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same place from different angles

Emeka Ihedioha Has Imo in His Grasp

If I was in the shoes of the present Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, I should be preparing my hand over notes for the next governor of the state. I am talking of the giant strides of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, the Peoples Democratic Party, gubernatorial candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship elections. Emeka has had a powerful campaign so far and he has managed to gather all the strong leaders of the party in the state under one umbrella, just as the party supporters are poised for his coronation on May 29, 2015.

Those who know Imo political terrain very well will surely agree that time is up for the incumbent, Rochas Okorocha. Emeka has assembled the major stakeholders of the PDP in Imo state under one umberella and they have fully endorsed the candidature of the prominent House of Representatives Deputy Speaker who is set to cross the fence from the legislature to the executive branch at the state level.

There are for instance, Chief Arthur Nzeribe, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, former State Governor Achike Udenwa, Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe, Senator Hope Uzodimma and various others who are all rooting for Ihedioha’s quest to become the next governor of Imo state.
A new era has dawned in the state even before the first votes are cast for the 2015 general elections. It is a state that has had the problem of getting good leaders that can take them to the next level, but has always fell short of the requirement for progressive governance. On paper, the incumbent has done well but there is certainly a disconnect between the leader and the followers. Imo is one state I have travelled widely over the past two years, not only because during the presidential campaign in which I was on the trail with the National Chairman of the party and the Presidency and its apparatchik, I have made several trips to Imo in the course of social networking visits.

Governor Okorocha had won the governorship in 2011 via the All Progressive Grand Alliance, a party that late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo originated, using Chief Chekwas Okorie for the legwork, but later hijacked by others that included Chairman Victor Umeh who was ripping where he did not sow before late General Odumegwu Ojukwu popularized it into a political force in the South East. After getting power through the party, Okorocha insensitively factionalized it, taking his wing of the party to the All Progressive Congress to the consternation of the Igbo nation.

Now the knives are out for him to pay for his costly mistake. No one is interested now in the infrastructural feat he wrought on Imo state and the wily deputy speaker moved in fast to sow the seed that he is now reaping a huge harvest, including the keys to Government House, Owerri. Even if Rochas does a summersault by leaving APC, a party that cannot win anything east of the Niger for any other party, it is too late. Emeka has permeated the length and breadth of Imo state, unleashing a charm offensive that is hard to change even with APC’s din of Change mantra sweeping everywhere but getting nowhere.

Chief Ihedioha has even managed to reconcile the irreconcilables in the state, to the point that the man he defeated in the contentious primaries is now rooting for him. The first to endorse his aspiration is the indefatigable Chief Arthur Nzeribe, the iroko of Imo politics who may have retired from active politics, but certainly not tired of making his position well known in the state and the wider nation. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, another Imo political juggernaut has joined the train of Ihedioha-mania sweeping the state. Former Governor Achike Udenwa is also on the Emeka Ihedioha train while the National Woman Leader of the PDP, Chief Mrs. Kema Chikwe, who is a distinguished Imo daughter and a former ambassador to Ireland is a permanent fixture on the Emeka Ihedioha campaign trail.

It is widely expected that with Ihedioha on the saddle of leadership at the highest level in Imo governance, a long existing void will be filled. It will be a true government of the people, by the people and for the people. That is when the people of Imo will enjoy true and real democratic dividend that has long been sought after by the people.

I travelled wide around Imo and saw the ingenious use of bill boards to spread his campaign messages which reflect every inch of the way on the PDP manifesto. At last, Imo state is about to have the kind of governor it deserves, not the doggy characters that have been a pain these past years of democratic governance. Not those milking the state and building havens in Dubai and Johannesburg when they realized that London was too risky to launder money into as British intelligence certainly won’t turn a blind eye.

