By Ogu Bundu Nwadike, M.A
Probably, the best artistic number embattled American best-selling soul music songster, R-Kelly, is the one in which he asserted that the storm is over! He sang: _”I can see clearly now, for the storm is over now”!_
The Igbo people of Nigeria, that are predominantly occupying the Southeast geo-political zone of the country have wits which say: _”Ochu nwa okuko nwe ada, okuko nwe nwa wen wen oso”!_
The other is _”Ehi n’enweghi odu, chiya n’egburuya iji”!_ What those axioms transliterate to will be _”falling is the portion of he that chases a cock, while the cock maintains its championship race”!_ And _”the god of a tailless cow chases away flies from her”!_
Cameroon-born legendary highlife maestro, Prince Nico Mbaga, once turned it into a song:
_”Cow wey no get tail, na god dey drive am fly, God no dey sleep o”! “If you play with me, I go play with you, but if you bring palava, I go run four-forty o”!_
Nnewi-born Oliver de Coque once sang a number that’s similar to the above themes. He sang:
_”Onye n’amu okpo, ya bugudu uzo kuo akpa aja. Ikucha akpa aja, iwere choba onye iga akugbu. Lekwanumo! Lekwam okoro! Lekwanumo! Lekwam okoro! Ibirio ibiri kam birio”!_
That’s a parable, which is like a proverb, which doesn’t require kowashiation. That’s because, according to Igbo paraboly, when you interpret a proverb for a man, you render the bride price paid for his mother _babash!_
In Imo State, Southeast Nigeria, with regards to government and governance, it is now convenient to say that the storm is over.
There’s a lot of reasons to agree that the ebb of the tide is now remarkably calm. Initial shakes and quakes have been stemmed!
It’s exciting that the Executive Governor of Imo State, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, has calmed the storm that heralded his wonderful emergence as the governor of Imo State. In short, Uzodimma is taming the storm and guiding the tide!
There’s ample evidence that a lot of things are now working as they should as far as government and governance best practices are concerned. Confidence level of Ndimo in the government and the governor has continued to rise. That’s the whole truth!
All other contrary views are products of hypocritical and cynical faultfinders and their baseless faultfinding! All are sheer ineffectual, inconsequential taunts, mockery, castigations, abuses, insults, curses, and mischief.
What matters right now is that the Imo State of today, under the watch of Governor Uzodimma, is much better than the Imo State of yesterday. Things are working. Things are getting better. By 2024, the better is expected to become the best! _Udo di!_
By God’s grace, Imo State must be rehabilitated, reconstructed and recovered!!
