As Stephen Covey said, “Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like integrity, honesty, and treating people with respect.” These words highlight the moral deficiencies in Fabian Ihekweme’s character.
Trust forms the bedrock of relationships. To earn it, one must demonstrate steadfast integrity regardless of circumstances. While some fail quickly and others gradually, the root causes often trace back to hunger, greed, envy, or jealousy.
For Fabian Ihekweme, a failed commissioner and notorious political prostitute in Imo State, his recent diatribe against his former boss and idol, Senator Hope Uzodimma, is a product of a lack of integrity, actuated by hunger and failed expectations. I praise him for his courage in his open confession that hunger (unpaid severance package) is his main motivation for the ungodly and virulent attacks on Governor Hope Uzodimma, a man he once described as God sent to the people of Imo State.
If Ihekweme was not dropped as a Commissioner by Uzodimma; if by any magic his hallucinations of being made the Secretary to the Government of Imo State had come to pass; if Uzodimma had turned blind eyes to his rancid fraudulent activities and allowed him to have a field day pillaging government’s property, there is no doubt that Ihekweme will be asking for the cannonisation of the Governor whom he has now irreverently labeled an antiChrist.
And talking of anti-Christ, it is most uncharitable for anyone to compare a mere mortal to Christ. Christ himself said no one is good, but the Father. But since he went that far, Ihekweme should be reminded that even Christ did not suffer Judas gladly. Christ also admonished anyone who would begrudge him for hiring workers in between work hours and rewarding them equally. So, Ihekweme should not begrudge Uzodimma for bringing some people who did not partake in the so-called bush bar experiences into his cabinet.
And talking about the bush bar boys, was Ihekweme truly one of them? The truth is that he joined late. He first betrayed Uzodimma when he abandoned him for Senator Samuel Anyanwu (SamDaddy) to gamble with his “new-PDP” idea. The outing was a disaster as it didn’t take long for SamDaddy to discover that he was milking both himself and Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha. Convinced that he lacked integrity, SamDaddy did not hesitate to kick him out. While in that camp, he caused all manner of unprintable things to be published against Senator Uzodimma. Still, when he ran back to him to beg for political shelter, he forgave him and welcomed him back into his fold. So, in a way, Ihekweme is luckier than Judas.
He himself confessed to his lack of integrity when he claimed that he was sent to go and destabilise the Labour Party. No doubt he was also messed up in the Labour Party, but it is only a man without integrity that will claim publicly that he was hired to go and destabilise a political party. Those who do that are mercenaries, and we know that mercenaries are not men of integrity.
It is also on record that when Ihekweme was locked up in Abuja, Uzodimma came to his rescue by securing his bail. A man of honour and integrity will not be so forgetful and ungrateful.
So let it be known that when Ihekweme is howling about the way Imo people have been shortchanged by Uzodimma or how no development has taken place in the 27 local government areas of the state, he is lamenting his woes which unfortunately were self-inflicted. Just before the governorship election of November 11th 2023, Fabian Ihekweme had mounted the rostrum to campaign for Hope Uzodimma. His candid and sober assessment of the governor was thus: “Your Excellency, you have restored access to essential services such as healthcare, clean water and sanitation, and most importantly, we have noticed with keen interest the road revolution which your government has embarked upon”.
What suddenly changed to have erased those infrastructure provided by Uzodimma such that the state is now bereft of them according to the gospel by the same Fabian Ihekweme? Nothing changed, except the psyche of a man who had never pretended to have a modicum of integrity. Just like the leopard, which never changes its spots, Ihekweme remains a serial betrayer who strikes once his pockets begin to dry.
This ungrateful Ihekweme is the same man who has the temerity to hang the toga of an ingrate on the neck of the governor. What an irony. A serial betrayer and blackmailer trying to be holier than thou.
It is instructive that all the so-called bush bar boys were accommodated in the first cabinet of Uzodimma. Indeed, the man was most faithful to those who worked for him. His first cabinet was said to be bloated because he took all of us on board.
However, after offering us that opportunity, it would have been most unfair, if not a gratuitous insult, to expect him to do our work for us. At the inauguration of the Exco, the governor made it clear that he has provided the opportunity for all of us who worked for him to prove our mettle. It was our duty to justify the appointments through hard work, diligence, and value addition.
It is important to note that after two years, the governor dissolved his cabinet. Based on the evaluation report before him, some commissioners were dropped, while others continued to serve. Fabian Ihekweme didn’t make it because he failed woefully. I recall vividly that on at least two occasions at Exco meeting, the governor had openly advised Ihekweme to do his work.
