Nimo people unhappy with Governor Obiano over recognition of Igwe, as Jimbuoy Okoye-Akalanze Nimo writes on the mood

My dear brethren:

The general expectation of the public is that the high-spirited and legitimate search for a new traditional leader of the ancient town of Nimo would have come to its logical conclusion by now. 

Had this particular feat been made possible, the suitably qualified, selected, and anointed king would have laudably been discharging his legitimate roles and responsibilities to the satisfaction of all the good people of Nimo.  Up to the time of writing this entreating message, the traditional leadership of Nimo is still in limbo.  The Monarchy of Nimo Owelle could rightly be said to be in a state of suspended animation with nobody equitably undertaking the various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, and representational duties of a monarch in good faith!  Yes, the situation in Nimo is still sad – so sad!  Almost a year after his selection and coronation, the new Igwe still appears to be seriously restricted from parading himself in public as the paramount leader of Nimo.  Alas!

As a result of this anomaly, a lot of anxiety has enveloped the psyche of the entire citizenry of the town with virtually everybody wanting to know what exactly is causing the protracted delay in getting government to recognize the new Owelle of Nimo?  Out of sheer despondency, many people are now asking: “Keduzinu ife ji nkita onwu?” (Meaning: What is holding us from getting to our promised land?)  And as another Igbo adage would metaphorically put: “Is the barber incapable of doing a nice job or is the razor he is using not sharp enough for the job?”  This disconcerting question is currently agitating the minds of many discerning witnesses of this gloomy development in the contemporary history of Nimo town.

 

In this message, I’m not going to write anything that I know nothing about.  My focus will be on the veracity of the matter as it affects the ordinary people in the streets of Nimo.  Frankly speaking, my grave concern over the lingering leadership quagmire in my hometown is currently as palpable as the heightened curiosity of all the other perceptive onlookers of the ongoing humiliation of the town by some unknown forces.  Certainly, plenty of explanations have already been given pertaining to the major cause of the new Igwe’s helplessness in hitting the ground running.  And prominent among the tentative reasons why our king cannot get off to a brisk and successful start is that the government of Anambra State has not approved his status as the authentic bearer of the royal crown of the ancient kingdom of Nimo. Of course, no one can fully imagine the extent of uncertainty this singular inaction of government is generating both within our local polity and far beyond.

What really pushed me to comment on this issue now is a response to an enquiry I once made as to why the government has not allowed our Igwe to start performing his lawful duties as soon as he mounted his throne.   Much earlier than now, I was told that the government did not want anyone to exploit the process of choosing a new traditional leader for any political gain.  That was the answer I received before the election of Governor Willie Obiano for a second term in office.  And that, perhaps, truly explained why the exigent need to exercise patience became both necessary and unavoidable for the generality of ndiNimo at that trying moment.  Praise God that the election has since come and gone peacefully with Nimo people contributing positively and immensely to its eventual outcome – the ideal man of the people won in grand style.  Alleluia!

And after winning the election, getting himself sworn-in, and appointing his latest crop of Commissioners that will help him to continue his good works in Anambra State, one was thinking that the recognition of the new traditional leader of Nimo will immediately become one of the issues on the front burner.  Sensing that the unwarranted traditional leadership vacuum in Nimo may not actually be receiving much of the required attention of government, I recently wanted to know what exactly is stopping the patient dog from “eating the fattest bone.”  And the answer I got made me to become even more worried than I have ever been before.  I was told that our amiable Governor must have been aware of our case and that we do not have to go to him again to present our request because he, most probably, knows the details of our story.  Unbelievable, isn’t it?  Yet, that was a stupid answer I got from one of those in the corridors of power who are supposed to be protecting the collective interest of ndiAnambra and fighting for our common good.  Odi egwu O!

The mindset that informed such a clumsy answer was obviously based on an irrational presumption that no responsible or responsive government needs to be pressurized or persuaded into doing the right thing!  But we all know that every decision or action of a democratic government is often (if not always) hinged on the popular demand of the people. And somebody is still telling me that we should remain silent and continue to wait for government to remember our pitiful case someday.  Tufia kwa!

Come to think of it: Does the Executive Governor really know anything about the predicament of our present Igwe and still waiting for heaven to fall before taking a decision on the matter?  I’ve got my serious doubts!  And for crying out loud, it is very difficult to say whether Gov. Obiano is actually aware of the fact that our Igwe is neither a usurper nor too young to hold sway in his domain?   Otherwise, what is preventing him from giving his approval for the new Igwe to start reigning supreme in Nimo as he should?  Being a passionate lover of Igbo culture and tradition, His Excellency, Gov. Willie Obiano is not supposed to hesitate in endorsing the certificate of leadership of any duly selected and properly crowned Igwe of Nimo or that of any other autonomous community in Anambra State for that matter.  Unless, of course, there is something we don’t know that we are yet to be told bluntly regarding the long-awaited approval from the State Government.

