By Ingram Osigwe
Hon. Barr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, member representing Ideato North/ South in the House of Representatives is a movement personified. He is the people’s person. His charisma is glistening. His people love him unconditionally. That Ugochinyere commands organic love, fellowship and support in the Ideato nation is not in doubt.
The unprecedented crowd at Hon. Imo’s birthday celebration on Tuesday, the 4th of August says it all. In recent history, no Nigerian politician, probably with the exception of Peter Obi, Kwankwaso and the late Present Buhari, had pulled such a massive crowd of excited supporters and admirers within a short notice. And in Imo state, with the exception of our late sage and former Governor of the old Imo state, Dee Sam Mbakwe, no politician commands the kind of organic love, crowd and fellowship that Ikenga commands.
And outside our shores, Ikenga’s popularity, influence and acceptance among his people is comparable to the organic love, support, influence and movement the crowd- pulling America’s late civil rights icon, Martins Luther king jnr had commanded.
Indeed, it was more than a birthday celebration, it was a remarkable demonstration of the genuine affection and confidence the people of Ideato have in their representative, in their illustrious son.
Unlike most politicians that buy or rent validation and support, the Ikenga crowds were not rented crowds, there were no imported supporters, and no stage-managed spectacle. It was organic. It was natural. It was real, happened in real time!
The massive turnout was made up of men, women, youths, traditional leaders, party faithful, and well-wishers from across Ideato who came willingly to celebrate a leader whose impact they have seen and experienced.
The sea of heads that filled the venue was a clear reflection of years of purposeful representation, visible constituency projects, and a leadership style that keeps the people at the center of governance.
With Hon. Ikenga Imo, one undeniable truth stands clear: Love cannot be rented, and genuine acceptance cannot be manufactured. Ideato spoke with one voice not through slogans, but through its overwhelming presence.
Again with the spectacular scene at Ikenga’s birthday, anyone, any Imo politician, especially in Orlu zone ignoring him and his party, the APP is doing so at their own political peril. Given the constituency- wide support and acceptance he enjoys, Ikenga’s re-election into the House of Reps for another four years of quality representation of the Ideato nation is unquestionably a done deal. His going back to the House for another four years, making eight years of transformational representation has been dubbed 4+4 by the Ideato nation. Coincidentally, when you remove the plus sign in-between the two figures, what you get is 44 which is Ikenga’s age! At a young age of 44, Ikenga has become a political movement, a political Iroko, a visionary leader and a pathfinder!
It is now crystally clear that Ikenga Imo and the APP are political forces to reckon with in Ideato and Orlu Senatorial zone as a political units and in Imo as a state for he has clinically changed the state’s political conversation! Yes, the Imo, particularly Orlu, political conversation has shifted and is now being dominated by this young, vibrant, charming and visionary young parliamentarian- Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga Imo! O yes!
Akokwa nwere madu, the Ideato nation nwere madu!
*Osigwe, MD/ CEO of Fullpage Communications Ltd is a business development consultant and public engagement and communication strategist
