The race for the soul of Ohuhu.

By Uche Aguoru

The recent happenings in the race for the representative of the Ohuhu people in the Abia house of assembly brings my memory back to a story that I was told as a child by my grand mother about a certain legislator in the then Odida Anyanwu county council representing Ohuhu constituency who is always sent out to go and buy tobacco for other house members when ever its time to have a serious debate in the house that will affect the lives of the people he is representing and by the time he comes back a decision has been reached in his absence without him making an input, funny as this may sound its a reality and such scenarios are repeating itself today, though in some other shapes in the various legislative chambers across the federation.
Come 2015 the good people of Ohuhu constituency will be electing some body to represent them in the Abia house of assembly.
But is it not time that we as a people should sit back and ponder over the quality of people that we usually send to the house as our representatives and how effectively or other wise that we have been represented by our so called honourable members representing Ohuhu constituency from 1999 till date? What can we as a people say that all the people that we have sent out to represent us and speak on our behalf has been able to attract in form of infrastructural and human capacity development of Ohuhu land.
Just recently, precisely on the 20th of June 2014 there was a live interactive program on the broadcasting corporation of Abia state (BCA) radio and television where the house members representing Umunneochi and that of Ohuhu were featured to tell the people what they have been able to attract to their constituencies while the man representing Umunneochi were busy recounting the motions, resolutions and bills that he has sponsored in the house within the three years that he has been in the house he even went ahead to recount projects that he is personally doing within his constituency and the constituency projects that he has attracted to his people which includes the construction of a bridge in his constituency.
The house member representing Ohuhu constituency said in the last seven years that he has been in the house that he has not sponsored any bill,resolution or a motion. that answer which baffled the moderator made him to ask if the people he is representing haven't got things they need from the state government? In his answer he said he usually buy wrappers for the women during their August meetings and sponsors constituency meetings solely hmmm is this what we elected him to go and do for us in the house?
he is not alone in this in The days of honourable Nkem Ike who even rose to the point of becoming the speaker of ABHA he never made any positive impact in the house that affected the life of any body in Ohuhu even within his immediate community Ofeme there was no sign that a speaker once came from there, same goes to honourable Onyeoziri who went to the house and left unnoticed, are these people the best Ohuhu can produce as our representatives? Are we not supposed to look inwards so as to select a representative who will go to the house and represent us effectively? the decision to change our collective destinies is now that 2015 is by the corner.

Uche Aguoru
Writes from Umuahia