Oh! Dear Imo! And beleaguered Kogi!

This is about today’s elections and it is still not about the elections.

A look at the prognosis of the preparations for the governorship election in Imo State showed something like a war cry. It was indeed a call made with the Íkòrò to rally determined soldiers for battle. It was also a fervent cry to gather willing and stoic participants in a campaign that many fear could easily go south. And the various gladiators prepared like the typical Nigerian election stakeholders: in nzogbu nzogbu approach! Now, they would roll out their arsenals with the hope that they had done enough to warrant the Imo electorate they had rallied to choose them as their preferred candidate. But then, that is if the people are really the ones making this choice given the prevailing circumstances in the state.

Imo of today isn’t what Imo was when many of these people currently in charge of the state were not yet born. Imo was a pride land when these nascent leaders were young boys and girls or younger men and women. The people currently in charge of the state have taken it away from what many among them grew up to know themselves. Bad people in the guise of political leaders have snatched the leash and have dragged Imo State to seclusion. They are currently raping the state with unimaginable viciousness.

The Imo of De Sam Mbakwe that had in its belly Umuahia, Aba, Uturu and Avutu has had Abia State carved out of it. With a new direction, reports are that Abia has begun life anew, but Imo can only be recognised only by some of the pride that made the state a cynosure back in the days. Effervescent Owerri and its remarkable people as well as the inimitable Owerri/Mbaise spirit are some of those lovely take-aways. Owerri was once voted as the neatest state capital in Nigeria in the 1980s and Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta LGA of yore wasn’t a far cry either.

Owerri and Mbaise of Imo State also have a variant of the Igbo language that makes many wonder if they are making music or whether they ever get angry. Then, the entertainment history – especially of music, the arts and enjoyment – made Owerri sit atop among the front liners in this very important aspect of human life. Has anyone ever wondered why Rochas Okorocha created a ministry he dedicated to things of that nature and appointed a “Commissioner for Enjoyment”? To many who knew the Owerri of the good life, Okorocha’s move was not out of place.

Before now, even at the worst of times during the kingdoms of Ochinanwata Ikedi Ohakim or Moulder Rochas Okorocha as Imo emperors, people could let their hair down and relax their nerves. Citizens say they could go out in the evenings and at nights to enjoy either the lively (probably boisterous) or calm (and serene or rich) sides of the beautiful Ala Owerri. All these have gone comatose, if not completely dead in the last few years. In the estimation of some concerned Imo citizens, the courts have made and served them a confusing meal. Mmadu e biri la nna ya uzo muta opara… a man now now lays claim to having a first son before his father!

There are pains that Imo and especially Ala Owerri have been denied the full manifestation of the joys inherent in Nda Leti and Aka Simi. These legends are in the mould of Layipo in ibadan, and to unravel these would need a proper round table with those who do not know. To give a hint at what Nda Leti and Aka Simi are, one can begin the consideration from the point of view that Owerri in the South East was the headquarters of the Yoruba equivalent of “Owambe or faaji” (interpret this as you may wish). The Oriental Brothers – the five fingers of a very creative hand, Peacocks International Guitar Band and later Oriental Brothers International of Sir Warrior fame gave verve to the Owerri of the mind. They remain sweet memories that point to the loss of the sweet, old Owerri nay Imo. The people have lost the happy Imo and Owerri to the manipulations of nasty power mongers and politicians’ shenanigans.

Regardless of all of these, many people in Imo State have expressed the contention that they would go out to vote because a-naghi a so ngbágbú eje ògù (you don’t go to war half-hearted or afraid you might be shot dead). The election today is one opportunity to reject what they don’t want, and people have been telling themselves to so do using their votes. There is that determination to get it right, but that is if the circumstances permit. Those circumstances are the prognosis earlier mentioned.

Of the three states where elections are coming up, Imo is the one with the most controversies. The prevalent insecurity in the South East region of the country is one of them and it is of a huge concern in the state. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that would conduct the election there has expressed concern but suddenly went mute about it. Reports say 1,700 people had been killed in various violent attacks in the region and Imo State has its fair share of that humongous amount human casualty. The scourge of the so-called “unknown gunmen” is still very much troubling the South East and the region is daily suffering from their unwanted presence. How would that not impact the election in Imo State?

Kogi is another kettle of fish. In the realm of electoral violence and sundry vote-time brigandage, Kogi State has feathers in its cap. The late Alhaji Ado Ibrahim, the legendary Ohinoyi of Ebiraland saw the kind of heartache political brigandage could cause. Governor Yahaya Bello too was reportedly targeted recently. The slain PDP women leader in the state, who was burnt in her home has a family that would eternally rue her entry into the political arena. And the beat goes on…

It has been in a rough patch in the last three and a half years – in Imo and in Kogi. Our photo-op democracy is on another cruise and we, the passengers, are sitting still in the numbing ride to nowhere. A reflection on our democratic experience since 1999 shows a country that has been hijacked. But we will always reject that contention and believe that all will be well without effort and with administrations that are obviously rudderless and at best selfish.

Why is Bayelsa not in this opinion? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

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