BY Clement Chwukwukere
It is no longer debatable that Dr. Matthew Chima Amadi has demonstrated the capacity to preside over the affairs of Imo state if given the opportunity. But the puzzle for those who have been following his profile since he took the Imo political terrain by storm a few years ago is that whether by utterances, posturing or what some would describe as “body language”, there is nothing to suggest that he is desperate in becoming governor especially in the almighty 2027. Yes, Amadi could, should be governor but I think he is currently more interested in something more important than occupying the office of governor; which is that of filling one big void in the political ambience of the state, nay the entire Igboland: The lack of intellectual content in Igbo politics.
Some might dismiss this assertion as arising simply because Amadi possesses high academic qualifications but they miss the point.There have been politicians with enviable academic pedigree in Igboland but their approach is usually no more than the “I Will Fire Obowo And Water Achingali” type of mantra. Even if the critic wants to come from the angle of his generosity, which some uninformed elements describe as “throwing money around”, a cursory look at Amadi’s modus operandi will reveal that his generosity is concise, well targeted and devoid of the superfluity the typical politician is known for. Amadi does not just “throw money around”. He gives out when and where it is needed but because politicians, generally, have weaponized poverty and economic deprivation, every kind gesture, no matter how well intentioned, is interpreted as an attempt to buy over the hapless masses of the people for political ends.
Back to the lack of intellectual content argument, however, his approach has been devoid of mere rhetoric for which so-called opposition politicians are known . Dr. Amadi has brought in a new vista in opposition politics that is at once critical but more insistent on offering an alternative. Before now, what we were used to was a situation wherein opposition elements paint a general picture of apparent hopelessness but lack the rigor to point at the exact steps that can be taken by those in authority in order to ameliorate the situation.
Apparently, what Amadi did was to arm himself with a Think-Tank that goes into research to look at vital indices which he then makes public for those who care to listen. The last time I read about what Amadi said about governance in Imo state, he dwelt on development modules that would scientifically and empirically tackle unemployment, infrastructure decay and poverty generally.
I was thrilled watching Amadi as he delivered his lecture at the Assumpta Catholic Church last week. It was not the typical eyes-on-the-script address known of the typical politician. He alternated between the podium and a screen board provided for illustrations. Take when he dissected the matter of the 330 Billion Naira received by the Imo state government between 2019 and 2025. He didn’t just reel out figures, he went to the screen board and, in a classroom-like scenario, gave details of how much was supposed to have gone to the 27 local government areas on the average; how much was supposed to have gone into the payment of salaries, maintenance of roads, cleaning of the environment, etc .He then wondered how a local government council that allegedly received in excess of 15 Billion Naira in the last five years would be struggling to maintain even a five-kilometer road.
It needs no exaggeration to state that every well-meaning Imolite should take a cue from that illustration to ask further questions, failure of which will continue to portray the state as a collective of “noblemen” who, to paraphrase him, instead of acting as “watchdogs” for a just an egalitarian society, have lost their voices and allowed the children of God under their watch to suffer the burden of leadership failure. In referencing “noblemen” and “children of God…”, Amadi must have been encouraged by the fact that he was addressing an audience made up essentially of the elite of the Catholic Church known, hitherto, for its robust and bold advocacy for good governance. It is expected that those present would garner impetus from his admonitions but it is proper to point out that the Catholic church in Imo state, especially in the Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, has not been found entirely wanting in insisting that things are done properly by those in authority.
For example, in alluding to the endless spate of insecurity in the state, Amadi was sharing in a popular opinion that things might have been better if the siting governor spends more time in the state than he currently does. Incidentally, it was inside the same Assumpta Catholic Church premises that the current Archbishop, the Most Reverend Lucius Ugorji, at a church service told the governor, His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma, to learn to spend more time in the state and look at the problems confronting the people he was elected to govern. Governor Uzodimma was right there at the service and there was pin-drop silence when Ugorji, not known for the “radicalism” his immediate predecessor was associated with, made such most unexpected statement. When it was time for the governor to respond, he simply said that what the Archbishop gave was just an advice and that he was going to see how he will put it into use. That was about six months ago but even the least discerning fellow in the state knows that nothing has changed.
The point, therefore, is that Dr. Amadi’s outing last Thursday is highly significant in the sense that it is an indication of a gradual return of elite consensus in the state; which absence those in authority has been taking advantage of. Needless to say, the state and its people need more of this type of intervention but the fear is that Amadi, and the few who reason like him, are operating a politically atomistic society that is perpetually at war with itself. I would like a situation where Dr Chima Amadi finds a less monolithic and conservative audience – he was addressing members of The Catholic Men Organization – as a pedestal for speaking truth to power.
As expected, Uzodimma’s media aides have taken on Amadi but it is needless, futile and too late. Even the language being employed by them in trying to put up a hasty response to Amadi’s epic lecture further underscores the weakness of the administration especially in engaging the people with meaningful conversations. Rather than arm themselves with empirical evidence as Amadi did, what they are doing is to abuse his person. For example, by referring to Dr. Amadi as an “Alhaji”, are the governor’s aides not, knowingly and unknowingly, saying that there is something sinister or opprobrious about being an Alhaji, thus introducing elements of religious bigotry into their principal’s many problems? Is President Bola Tinubu, whom their boss very much defers to, not an Alhaji? It is indeed unfortunate that Uzodimma, an otherwise amiable fellow regardless of his general lack of capacity for governance, surrounds himself with so-called media aides who never practiced in conventional media but only became ‘famous’ in the wake of the social media where there are no editors.
One of his so-called media aides, Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, wrote in the social media in what he referred to as a “rebuttal” to Dr Amadi’s lecture thus: “He referenced 330 Billion Naira in local government allocation from 2019 to 2022. But let us ask him in return: what has he done with the federal and donor funding he has accessed through his so-called NGO and policy consultancy fronts…” What a silly and childish response! What is the state government’s business with what an individual does with his money? Remarkably, Nwaogwugwu did not mention that part of the money he alleged Amadi had accessed came from the state government. So, what point was he trying to make?
Dr Amadi’s last outing has once again further exposed the weakness of the Uzodimma administration as far as engaging the people is concerned. The other time, one of the governor’s aides made a claim that he was offered 100 Million Naira and a brand-new SUV by Amadi to dump the governor and work for him. Didn’t the governor see the back lash from an incensed Imo populace which wondered why a fellow who makes such idiotic claims should be on the payroll of the state.
His Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, has also joined the fray in attacking Amadi but the question is, why did it have to take Amadi’s lecture to come up with the figures he is now reeling out as the information commissioner? Does he have any programme through which he proactively informs the people of the state of the achievements of his boss? The answer is a big NO because like his boss, Emelumba is always outside the state representing the governor in one image-laundering event or the other sponsored with the state’s money. Governor Uzodimma is free to work with anybody he likes but he should have by now realized that his crop of media aides constitutes half of his problems. Is he comfortable with the fact that his media aides are always falling on each other over who will first respond to any matter that is seen as critical of him? That is clear evidence of an administration that lacks tact, sophistication and coordination.
