I watched with pity the poorly attended flag-off campaign rally of Hon Chijioke Edeoga and more disdain for a Man who is neither in control of his own affairs, but is rhythmically in a macabre dance for self-destruction
It was good that he rented a few people to his home town to witness his rejection by his own people who he despised and have all these while underrated in all his political life. This is Edeoga who could organise his governorship flag-off rally in the capital city of the state he hopes to preside over or even choose the second urban Nsukka Township, where he claims he has large followership, but chose his remote-swamp Eha-Amufu native community to kick-off his campaign.
It was good that Edeoga exhibited his nepotism before the whole world who would now agree with the lamentations of the people of Isi-Uzo local government on Edeoga’s discriminatory tendencies and his rash behaviours toward the people he claimed he had represented all these years.
In his misery campaign rally, Edeoga continued to boast of his acts of nepotism, when he shamelessly enumerated that all his modest achievements in Isi-Uzo local government council were concentrated in Eha-Amufu. He named road grading, electricity and bridge repair projects, all within Eha-Amufu, as the hallmark of his local government administration, in a local government council where there are five homogenous communities that make up the council area.
What he did not tell his few acolytes was that at that time that he was the council chairman, the monthly local government federal allocation were taken into Mgbuji forest every month where himself, Chijioke Edeoga and his uncle, Mkpume 1, shared it however they wanted. He also failed to tell his uninformed audience that he could not even grade the road from the local government headquarters to his Mgbuji forest, which kept him stranded most times that he barbarically carted away with the Isi-Uzo funds from Ikem to Eha-Amufu.
Edeoga is a man who does not like Isi-Uzo local government but cares most about how to gulp its milk and honey by pretence. Another instance of his clear disdain for the people of Isi-Uzo local government is his belief that the people cannot add any value to his arrogant ambition. How can a man who wants to contest an exalted office such as the governorship of a state refuse to consult his local government people to announce his ambition? He believes that he is more Nsukka than the rest of the people of Isi-Uzo simply because he married from the Obayi family. At any time one brings up the issue of situating Isi-Uzo in its realistic political context of belonging to Enugu East senatorial district, Edeoga would flare up, yet he is contesting under the shadow that he belongs to Enugu East senatorial district. This is a double face at its nakedness.
Till date Edeoga has not called the people of Isi-Uzo local government council, either as stakeholder or the general assembly to inform them that he wants to be the governor of Enugu state, not even consultation on individual basis. So, how can we vote for him? Truth is that pride goes before a fall and hubris is the major characteristic tragedy of Chijioke Edeoga. Those who tried him said that he refused even to listen to their ‘myopic views’ about how to go about the Isi-Uzo governorship quest. How can a man who knows it all rule in a democratic setting, who no other person makes sense to except him and his godfather-in-laws?
Truth again is that Edeoga has further diminished the chances of the voice of Isi-Uzo people from being heard in the present democratic dispensation due to his ill-tempered ambition, ego and over blotted self-esteem. The people of Isi-Uzo would have not been hated by their brothers in Enugu east senatorial zone if Edeoga had measured his ambition with wisdom. Edeoga has taken Isi-Uzo backwards by his posturing as more of an Nsukka candidate than an Enugu east senatorial zone candidate, if he understood the identity crisis of the people of Isi-Uzo local government in the present experience.
Isi-Uzo will never talk ill of Nsukka zone because it once politically belonged there and played a major role but has moved on which Edeoga was supposed to understand in that contest, but feverishness and phobia dogged Edeoga down to his present doom. I pity his present condition of being stranded, confused and lost, but such is the lesson from a hubristic character such as Edeoga.
If Edeoga was strategic enough, he would have listened to the voices that urged him otherwise, but for the pride in him and inability to be a man of his own self-conviction. There are too many tragic flaws of Chijioke Edeoga such as the one that has presently led to his being stranded in his present political party which is in the hands of judges at the federal high court in Abuja where his hope is hanging in the balance. Just look at another form of his hubris:- to contest as a sole candidate in a primary election they were three aspirants. That shows how democratic Edeoga will be assuming he becomes the ****of Enugu state.
It was learnt that Edeoga did not even consult some of his co-aspirants but went ahead to play what he thought was a fast one on them but which is now his sucker punch. I mean, this man does not in any form merit governorship of Enugu state because he lacks decorum for piloting people’s affairs. Really I pity Edeoga in his self delusion that he can make governorship when he cannot administer his Mgbuji community but resorted to imposition of community leadership using his family and imprisonment of young village brothers’ in a quest for arrogant communal power.
How many friends does Chijioke Edeoga have in Isi-Uzo that will attract our votes to him if not but just a closed circle of Benji Edeoga and Sam Ugwuede only. How many people from Isi-Uzo are currently in his campaign train? Let him parade them! Edeoga loves Isi-Uzo so much, yet the first thing he did in the Labour party when he forced himself into the party was to change the House of Assembly candidate to suit his wimp and caprice. Edeoga’s solution to self-inflicted injury is to go for confession, restitution and reparation so that he can become humble, born again and cleansed to once more seek the face of God in his affairs. Any failure to do this may attract God’s severe wrath on him.
Nnaji Odo writes from Amauzam, Isi-Uzo
