Ihedioha at 52: Glowing Legacies of Service, Consistency and Trust
Chibuike Onyeukwu
Nigeria has a rich political history featuring politicians who made their marks in the sands of time by helping to shape the trajectory of national growth and development in a positive light. On the flip side, there are also those who have etched their names on the hall of infamy contributing ingloriously to several missteps and misfortunes recorded since the over five decades of independence from colonial rule. Instructively, the political class has come to be synonymous with corruption, scandals and much else that is wrong with Nigeria. This makes members of this elite group get to be regarded with disdain, suspicion and scorn in some cases. It is hard for a politician to run through the mill of politics and public service in Nigeria and not celebrated negatively.There are however some bright spots in the dark clouds. There are still some men and women who have played on the political scene and exited to the sidelines with their heads held up high.
When I first met Hon. Emeka Ihehioha in 2002 while he was working with the then Vice President, H.E. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON, as Special Assistant on Political Matters, what really fascinated and endeared him to me during our brief chanced encounter was his unassuming disposition and unparalleled sense of humility and decency.
He further earned my respect by his vision about Imo State and the country at large which he discussed so passionately, intelligently and robustly. Such was Ihedioha’s burning zeal that left an indelible impression about him in my mind.
At the time, Ihedioha had brought Atiku Abubakar, as the Special Guest of honour at the annual Iriji(New Yam festival) of the people of Mbaise on 15th August, 2001. For us young Mbaise boys, this was significant as it was the first and indeed only time when the nation’s Number Two citizen was gracing our New Yam festival. That event was indeed colourful and from then Ihedioha became a darling of the Mbaise people. It was while hosting the visiting Vice President to a lunch at Chief P.C. Onuoha’s country home that few of us engaged Ihedioha. It became evident that he was a very patriotic, visionary and clear headed young man and we became convinced that he had a bigger date with history and indeed a role model.
Interestingly, he was later to transform this zeal and some of his passions into his political creed and part of his work plan as Ihedioha climbed meritoriously onto the public service ladder. Upon election into the House of Representatives in 2003, Ihedioha was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Marine Transport. He was later elected Chief Whip 2007-2011 and then Deputy Speaker 2011-2015. He has in no small way proved to be of a different stock, away from the maddening crowd of political office holders going by his numerous tangible and intangible accomplishments which dot the minds and landscapes of Imo State. He has also become an easily recognisable personality in our nation.
Throughout his 12-year stint at the National Assembly, Ihedioha pursued people-oriented legislative governance. He made constituency projects and infrastructural development programmes the centre- piece of his public service. His driving force was to ensure the improvement of the standard of living of his constituents, and the wide spectrum of Imo people. By these accomplishments, he has proved sceptics wrong that some politicians could still have a human face and milk of human kindness. In our recollections, Hon. Ihedioha introduced and made constituency briefings a part of representative responsibility.
Born into the family of late Nze BMG Ihedioha and Dame Dorathy Ihedioha in 1965, Ihedioha lived and grew up among his people in the rural setting of Aronta Mbutu community in Aboh Mbaise Local Council of Imo State. This enabled him to acquire unassailable native intelligence and was accordingly exposed to the social challenges and infrastructural plight faced by the people. This informed his resoluteness in using his political positions to ameliorate the situation.
He captured this succinctly while delivering a keynote address at the 2016 Isi Mbano Anglican Diocesan Synod on ‘Restoring the Confidence of the Citizens in the Political Leadership in Nigeria’. He noted that he was motivated to pursue a career in politics because of the desire to effect a positive change having observed while growing up that under-development defined his locality and state. “My rural community, Mbutu, my town and indeed some neighbouring towns including parts of Ngor Okpala had neither electricity nor pipe borne water; nor accessible or motorable roads. Today we have undeniably effected remarkable positive changes in those areas of need,” he stated.
The former Deputy Speaker is right. He has in rare fashion empowered several youths and women by offering them special trainings in skills acquisition programmes and providing them with seed fund to take-off. His records in the provision of electricity projects, potable water, health and school facilities, construction and rehabilitation of roads and several other social amenities are legendary and veritable. Credit is given to him for some of the best roads today in Imo State like the Mbaise Ring road.
This evidenced lofty selfless service to the people makes Ihedioha one of the most accomplished politicians from the South-east. To his huge political credit, Ihedioha is one of the few Nigerian politicians who advocate and advance Nigeria’s unity through conscious and concerted efforts, most times at great personal sacrifice and discomfort. The passion that runs in him is easily felt at your first encounter with him.
Since the last 25 years when he made his debut in Nigerian politics, he has remained undaunted despite the tackles and uncertainties that define Nigeria’s shadowy political landscape.
Like a cat with nine lives he has been in the centre of fierce political battles in the last two decades and survived all of them. Clearly, a burgeoning statesman, Ihedioha has distinguished himself as a thorough bred politician that has been distinctive. It is on record that he finished his three tenures in the House of Representatives untarnished, with his head soaring higher and his green cap still evergreen
I was indeed intrigued by the passion with which he pursued his assignment as the Chairman of the House Ad-Hoc Committee on the Constitutional Amendment 2011-2015, during which he coordinated the legendary “peoples’ public sessions” across the 360 Federal Constituencies in the country. For Ihedioha, the true wishes of the people of Nigeria must be reflected to enable us effect amendments that will qualify for a peoples’ democratic constitution. That assignment remains an exceptional feat.
