WHY IS IMO, THE DEVIANT AMONG IGBO- BU- IGBO?

DDM NEWS

The twin engine of Equity and Justice is the center of gravity upon which Igbo Worldview, and by extension, political philosophy revolve.

Equity and Justice remain the veritable force for the conditioning of the TRUE Igbo mind and personality.

Thus, the Igbo maxims of “Egbe bere Ugo bere” and “Elu rie ala erie”, have come a long way to becoming the grund norm that drives political consensus in Igbo political collective bargaining.

In essence therefore, equity and justice in Igbo political philosophy, as obtainable in other Igbo states, are all about creating a society where every component part, has a fair chance to thrive, and political opportunities (including leadership positions) are equitably distributed in a way that satisfies the collective conscience of society.

A political space or scenario, as currently obtainable in Imo, where the principle of equity and justice is observed only in the breach, is a very serious aberration that does not define the typical Igbo society.

Hence, the major reason why the Imo leadership (ie governorship) selection processes in the past fifteen years or thereabouts, has been fraught with pitiable outcomes, as against leadership selection outcomes in sister states like Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia.

This aberration has made us a laughing stock before our kins in other Igbo states, who are firm sticklers of equitable power rotation among component zones.

For instance, an Anambrarian will always mock us and affirm with pride that “Anambra is not Imo”, during political discussions or banters.

Therefore, as Imolites, we have become akin to T.S Elliott (1925) ” Hollow Men”, who are indeed hollow, regarding cherished values and ethics, right inside their minds and conscience.

They that sow wind, will definitely reap the whirlwind. Imo has sown the wind by jettisoning the Igbo cherished values of Equity and Justice.

Hence, we are definitely reaping the whirlwind in terms of our current descent into the Hobesian state of nature with regards to our bankrupt leadership selection process that is anchored on ethical bankruptcy and devoid of Igbo political values.

In this pervading hobesian state of nature, in which there’s no modicum of order in terms of equitable rules of engagement in power sharing, any ruthless nincompoop can become a governor by exploiting the prevailing political environment of confusion and disorder.

Then goes on again, the current circus of insecurity and the concomitant woeful economy, business environment outcomes, and poor government services.

As pundits and intellectuals, we are well acquainted with the Dialectics of Political Development in human societies, which is part and parcel of the laws of motion that governs society.

Anyone that has mastered these principles, can predict the outcomes of leadership selection processes, within the ambits of prevailing political philosophy variables of a given society.

If the political philosophy is anchored on equity and justice, the corresponding leadership selection outcomes is guaranteed to bring about value driven visionary government that drives superior government services, economic performance and business environment outcomes, as obtainable in Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and now Abia. Proud and true Igbos (Igbo- wu-Igbo), in their own rights, whose political philosophy variables are anchored on the Igbo cherished values of Justice and Equity.

For instance, how do you explain emergent reports of very crucial macroeconomic indicators, like the Pan-Nigeria states Value Added Tax (VAT) Performance, released by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS for Q1 2025, in which Imo ranked 35th out of 36 states.

The 36th state being Taraba. The report’s findings are as embarrassing as they are revealing, given that VAT is about the most reliable indicator of urban and rural grassroots economic health.

In essence, the import is that, all the Boko Haram / ISWAP and Bandits endangered states of the North East and North West are booming in economic and livelihood support activities, much more than Imo State.

This tells you that the structure of Imo economy, vis-a-vis its business environment and livelihood indices are in a state of anomie and hopelessness.

Ultimately, all these have serious bearing and linear correlation with the pervading Imo Political Philosophy variables that, in turns, drive it’s leadership selection processes cum outcomes.

Why is Imo, the deviant among Igbo- Bu-Igbo?
Indeed, it calls for urgent retracing of steps, in the current Imo dangerous political contra-culture trajectory.

However, as Igbo-bu-Igbo will always say, “ositaadinma- adighi-njo”.

Though it is indeed late, but all the same, It’s not too late in the day to work towards Imo political ethical rebirth, so as to make amends, and revert to the politics of equity and justice that defines the Igbo.

2027 is our only chance, to avert further descent into utter state of Political Economy anomie in Imo State.
———————
BY
NDUBISI UGOCHUKWU
(Okwadike Imo) PhD

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook