.
Ibezim cannot be deceived. He has in his team of admirers selfless, well-heeled folks, who stuck with him all the way the shenanigans of the unrelenting haters fought him to a standstill; when all hope seemed lost. If these hot brains did not abandon him in those bleak moments despite inducements, is it now they would be deceiving him? Is it not sad how jealousy could fuddle the brain of man?
No reasonable person can accuse Ibezim of self-glorification. This humble giant was dismissed as unpopular in the run up to his election because of his humble and self-effacing nature. Has he suddenly changed too soon; where is ‘self-glorification and aggradisement’ coming from? How and when did he begin to appropriate Okigwe as his personal estate? Truly, hatred has a way of throwing up one for ridicule if not quickly curtailed, especially when hinged on mere straw.
It looks as if the malicious bile eating these people sore does not let them to realise that the game ended months back. Instead of inviting ‘our senator’ home, they are the ones that should repent and return from fantasy land and team up with focused and hardworking Ibezim for the good of the zone.
Ibezim is very much at home in terms of his legislative functions and as a ‘homeboy’. He has set up constituency offices across the zone and employed our sons and daughters to run the affairs there. These people are his eyes and ears in every hamlet and clan in Imo North. The man himself comes home often to have a feel of home and his constituency.
Within so short a time, Ibezim has risen to be one of the stars to watch in the senate, not only making his voice and Imo North heard but has also kicked off his school library project and sponsored or supported motions, including moving for the reactivation of power transmission plant in Okigwe.
Now back to the KKK, it is on record that Ibezim’s charity actually began at home. The project was first launched in Okigwe North and Okigwe South. It will be most unfortunate if his accusers did not notice or are simply being mischievous.
However, Ibezim ‘wasting their money’ needs to be properly situated. Firstly, which one is their money and who told them it was their money Ibezim used? Or does not Ibezim have his own money anymore just because he became a senator? Are these people unaware of his past philanthropic acts? How much, anyway, is the cost of the support Ibezim gave the FCT school?
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Anyway, assuming, it is actually their money, is it really a waste? Has resentment affected reasonableness and common sense? Who does not know that a legislator’s work thrives on ‘rub my back, I rub yours’? Did they consider the positive ripple effect of Ibezim’s small gesture before putting this drivel to paper
Whatever he did is in line with biblical injunction of casting your bread upon the waters. Some may think it is foolish but the Bible tells us that you shall yet gather your bread again in the morning. Ibezim just cast his bread or Okigwe bread (it doesn’t matter whose) on the waters; my hope is that these people would not change the narrative by the time the goodwill begins to pour into Imo North, as truly it must.There is certainly tendency that fellow lawmakers, now conscious of Ibezim’s egalitarian and broadminded disposition, shall not only support his motions or bills but also his lobby for citing the much needed infrastructural development in the zone.
The bottom line is that we should acknowledge the fact that Okigwe Zone remains the most backward in Imo, and for no fault of others. It is self-inflicted and now we have a rising star in the Senate, let us not pull him down with the same littleness and foibles of yesteryears. Ibezim should be allowed to network nationally for therein lies the hope of reciprocity that shall exalt our zone.
It is time in Okigwe we must not resist attempts to recruit us to splash inanities on public sphere. Yes, it is your right to write or speak; it is also my right not to be diminished. Freedom is no licence to murder truth. People who could not see beyond their runny noses should not try to obstruct others that are farsighted. Okigwe is in dire need of development and any gesture that could attract this is welcome.
Let our angry brethren wake up to the reality that we are no more in any contest, if at all, only a contest of ideas for the good of our beleaguered zone is welcome. Even if they don’t want to contribute to the ideas bank, they should learn to cry inside their bedchambers and leave Ibezim to do what Imo North sent him to the National Assembly to do and which he is doing quite well right now.
Nnam, jisie ike; don’t be distracted. Jehovah egosila si ya wu Eze.
