For Ike Ekweremadu, the senator representing Enugu West Senatorial District, these are not the best of times. From his self-inflicted miseries to bereavement, he is now an object of scorn in his home state. By his own doing too, he has set tongues wagging in the constituency he represents by figures he recently released about projects he claimed to have attracted.
However, the Deputy President of the Senate needs our condolences over the death of his police outrider this festive period. What is surprising till date, were the efforts put into covering the news of the death of this outrider from the public. Perhaps, it has to do with the fact that his position does not guarantee him the use of a police outrider.
But close watchers of events in Enugu State are not so amazed about Ekweremadu’s obsession with such absurdity because he wants to live an imaginary life of a governor, a title he has an undying crave to bear.
For him, reality has taken a forced flight and he is, regrettably, caught between reality and desire.
Nigerian laws made specific provisions about the type and number of legislative aides that a Deputy President of Senate should have. Most of them are, indeed, to be provided by the government.
But it is not so with Senator Ekweremadu. Just like a governor, he has all manners of special advisers alien to his position, ranging from security to projects among others. He continues to strive to replicate what obtains in the state within his own “state”. He perceives himself as the chief security officer and must have a special adviser on security and a multitude of other aides. And how can he have these aides without adding an outrider to it? It was only unfortunate that the young man crashed and died during the Christmas holidays.
But what do you say of the figures which the Deputy President of the Senate recently released on the projects he claimed to have attracted to Enugu West which he represents? Today, his claims have become subject of controversies, criticisms and denials from within and outside the country.
In the recent weeks, Ekweremadu has been locked in a dirty war of words with S.K.C. Ogbonnia, an Enugu citizen based in the United States. The latter’s sin was that he pointed out that a library in Ekweremadu’s long list of dubious claims was not anywhere in his Ugbo community in Awgu Local Government Area. Rather than address this and other similar denials from different quarters in a decent way, Ekweremadu has continued to call the man names. Besides, even the list itself has exposed the Deputy President of the Senate to ridicule for its parochialism, lop-sidedness and lack of equity and justice in its spread. I was also dumb-founded when I got a copy.
Now, take a look at the list as released by Ekweremadu. Aninri 33 projects; Awgu 34; Oji River 32; Ezeagu 20 and Udi 20.
For purposes of clarity, it is important to put the above figures in clear perspectives. Ekweremadu’s home Local Government Area which is Aninri is the smallest in Enugu state in terms of population. It has 10 wards but it got 33 projects in that discredited
document but Ezeagu and Udi with 20 wards each got 20 projects each! This is our Ikeoha’s idea of justice and equity.
Amid all the criticisms and the denials of the existence of such phantom projects by various persons and groups, it is incumbent on Ekweremadu to prove his accusers wrong by clearly telling his constituents when the projects commenced, the contractors, the date of completion. Afterall, what is the job of his special adviser on
projects, even though he is not entitled to have one? Unless we find out soon that either he or his office also executed jobs or recommended contractors, we all know that his primary job is to supervise and carry out other oversight functions.
Politics, as we all know, is a game of intrigues. Therefore, it does not matter that the senator continues to hold meetings here in Enugu and at Abuja with the sole purpose to mount smear campaigns against Governor Sullivan Chime. It is up to the governor and his aides to know how to handle such conspiracies but he will do well to do what we have known him for: ignore the attacks and their known sponsors.
If anything, Ekweremadu needs urgent redemption from his self-imposed isolation in Enugu State. Or how else do we view the fact he is now a lone ranger even when it has to do with his party, the Peoples Democratic Party? I was present during the inauguration of the 17 local government chairmen at Okpara Square on January 4.
On this day, he was the only National Assembly member from the state who shunned the inauguration of the chairmen, an event that was attended by important dignitaries including Chief Ken Nnamani, the former President of the Senate.
Governor Chime, speaking during the event, instructively implored the federal lawmakers and other citizens to shun divisive politics even as he pledged the loyalty of his government and the people of the state to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Said Chime: “On behalf of the government and people of Enugu state, I pledge our unalloyed loyalty to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR). We have continued to tell him that so long as he is in this business of politics, we will continue to be with him.
“I also want to say to him that if and when he declares to run again (for the presidency), he should count out Enugu State as one of the places he needs to come to campaign. This state is firmly for him and firmly behind him.
“Also, I want to say to our other brothers and sisters, especially those in Abuja or outside our state that this is the time you have to start coming home to identify with our people. We (PDP) are one big, happy family. You must be a family member for us to chart the way forward for each of us. There’s nothing that we individually want that cannot be resolved when we come together and talk things over.”
My advice to Ekweremadu is that he should embrace this reassuring message from Chime and not continue to behave like an orphan. If he is scared stiff that the governor may battle for the PDP ticket of Enugu West Senatorial District with him, the solution does not lie with sponsoring smear campaigns in the media. He has to start coming home to identify with his people who are the ultimate deciders of who wins both the primary and the general elections. If he decides otherwise, Ikeoha should be man enough to shun anonymity and give identity to such pedestrian rabbles by his hatchet men.
• Ugwu sent this piece from Enugu.
