By Prof Victor Ukaogo
When my name popped up here in ‘Friends of Dr. K.O platform, added by my esteemed father in the Lord, Bishop Ugoo Nwosu, I smiled happily to myself.
He knows that I enjoy fraternizing with progressive minded folks and reading the posts on this platform reveal how the mind of members here work. Majority of the people here really do know Dr. K.O so very well but it’s also possible that they have not interrogated the ‘new’ K.O and the grace and value he now carries.
In this my brief intervention, permit me to redirect your thoughts on this man on whose shoulder a new Abia is achievable with his equally intergrity-driven boss, High Chief Ikechi Emenike.
It is often reasoned that the murky waters of Nigerian politics is the exclusive preserve of dirty folks characterised by grievous misdemeanours and acidic credentials of impunity. Little did even close friends of K.O contemplate the possibility or is it probability of his wish in navigating the deep waters of politics. Before the emergence of K.O as party chairman, our party, the APC had integrity issues with High chief Ikechi Emenike as a possible lone ranger. Our late chairman was indeed a good fellow (may his soul rest in peace) and he tried his very best for the party to move forward.
He laboured his ass out to put together a thriving pool of party faithfuls with High chief Ikechi Emenike.
Ikechi Emenike, a good man and harvester of human potentials was on a look out thereafter for a man with critical Capacity to weave a Web of relevance around him and his ordained mission in Abia state. Then, and only then, Dr. K. O Ononogbu happened on him.
Hate or love High Chief Ikechi Emenike, he is good and can spot a good soul kilometres away. He did in Dr. K. O and pronto everything turned around for good. In weeks, men of content, capacity, character and good will flooded into the party. The Wabaras, ihejirikas, Abrahams, and many others took sojourn into APC.
Several professors and professionals pitched their tent but above all, K.O threw in his human relations credentials and turned the knob of interpersonal skill in his reservoir and in droves, dissenting folks needed a buy-in into the philosophy of unity crafted by K.O and grandly approved by High chief himself.
The growing certification of APC as the party to be by meaningful Abia indigenes was not without reason. The growing political consciousness of our people to join the rescue team for Abia did not come easy as Dr K.O became a mirror of sort. My encounter with some Abia indigenes in Lagos when I was inducted into the prestigious family of Nigeria Academy of Letters gave me an insight into the silent revolution about to unbundle in Abia.
Three Abia indigenes, two men and a woman opened my ears and eyes. The threesome are solid individuals with creative linkages and credentials in and out of Nigeria. Barrister Ken as I will prefer to call him for now told me that ‘your new chairman is a big plus for Abia APC’ and I asked how? He replied, ‘we hear he is one straight man that is untainted by the office he occupies’, he said.
Mrs Ngoo was more direct when she said ‘ we hear your chairman rejects gifts including cows and envelopes in election season such as we have now’ but it was Engineer Abraham that added a lot more humor to the Lagos gathering when he said ‘ Prof, why not nominate who collects those rejected envelopes and cows’ from the chairman? A man that voluntarily left a lucrative bank work and is yet to be hosted by EFCC or ICPC unlike his peers or colleagues needs to be taken more seriously I lectured them. They agreed and it is only natural that a fusion with Ikechi will make the party more attractive.
Imagine a chairman that respects and is respected by all our Abuja exports and Umuahia representatives. The coming together of these men and women of integrity on this platform and their willingness to support in too many ways than one is a loud testimonial of the individual they have gathered for. No wonder, it is so very easy to understand what happens when gratitude meets integrity; everyone will be on the same page. This can only translate to victory anyday.