After a theatre of protests and a military siege, monarchs in royal gear, flowing robes, dangling beads, ivory staff but without their red caps, showed up to purify the Imo State Government House. OKODILI NDIDI reports
The state seat of power has hosted quite a sequence of drama lately. First, some women clad in black, later said to be widows, staged a protest. It was not about any harsh times, which sometimes take a toll on women living without their spouses and breadwinners. It was soon clear that the women in black were working for the Minister of State for Education, Prof Viola Onwuliri, who had fallen out with the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
On the fateful day, the rampaging women tried to overwhelm security men attached to the Government House in an attempt to gain entry into the premises and confront the governor for “harassing” the Minister, who is also a widow.
The protest turned sour when another group of women loyal to the governor confronted them for wishing the governor dead by writing his name on the mock coffin.
Soldiers and other armed security men were later drafted to the scene and eventually, the tumultuous crowd were dispersed but not before many of the women were wounded and properties destroyed.
The governor, who arrived at the Government House at the peak of the chaos, said it was a plot conceived by the Minister to incite crisis in the state. Okorocha added that the Minister claimed to be enjoying the support of President Goodluck Jonathan in undermining the governor’s office and insulting Imo people, warning that the patience of the people should not be tried beyond limits.
When the dust settled, traditional rulers in the state also visited the seat of power to play their part. They came clad in their royal gear, flowing robes, dangling beads, ivory staff but without their red caps. It was an unusual gathering of traditional rulers at the Imo Government House. Their esoteric dresses and drawn faces implied that their mission was far from the usual one to the seat of power. Their mission was to cleanse the Government House which was said to be desecrated by a group of protesting women who invaded it with a mock coffin.
Meanwhile, the traditional rulers who were form Ideato South Council Area of the state, where the governor hails from, condemned the act by Onwuliri who they said mobilised the women to undermine ”the good works of Governor Okorocha in the state.
Speaking on behalf of the monarchs, the chairman of Ideato Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Ethelbert I. Ajaraogu disclosed that the entire monarchs had earlier visited the traditional ruler of Amuzi, the hometown of the Minister in Ahiazu Mbaise Council Area of the state, Eze Innocent Ugochukwu, to caution the Minister against a repeat of such act in order to avoid the “wrath of the land”.
Eze Ajaraogu pointed out that “Governor Okorocha was duly elected into power by the entire Imo people and has performed excellently well in the past three and half years which has earned him the support of Imo people for a second term in office during the oncoming election”.
He wondered “how any well-meaning indigenes of the state will want to oppose a man who has the well-being of the masses at heart”.
He said, “We came to the Government House to neutralise whatever evil such act may have attracted and to jointly pour libation to cleanse the Douglas House and pray for divine guidance and protection for the governor”.
He posited further: “Our son, Governor Okorocha did not cheat anyone to come to the Government House but was duly elected by the entire Imo people, so no one will hurt him. The people are with him and he shall come again.”
Also speaking, the Deputy Chairman, Eze Peter E. Ewuziem noted that for over 40 years he has been on the throne, adding:
“This is the first time anyone carried a coffin to the domain of either civilian or military leader, any person who planned this evil must receive it back”.
Also, in a separate meeting of the traditional rulers across the state, the monarchs demanded an apology from the Minister for desecrating the land.
The monarchs observed that the action of the Minister, which has been widely criticized, amounted to a desecration of the traditions and customs of the people, which they said will not be tolerated by the traditional institution.
The chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Samuel Ohiri, stated that the activities and utterances of the Minister concerning issues in the state lately has been unbecoming of a woman of her position.
He said, “We are still mourning the death of her husband, Professor Celestine Onwuliri, who was a worthy son of the state but since after his death, Viola has gone wild, going about the place making trouble and getting involved in matters that do not concern her.”
He continued that, saying, “She is not the only female Minister in the country; she should borrow a leaf from other women who have not used their position to incite crisis in their states. Viola has the right to join any political party and work for any candidate of her choice but she must not desecrate the land.”
Ohiri added further that the traditional rulers are still wondering why the Minister, who is not running for any elective position, should be the one overheating the state, “we don’t know Viola’s business in the state but we want to confirm if the mock coffin she was carrying was that of her late husband or any other Imo son she wish dead.”
His words: “We have resolved that she should tender an unreserved apology to Imo people for ridiculing the customs of the people. She has the rights to do her politics but she must not desecrate the laws of the land.”
However, when contacted, the Media Assistant to the Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Emeruem described the allegation as blackmail from the Government House, conceived to tarnish the image of the Minister.
He said, “Nobody carried any mock coffin; they were just widows from across the state, who were protesting the injustice meted out against one of their own before they were attacked by thugs sponsored by the state government.”
