UZODINMA AND ORGY OF DISINFORMATION.

BY AUSTIN UGANWA (PhD)

Senator Hope Uzodinma’s apparent desperation to clinch onto the Imo governorship seat he obtained fraudulently through the Supreme Court lies at the heart of the unbridled manner he has spreading disinformation. This is because a desperate top political office holder is usually identified in the glibly manner he spawns falsehoods, rhetorics and half-truths in order to wheedle and manipulate unsuspecting members of the public in pursuit of set political objectives. This penchant to hoodwink public opinion through non-rational argument and deliberate twisting of facts is aptly referred to as disinformation, which is now gaining significant ground in Uzodinma-led Imo State Government.

Over reliance on disinformation is.also.a reflection of a government that lacks vision and is not populist. In history, the non-populist regimes of Joseph Stalin of Soviet Union during the Second World War and early stage of the Cold War and Adolph Hitler of Germany latched on disinformation to unleash a chain of inhuman activities. Nazi- German’s induced holocaust of the Jews in 1942 was a clear case.

Back home, General Sani Abacha’s regime of 1993 and 1998 hinged the survival of the visionless, unpopular government on the power of propaganda. Abacha cashed in on his.regime’s disinformation about his battle against financial and economic crimes to loot the nation’s commonwealth
Regrettably, Senator Uzodinma who January 14 was thrown up in controversial circumstances by the Supreme Court to be Imo State Governor has similarly been towing the line of disinformation to sustain his vision bereft, struggling government . He has understandably made disinformation a center-piece of his government. Uzodinma has over and over again demonstrated his inclination towards making disinformation an organic structure of his administration.
This became more manifest on Friday, 31st January at the State House Abuja after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari over the Supreme Court’s evidenced-based judicial blunder and subversion of justice. Uzodinma who fielded questions from the State House correspondents was largely economical with the truth, deliberately deceiving the public particularly Imolites into supporting his troubled regime . First he told the journalists that he paid Imo workers outstanding salaries at the end of January. Secondly, he claimed to be the first Governor of the state to visit the State Secretariat. Third, was his assertion that he restored power to Imo secretariat and Otamiri water scheme to run again.

It is important to set the record straight and more so to show the extent to which a desperate Governor can go in curious search for survival. In less than two months as Governor Ihedioha undertook unscheduled facility visit to the state secretariat. The social media including the conventional media were awash with the photographs of Ihedioha’s visit on July 2, 2019 to the State Secretariat which can easily be verified, in clear refutation of Uzodinma’s claim of being the first Governor to visit the secretariat. He was accompanied at the visit by his deputy, Engr Gerald Irona; Secretary to Imo State Government, Hon Uche Onyeagocha and the Head of Service at that time, Barr. Amar Eluwa. Ihedioha was warmly received by the workers who expressed heightened enthusiasm over the unprecedented facility visit

Peeved that the secretariat was run on improvised generators and not connected to the national grip, he directed Dr Okorogu, the then Director-General of Imo Power and Rural Electrification Agency which he set to reinforce power supply in the state to ensure prompt restoration of electricity to the secretariat. This was accordingly accomplished on September 14, 2019 and widely reported by the media. It was in the same month that Ihedioha reinstated the Otamiri Water Scheme in Owerri after eight years of dry taps. This is on record, verifiable, reported by the media and known and cherished by a vast majority of Owerri indigenes. The question is: When did Uzodinma assume duty to be able to undertake the procurement tender imbued with due process required to restore the Otamiri water scheme?

Similarly, it is mostly misleading and the height of disinformation for Governor Uzodinma to claim that he paid outstanding workers’ salaries in January. The truth is that he did not inherit any outstanding salary to pay. Prior to Ihedioha’s administration workers for years were being paid by Owelle Rochas Okorocha government 70 percent and some of them were even receiving less as the payment structure lacked standardization. The pensioners were in worse situation as they did not receive their entitlements for six years. Ihedioha immediately commenced regular payment of workers’ salaries and in August 7, 2019 restored 100 percent workers’ pay. Again, it was robustly reported by various media organizations. He kept faith with the 100 percent payment until January 14 when he stepped aside via the apex court.

On December 19th, 2019 Ihedioha raised a government team headed by Onyeagocha, to negotiate with organized labour ahead of the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage. The negotiation was still on as at the time the Supreme Court struck. Ihedioha also reformed the pension scheme through painstaking biometric capturing of pensioners in September, 2019 and restored monthly payment of pensioners’ entitlements October 17th 2019.

Besides, Uzodinma comically told bewildered Imo people that he would veer his security vote into payment of workers’ salaries. To many Imolites this is another case of disinformation. The question is what has happened to the over N5b monthly statutory allocation to the state and the monthly Internally Generated Revenue which Ihedioha raised to N1.2b from N250m that Uzodinma would now use his security vote to off-set salaries.

This is simply a recast and a rehearsal of Okorocha tactics. He similarly told Imo people 2011 at inception of his administration that he was going to relinquish his security vote, but by the time he concluded with Imo, eight years later the state was utterly ruined. History conceivably, is about to repeat itself.

Dr. Austin Uganwa, wrote from
Owerri