Hon. Iduma Igariwey Enwo, a political scientist and lawyer, launched himself into political reckoning in Ebonyi State when he emerged as Afikpo North Local Government Area Chairman in 1999, under the newly formed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and went ahead to serve for two terms.
After groping in political wilderness for nearly a decade and changing political parties, he won the general election in 2015 to represent Afikpo North/South Constituency in the House of Representatives under the state-controlled PDP and was acrimoniously
elected for a second term in 2019.
Barely a year after his reelection as a National Assembly member and despite trying his best to put himself across as a magnanimous, altruistic and convivial lawmaker, criticisms and "praises" have continued to trail his path, largely from his constituents, beneficiaries and aides.
Perennial light issue
Igariwey's constituency, Afikpo North and South, has been in darkness for about eight years, with efforts by the state government and the lawmaker seemingly not getting anywhere near resolving the perennial electricity issues.
Pathetically, despite being under the service of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which is one of the eleven electricity distribution companies (DisCos) supplying electricity to Nigerians, the lawmaker has been severally accused of using the power supply problems for a political chessboard.
Despite numerous interventions and appeals, accusing fingers are constantly being pointed at politicians of Afikpo extraction, with Igariwey especially being singled out as the brain behind his constituency's electricity woes.
In fact, angered by the constant criticism, in an interview with this writer in May, last year, the lawmaker enlightened his "ignorant" constituents on leaving the substance to pursue shadows, especially for their pointing accusing fingers at the wrong people, instead of focusing on the woeful EEDC.
He said: "Nobody can hijack power supply. People should understand the situation of power supply in this country. It is rather pathetic. Any accusation of a politician being behind the problems of power supply in Afikpo is rather irresponsible. Power supply has been privatized. It is now in the hands of businessmen, just like anything you can buy or sell in the market, so no politician or individual can hijack it.
"EEDC, which is owned by Emeka Offor, is in charge of everything about distribution of electricity to Afikpo and other South-east states... So, if people are not happy with the way it is being distributed, they should know whom to hold responsible. It is just as elementary and as simple as that. I have said it repeatedly that the Power Reform Act ought to be reformed. It deserves a lot of amendments.
"Ever since EEDC was saddled with the responsibility of power supply in the South-east, I don't think they have planted a single pole in Afikpo, so how do you expect light to be there? I don't think they have procured a single transformer for the entire areas they cover in Afikpo North and South. I have had to buy transformers on my own to donate to communities in my constituency. I have been doing what EEDC ought to be doing. In summary, private individuals or politicians have not hijacked power supply in Afikpo. It is EEDC that is not up to their job. They don't have the capacity to do their job, so people should apportion blames appropriately."
Still concerned, Igariwey made more clarifications: "The bulk lies with EEDC. It is very wrong to leave substance to chase shadows by accusing politicians of hijacking power supply in Afikpo. There is no amount of motion I will move that will change the situation of power supply in Afikpo or anywhere else in Nigeria. It is for the executive arm of government, who in the first place initiated the privatization, to re-jig the Act. They have to take a second look at it.
"You may be aware that even our Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, has spent so much money to improve the power supply in Afikpo. That is not even his responsibility, I must be honest with you. He is just doing it as a caring governor, because what he is doing is like taking government money to go and help a private individual, which shouldn't be. But he is doing it because he feels the pains of his citizens in Afikpo North and South, otherwise, what should be done is to hold EEDC responsible.
"It is the company that bills people. EEDC is the company that makes money from the enterprise. It is a money-making enterprise. As they make money from it, they should invest in it so that they can get it right and for people to get satisfaction and value for their money. So, it is not sentiment or a matter of what I can do. I have already done my best by supplying transformers. But the transformers are just symbolic things, they don't go to the root of the problems."
He added: "To get to the root of the problem is for government to take away the licence they gave to the individual who owns EEDC, because they are not up to the task. They are not capable. If you don't have the resources, both material and human resources, to supply power to an area you have taken the responsibility for, then there is nothing else anybody can do than to take it away from you.
"There is nothing I have not done to solve the power supply issues, including holding meetings with stakeholders. I know how much I have spent from my own pocket, yet the problem persists. So, it is a technical problem with EEDC and not an issue of power supply being hijacked by politicians. Believe me, I am even having sleepless nights about the power supply issue, because I am not comfortable with many of my people not coming back home during Yuletide periods, because of epileptic power supply. I have even sued EEDC for giving me crazy bills and disconnecting me. We are presently in court as we speak."
Interestingly, even today in Afikpo, residents never think twice before accusing Igariwey of not doing anything to resolve the electricity issues, regardless of the fact that the lawmaker facilitated and attended an intermediary meeting between the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), EEDC and stakeholders of Afikpo extraction on February 6, this year; even with a memorandum of understanding signed by affected parties and assessment report expected to be submitted to NERC in three weeks time (on or before February 27, 2020).