It is noteworthy that as an accomplished legislator, Ihedioha sponsored many bills and facilitated historic passage of several critical bills and domestication of international conventions such that out of the 110 bills signed into law by President Olusegun Obasanjo in his eight years Presidency, Ihedioha’s piloted Marine Transport Committee had 10. Notably, the only private members bill signed into law was the Act for the Establishment of the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria sponsored by Hon. Ihedioha. Characteristically, this was driven by his resolve to drive reforms in the maritime sector. Some others that also received Presidential assent include Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Act, 2007; Nigerian Ports Act (Amendment Bill) 2005 and Merchant Shipping Bill; the Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria Bill 2005; the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004; the United Nations Convention on Carriage of Goods by Sea (Ratification and Enforcement) Bill 2005, the International Convention on the Civil Liabilities for Oil Pollution Damage (Ratification and Enforcement) Bill 2004 and Domestication of the ISPS Code 2004.
During his tenure as Deputy Speaker, Ihedioha led several Nigerian legislative delegations to the ECOWAS Parliament, the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). This provided him an amazing opportunity to contribute immensely to the development of parliamentary diplomacy.
Ihedioha attended St. Ephraim’s Secondary School Owerrinta in the present day Abia State. His tertiary education was at the University of Lagos, where he obtained a BSc degree in Food Technology in 1988. Further quest for knowledge took him to prestigious institutions across the globe under executive short term leadership programmes. These include the Stanford University USA, Harvard University USA, Oxford University Business School and London School of Economics UK, as well as the University of British Columbia in Canada.
There is no gainsaying that the knowledge and experience he acquired from these institutions further prepared him for the leadership roles he has been playing in the political arena. Ihedioha’s experience in public service dates back to 1992 when he first served as Press Officer to the Senate President of the Third Republic, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and later Chief Press Secretary to late Senator Albert Legogie then Deputy Senate President. Interestingly, he has significantly been part of every civilian administration since then and 2015 when the opposition All Progressives Congress won election at the centre.
As someone who has had the privilege to traverse the Executive and Legislative arms of government at the centre between 1992-2015 Ihedioha is an absolute asset in nation building considering his wealth of experience and how he has been able to grapple with various challenges of national development.
As a devout Christian and a Soldier of Christ, Hon. Ihedioha has made enormous contributions towards the upliftment of Christian faith across denominations, especially the Anglican Communion. Accordingly, in the year 2000, he was admitted into the respected Order of the Knighthood of Saint Christopher (KSC) of the Anglican Communion, while the Church of Nigeria decorated him in 2014 with the Primatial Distinguished Service Merit Award for Excellence in Christian Stewardship. He is currently serving in the Eminent Persons Committee of the Church of Nigeria.
Given his significant profile in legislative governance and political leadership, he expectedly indicated interest in governing his state, Imo in 2015, a commitment he pursued with vigour. This ambition was rightly endorsed by majority of Ndi-Imo, who were at that time yearning for change. He emerged as his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer, after keenly contested primaries. It is the popular belief that he won the popular votes of the electorate but was outmaneuvered.
The reasons why Imo people wanted Ihedioha were not far-fetched. Under the watch of Governor Rochas Okorocha Imo has not performed creditably well. People thus became desperate for genuine ‘rescue’ and Ihedioha was seen as a credible and veritable alternative having left uncommon legacies and demonstrated outstanding leadership on the national stage.
One virtue that has remained a driving force for Ihedioha is trust. Trust as a definitive character of those who occupy positions of authority, unfortunately, has remained in short supply in our society particularly in political circle this has given rise to a situation where violation and abuse of social contract have become a norm in the political leadership in Nigeria. Ihedioha has evidently shown to be of a different hue. As a public servant, he has exhibited a high level of integrity, selflessness, accountability and diligence.
As the major pillar of support for the Imo State PDP, when Chief Ikedi Ohakim lost his re-election in 2011, Ihedioha ensured that the party not only remained afloat but championed its repositioning as a formidable opposition party and indeed an attractive alternative platform.
In keeping with his favourite saying that no matter how big a cock grows, it must always be remembered that it was hatched from an egg, Hon. Ihedioha has remained a grassroots cultural thorough-bred: wining with royalty and dinning with the downtrodden.
As the governorship candidate of the PDP Imo State, Ihedioha had a vision towards “Rebuilding Imo State to a Model State” in fulfilment of his passion for the development of the state.
His vision statement for Imo State as contained in 2015 Governorship Campaign Manifesto read thus:
“...to shape and sustain an environment of peace and prosperity in Imo State, through a government that is accountable to its people. In this context, we shall lay emphasis on key sectors that will lead to wealth creation and social economic development of our people.”
Unfortunately, the dismal state of affairs in Imo State that spurred him to aspire to lead the state in 2015 has further deteriorated. This development has logically placed even a bigger burden on Ihedioha whom the people looked up to in 2015 and still remains the most pertinent choice for the liberation, rebuilding and restoration of Imo values, come 2019. Notwithstanding the temporary setback in 2015, the renewed confidence which the vision enjoy across the sectors is overwhelming and is better experienced very soon.
As we celebrate this good family man who has enjoyed the grace and faithfulness of God, it is also imperative that we continue to pray and encourage his selfless quest towards attaining a better Imo State and indeed Nigeria.