Imo Awards: Ogbonna disagrees withObieze, Ikwubuo.
2 min read
Controversial legal practitioner and Uba Umuaka born top community leader, Mr Victor Dito Ogbonna Esq.has kicked against the awards given to two illustrious sons of Umuaka by the famous Imo Newspapers, publishers of the Nigerian Statesman. Recall that on Saturday, 14 October 2023, several citizens of the state bagged merit awards in an exclusive event held at Rock view Hotel Owerri. Among the merit awardees were High Chief Eddy Ikwubuo and High Chief Arthur Obieze, two men who so far have had several honours bestowed on them by people who are Imolites and non-Imolites at one time or another. When Umuaka Times published the news of the award and the razzmatazz that followed it, the news seriously caught the attention of the controversial barrister who promptly reacted to the award and deeply confessed his disapproval of the awards bestowed on the two Uba Umuaka born high chiefs.
While questioning the rationale for the selection of the two high chiefs from Uba Umuaka for the merit award, Barrister Ogbenna took exception of Engineer Eze Ikeme and Engineer Emmanuel Nwokeoji Igbokwuwe as those who deserved the award but went further to disagree with the names of Ikwubuo and Obieze.
“What are the outstanding contributions of the duo of Chiefs Eddy Ikwubuo and Arthur Obieze to their respective communities to earn them the recognition epitomized by the award?”
Back to Engineer Emmanuel Igbokwuwe, Ogbenna sincerely agreed that the engineer deserved the award but he wondered why he went further and accepted the award from Imo State Government.
Hear Barrister Ogbenna. “Given the unprecedented worsening atmosphere of insecurity, mindless bloodletting, joblessness, poverty, gross ineptitude, insensitivity and irresponsibility in grappling with the affairs of governance in the state which have literally brought us into the Hobbesian state where life is short and brutish, I don’t wish Attorney Christian Nwachukwu alias ChriWowo to have anything to do with the bloody award.”
From the personal convictions of Barrister Ogbonna, he expected someone as highly placed as Engineer Igbokwe to reject the award following the Chinua Achebe example who on November 14, 2011, refused to be named as Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Achebe cited the then insecurity and social disorganization in his home state of Anambra and accused the Federal Government of masterminding the insecurity in the state. Barrister Ogbonna expected Engineer Igbokwuwe to act exactly like the literary icon, the late Chinua Achebe.
In his conclusion, Barrister Ogbonna described the awards as “utterly useless because “a bad government cannot give a good award. As we say in the Latin legal maxim: “Nemodat quod non habet” One cannot give what he does not have.