"Audio meeting" was added to "audio light", a term severally used by constituents to describe the concerted effort of different stakeholders in resolving Ebonyi South power supply issues, and two months after the meeting, the present electricity situation has not absolved Igariwey of blame; at least, as long as his constituents are concerned.
Unemployment
Presently, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is so high, with the possibility of many workers losing their jobs at the end of the present COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.
However, during the interview session mentioned above, on the heels of his reelection, Igariwey admitted that his greatest concern remains getting as many jobs as possible for his constituents.
"I will try to get more jobs for a very large number of young unemployed people in my constituency. Many of them have remained unemployed for many years. My heart bleeds when I receive a deluge of text messages and reminders about jobs and all that from many of my constituents that I sometimes think of a situation of if wishes were horses. So, I intend to engage much more to find jobs for our many unemployed graduates," he said.
Interestingly, despite this assurance, the lawmaker has come under constant criticism from some of his unemployed or underemployed constituents for not attracting or securing jobs to/for them, "unlike Comrade Chinedu Ogah, member representing Ezza-South/Ikwo constituency, under the All Progressives Congress (APC), who secured federal government jobs for his constituents after being sworn in on November 19, 2019, following an appeal court victory".
Even the training Igariwey funded in 2019 for many of his constituents interested in fishery and aquaculture, immediately after his reelection, was overlooked by some of the embittered constituents, who use every opportunity to compare him with Ogah.
Empowerment, humanitarian interventions
It is said that appreciation begets more philanthropy. Surprisingly, many beneficiaries of Igariwey's humanitarian interventions are rather disgruntled.
During the 2019 Yuletide, Igariwey distributed Christmas largesse to his constituents, empowering many of them, especially an upcoming musician, with sums of money "to support their hustle", but many of his constituents still found something to say about the gesture, ending with the accusation that the lawmaker selected only a few of his constituents to empower.
Also, at the beginning of this year, the lawmaker empowered many of his constituents with commercial motorcycles, tricycles, registered public examinations for many students in schools across his constituency, among other financial interventions.
However, surprisingly, like an ungrateful horse kicking a bucket of drinking water, a particular beneficiary did not even wait to leave the venue before lashing out at the lawmaker, claiming that the tricycles were fairly used and repainted to pass off as new ones, while the motorcycles were making the type of noise that can only be compared with dane guns.
The comparison with Ogah still surfaced, with a particular constituent claiming that, "barely a month in office, Ogah spent over 400 million naira in empowering his constituents, widows and the downtrodden with tricycles known as (Keke NAPEP), motorcycles, industrial grinding machines, bags of salt, bags of rice, wrappers and many more, while Igariwey focused on empowering his already rich friends, family members and a few constituents".
Even with the present Coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world, apart from donating his salary as a lawmaker at the federal level, Igariwey reportedly made provisions for 5,000 bags of 5kg rice for distribution to schools. The greatest beneficiaries are secondary schools principals, headmasters, headmistresses, prison wardens, the elderly and vulnerable in his constituency. Not done, the lawmaker procured health products, including face masks, hand sanitisers and soaps for distribution to his constituents, especially hospitals.
However, the only good some of his constituents could see or make of the humanitarian intervention is that some of the items, especially the bags of rice, were customised to bear the lawmaker's image "as if he is using the Coronavirus palliatives to campaign".
2023 politics
Talking about empowerments and provision of palliatives, the popular belief of many constituents is that Igariwey is warming up to serve as a deputy governor to a serving Senator in 2023, whereas his counterpart in the APC, Ogah, is being positioned to replace the present governor.
Many constituents accuse Igariwey of being reactive, instead of proactive, claiming that the lawmaker is imitating whatever empowerment or humanitarian intervention undertaken by Ogah, particularly citing an example of how "Igariwey distributed Keke NAPEP and Okada to selected beneficiaries in January, after Ogah distributed his own the previous month".
In fact, for many constituents, "Igariwey is engaged in competition with Ogah and both are receiving financial help at the state and federal levels for whatever empowerment and palliatives they are providing now, against 2023", but we can only take that as a speculation, which is permitted in politics.
Media aides
Like many National Assembly members, Igariwey is believed not to have a physical constituency office, where constituents are supposed to meet and interact with him.
Consequently, many constituents claim that "Igariwey plays god by being inaccessible and you have to offer an arm and a leg, especially to touts acting as security, before you can meet the lawmaker, your own representative, to table your concerns".
Nevertheless, the advent of social media has been helping in bridging the gap between politicians and their constituents or favour-seekers, with the latter class using Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp to engage their leaders, even if it is through their aides.
Pathetically, in words and deeds, in the eyes of discerning minds in his constituency, Igariwey is not even receiving much help from people entrusted with the task of bridging the gap between him and his constituents, but who sometimes end up making a fool of themselves.
