MOE’s Memo: Ifeemelụmma Rally

M.O. ENE

“Ifeemelụmma” is a normal Igbo name. “Ihe e mere mma” (standard Igbo, ‘izugbe’) means ‘something done well,’ a done-good deed — not ‘justice and equity’ (‘ọfọnaogu’)! Deconstruction is not just understanding etymology and semantics; it is also about slicing something into palatable portions.

Nothing is wrong with a political party planning for electoral successes. In contrast, it is a party-political malpractice not to plan on winning lawfully. However, in the deafening silence on worsening insecurity in the state and the impending implosion of national PDP, Enugu West PDP decided on a feel-good razzmatazz of a rally, a jamboree that adds nothing new to the status quo; it only opens some sachets of ‘ogiri’ (probiotics).

The organizers stated that the rally was for “Gburugburu” (a pop moniker for Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi): “a convergence of who is who from Enugu West Senatorial District, to make a bold statement in unity against the wicked attempt to truncate the zoning pattern of leadership at the governorship seat in Enugu State.” It declared the “bonafide right” of “our loving father to make the choice of his successor come 2023.”

The assertions are arguable on so many levels that one must exhale to continue.

1. The name “Enugu West General Assembly (EWGA)” must be qualified. PDP is just one party. Other active political formations exist, and many voters do not belong to political parties.

• If the reported July 7, 2013, proposal on PDP power rotation exists, why all the forming and fusing? Still, it is not a statewide policy.

• Any “attempt to truncate” party policies cannot be “wicked”; it is “ifeemelụma”—a good deed decorated by the doctrine of democracy, which the Igbo aptly call “ndọrọndọrọ”: (push and pull)! The pushing must be done on party-political pathways, not rope in an entire constituency.

• With all due respect, the Governor has no right to choose his successor. It is unconstitutional. A governor can propose, but he cannot dispose—only God disposes. The constitution gives the right to the people: ‘vox populi, vox Dei’!

This piece puts on record that the good people of Enugu West, while respectful and supportive of the office of the Governor, did not mandate anyone to crown him the sole political rainmaker for the state. What PDP decides within its partisan-political perimeters and protocols is something well-done: ‘ifeemelumma.’

The arrowheads of the rally, so-called “worthy stakeholders,” are zonal PDP members: from the Deputy Governor (DG) Cecilia Ezeilo, zonal members of Enugu State House of Assembly, chairs of the five LGAs, serving commissioners, all SSAs, SAs, and TAs, to some ex-PDP officeholders. Enugu West is not North Korea; the people did not ALL rally in Awgu yesterday.

Conspicuously missing from the listing of donors and at the rally itself are the zone’s Senator Ike Ekweremadu (Ikeọha) and the two NASS members. Without stretching imaginations, we watched an anti-Ikeọha shadowboxing. The Awgu venue speaks volumes. The rally was a political play and a bazaar for his seat.

Of the absentees, we are told that they are “surely alone and automatically in the minority stock.” Elections decide who is in the minority. The tables do turn. What if one is in minority; does democracy not allow the minority to have its say, even when the majority has its way? The tone is hypocritical coming from organizers who want to maintain and sustain “peace in our political relationship.”

The budgeted ₦8.2 million jamboree came to pass. The fundraising octupled the purse. The DG could have quietly taken care of the budget, tip the organizers well, and keep ₦1m. We would have been spared the pain and stain of LGA chairs, who could not get a borehole working in two years, giving ₦3m for an afternoon assembly.

The two-year wait to scramble for the big shoes that Ikeọha is willingly vacating began yesterday in Awgu. The bidding started at ₦2m to ₦10m and under the refuge of rallying to assert the “bonafide right” of the party leader with the expression, “Ọ dịkwa gị n’aka” (“It is in your hands.”) OMG, we had thought it was in the hands of God!

Outside the ‘minoritized’ Enugu West PDP stakeholders, everything else is speculative. Whatever, the Enugu West senatorial seat must not be subjected to obliquely monetized and parochial politics. Interested candidates must step up to review accomplishments and discuss positive policies for the next NASS.

On a light note, item #4 of the budget estimate put “Whether (sic) Control” at ₦500,000. This is a good pay for “iji/ịchụ mmiri” (holding/dispersing rainclouds) during August break! Since church people now openly subscribe to the traditional art of rainmaking, and as a descendant of great rainmakers and rainholders, I must sharpen my innate skills, advertise, and charge handsomely!

Ironically, we spent money on keeping rain away from an event where PDPites crowned Gburugburu as their sole statewide rainmaker of 2023. With PDP and APC kowtowing to his wisdom of knowing who will succeed him, the money could have been saved: Rain is a sign of heavenly acceptance… assuming the angels were not weeping at a celestial benediction. LOL

There is a failure of decent democracy in Enugu State. We need a third party to call the bluff of long-ruling PDP and the new but weak APC opposition, which has reportedly sold its soul and soles to the soiled porridge of state PDP. And APC is the party in control at the center. The Igbo have a metaphor for such a sorry situation: “carrying the carcass of an elephant on one’s head and playing footsy with crickets.”

Seemingly, the three zonal PDP stakeholders and takeholders have handed over the power of party nominations to Gburugburu. Politics works; we the people must make it work well. We now watch and wait on the other political parties to make magical moves as they deem decent in a democracy. That is the principle of “ifeemelụmma” politics—not shokoloko strategies.

© MOE, 8.8.2021

@aladimma