Let him tell Imo people the value he added to the Uzodimma administration, apart from being in a police cell on account of a damning report by a fellow commissioner from the same local government as him. He went on to bring the administration’s name into disrepute by balkanising and selling off the properties of the Imo State government at Avutu Modern Poultry and Okigwe Water Scheme.
With such a bad record, how did he expect to be retained as a commissioner, talkless of being appointed an SGI? On the contrary, the bush bar boys who stayed faithful and diligent are still working with Uzodimma. In fact, some people who have worked for Uzodimma for over 30 years, long before any bush bar, are still in his cabinet. So, what does that tell you .
Uzodimma’s fidelity to his loyalists and true friends was further demonstrated in his choice of those who were his local government coordinators during the 2019 elections. All of them became the chairmen of APC in the 27 local government areas . Many are still working in government in one way or the other. Some were appointed sole administrators, and others were elected local government chairmen. Yes, Uzodimma rewards loyalty. To the corrupt and betrayer, he turns his back. Anyone comparing him, a mere mortal, to Jesus commits heresy. All I can tell such people is what Jesus told the Pharisees, “Remove the log in your eyes before seeking to remove the speck in another’s eyes.”
Like I pointed out at the beginning of this treatise, the so-called activism of Fabian Ihekweme is motivated by selfish gains. He is enraged because he was not reappointed a commissioner. He is livid because his severance package has not been paid. Any other reason he advances for his ranting is just a smokescreen. I have good news for him. Immediately after he was sworn in for a second tenure, the governor directed the secretary to the Government of Imo State to compute the severance package. So work is going on, and I believe we will see results soon. His vituperation against the government and the governor will not change anything.
But Ihekweme should also be honest to admit that the bonuses and out of the book approvals he received as a member of the cabinet are twice the value of his severance package.
As for the allocation of lands in the state, the occupation of the post of Commissioner for Lands by the governor and the money paid by prospective allottees, it is really incredible that a man who claims to hold a doctorate degree and had lived abroad and who had served as a commissioner, does not know the nuances of governance, including the processes of allocation of government land. First of all, Uzodimma didn’t break the law by taking charge of the Ministry of Lands. He did that to curb the seismic corruption and land racketeering prevalent in the Ministry before then. I am happy that at least Ihekweme acknowledged that Okorocha’s administration messed up the land system. Uzodimma took charge to correct the ills inherent in the system.
So, it was not an aberration as insinuated by Ihekweme. That Udenwa, Ohakim, and Okorocha didn’t think outside the box to seek a solution to an endemic problem would not limit the cerebral potency of an Uzodimma. I am surprised that Ihekweme accepted to be a commissioner for International Affairs. After all, neither of the former governors created such a ministry before Uzodimma did. I am waiting for Ihekweme to question President Bola Ahmed Tinubu why he is the Petroleum Minister. At times, we should restrain ourselves from exposing our ignorance just because of pettiness.
Since Ihekweme does not work in government anymore, I don’t know where he got his figure that the government grossed a whopping N12b from the sales of forms for the allocation of land. But I do know that eventually, the government will do the needful after ensuring that the land racketeers and their agents have been removed and the system sanitized. Those who are angry that Uzodimma has not engaged in land grabbing or land bazaar in favour of his cronies will continue to be disappointed.
Therefore, Ihekweme’s latest virulent and unwarranted attacks on Uzodimma should be dismissed as inconsequential and self-serving since all his ill-conceived allegations are driven by failed expectations. This is not the first time he would be engaging in this nefarious act against the governor. It will certainly not be the last. Known for overestimating his worth and potential, he believed his own hallucinations that he would emerge the Secretary to the Government of Imo State. Sadly, no such promise was made. Seeing that he has lost out, desperation, frustration, and hunger have taken him hostage. But he should not blame anyone for his misfortune. He should rather blame it on the self-inflicted integrity deficiency syndrome, which has been his lifelong albatross. Without integrity, honesty, or respect for truth, he lacks the moral authority to lecture on good governance.
This serial betrayer, who oscillates based on personal gain, has no standing to label others as ingrates. His criticisms reveal more about his character than about Uzodimma’s governance. Ordinarily, one would not bother to join issues with such a man, but it is always important to set the facts straight so that blackmail is not encouraged.
Emelumba is the commissioner for Information, Public Orientation, and Strategy ,Imo state.