FORMER Ebonyi deputy governor, former governor, former senator, Ebonyi South and current Minister (representing Ebonyi) of Works, David (Dave) NwezeUmahi, fancies himself a modern version of the biblical world-famous King David, and wanted his people, to so, hold him.
Some of the projects he executed as governor which he named after himself, bore and still bearing, his “King David” alluding signature.
To his credit, he seems enamoured of scholarship, with two self-promoting projects; King David Gifted Children Academy, Ochudo and King David University of Medical Sciences (KDUMS), Uburu, being in the education sector.
Uburu in Ohaozara LG, is the birth-place of the former governor, following in the tradition of many of his colleagues who sited similar self-glorification projects where their umbilical chords were interred, with minimal regard for suitability and sustainability.
But he was smart enough to make the state university part of the deal for his porting from the PDP to the APC when Muhammad Buhari held sway as president. Apart from getting then-president to commission the institution, he got Buhari’s federal government to take over the running of the varsity.
On September 6, 2022, Umahi got his wish, but the federal operators didn’t fancy his King David nomeclature. It gotta go, though the naming honour, was still reserved for him. The institution was subsequently renamed David NwezeUmahi University of Medical Sciences (DNUUMS). For the federal government, there is a difference between David, born 25 July 1964. to Elder Joseph UmahiNwaze and Margaret Umahi of Umunaga, and David, the son of Jesse. At least, let every man answer his name.
Last Thursday, federally-owned News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported the lamentation of the minister in Abakaliki, during a chat with newsmen, a day after he dismissed 40 journalists he invited for a presser in Abuja as “not existent”. Among those dismissed as media nobodies were representatives of Punch, Tribune, Vanguard, Leadership, Daily Independent, Peoples Daily, TVC, NTA, Arise TV, as well as major online publications, among others.
His defence for walking out on them, was that he only wanted to appreciate media houses that “worked hard for us during President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration of projects in Lagos. I wanted the appreciation to be surprising to the selected media houses but my media aide didn’t handle it properly”
Here is a clear case of lack of emotional intelligence failing a worthy cause, but aren’t we all flawed?
Back to the sob story of treachery he claimed he was served by beneficiaries of his political and certainly financial ripping biceps as governor, the reincarnated King David claimed those he helped to power a year ago, are now avoiding him, while literally sitting on “gold” as Minister, with juicy portfolio.
That is rarely heard of in Nigeria; that allies and beneficiaries of a political lord, who can still dispense patronage, would give him a wide possible berth as confirmed by the now-deserted minister himself. Who is that politician who is self-content, to pass on Abuja goodies, especially when the one dispensing is desperate to remain a god, to be worshipped, like Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, who was seen in a viral video relishing a monarch in the state, kneeling at his feet, at a public function. Truly, there are kings and there are kings.
King David of Ebonyi is pained worshippers are fleeing him, even when he still considers himself a powerful rumbler in the jungle of Nigerian politics as a starboy of APC and Tinubu administration.
Former governors holding federal appointments, don’t always seem to know when to let go, after assisting successors to power. For someone who appears not so blessed with PTT (Pause, Think, Talk), mental acuity, even at almost 61, he easily betrayed his mindset that he was offended with his successor, Governor Francis Nwifuru’s rising profile as the leader in the state. Though Umahi tried to sound like a peaceable fellow, promising not to engage the governor in roforofo like what is playing out in Rivers with another Tinubu starboy, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, those branded as renegades by King David, would be silly, to take his peace offering as more than what Yoruba will call mojamosa (knowing when to retreat and attack).
Hear the minister, “It is only Chief Onyekachi Nwebonyi who will openly acknowledge that I am his father and boss.
“The others (he was particular about members of the National Assembly from the state), feel that by doing so, the state governor, my successor, will be angry with them.
“The governor cannot do that because he too openly acknowledges that I was instrumental to his emergence.
“I have done my bit, have left the stage and have to respect myself.
“There are always pathways to successes and failures and when you dig for someone to fail, you have already failed.
“I will never regret making him my successor as he, alongside few others, stood with me during the hard decision of defecting to the APC.”
Granted nobody is perfect, but something is fundamentally wrong with him losing all his allies but one, the very first time he stepped out of the state, despite having being around since 2007 as acting state chairman of PDP. Maybe, he is the problem and not the alleged back-stabbing former allies. Is it possible for everyone, save one, to be wrong, even in a crowd of just 20 people? Maybe they were just tolerating him all this while as the party leader in the state, then in PDP and now APC, who held the proverbial knife and the yam, in sharing party tickets. Now, he is an Abuja politician as former state lords, with fading relevance are derided, and his true worth with men, is on full display. If it is just about patronage, it would be much easier for the lawmakers to be playing home and away, perching their loyalty delicately to him in Abuja and the governor, back home. But dumping him and his billions, calls for sober reflection on his part. At least, it is obvious to all that he lacks civility in communication. Two, his pride has been on full display since Tinubu tapped him. Three, he feels untouchable and walks around with siege mentality worn on his collar.
Though the David he is trying to replicate was a man of war, Minister Dave can choose the peace of Son of David. How can everyone desert him at a go? Yoruba will say kiburutiti ko ma kuenikanmoni (at least some people should stick, thick and thin).
The Minister said the betrayal had changed him from having political godsons to political friends. Bravo. But he should also choose the friends well this time and not shrink the size. Yoruba will say, “Tori otebawonlegberin ore, bi irinwobanbu e, irinwo a ma yin e. Even the rumbuctious Wike has his boi-boi lawmakers on the leash in Port-harcourt, while Umahi couldn’t sustain fraternity with Abuja-based Ebonyi lawmakers. Something isn’t right somewhere. The Minister can start with Proverbs 17:28.
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