As a matter of fact, no government will be happy to act only when the solution to an ugly situation is pursued in a violent or lawless manner.  I’m sure that Gov. Obiano will be more than glad to act decisively at this stage when our right is being pursued in a peaceful and civilized manner devoid of any crisis.  Being a compassionate leader, our hardworking Governor will not let the proverbial dog to die of hunger before the fattest bone is made available for it to eat and survive?  I think a hint to the wise is quite sufficient for a right action to be taken in the right direction!  Thus far, Nimo people have waited patiently for too long and it is high time they ate the “fattest bone” that has been dangled in the air far above their reach.

  

By the way, I’m very much aware of the fact that one will get nowhere without patience.  Yes of course, patience will remain one of the greatest virtues in life.  However, it is now becoming clearer to me that with patience alone, we can still get nowhere.  In order words, the ability to wait is partly the price we must pay to get the good things we want from our government.  There should be no doubt about this.  But while waiting for government to do the right thing, we must also be working diligently by putting necessary pressure on government to act fast.   This is because waiting should never be an endless process.  It should consciously be made to terminate at some point in time.  

And the truth of the matter is that if we keep waiting even when we should have moved, we may have to wait for another chance that will never come our way again because opportunity comes but once in a lifetime.  So, if we continue to wait for too long without doing anything tangible to reduce the length of the waiting period, we may be waiting for unforeseen problems or we may ultimately end up waiting for nothing at all.  There lies the tragedy of our case now.

The question we should be asking ourselves today is not how much longer do we need to wait but what should we all be doing while waiting for the approval from government?  It is what we are doing while we are waiting that matters most.  This is because what we are doing during the period of our waiting will determine what we will get at the end of the day.  For instance, the moment we all begin to see and treat HRH Igwe Maxi Oliobi (Owelle Nimo) as the rightful occupant of the traditional stool in Nimo, the sooner the government of Anambra State will begin to see our seriousness and sincerity of purpose...  Isn’t it highly regrettable that most of us are still finding it rather too difficult, very strange, or quite impossible to properly address our incumbent traditional leader as the Owelle of Nimo despite the fact that the symbol of the highest authority in Nimo has been handed over to him for custody a long time ago?  The power to be the custodian of our unique customs, long-established traditions, and cultural practices has duly been conferred on him.  This notwithstanding, majority of us are still paying leap service to both the exigencies and the expediencies of Nimo tradition and culture especially regarding the traditional stool. Too bad! 

Again, we seem to have forgotten that respect is to be earned and not to be accorded without any cogent reason.  Gidi-gidi bu ugwu eze!  If we fail to rally the much-needed support for our new king, nobody else will do it on our behalf.  Like charity, the dignity of a king begins at home.  The rest of the world will never give our monarch his due respect once we are not ready to set the pace or to show the right examples of how to pay homage to our king.  If the people in government as well as the members of the public notice that we hold our traditional leader in the highest esteem possible, they will have no option other than to emulate our own gesture of reverence and adoration toward our king.  This is a matter of common sense.  We can’t be waiting for government to officially recognize somebody we have not overtly accepted as our sitting traditional leader.  As long as Nimo continues to malfunction as a kingdom that exists without a definite king, so long will the wrong impression continue to overshadow the hearts and minds of all and sundry.  This again, is a matter of common sense.

I humbly suggest that, henceforth, all the branches of Nimo Town Development Union (NTDU) should make it a point of duty to continue paying scheduled visits to the palace of our new Igwe.  Such payments of homage should no longer be carried out in a clandestine or surreptitious manner but in a remarkable way that is sufficiently characterized by pomp and pageantry.  After all, there is nothing illegal or wrong with the payment of homage to a royal father whose selection is, by and large, a product of a credible democratic process.  If this assertion is not true, there would have been at least one court case instituted against the Igwe all this while.  But I'm not aware of any such lawsuit thus far.  Oops, I digress!   The news or reports of such regular solidarity visits to the palace should be widely publicized in and around Anambra State (nay, Nigeria) as a genuine proof or practical demonstration of the fact that our new Igwe is both perennially and universally accepted by his people extensively scattered all over the whole world. There will never be a better time to show our commitment and loyalty to the incumbent Owelle of Nimo than now...

To some people, waiting is the time to go into a deep slumber while expecting a favorable change in the prevailing condition of things.  To some other people, this is the time to just remain idle or to stay too busy wallowing in self-destructive proclivities such as planning or wishing evil to befall on the entire leadership of Nimo or hoping that the end of the waiting period had better remain indeterminate.  Worst of all still, there are some of us who are indifferent about the present state of affairs.  And there are also many other sadists who are living their normal lives without any anticipation of what the future is going to hold in store for us.  This is very unfortunate because it is at the very point of anticipation that we can determine our next move since there is no point waiting or rushing blindly for something we can never have because it is neither forthcoming nor realistic.

