₦airaland Forum

Let me connect you with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.

So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat”.

For the records, this writer was extremely critical of Governor Ikpeazu led administration.

On many occasions, I engaged not a few government officials fiercely, but devoid of insults.

My name was well-known within government circles.

Just like a hen dancing on a wire, I did not sleep and it was possible that I denied them some comforts.

We ran into each other at many radio stations in Umuhia.

I shared platforms with Onyebuchi Ememanka, Ugochukwu N Emezue, Obed Asiegbu, Ikechukwu Iroha and many others.

At a point, I had a-3-week-long battle with my elder brother and buddy, Onyendilefu Godwin Chibuike.

It was free style, but no insults were imported.

It was a celebrated warfare in Abia state.

We argued.

At a point, I was cartooned by my buddy, Newman Ubani.

It was a beautiful picture, I must confess.

All was in the line of duty.

There was no love lost.

My zeal for a better Abia led me to join the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

I did my best until October 23, 2018; I joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Allow me to say that I am slightly balanced.

I was in opposition, and today, I am in government.

Being in opposition, you are a professional fault finder.

All you want to do is to sniff out areas where mistakes are made and situate them on a blazing front burner.

No doubt, the present day critics are not limited to any political party but, have thrown caution to the dogs and made it a business transaction to insult and malign the person of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

The most disturbing is that a great percentage of those, who call the Governor unprintable names are below 30 years of age.

Some of them are yet to cut their teeth in any area of human endeavour.

Honestly, I am not against anyone criticizing Mr. Governor, but describing him on a robe laced with dirt will not bring out the best in him.

Frankly, I have a coterie of friends and colleagues, who are critical of Governor Okezie’s administration, but I always tell them, ‘attack the policies of government and never descend to the arena of personal insults’.

Just as it said in the Bible that a man can easily forgive, who killed his parents, but might not treat kindly anyone who took his wife.

It is a fait accompli that in our culture, the elderly rarely forgive personal insults. Let’s not form a habit of hiding under political atmosphere and run against the dictates of our ancestors.

Hence, I align my thoughts with that of Charles Schwab.

Hear him, “I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism”.

By the nature of human existence, no one wants to take blame. Once one is being blamed, ingenuity dies and instead of striving to give his best, he amasses energy to defend himself.

Not even well known criminals accepted blames on an electric chair.

Oh sure, public office holders must be held accountable, but can it be done without debasement?

Frank A. Clark, read my mind when he said, “criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”

And in my local parlance, we are admonished to be kind to a beans seller and she will be poised to do more.

Historically, leadership has never been easy since the beginning of time.

Some men will attest to the fact that running a family is a full time job, then, imagine how piloting the affairs of a state could be.

From my interactions with Governor Ikpeazu, he does not want to be unduly praised, but he is of opinion that the critics should be kind enough to highlight the areas he has done well.

Dear compatriots, as you dig deeper to uproot the sins of Governor Ikpeazu, in case you stumble on the areas he has done well, underscore it and continue your search.

Let me end this part one with the thoughts of Jerome Fleishman.

“Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world know nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal”.

Join me as part (2) loads…..

Paddy writes in from Umuosi Village.

Your brother is not just a colossal failure but a man without balls,failed himself,his family,his kindred,the ngwa race and the entire abia state.

From critic to Otimkpu.
Simply say you have been bought over.
I can't see where Ikpeazu is doing well.

You ended up saying nothing.

OVI is a colossal failure to Abia state. Someone that cannot pay salaries, pension, and gratuity is not worthy to lead.

Do you know the last time he paid pensioneers? That was in 2018. Even the dirt in Aba we thought he will help clear, he has failed Also.

Please, don't even bring up OVI's case biko, he's a disgrace to both Ngwa land and Abia state as a whole.

Unless you can highlight anything he's done

A man who fails to build his home when the opportunity beckons is a failure himself.

A man who can't stand squarely to his blood sucking sappers even when he is in a strong position to do so is not only a failure but a coward

Okezie should better use this remaining opportunity to decage himself from his political captors because he is in a very strong position to do now.

If OVI fails to build Aba during his time, he will be a clueless failure

ekesimo:
A man who fails to build his home when the opportunity beckons is a failure himself.

A man who can't stand squarely to his blood sucking sappers even when he is in a strong position to do so is not only a failure but a coward

Okezie should better use this remaining opportunity to decage himself from his political captors because he is in a very strong position to do now. T.A Orji did so and developed his home town so why can't he?

Which home town did T.A Orji develope?
He looted everything lootable just as Okezie is doing right now.

ekesimo:
A man who fails to build his home when the opportunity beckons is a failure himself.

A man who can't stand squarely to his blood sucking sappers even when he is in a strong position to do so is not only a failure but a coward

Okezie should better use this remaining opportunity to decage himself from his political captors because he is in a very strong position to do now. T.A Orji did so and developed his home town so why can't he?

If OVI fails to build Aba during his time, he will be a clueless failure

You really do not know T A ORJI.

Tell me one single project he executed ? He is even worse than OVI

Ojiofor:
Which home town did T.A Orji develope?
He looted everything lootable just as Okezie is doing right now.

At the least, there is good road in ibeku umuahia north and the clean airs.

That's how they look for jobs.... The format is still the same.. U criticize the government so much they notice u, then u shift base and begin to write favourable articles as a "convert"...
Then u are invited to join the team and come to the table.

Jackpot... U have made it... See ur he goat beards

ekesimo:
At the least, there is good road in ibeku umuahia north and the clean airs.

Lol.Umuahia remains the least developed capital city in SE.
We Abians deserve better than what you mentioned above.