Date Published: 01/21/10

Imo: Where the Vipers got it wrong By Okechukwu Nwadike

I am compelled to write this piece following the barrage of e-mails, text messages, and most times calls to me with questions I considered similar and Nigerian-like. To aptly summarize them, the writers wanted to know why I have recently in my various write-ups elected to attack one Maximus Uba; a journalist operating from Mbaise in Imo state and another Samuelson Ikenna Iwuoha; a kerosene dealer in Owerri who recently picked up arms against the Imo government professing activism because his kerosene shanty right in the middle of Owerri city was demolished by government’s agents.

While many of the writers commended my openness and acknowledged the fact that the works of these fellows were actually becoming ridiculous and embarrassing to them as Imo citizens, others whom I must say wrote from the point of ignorance and myopism  have continued to comment on my online blog alleging I was being sponsored.

Needless to decapitate time here responding to the question of being paid or not by anyone because I had in my previous materials wrote of my angst against the duo of Uba and Iwuoha; both whom I said were actually being used to set Imo on fire by enemies of the present administration.

I am doing what I am doing with the conviction that they are not being sincere with what they tell the Imo public. Their writings have been deceptive and slanderous and they have been using the knowledge given to them by nature to lie, mislead and deceive the people while setting the citizens against their leaders. This I maintain is a crime against the Imo people.

There is a saying that it is not by a process of reasoning that the sculptor decides to change the curve of a hip; a direct communication has been established between his eyes fixed upon his model and his fingers caressing his statue.

Apart from other reasons in my earlier articles against these vipers heating up Imo with phony and baseless claims against the Ohakim’s administration, my leadership experience has shown that no government strives in an environment of distrust by its citizens, worst still when these are coming from lies, blackmails and slander from hired writers and bunch of impossible human characters.

I have always insisted that those who criticize should criticize constructively and have their facts when making claims. Any efforts at embellishing facts on ground with lies may sound interesting and political to the writer but heats up the environment such as Imo which unfortunately has the highest number of less informed citizens as occupants. This exposes every one; not just the players to all sorts of in-fighting, hatred and confusion and brings about distrust between the leaders and the led.

It is this conviction of removing the limb of the monkey from the soup-pot before it becomes a human limb that has warranted my constant attacks against the vipers in the writers cover.

The Viper is a dangerous snake living within the neighbourhood. But if the viper is not quickly eliminated when spotted, the snake could end up killing its human neighbours with its poisonous venom.

If panic seizes a flock of sheep, each animal runs with the flock, not because it understands the reason for the panic, but because the fundamental instincts of its kind teach that if a sheep does not follow the flock it will be at the mercy of its enemies.

As a responsible and patriotic citizen of Imo state who has been, and still desires one day to be in a position of trust and leadership, common sense warrants that we put right some things we do today against tomorrow as the elder does not sit and watch the she goat strangle itself at the stake all in the course of childbirth.

I believe Imo state should not sacrifice its collective peace, unity and progress at the altar of selfish political ambition of a few who are sponsoring agents of media propaganda and applying judicial go-slow on the wheel of the state’s development.

Iwuoha who recently listed the Speaker and entire members of the Imo House of Assembly, the state’s Governor Ikedi Ohakim, Chief Emma Ohakim (Chief of Staff), Chief Rex Anunobi, Chief Jerry Alagboso (Asiwaju), Sir Nnamdi Anyaehie, Chief Samfo Nwankwo, Chief Elvis Agukwe, Ikenga Ugochukwu Ikeagwuonu, Chief Bonny Ebili, Chief Clement Anozie, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and a host of other prominent Imolites as evil and criminals has not been able to recommend to Ndiimo who to fall back on as their leaders. Can Iwuoha tell us who truly he is fronting as his candidate?

I am very much convinced, even as I have been hopping that Iwuoha and Uba as anti-development agents would sooner than later commence attacks against me and the members of my generation; a lot of who are currently occupying various leadership positions under this administration. And let me add for posterity sake that no government in the state has given priority attention to leadership development of the youths of this state than Ohakim.

Iwuoha has resorted to loud-mouth allegations against the government as his own way of demanding for compensation from the Ohakim administration over his demolished kerosene shanty in Owerri. This is where I think he went wrong. There is too much power in government when confronted with force, but the same government is powerless when confronted with reasoning and calm persuasion; a lesson guild I will like to leave for Iwuoha pronto.

He has continued to query why the likes of Garden Park and others in Owerri were compensated after the demolition of their properties while none was given to him for his kerosene shanty. As reasonable as this question is, I sincerely think the reason is simple and logical; these people resorted to dialogue and persuasion as tools for their claims; they did not challenge the government to a wrestling bout which they knew they would not win.

“Developing the art of persuasion” is a point from Christopher Books and teaches that one should not force his opinion on others. The book writes as follows: “In any remarks you make where there may be a difference of opinion, keep this points in heart: you and your listeners may not always see eye to eye. If you speak with an obviously antagonistic or scolding attitude, they will sense it immediately and turn a deaf ear to your proposals.

“Try to think in terms of the other person’s rights and points of view and you will be more disposed to share with him ideas that God may be sending to him through you”

Another author described the difference between persuasion and force this way: “Force gets a violent and sudden reaction; persuasion gets a gradual and unfolding reaction. Persuasion commends itself to the heart of man; force confuses his intelligence”

It was Aristotle the great philosopher who said some three hundred years before Christ that “it is not enough to know what to say; it is necessary also to know how to say it”

While trying to persuade, my dear Iwuoha, please do try to substitute clear and sound thinking for loud and angry words as have become reflective of all your articles and propaganda against your governor, government and leaders. Avoid sarcasm, barbed remarks and personal insults. These are a reflection of weakness, not strength.

Greg Okechukwu Nwadike is the Coordinator, Imo People’s Movement (IPM) and a media practitioner based in the FCT.