THE HERO OF CAMP-HOPE; Rt.Hon. Opiah; dependable ally

DDM NEWS

In 2003 the governorship ambition of Senator Hope Uzodimma, from Omuma in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State, was born.

A former chieftain of the PDP, Uzodinma left the PDP for the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 2002.

He declared to run for Governor in the April 2003 elections under the AD and successfully became the governorship candidate of the party, which was formed on September 9, 1998.

Chief Ikedi Ohakim who later became Governor in 2007 emerged as his running mate.

He was unsuccessful in the governorship election. In February 2004 he was readmitted to the PDP and also contested in the PDP governorship primary election in December 2006.

He came a close second to Senator Ifeanyi Araraume.

Many people could have been discouraged with the political turn of events.

But Uzodinma kept his eyes on the ball. And as they say it, he was hopeful, that someday his dream would come true.

In 2011, in what seemed like a change in political strategy, therefore, Uzodinma made a bold attempt at the Senate.

In the April 9, 2011 senatorial election, he got 85,042 votes, defeating his closest rival and former governor Achike Udenwa, who had left the PDP for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), with 64,228 votes, and Rajis Okpala Benedicta of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with 57,110 votes.

On May 5, 2011, the Supreme Court upheld Uzodinma’s election as the Senator Representing Imo West Senatorial District. He was reelected in 2015 and successfully served out two terms.

17 years after, on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court declared Uzodinma the Executive Governor of Imo State.

He was sworn in on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, in compliance with the judgement of the Supreme Court.

While it may seem that Uzodinma had worked his way through all this 17 long years, there are few men and women who stood by him in the thick and thin, fighting all the battles with him and eventually winning the coveted governorship.

These men deserve some mention on the pages of Uzodinma’s biography.

These heroes are more than a handful, and among them are unsung heroes also, those whose contributions were not made in public glare.

We considered people like: Rt. Hon. Goodluck Nanah Opiah, Barr Nnamdi Anyaehie, Barr. C.O.C Akaolisa, Chief Cosmas Iwu, etc, as the heroes of Camp-Hope.

We note that former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Goodluck Nanah Opiah, is unarguably one of the pillars of the Camp-Hope political family.

Born on February 12, 1964, Opiah, also known as Ugwumba and Ikeoha, hails from Abacheke in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.

He was elected to the Imo State House of Assembly in 2003 to represent Ohaji-Egbema State Constituency.

In 2007 he was reelected with an overwhelming majority votes.

His colleagues in the House unanimously elected him the 8th Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly without a dissenting voice on June 5, 2007.

It is said that since he left the Imo State House of Assembly, the House has never been the same again.

It is to his credit and a few others that we have the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC).

It is thanks to him that the bill for the establishment of the Commission was presented before the Imo State House of Assembly and passed into law.

Opiah won the March 28, 2015, House of Representative election to represent the people of Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta/Oru West Federal Constituency, where he remained active until 2019.

Within the four years he was in the House of Representatives, he posted superlative performance.

He has to his credit: A Bill for An Act to Repeal the Gulf Oil Company Fund (Administration) Act 1964; And to Establish the Petroleum Technology Development Fund for The Purposes of Training and Education Of Nigerians In The Petroleum Industry; etc.

Beyond standing strong behind Uzodinma, Opiah proved himself a treasure in terms of strategic thinking and planning, mobilization, amongst others.

A graduate of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Opiah holds the Bachelor’s in Business Administration.

He also holds the MSc in Corporate Governance from the Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.

Opiah is a grassroots politician and dependable ally.

He is generous and accommodating. Little wonder his days in the legislature, both at the state and national levels, remain evergreen in the minds of the people.

An ardent crusader against environmental degradation and neglect of the oil producing areas, Opiah is a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Club, a member of Enugu Sports Club, and a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management.

He was the sole elected lawmaker of the PDP that stood with Uzodinma during the trying days, especially in 2016 when the party attempted to hold congresses at the wards, local governments and state.

He has been friends with Uzodinma for many years before the ensuing political battle.

In no time, the battle for the soul of the PDP shifted to the national secretariat of the party between Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who locked horns for the national chairmanship of the party.

While the raging inferno, as it were, divided the party in Imo State along two lines of Makarfi and Sheriff, Opiah stood firm with Uzodinma, as they were known as the Sheriff Camp.

When the center could not hold, Hope and group moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a move many saw as bizarre.

Opiah moved to the APC with him, fighting the attendant battles.

Moving to the APC did not abate the battles but aggravated it.

Hope Uzodinma entered the APC with his ally, Rt.Hon.Opiah, as a member of the House of Representatives, and others behind him.

His entrance caused a political upheaval in the party and in the end he flew the party’s flag in the governorship election that was held on March 9, 2019.

In all this, Opiah was a dependable ally.
Indeed the reward for hard work is more work.
Congratulations in advance Sir.

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