Does FCC Jones Not Need Help?

“It is like this Jones is commissioned to keep hitting at Hope…. nine out of 10 of his writings on WhatsApp groups is anti-Hope…

I probably would have continued to ignore one Onwuasoanya FCC Jones who posted an article, in the fashion of what he is used to writing on WhatsApp, against the Governor of Imo State, Dist. Sen. Hope Uzodimma, after reading it.

His latest piece, which as usual he circulated on social media platforms is entitled: Why Uzodimma cannot get up to 5000 votes in the governorship election.

If not that the above excerpt was sent to me by someone I share a lot in common in the national media space, I probably would have continued to save my precious time responding to Jones because certain actions are dealt with using loud silence.

In fact, after reading through Jones work and discovered a lot of inconsistencies, I laughed out and concluded that the answer to the article he must be gloating over required my usual silence in line with the age long axiomatic expression that silence is the best answer to a fool.

Before I proceed, let me make it abundantly clear that all the articles Jones wrote in the past, writing currently and will write in future have all the trappings of a paid work to discredit someone. Therefore, nobody would be surprised if Governor Uzodimma is his next target. And given that we are gradually inching closer to the political season for the reelection of the Governor,  it will not be out of place for politically exposed persons in Imo State who are fighting Governor Uzodimma to ventilate their angst through a willing tool like Jones for a fee.

It is pitiable that Jones has made himself a slave to politicians who are blind to the good works Governor Uzodimma has done in Imo State within a short period, despite his being conversant with the truth.

What a man will acknowledge the great works of a government and the Governor and still feel aggrieved that the Governor’s media handlers are putting such achievements out in the public space?

Jones in his writing lauded Governor Uzodimma for his unprecedented infrastructural development in Imo State within three years in office, yet the diarrhea of hate he and his pay masters are suffering from would not allow them to have Imo people, the beneficiaries of the Governor’s hard work, to be the judge in November when the governorship election will take place.

“Hope Uzodimma’s men have been busy across social media talking up what they believe are some great achievements of his in the last three years of being Imo governor. These achievements which spread across road infrastructure, education and some modest reforms in the public service, including taking steps to restore accreditation to Imo State University Medical College, are mostly unarguable.”

I was not the one who wrote the above quoted. Jones did. Is it therefore not contradiction in terms that the same character is jittery for his pay masters ahead of November knowing full well that the people will vote based on variable evidence of performance?

I agree completely with Jones that Imolites are not blind. But I think he lacks the knowledge to do some amplification of that statement. Truth is that Imo people are not blind to the current state of Owerri-Orlu road, Owerri-Okigwe road, Owerri-Mbaise-Umuahia road, Orlu-Mgbee-Akokwa-Uga road, and numerous other road infrastructure that litter the nooks and crannies of the State.

Our people are not impervious to the circumstances that led to the rebuilding of the House of Assembly Complex, the end of perennial flooding in Owerri with the Balloon technology and the complete urban renewal efforts in the Owerri capital development that has made the City competitive with others in the country.

Yes. Imo people will, in November, remind Jones that his political godfathers sold Adapalm for peanuts but Governor Uzodimma has recovered and put it back on track as a major revenue generation outfit and going concern for Ndi Imo. They will remind him and his cohorts how they frittered away the fortunes of Standard Shoe Company in Owerri by allowing the AMCON take it over in retainership, but that Governor Uzodimma paid up the N1.6 billion debt to retrieve the company for Ndi Imo.

Come November, Imo people will not be blind to the fact that it took a Governor Uzodimma to facilitate the conversion of Federal Medical Centre Owerri to a Federal University Teaching Hospital for the Federal University of Technology Owerri. Not done, they will remind Jones and his army of greedy and land grabbing political godfathers that Alvan Ikoku College of Education is now a Federal University of Education and that the University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Umuagwo as well as the KO Mbadiwe Ogboko, are institutions meant for Ndi Imo as a whole and not a family or group of self centered, rabidly greedy fellows masquerading as political leaders in Imo State.

Until now, I didn’t know how low Jones could descend when he made allusion to the circumstance that brought Governor Uzodimma into office. Only those with compound ignorance and over bloated ego are still talking about the Supreme Court ruling that brought Governor Uzodimma on board more than three years ago following his disagreement with the outcome of the 2019 governorship election that placed him fourth when in the actual fact, he won the poll.

And the records are there as a guide for political office holders who got to office by virtue of Supreme Court decision. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state never even contested for the election, but the Supreme Court restored him to office. Peter Obi was restored to office by the apex court. Adams Oshiomhole, Kayode Fayemi, Rauf Aregbesola, to name but a few had their mandates returned to them by the courts as well as too many Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates.

Since the return of democratic rule in the country in 1999, no presidential election outcome has gone unchallenged in the court.

Even as I write, the candidates that participated in the recent Presidential election have all run to the court to seek redress. I am sure they are hoping that their prayers would be answered.

