The Mazi Organization (TMO) has described the Imo State Government’s response to criticisms raised by Mazi Chima Mathew Amadi at a Catholic Men Organisation seminar in Owerri as “self-defeating, incongruous, and grossly misleading.”
TMO, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Cajetan Duke, and made available to newsmen, said the remarks credited to Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, were an attempt “to trade facts for propaganda” and substitute “award plaques for actual service delivery” after “five years of inconsequential and ineffective governance” under Governor Hope Uzodimma.
“It is certain and profound that the issues Mazi Chima Mathew Amadi raised at the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri Catholic Men Organisation seminar are true, verifiable and in sync with the realities on the ground in the state,” the group stated.
The organisation accused the government of failing to address the substance of Amadi’s points, choosing instead to “adulate the governor and his non-existing achievements in a manner that is glaringly hypocritical.”
Amadi had at the Catholic Men seminar highlighted what he called the “underwhelming performance” of the Uzodimma administration in the past five years.
TMO stressed that his remarks were aimed at helping the government “reset its priorities” and not driven by any political ambition.
“Unfortunately, Emelumba and his cohorts got it all wrong by failing to grapple with the nitty-gritty of Amadi’s well-tailored and informed arguments,”
“Instead, Emelumba went berserk by hurling insults, tantrums and pouring venom at Amadi.” TMO said.
The group said it would not “descend to the gutter and unprofessional level of Emelumba” but would continue to hold the state government accountable.
It posed a series of questions for the administration, starting with why it took 11 days to issue a statement on the massacre of 21 people in Arondizuogu, Ideato North Local Government Area.
On maternal mortality rates, TMO faulted the state’s dismissal of its figures, arguing that only independent audits from authoritative bodies like the National Bureau of Statistics and World Health Organization could settle the dispute.
“If Imo State Government truly believes that the flaunted figure of 163 deaths is accurate, why did it fail to release the methodology, raw data, and year-by-year breakdown for public scrutiny?” the group queried.
It dismissed the government’s “award-winning healthcare” claims, alleging that most Primary Health Centres in rural areas were “understaffed, underequipped, and understocked.” The touted “revitalisation” of 305 PHCs, it said, was “audio revitalisation” with no tangible evidence on the ground.
TMO also challenged the government to publish detailed records of road construction projects, alleging that the claim of five kilometres per LGA in five years amounted to “one kilometre per year – what an absurdity, what a calamity.”
On education, TMO accused the Uzodimma administration of “fabricating falsehoods” and failing to recruit teachers in five years, contrasting this with Abia State’s recruitment of over 10,000 teachers in two years under Governor Alex Otti.
TMO further alleged that the state’s much-publicised security efforts were more about optics than impact, pointing to the fact that many communities “remain under siege by non-state actors who operate freely while government parades photo-ops as progress.”
It also criticised the administration’s budgetary priorities, claiming that capital spending on critical infrastructure and human development was “sacrificed for opaque contracts, inflated procurements, and politically motivated white-elephant projects.”
“Imo people deserve leaders who answer facts with facts, not political name-calling. Let the data speak. Let the people see. Until that happens, no amount of state-sponsored press statements will change the truth that too many communities in Imo are under the occupation of non-state actors. The good news is that Imo will rise again.” the group concluded.
