Onyebuchi Ememanka: The changing narratives of Abia online opposition commentators

Events of the last one week have revealed the true nature of the folks who do online opposition in Abia State. These events have confirmed an opinion I have held from the beginning, that these guys have one objective, namely, to discredit the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu AT ALL COSTS!

The release of pictures of a beautiful and well paved Osusu Road threw them off balance. They went into a negative frenzy of sorts. They ran helter skelter. Their disappointment was obvious.

This is understandable.

The old Osusu Road which depicted massive dilapidation made their job easy. Indeed, the road was in a terrible shape. Trees and other forms of vegetation had found a natural habitat in the middle of the road.
The guys went to work. Hundreds of pictures of the terrible Osusu Road trended heavily on all social media platforms. They used it as a signpost of the incompetence of Ikpeazu administration. Despite the tens of roads done by this administration, Osusu Road was used to rubbish every effort made by Ikpeazu. For the outside world, they saw Aba, Abia and Ikpeazu from the prism of a decayed Osusu Road.

Little did they know that Osusu Road would ever bounce back from the dead into a lovely scenery that is just a beauty to behold.

And so they changed strategy.

They would never live to see Ikpeazu get any accolades. Never!

After searching in vain for reasons to discredit the work, they now have adopted a new system.

Osusu Road is a very short distance road! What’s all the fuss about a road that is less than 3km?

Once their Chiefs conjured it, they all latched on.

But they are being smart by half. Or even a quarter.

For the several months that they played around the entire blogosphere with pictures of Osusu Road, never for once did they mention that it was a short distance road. They lampooned Ikpeazu for abandoning one of the most important arterial roads in Aba.
Then Osusu was a strategic road. Now, it has suddenly become an inconsequential, short distance road. Simply because Ikpeazu fixed it.

Some have become emergency quantity surveyors who sit in their houses and estimate the cost of building roads. The idea is to show that the cost of the roads are small and doesn’t warrant any cause for accolades.

Really?

If it’s so cheap to do them, how come they were abandoned for 15 years?

They forgot that Osusu Road has been abandoned since 2002 or thereabouts. This was a road commissioned by a Governor in this state with pomp and pageantry. The road collapsed after two years of its rehabilitation and has remained abandoned ever since then. Ikpeazu inherited a decayed Osusu Road. This point must be made.

Same goes for Milverton Avenue.
Every Aba man knows that Milverton is a key road in the economy of Aba. Though short, it’s an extremely strategic road for the Aba Business Community. It’s been abandoned for more than 15 years. People have shouted. The bad state of that road has affected businesses in Aba.
Now Ikpeazu’s caterpillars have rolled into Milverton and it’s 95% ready. The opposition online choir is dismissing it as a short road!

Omuma Road will be flagged off for reconstruction on Monday by the Governor. The story of Omuma is well known. I cannot even remember how many years it’s been abandoned. By the time Ikpeazu fixes the road, watch what they will say. Ordinary Omuma road? How many kilometers?

They will say the same thing about Ngwa Road when it’s completed. Obohia, Ohanku and Uratta will also be judged the same way.

I have learnt deep lessons from all of these.
Remain focused. Don’t allow discordant tunes played by a confused and frustrated choir distract you.
People will always talk, no matter what you do.

I am a very happy man. I see great things happening. By December 2022, these guys will be in greater pains. I have seen the plan on ground. It’s a realistic and workable plan. Aba will bounce back in full, with a solid network of roads never seen before since after Mbakwe.

They never knew things would turn out this way.

Now I begin to appreciate what my boss told me sometime ago.

“Ururuaja, all my life, I have always been underestimated by people. From my days as a boy. Through the various stages of my life, through the different schools I attended, people underestimated my abilities, and you know what? I like it that way. I like being the under dog in a fight. But they usually get shocked how I end. They are dumbfounded at the end. There is no single assignment that I have undertaken in life that I didn’t succeed. None. Not one”.

When the race for Governor started in 2014, Ikpeazu was the most unlikely person to emerge from the PDP. The field was filled with top political gladiators. Serving Senators, Ministers, billionaire businessmen, etc. No one gave him a chance.
He emerged!
To the shock of everyone.
A common ordinary waste manager? Defeating all these men? How did it happen? They cried bitterly.

In the elections proper, he was up against those who felt they owned the world. He dusted them and stuffed their big mouths with dry sand, ururuaja.
No one believed it. They wept and wailed and cried. They did everything under the sun to stop him but he stood strong. God stood with him. The man and his Chi!

In 2019, the same events were repeated. He beat them silly. Till date, they are still in shock.

By 2023, Ikpeazu will hand over a stronger Abia and much more infrastructurally updated Aba.

You don’t have to believe it.

Just sit back and watch it happen.

Have a great weekend, folks.

Written by Onyebuchi Ememanka, Chief Press Secretary to Abia State Governor.