Civil Society Organization Tackles Anwuka Over Anti-Uzodimma Comment

By Collins Ughalaa

A certain man called Anthony Anwuka on Sunday, December 4, 2022, tried to crawl back to relevance by defaming Governor Hope Uzodimma with the boring cliché of having a hand in the insecurity that Imo State like another parts of the country has witnessed for sometime now. Anwuka, a so-called Professor, former Vice Chancellor of the Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, former Secretary to the Government of Imo State and former Minister of State for Education, granted interview to Sunday Punch where he tried to splash mud on Governor Hope Uzodimma unprovoked.

He began his fruitless interview by claiming that he would not reconcile with Governor Hope Uzodimma, accusing the Governor of depopulating "Orlu by inviting soldiers to allegedly come and shoot people there". Not even the interviewer's insistence "that the Governor has always said that he does not have a hand in the killings in Imo" could sway Anwuka. He retorted: "Maybe he is talking to infants who don't understand or talking to people who did not lose relatives".

Anwuka would switch gears, saying: "Remember that at a point my son was shot and I had to fly him to the U.S for treatment for about three months and I spent millions of Naira to get him well again. The Governor was my friend, but when he got to power he began to think that every other person doesn't matter. But we will see. Power is transient".

For the records, there is no security report suggesting that Anwuka's son was shot any time in Imo or elsewhere. He was not shot by either security men deployed to restore peace and order in troubled communities or by even hoodlums. No security report to that effect. Available report suggests that Anwuka's son probably made himself a thug and joined his inlaws to break into Royal Palm Spring Estate, Owerri, a property legitimately sealed by the State Government on February 21, 2021, leading to the arrest of Okorocha. In a widely shared statement published by www.vanguardngr.com, then PPRO Orlando Ikeokwu of the NPF Imo Command, said it "took Okorocha to its custody to explain why he led violent breaking into the government sealed Royal Palm Spring Estate". Sighting the police, Anwuka's son reportedly scaled the fence and got himself injured.

Obviously, Anwuka tried to cowardly weave the mischief of his son into the insecurity story to revise history, make him some sort of hero and supply "proof" that people are being shot and killed in Imo. But he lied. He should rather be telling Imo people whether his son has become a thug or is still a medical doctor, whether he properly brought up his son to be law abiding or a thug, and not prevaricate. And we are even tempted to ask whether Anwuka is actually a Professor. Professor of what, by the way? A Professor talking like village palmwine tappers during age-grade meeting?

Anwuka has joined the league of disgruntled Internally Displaced Politicians (IDPs) who erroneously think that the best thing to say in Imo that could turn the people against Governor Hope Uzodimma is blame the Governor for insecurity in Orlu. And this brings his professorship to question.

Anwuka should know better, that it is impossible for any Governor to invite soldiers against his people to depopulate his State or Zone. But he had to say it because he had boxed himself into a rancid corner and doesn't know how to crawl out of obscurity. In the end he sounded like a broken record, a sick person, paranoid and out of touch with reality.

All the talk about his son being shot and how he was flown to the U.S were just conjectures meant to incite hatred against the Governor and thereby curry unmerited sympathy for himself. What else could explain Anwuka's claim that Governor Hope Uzodimma is his friend but that he has let power get into his head, if not that Anwuka is suffering from penis envy? Governor Hope Uzodimma represents everything Anwuka dreamt to be but failed to even try. He can rue his failure but he should not insult the sensibilities of Imo people by hiding under penis envy to rain invectives on the Governor. He should not raise a finger!

On Easter Monday, April 5, 2021, the custodial center in Owerri and the State Police Command were attacked and set ablaze by hoodlums in daredevil operation, setting loose about 1,844 inmates against the society. In a short while the countryhome of the Governor, that of the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo - a real Professor - George Obiozor; that of the Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, that of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr C.O.C Akaolisa, that of the Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Prince Ford Ozumba, among others, were attacked by hoodlums. Countless people from Orlu have been sent to the early grave by the hoodlums. Some people were beheaded and human heads displayed at market places. There were reports and evidence of cannibalism by the hoodlums but Anwuka sees nothing, says nothing.

Recently, a prominent traditional ruler, HRH Eze Dr. I.O. Asor, and others in Anwuka's Oguta LGA – where he reigned as a fief for years – were gunned down right in the Palace. Izombe and other communities in Anwuka's Oguta LGA are almost being overcome by hoodlums as police stations and markets have been attacked and police officers killed in their prime, yet Anwuka is not perturbed and has no word for the hoodlums. Is it not time we asked Anwuka to explain his true intentions?

Anwuka should not give us reason to believe that he was a bad husband and abused his wife while she lived. He should not make us believe those who say he ruined IMSU. He should not remind us to check his cupboard for skeletons as IMSU VC, to even believe that he was indicted by a whitepaper, and his tortuous era as SSG. All those years he conveniently forgot that power is transient but allowed it consume him.

Anwuka should focus on taking good care of himself and not bring ant-infested firewood home, because according to Chinua Achebe of blessed memory, "The man that brings ant-infested gays into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit". Next time we would not be this lenient on Anwuka. We will expose him to the entire world for what he is.

I will start with a disclaimer: This account has never for once supported the pursuit of Biafra because it is no longer relevant. What the South East needs is to put its house in other.

Unfortunately, lots of unscrupulous elements have cashed in on the Biafra struggle to indoctrinate a lot of young people in the region, which has made a one-time peaceful region to become a war zone.

In the past, I criticized Hope Uzodinma for using the military on its own people, considering how terrible those frustrated uniformed people could be.

However, given the mayhem those unknown gunmen are unleashing on our people, I think a combined team of soldiers and policemen should be used to flush them out and people who sympathize with them dealt with ruthlessly.