The Governor-in-waiting, Chief Emeka Ihedioha is not taking chances either. Despite the large crowds that come to listen to his plan for the state at each campaign stop, he continues to step up the gear. A typical day for the candidate begins in Abuja in his Asokoro home. He attends plenary at the House of Representatives and presides if Speaker Aminu Tambuwal who is also running for the Sokoto Governorship is unavailable. From the House he heads to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport enroute to Owerri’s Sam Mbakwe airport where his campaign train is waiting to pick him up for a rally somewhere in the state.

When he is sitting the next day in the House, it means he must return to Abuja after the rallies to prepare for the next day’s work at the National Assembly. It is usually a hectic day, but when he is not returning to Abuja, he ends up in the Campaign Headquarters for meetings with coordinators, special assistants and other political hands for strategy sessions until after hours before going home in Owerri or in the village whichever is suitable for the next day’s programme.

Young and hardworking, the Ihedioha phenomenon has become a force in Imo politics. After graduating from University of Lagos, Emeka joined politics at a much younger age, learning the ropes from his membership of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM where the likes of Chuba Okadigbo, Atiku Abubakar etc were his mentors. Of course, the PDM metamorphosed into the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 1998. By 1999 when the party won the Presidential Elections with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President, Ihedioha became the Special Adviser, Media, to Senate President Chuba Okadigbo. By 2003, he won a seat in the House of Representatives and chaired many House Committees until 2011 when he became the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He has so far conducted a very issue-based campaign on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and is now very confident of clinching the governorship seat in Imo state. He has made some specific campaign promises which are all realizable over the next four years on winning the election. His supporters are working hard and taking no chances until victory is won. Looking forward over the next four years, it is likely that Imo will wear a new face with the Rt. Honourable at the helm of leadership of the state. There is no doubt that if he gets the mandate of the people, he will give a good account of his stewardship to the good people of Imo state.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/emeka-ihedioha-has-imo-in-his-grasp/205985/
Amadi wrote from Abuja.

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Ihedioha2015:
Emeka Ihedioha Has Imo in His Grasp

If I was in the shoes of the present Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, I should be preparing my hand over notes for the next governor of the state. I am talking of the giant strides of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, the Peoples Democratic Party, gubernatorial candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship elections. Emeka has had a powerful campaign so far and he has managed to gather all the strong leaders of the party in the state under one umbrella, just as the party supporters are poised for his coronation on May 29, 2015.

Those who know Imo political terrain very well will surely agree that time is up for the incumbent, Rochas Okorocha. Emeka has assembled the major stakeholders of the PDP in Imo state under one umberella and they have fully endorsed the candidature of the prominent House of Representatives Deputy Speaker who is set to cross the fence from the legislature to the executive branch at the state level.

There are for instance, Chief Arthur Nzeribe, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, former State Governor Achike Udenwa, Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe, Senator Hope Uzodimma and various others who are all rooting for Ihedioha’s quest to become the next governor of Imo state.
A new era has dawned in the state even before the first votes are cast for the 2015 general elections. It is a state that has had the problem of getting good leaders that can take them to the next level, but has always fell short of the requirement for progressive governance. On paper, the incumbent has done well but there is certainly a disconnect between the leader and the followers. Imo is one state I have travelled widely over the past two years, not only because during the presidential campaign in which I was on the trail with the National Chairman of the party and the Presidency and its apparatchik, I have made several trips to Imo in the course of social networking visits.

Governor Okorocha had won the governorship in 2011 via the All Progressive Grand Alliance, a party that late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo originated, using Chief Chekwas Okorie for the legwork, but later hijacked by others that included Chairman Victor Umeh who was ripping where he did not sow before late General Odumegwu Ojukwu popularized it into a political force in the South East. After getting power through the party, Okorocha insensitively factionalized it, taking his wing of the party to the All Progressive Congress to the consternation of the Igbo nation.