So, why are the likes of Jones pretending that the judicial system in the country does not matter in the political equation and contest? Why have they chosen to remain fixated on the Governor Uzodimma saga? Since they cannot make do with the ruling of the Supreme Court that revalidated the criminal denial of Governor Uzodimma as the duly elected governorship candidate in Imo State in 2019, why are they not asking candidates who contested in the recent elections and have proceeded to the courts to seek redress over one grievance or the other to rescind the decision?

Methinks the likes of Jones and his pay masters are the real problems of our society. They are the real enemies of the people and must be resisted outrightly. They are mischievous craftsmen who love to play the ostrich, manipulate the psyche of the ignorant and innocent members of the society, and at the same time, pretending to be standing in the guard for them.

Imo people are not blind, but Jones and his likes are suffering from the type of blindness that no miracle can cure. The reason is simple. Their own blindness,even if self inflicted, is borne out of hate, enmity, insincerity, selfishness, greed, avarice, et al. Any one who has eyes and refuses to see with them is physically, mentally, psychologically and spiritually blind, and I am afraid my brother Jones has unwittingly found himself in that unfortunate situation. He needs our collective help.

Let me regale us once more with some of what Jones wrote: “Imolites are not blind. They are not unaware of the fact that, in three years, Uzodimma has been able to do things, Okorocha couldn’t do in eight years, even with a lot more funds and stability in the polity.

“Uzodimma can count his achievements to include construction of solid road infrastructure, prompt and constant payment of “verified” civil servants and pensioners, improvements in the educational sector, and a few others.

“But outside the fact that Imolites see him as a stranger and an imposition on the seat of power, Uzodimma has also failed woefully in the things that matter most; security of lives and properties, people’s welfare, compassion in governance and transparency. It might sound too blunt, but the truth is that the average Imolite sees Uzodimma as an untrustworthy, dishonest and diabolic power monger, who is ready to sacrifice even his wife to keep power.

“Imolites believe that Uzodimma’s hands are filled with the blood of innocent people killed. I could have made excuses for him that he is a Chief Security Officer combating criminals and doing everything to secure his State, but what happened during the last elections gave me strong reasons to agree with those who argue that Uzodimma is behind the spate of insecurity in the State. He is the biggest beneficiary of insecurity and he exploited the situation maximally to steal the people’s mandate during the elections.

“In a free and fair governorship election, Uzodimma will not win in his Omuma polling booth, if the people are allowed the opportunity to cast their votes. But, it will have to matter who is running against him. The PDP and LP will have to present candidates with credible backgrounds and the capacity, not only to win the election, but to also protect the votes he or she will be given by Imolites.

“I believe that in a contest between the PDP, LP and APC for Imo governorship, the APC with Uzodimma will come a distant third and if APGA manages to present a credible candidate, Uzodimma will be pushed further down to his natural fourth position.

“Truth is, I do not see up to 5000 Imolites leaving their houses to vote for Uzodimma in the governorship election. If Uzodimma thinks I am wrong, let us conduct a mock governorship election without any intimidation or inducement. If the man from Omuma scores up to 5000 votes across Imo State, I will declare him winner of the election.”

What a man could not even hide that he was paid to de-market Governor Uzodimma ahead of the November governorship contest, re-probating and aprobating at the same time?

Unfortunately for Jones, he was so blinded that his haste to deliver on the shady job and collect his pay from his sponsors made it difficult for him to see areas of libel and character assassination that littered his piece and obviously, should require him to prove.

It amounts to being smart by half when Jones claims about what people say. There is no doubt he knows the people saying it. It is either they are his friends, political associates, pay masters or even his co- mischief makers.

The outcome of the recently held House of Assembly elections where the All Progressives Congress showed superlative performance of 27/27, was nothing but a validation, by Imo people, of the good work Governor Uzodimma has been able to achieve in Imo State and a further demonstration of their support for his Party.

It was a way the people have started paying back to Governor Uzodimma, all the good things he has laboured to do in the State, three years on. It also signposts what to expect in November, contrary to the alarm Jones is raising for his jittery pay masters.

That Imo State recorded 27/27 in the House of Assembly is not news per se. Other states had similar experiences, yet it has not been used to instigate hate and insecurity in those states.

Why does Jones and his ilk want to castrate Imo because of their over bloated self-esteem? Why are they interested in oiling the wheel of insecurity in Imo because they are not the ones in power? Now that the whistle for the governorship election is about to be blown, why can’t they go and prepare for the contest rather than sit back and plan evil against Ndi Imo with the intention to blame Governor Uzodimma for that? Have Jones and his likes taken an oath not to see that peace reigns in Imo? The time to resist these enemies of the people is now. The time for Ndi Imo to be at alert and more vigilant about who their real enemies are is now and not November as Jones, as one of the perceived enemies has said.