Believing they are justifying or trying to
justify their pay, many "aides" to Igariwey, by omission or commission, are presently trying their best to make sure that the lawmaker is insulated from the realities on ground in his constituency by falling over themselves to "rise up in arms; in order to discourage those making constructive criticism about their representative".
Apart from not permitting any "contrary" opinion on the lawmaker's interfacing social media platforms, they constitute themselves into touts or social media bulldogs to attack or threaten any constituent with as much as a contrary opinion other than their's, thereby negating or defeating one of the objectives of having a platform for a lawmaker to receive feedback from his constituents.
Being overzealous, many of these "aides" or social media miscreants turn abusive in posts with a mention of Igariwey, perhaps with the intention of creating fear in the minds of his constituents. Rather than attract respect for the lawmaker, they deliberately or inadvertently specialise in marking out and recommending constituents to the lawmaker as "enemies", while crawling to him for crumbs or a piece of the "national cake".
Consequently, while living in fear of being physically attacked by touts pretending to be loyal to their elected representative for voicing their opinion on issues affecting them as constituents, instead of choking in their thoughts, many constituents either prefer to confide in writers or harbour grudges against their own representative, creating alienation between the lawmaker and his constituency.
But as Napoleon Bonaparte said: "The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know."
Ironically, in fact, at different times, some of these "trusted and reliable" aides openly trying to please Igariwey have confided in writers about not having their financial needs met by the same lawmaker, regardless of the fact that he has a lot of constituency projects to execute with limited resources.
Criticism, praise singers
On pages 8 and 9 of his 157-page 39th religious-cum-political book, The Parable of A Dumb Prophet: Church And Politics In Ebonyi State (published in 2015), Rev. Fr. John Okwoeze Odey introduced the book with a short anecdote about criticism and praise singers.
He wrote: "I crave the reader's indulgence to introduce this book with a story entirely lifted from another book, The Prayer of the Frog, written by Anthony de Mello, S.J. I will not rephrase it for fear of diluting the message that it is meant to convey. This is the story:
" 'There was once a Rabbi who was revered by the people as a man of God. Not a day went by when a crowd of people was not standing at his door seeking advice or healing or the holy man's blessing. And each time the
Rabbi spoke, the people would hang on his lips, drinking in his every word.
" 'There was, however, in the audience a disagreeable fellow, who never missed a chance to contradict the Master. He would observe the Rabbi's weaknesses and make fun of his defects to the dismay of the disciples who, began to look on him as the devil incarnate.
" 'Well, one day the "devil" took ill and died. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Outwardly, they looked appropriately solemn, but in their hearts, they were glad for no longer would the Master's inspiring talks be interrupted or his behaviour criticised by this disrespectful
heretic.
" 'So the people were surprised to see the Master plunged in genuine grief at the funeral. When asked by a disciple later if he was mourning over the eternal fate of
the dead man, he said, 'No, no. Why should I mourn over our friend who is now in heaven? It was for myself I was grieving. That man was the only friend I had. Here l am surrounded by people who revere me. He was the only one who challenged me. I fear that with him gone, I shall stop growing.' And as he said these words, the Master burst into tears.'
"The story ends here. We are aware of the common indictment that societies have often demonized and killed their bests at the peak of their fame only to turn round, mourn and eulogise them when they are dead and gone...
"Every society needs those who are often misunderstood and misinterpreted, because they see beyond the ordinary and refuse to jump on the bandwagon of praise-singers to enable it to grow. Every leader needs those who can look him up in the face and tell him what his armpit truly looks like; for him to grow.
"But they are relatively few the leaders who know when they are on the throne that those who point out the pitfalls in their leadership style are not their enemies, but their friends. The leaders, who understand that those who
gratuitously surround them and revere them do not allow them a breathing space to enable them to grow, are not
many.
"Naturally, criticism is antithetical to our liking. Nobody likes to be criticised. However, no matter how much we may detest it and no matter how bitter the
criticism may turn out to be, wise leaders always try to tell the difference between good and bad criticism.
"Though not every leader takes the
requisite precautions to ensure that he does what is right, no leader would like to end up in the people's bad book. As corrupt, turbulent, unsettling and violent as the Nigerian political terrain is, many Nigerians who go into politics are good, honest and patriotic citizens. And they go into politics to help to put things right. But almost all of them meet their political Waterloo along the line in the person of sycophants and what I call in this book the dumb prophets, those who decide to shut their ears, eyes and mouths in the face of injustice."
With critics, favour-seekers and praise singers alike competing for his attention in a game of deception, I really fear for Igariwey for many reasons, but I would like to believe he knows what he is doing; as the acclaimed "strong man of Afikpo politics".
Paul Okah is an Abuja-based journalist, blogger and Vox Pop Editor for Blueprint Newspapers.
Comments
Post a Comment