In recent times, both the traditional and social media have been awash with speculations of clandestine move by some political leviathans to create a premeditated confusion in Enugu state ahead of the 2023 general elections.
As a result of their deliberately nefarious occupation, the state is gradually being engrossed by cacophony of political volcanoes with a sweeping effect capable of upsetting the political harmony and economic prosperity strenuously launched and maintained over the years. Their projected goal, when confusion envelops the system, is to give the present administration a bad name with the aim of usurping power and hamstring the prevailing administration.
One of the strategies long deployed by them is to plant moles and raise a cult of gangsters that will gag concerned opinions by threats and physical assaults. As recently seen; both in media and outside the media, these paid jobbers have been snarling against logic and reasoning whenever the political future of the state was discussed. There have been various attempts by them to distort history and introduce a novel narration that would suit their self-serving interest, and of course, their paid employer.
A further vicious scheme flagged by this camp is to forcefully interfere with prevailing and generally accepted democratic process of which they are party to its establishment in a bid to hold unto power perpetually. For example, in the wake to the 2015 elections in the state, even when it was obvious that Enugu West Senatorial zone was just concluding its turn in the rotation formula in the governorship seat, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, exploiting his position as a Deputy Senate President, ferociously bared his fang of disharmony by his attempt to scuttle what had made him who he was, and still, and conceivably, what he may likely turn out to be.
The Senator defied all entreaties to allow reasoning to guide his steps. His political rampage and overambitious overture almost set the state ablaze. But for the intervention of wisdom by elders and statesmen, coupled with Mr. Sullivan Chime’s self-sacrifice, Enugu could have been reduced to a shipwreck. The Senator was virtually inebriated by power in a lone search for self-gratification in what could have consumed the state, and exposed the vulnerable to unhealthy rivalry and ruins. Thanks to the politically mature for averting the tumbling lava.
Here goes again, the same man. Mr. Ike Ekweremadu could have been a man with admiration and a man that represents his people in a fair way, but he has been driven wild, or has allowed the gangsters and sycophants that encircle him becloud his sense of judgment and insulated him from the pounding batter of public opinions. Mr. Ike should look beyond his nose, admonish his foot soldiers and those he rightly called “Political jobbers” to allow peace to reign in the state.
In the meantime, it’s apposite to clear the air on a lingering but unanswered question often posed by, perhaps, partisan observers, whether borne out of naïveté or feigned ignorance as to whether Senator Ike has told anyone of his governorship ambition. The question appeared naïve to political watchers and keen followers of the dimensions the political journey has taken over the years, and Ike’s style of political meandering. The Senator has learned and become a master in political inscrutability. However, his recent wave of political motion has given him away.
First, the Senator’s busybody, and abdication of his official duties in Abuja to roost in Enugu in order to allow him voyage or frolic to villages, churches, events, etc, he has no business is an apt clue that he’s cooking something fishy that could easily be deciphered. The Senator, in recent times, has been junketing from one function to the other, both invited and non-invited. Has he become the State Commissioner or Federal Minister of Tourism? Question.
Second, a number of partisan and non-partisan groups have sprung up against his ambition of plundering himself into the Lion Building, which they have chastised as “inordinate”. His body language is pointing to the fact that 2023, for him, will be a do-or-die affair.
Surprisingly, most of these groups calling on him to respect the prevailing political permutation and established zoning principles were from his zone – Enugu West Senatorial District, where he’s been tightly sitting on their common interest for close to 20 years. The people of the zone are grumbling out of frustration. Must it be only one person? It’s becoming a sit-tight syndrome typical of dictatorial style associated with military leaders. There’s no gainsaying that the Senator could have stealthily and secretly discussed his ambition with his kinsmen, which they could have considered, anti-people and against the general good of the people, Ike being one of the greatest beneficiaries of all times in Enugu state. Must a man continue to force himself on the people who have already rejected him?
