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Trip with Ambivalence (1)
Acho
Orabuchi
Saturday, August 27, 2011
“God sees us through our Mothers' eyes and rewards
us for our virtues.”- Ganeshan Venkatarman, Indian philosopher
“Mother is the name of God in the lips and hearts
of children.” - William Makepeace Thackeray, English novelist
Mother
is the name of God in the lips and hearts of adults, too. Mom, my only surviving
parent, was with us in the United States
for a while, but I received a frantic message that she was seriously ill in
Nigeria
with stroke level blood pressure readings. The news prompted my emergency trip
to Nigeria,
Imo State
in particular. As
I left Dallas
on a Delta flight in a hot sizzling summer afternoon with a temperature of about
110°F (43°C) for Minneapolis
en route to Amsterdam
for the final destination—Abuja,
I did not know what awaited me across the
Atlantic. Though my
ticket read Delta, but my connecting flights to
Amsterdam and
Abuja
were on KLM aircrafts. On arriving at Abuja at about 8:00 P.M. local time, I
took the first morning flight to Owerri the next day.
Worrying about mom’s condition, smooth connecting flights with
minimal layover time mitigated my anxiety. While in the air, I either slept or
read a book. I was reading the “Renegade: The Making of A President” by Richard
Wolfe. I found it pleasurable and fascinating as it gave me more insights on the
psyche of Barack Obama’s campaign, victory, and early moments in the office.
At
Amsterdam we went
through another screening irrespective of the fact that I checked in my luggage
in Dallas to
Abuja,
and I never left any of the airports’ security areas before boarding a KLM
flight from Amsterdam
to Abuja.
I thought the activity was redundant! However, for safety purposes, I did not
mind the exercise.
Well, on arriving in
Abuja, my friend
Engr. Casmir Anyanwu and my nephew, Dr. Nnaemeka Onyeakusi, were already waiting
for me at
Nnamdi
Azikiwe
International
Airport.
Surprisingly, the immigration processing and baggage handling at the airport
were efficient and smooth. Soon after, I proceeded to the outside where Casmir
pulled in and Nnaemeka wasted no time to help put my luggage in the trunk; they
immediately drove me straight to Protea Hotel, where I spent a night before
catching a morning flight for Owerri. Well, I was impressed with Protea
Hotel—the facility is up to standard and comparable to what is obtainable in the
western countries. After freshening up, I came down to the restaurant for a
buffet dinner at a whopping cost of N4,800 per person. Well, needless to say the
food was good; scrumptiously, the menu was replete with Nigerian cuisine of
assorted types. I opted for the goat meat pepper soup, moi-moi, akara, and two
other soups—ogbono and okazi without the accompanying solid. These foods are
rare in my household—we seldom eat them. Thereafter, I retired for the night.
Next day the guys took me to the
airport to catch a flight to Owerri. I boarded the Arik Air for a hitch-free
45-minute flight, which was on schedule. By the time I arrived in Owerri, Ikenna
Anibeze was already waiting for me. On getting my luggage, he immediately took
me to Links Hotels where I checked in. From there, I shuttled to
Aba to
see my mom. Before departing the United States,
I filled mom’s blood pressure medication, but was worried about the condition in
which I would see her. Well, by the time I saw her, she was stabilized and had
become stronger—a welcome relief for me and unparalleled joy for both of us as I
hugged and held her for a little longer with a parting kiss on her forehead; as
I was releasing her, I muttered “I love you , mom”. You may not have known that
it was uncommon for parents and their children to verbalize their love for one
another. When I was growing up, my parents never said, “I love you, son.” I knew
they loved me, which they expressed in many ways. In the same token I never
uttered, “I love you mom or I love you dad.” I loved my parents, but it is not
the culture to verbalize love within an African family. Mom and I sat and
chatted about everything in the company of my other siblings, nephews and
nieces. It was a good feeling to be with mom, who sacrificed tremendously for my
siblings and me. As an adult, mom is still protective of me.
 Noticeably,
this was my first trip to Imo
State
since the controversial supplementary gubernatorial May 6th
election that brought Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha into power. Gov. Okorocha
campaigned furiously promising to rescue Imo from the imagined excesses of Gov.
Ikedi Ohakim. It appears that the rescue mission was a mirage and the wheels of
the rescue machine had come to a screeching halt with exhilaration of supporters
and campaign workers turning into exhaustion and exasperation. At least, reviews
on the ground attested to the above assertion. People in Imo
State
are talking with a great disappointment of Governor Rochas Okoracha. I rode ‘keke’
on several occasions to take the pulse of the people regarding the situation in
Imo State.
Shockingly, the majority of people expressed grave disappointment of Gov. Rochas
Okorocha. I tried to find out if the sentiments were just veneer emotions, but
to my greatest surprise, the sentiments were deep-rooted.
The sentiments were reinforced by several factors. Some people
argued that Owelle Rochas Okorocha was not prepared for the job and never knew
what to expect. They further expressed that Gov. Okorocha’s decisions in office
so far had been erratic and lacked thorough, thought-processing evaluation
before implementation. In some instances, they expressed regrets for supporting
Rochas Okorocha. Since I was a passive observer, I could not probe for more
information. In some cases the conversation centered on Gov. Okorocha’s recent
bloated appointments that received damning editorial comments in the national
dailies. The people alleged not only that Gov. Okorocha bloated his
administration with incompetent people, but that he flooded his appointments
with his relatives and friends—anathema to the populace—who have no intentions
to uplift the masses in Imo State. It is ineluctably true that the quality of
any administration is in its individual appointees.
Perhaps, the most scathing and baleful
allegation came when one of the passengers riding ‘Keke’ quoted Gov. Okorocha as
saying in Igbo language,
“Ochichi na-amalite n’usekwu nne.” This means that
before the governor will ever help others or embark on any development in
Imo
State,
he must first enrich his relatives starting with siblings of the same
mother—one’s blood relations come first before others. They said that the
governor continued, “Ochichi wu onye ritu onye-efe onye ozo eritu.” Invariably,
he holds that the primary purpose of public service is to enrich self.
The allegations continued with another
passenger cutting with an accusation that Gov. Rochas Okorocha furtively sold
the government-owned Concord Hotels to his associates; there was neither a
public hearing nor public notice. Henceforth, all government meetings are
conducted at Rochas
Foundation
Building.
Morosely, the glum looks on their faces testified to the seeming phenomenon
which was not perfect for their palate as they unwittingly winnow the campaign
promises from hard reality.
Interestingly, the chatters were never vacuous pockets of din
from the opposition, which was nonexistent in the first place. At least, the
people, in their veiled criticism of Ohakim, indicated that they supported
Owelle Rochas Okorocha during the election. Perhaps the rants revealed the
sudden and quick erosion of public support for Governor Rochas Anayo Okorocha.
Gov Okorocha’s steep decline in favorability is reminiscent of Governor Rick
Scott’s, the 45th Governor of Florida State.
Dr. Acho Orabuchi, an Opinion
Writer/Commentator and Analyst, lives in
USA.
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