As Thomas Edison once said: “Good things of life come to those who wait, but only what is left over from those who hustle.”  People who are only patient and are doing nothing in practical terms are usually left at the bottom of the food chain.  In extreme conditions, they are used as prey to those who continue to hustle at the top.  If the so-called patient folks ever succeed, they are fed with what is left over by those who hustle.   There’s no such axiom as patience being the cornerstone of success in the lexicon of people who make a difference in this life. Patient dogs stopped eating the fattest bone long ago and not lately when human population has risen to a tumult.

 

What am I saying here?  In effect, what I’m saying here and now is that instead of waiting for government to recognize our new Igwe, we should begin to do or say things that will force the eclectic mix of people in government to bring down their hands for us to collect what rightly belongs to us as a community with a common ancestral heritage.  And the best way to achieve our shared dream is by mounting pressure on our government from all angles in order to compel the authority allegedly responsible for our present plight not only to to do the needful but to also do so with the highest sense of urgency which our embarrassing situation now demands. 

May I use this rare opportunity to remind our able Representative in the Anambra State government (Hon. Pete Ibida) that Nimo is most probably the only town in the constituency under his watch that is yet to have the official approval necessary for a new Igwe to operate freely.  We fervently desire that our king should start working for us both in earnest and without contravening any provision of the extant laws of Anambra State that are presently guiding all traditional, cultural, and chieftaincy matters in the state. 

Through his good offices, our able Rep (Ide-Onyeonadillimma) can sensitize his colleagues in the State Assembly as well as many other politicians around him on the very important need to formally accredit and adequately empower every duly elected (or selected) and properly crowned traditional leader in Anambra State without any exception.  We know what our energetic Parliamentarian can do for us and we are counting on his courage, influence, sagacity, and prudence to quickly end our long period of waiting for the right thing to be done for ndiNimo generally...  If he has been doing something about the delayed governmental approval, then the time has finally come for him to redouble not only his effort but also his chances of securing a second term in office.  We are all proud of his numerous achievements.  So far, he has done exceptionally well when compared with his predecessors in that elective office.  But, as they often say, the reward of every good work is more work!  That’s why we are now beckoning on him to continue to do more.  It shall be well with him and his family.

Still going forward, I’ll also like to take advantage of the possibility of this message getting to the attention of the present Anambra State Commissioner for Communication & Enlightenment, Hon. C.Don Adinuba, who happens to be a stakeholder as well as a good friend of Nimo by virtue of his agelong tie with St. Michael Secondary School, Nimo - his Alma-Mata.  I most humbly beg of him to leverage on his latest exalted position to effectively communicate and appropriately draw the awareness and interest of our gregarious Governor toward the urgent need for the state government to recognize the Owelle of Nimo as one of the traditional leaders in our beloved state – the light of the nation.  It may be pertinent to inform our Honorable Commissioner (C.Don as we fondly call him back in the olden days of our secondary school career) that the new Owelle of Nimo is also an old boy of St. Mike, Nimo.  The payback time is here with us.  Anything the Honorable Commissioner can do to alleviate the anxiety associated with the prolonged delay by government in doing justice to our case will be deeply appreciated.  It always goes without saying that “justice delayed is justice denied”!  

To conclude my lengthy message, I’ll still like to quote Theodore Roosevelt who once urged his audience to: “Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.” Tomorrow may not be any better; so, we do not have to put off until tomorrow that which we can do today. The “success mansion” has no need of indolent tenants who do not want to go out at the first cock crow in order to better their lives and the world. For me, patience can lead to laziness and can also water the ground for the seed of procrastination to germinate and flourish.  Let us all go out today and join the people out there who have defied all patience and are out in the field seeking for the least of opportunity to convert into success. Luck doesn’t come to those who fail to work.  As the saying goes: “Luck is when opportunity meets hard work.”  And Tim Crock resounded same statement when he said: “Luck is the dividend of sweat.”   Rather than waiting in despair, let’s begin now to sweat for that very thing we hold dear in our heart.  Whenever the time of reckoning comes, success in life will not be measured by how many of our responsibilities we artfully dodged but by how many of them we creditably discharged.  Please, let us all continue to live up to the various responsibilities we owe to our homeland.

The Oracle has written again!  And what he has written, he has written without fear or favor.  The onus is now on his teeming readers to be mindful of what has been objectively written.  Remember, “onye agwalu kwe, a gwakwa ya ozo”!  I salute you all.

With much love,

Jimbuoy Okoye (Akalanze Nimo)

The Oracle @ Akalanze Court, Nimo.