Now the knives are out for him to pay for his costly mistake. No one is interested now in the infrastructural feat he wrought on Imo state and the wily deputy speaker moved in fast to sow the seed that he is now reaping a huge harvest, including the keys to Government House, Owerri. Even if Rochas does a summersault by leaving APC, a party that cannot win anything east of the Niger for any other party, it is too late. Emeka has permeated the length and breadth of Imo state, unleashing a charm offensive that is hard to change even with APC’s din of Change mantra sweeping everywhere but getting nowhere.

Chief Ihedioha has even managed to reconcile the irreconcilables in the state, to the point that the man he defeated in the contentious primaries is now rooting for him. The first to endorse his aspiration is the indefatigable Chief Arthur Nzeribe, the iroko of Imo politics who may have retired from active politics, but certainly not tired of making his position well known in the state and the wider nation. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, another Imo political juggernaut has joined the train of Ihedioha-mania sweeping the state. Former Governor Achike Udenwa is also on the Emeka Ihedioha train while the National Woman Leader of the PDP, Chief Mrs. Kema Chikwe, who is a distinguished Imo daughter and a former ambassador to Ireland is a permanent fixture on the Emeka Ihedioha campaign trail.

It is widely expected that with Ihedioha on the saddle of leadership at the highest level in Imo governance, a long existing void will be filled. It will be a true government of the people, by the people and for the people. That is when the people of Imo will enjoy true and real democratic dividend that has long been sought after by the people.

I travelled wide around Imo and saw the ingenious use of bill boards to spread his campaign messages which reflect every inch of the way on the PDP manifesto. At last, Imo state is about to have the kind of governor it deserves, not the doggy characters that have been a pain these past years of democratic governance. Not those milking the state and building havens in Dubai and Johannesburg when they realized that London was too risky to launder money into as British intelligence certainly won’t turn a blind eye.

The Governor-in-waiting, Chief Emeka Ihedioha is not taking chances either. Despite the large crowds that come to listen to his plan for the state at each campaign stop, he continues to step up the gear. A typical day for the candidate begins in Abuja in his Asokoro home. He attends plenary at the House of Representatives and presides if Speaker Aminu Tambuwal who is also running for the Sokoto Governorship is unavailable. From the House he heads to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport enroute to Owerri’s Sam Mbakwe airport where his campaign train is waiting to pick him up for a rally somewhere in the state.

When he is sitting the next day in the House, it means he must return to Abuja after the rallies to prepare for the next day’s work at the National Assembly. It is usually a hectic day, but when he is not returning to Abuja, he ends up in the Campaign Headquarters for meetings with coordinators, special assistants and other political hands for strategy sessions until after hours before going home in Owerri or in the village whichever is suitable for the next day’s programme.

Young and hardworking, the Ihedioha phenomenon has become a force in Imo politics. After graduating from University of Lagos, Emeka joined politics at a much younger age, learning the ropes from his membership of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM where the likes of Chuba Okadigbo, Atiku Abubakar etc were his mentors. Of course, the PDM metamorphosed into the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 1998. By 1999 when the party won the Presidential Elections with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President, Ihedioha became the Special Adviser, Media, to Senate President Chuba Okadigbo. By 2003, he won a seat in the House of Representatives and chaired many House Committees until 2011 when he became the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He has so far conducted a very issue-based campaign on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and is now very confident of clinching the governorship seat in Imo state. He has made some specific campaign promises which are all realizable over the next four years on winning the election. His supporters are working hard and taking no chances until victory is won. Looking forward over the next four years, it is likely that Imo will wear a new face with the Rt. Honourable at the helm of leadership of the state. There is no doubt that if he gets the mandate of the people, he will give a good account of his stewardship to the good people of Imo state.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/emeka-ihedioha-has-imo-in-his-grasp/205985/
Amadi wrote from Abuja.

yes we have heard you... Now go out and get accredited and vote out that he goat we have as a governor...Dont just campaign online.

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manchy7531:


yes we have heard you... Now go out and get accredited and vote out that he goat we have as a governor...Dont just campaign online.

I strongly disagree with you, Rochas is not a goat, he is a he-goat

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