IHEDIOHA AT 56: Happy Birthday Your Excellency
By DR. CHUKS OSUJI, OON, FNIPR, Owerri
A couple of weeks ago if not barely one month, I posited an article with a philosophical question, is it not time when God will answer the prayers of Imo people? It was not an accidental question but a determined question to challenge the Almighty God to do the most needful.
With regards to Emeka Ihedioha’s travail. it was a travail of the many for which many of us in obedience to the legal authority of our nation accepted. Yes, after the judgement of 14-01-2020, many people were so agitated that it was only a thin space that prevented them from a revolutionary action.
No, it did not happen because our state and nation are greater than Emeka Ihedioha. But more than that, any other behaviour perhaps social upheaval would have resulted in a catastrophic consequences which would have resulted in the loss of lives and destruction of property which Emeka Ihedioha himself would not have liked because as a Christian Puritan, he has unlimited faith and confidence in Almighty God believing that power, real power belongs to God.
Today, as he turns 56, he is still waxing in ebullient energy and general popularity.
Recently, as in many other ceremonies, I attended the burial of a prominent person on Mbaise, Engr. Emma Ojinere. As the solemn ceremony was progressing with a specific mourning mood but the silence was suddenly broken with The arrival of Emeka Ihedioha. In fact, heaven was let loose as the mourners saw Ihedioha. With uncontrollable hubbub making the burial indeed, a secondary issue.
Today, it’s almost a year and 3months since the apex court of the land (Supreme Court) reversed this victory and mandate. Yet his popularity has continued to soar. Why, one may ask?
Although he governed Imo State for almost eight months, he left a permanent record of monumental accomplishments which if he had remained up till this day, I am sure, absolutely sure, a myriad of problems confronting Imo State and it’s people would have been culped by more than half. Because ever since he lost the race in 2015, he went back to the drawing board, strategising not only how to win in 2019 but also how to govern Imo State. Thus, when he was declared the winner in 2019, it was not accidental to him as he knew how, where and when to start.
Another important aspect of his disposition was how gradually even though very painfully he acquised to the Supreme Court ruling knowing that the constitution is more superior to anybody. He did not loose his head but remained calm waiting for the miracle of God or do I say for celestial powers to unfold their plans for him and their plans for Imo State. Because according to Winchester Haas a political scientist,”In functional politics which is the collective behaviour of the populace, anything can happen at any time.” For many of us, Ihedioha’s case is not yet over and can never be over because man’s power is limited, man’s wisdom is limited, man’s manipulation is limited but God’s own behaviour may be very slow but it is bound to manifest.
Even if nothing changes, but nature has a way of compensating aggrieved minds. But to many including SANS and other experts in constitutional laws, Emeka Ihedioha’s case is not yet over until it is over.
On his 56th birthday, he can continue to leverage on his popularity and as a good Christian, sustain himself with undiluted faith in the Almighty God because one day begins a story and no day ends such a story. As a historian, I subscribe to the axiom,”History cannot be subverted.” After all, according to Arnold Smith an European Historian,”layers of history will reveal different aspects of actions and contractions of man but beneath the layer is the truth Which does not change the cause of history because truth has no alternative. It is the most constant as it unfolds on daily basis.”
At 56, happy birthday with monumental expectations around you,
Happy birthday your Excellency
