Imo North: The fear of Ibezim…

Imo North: The fear of Ibezim…

This is what Comedian AY (Ayo Makun) said: “People will make up false narratives about you to cover up their own mistakes and reinforce their lies. Just ignore them and succeed anyway. They can’t stop you with their lies. Their lies are all they’ve got. You have more than what they claim. So live it. Show it. Be undeniable. Unstoppable.”

The same could be said of politicians. They have their queer ways, and sometimes, one wonders what manner of men they are. They aptly fit into what AY said. Indeed all they’ve got is lies. Well, maybe not all but definitely, a lot of them.

This is what is playing out in Imo North Senatorial District of Imo State where the looming shadow of Frank Chukwuma Ibezim, the immediate past Senator of the zone, has upset quite a lot of them.

Ironically, the issue is Ibezim’s sterling performance while in the Red Chamber. He had been expected to toe the path of failure that was customary to the past representatives of the zone.

However, the young man had covenanted with himself to rewrite the history of representation in the zone. He made up his mind to break the jinx, and he did.

Senator Frank Ibezim’s two-year-stint in the Ninth Senate by whatever standard was a huge success. It was replete with projects that many wonder what magic he used to do so much in a mere two years.

It is disheartening that certain individuals, who feel intimidated by the young man’s towering accomplishments instead of applauding him and encouraging his successor to take Imo North higher, chose to peddle lies.

Hounding such a man because of his good deeds for his people within so short a time is most uncharitable.

However, it is very simple to know that what is playing out is a similitude of the ‘hand of and voice of Jacob’ scenario. The minion vociferous critics are hirelings of those that had kept Imo North in perpetual backwardness. Their anger was that Ibezim chose a different path from the usual and instead of sharing the contracts or money to them, decided to work for the people. This has made them to be mortally afraid of the astute lawmaker because Imo North indigenes can judge who their lovers or enemies are.

Perhaps, this dirty scheme is all about 2027. These detractors are worried that Ibezim has done enough to dislodge them from their stranglehold on the zone, but they worry unnecessarily because the young man has left the stage, having etched his name in the Imo North Hall of Fame.

These predatory hawks have for a very long time feasted on the commonwealth of the zone. They are like vulture, lurking in the corners to be feted with the cadaver of the beleaguered zone but for Ibezim’s intervention. Anyone that comes with the wind of change and salvation must be stopped: “Rubbish him at all cost; make sure his wings are clipped so that nobody remembers his good deeds” seem to be their creed.

 Unfortunately for them, this vicious gambit has backfired because now people could see what unassuming Ibezim actually did for the people without the usual politicised noises. Ibezim, an unusual representative, was virtually a beggar in the Senate. How he went about begging for projects for his constituency was common knowledge but some people feel the reward he deserves is ‘pull him down’. Tufiakwa!

Sadly, the deliberate incognito with which Ibezim treated his projects gave his traducers the opportunity to contrive their lies. The lawmaker deliberately refused to make noise about his efforts. So, not much was heard about what he did in office until these unfair critics provoked the investigation that has thrust him up for cannonisation as Imo North’s indisputable best.

As already noted, the uncommon synergy Ibezim built with Governor Hope Uzodinma, and the then Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, was a fantastic impetus that fueled his accomplishments. This was made possible by Ibezim’s humility unlike others that would get swollen-headed and antagonise their governors and other political leaders in their area.

Apart from empowerment and some other projects that are now already in the public domain, courtesy of recent revelations – the Classroom Library project, training workshop backed with startup kits and take-off capitals, financial grants and Federal Government-facilitated loans running into hundreds of thousands, farm implements, rice mills, boreholes, transformers, etc. – Ibezim also attracted huge capital projects and was always on site to make sure the contractors delivered.

His detractors wished the contractors shared the money with them and left the projects undone like many other abandoned projects, littering the zone from the past.

The Senator was passionate to bring light into the gloom in which Imo North had been wrapped for long. His imprint is boldly stamped on the massive Solar Power plant built at Umuchiaku, Ihitte Uboma LGA, the biggest of such East of the Niger.

Also, he doggedly pursued the realisation of a power transmission substation, which had been approved for construction alongside Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, and Enugu, respectively, by the Federal Ministry of Power in 2003. However, while others were built, Okigwe was abandoned for almost 20 years but Ibezim followed up with the late Uwajumogu’s quest to rectify the anomalous situation in Okigwe, resulting in the Federal Ministry of Power’s approval of a mobile unit to restore and upgrade the abandoned Okigwe 132/33KVA transmission substation to a district station.

He didn’t walk away but stayed on it to ensure that it was built.

The same active collaboration of the trio, Uzodinma, Nwajiuba and Ibezim, was instrumental to all the numerous landmark projects, including roads and the massive ecological disaster erosion control project located behind Isinweke market, Ihitte Uboma LGA.

Ibezim paid routine inspection visits during the construction of the erosion project until it was completed, bringing joy to the heart of the people for whom that ecological disaster had been a nightmare.

One could easily deduce why certain elements in Imo North Senatorial District are unsettled over a man who left the Senate almost one year ago. The good thing about this is that Ibezim is not bothered by all this. As a matter of fact, these evil schemes have turned out good for him. Talk of your enemy making a mistake that would advertise you.

Whatever the future holds for Ibezim and Imo North is in God’s hand; no human can dictate or abort it no matter how hard they try. Nevertheless, a word of advice for Ibezim: “Just ignore them and succeed anyway. They can’t stop you with their lies. Their lies are all they’ve got. You have more than what they claim. So live it. Show it. Be undeniable. Unstoppable!”