Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state is currently running his second term with a new deputy governor, and this time around a female one in the person of Dr. Mrs Chinyere Ekomaru.
He did his first term, which could be described as fortuitous or divine judging by the manner of his becoming a governor, with his immediate past deputy governor, Professor Placid Chike Njoku. Unarguably, the immediate past deputy governor was and still is the most educated deputy governor in the history of the old and new Imo state since the creation of the state in 1976.
Professor Njoku, apart from being an erudite academic, was the pioneer vice chancellor of a federal university in Nigeria, the Michael Okpara Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike in the present Abia state. As an agriculturist himself, he was a square peg in a square hole. His records of achievements in the foremost tertiary institution remain unbeaten several decades after.
As a deputy governor of Imo state from January 2020 to January 2024, there was never a report of friction or clash of interests between him and his principal, Governor Uzodimma. Even with the reasonable age difference between him and his principal, he was arguably the most loyal deputy governor Imo state has ever had. His wife, Dr Mrs Bola Njoku, never rubbed shoulders with the wife of the governor, who’s young enough to be her daughter.
The humility personified in Professor Njoku and his wife should be a case study for deputy governors and their spouses across the country. One then wonders what made the governor to drop such a man in his second term.
Senator Uzodimma, as a very shrewd and deft politician, may have dropped the former deputy governor owing to the fact that the former deputy and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last November governorship election, hail from the same Ikeduru local government area. Therefore, it would have been a political miscalculation to retain his former deputy for the position.
Even when the governor chose to retain the position of his deputy governor to same federal constituency, he intelligently opted for a woman. If he had chosen a male deputy for his second term, that male deputy governor would have seen himself as the heir apparent for the position of the governor of the state when and if eventually the position rotates to Owerri zone in 2028. The male deputy governor would have developed an entitlement mentality if Governor Uzodimma doesn’t want him to succeed him.
Professor Njoku accepted his fate without any whimper or a fight against the governor typical of his peculiar humility. Another person could have elected to fly the ticket of one of the political parties in the country and played the spoiler role against the governor’s reelection bid even if he didn’t win the seat. He would have become so angry with the governor for dropping him and joined the opposition by squealing government’s secrets rock the boat.
However, since he remained calm and took his fate with equanimity, the governor shouldn’t ignore such a man to rot away in retirement. History is replete with various political disagreements and fights between governors and their deputies in Nigeria but Njoku gave Governor Uzodimma peace without the latter looking over his back throughout his first term.
Professor Njoku left office when the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria had long been constituted, otherwise he should have been the best material to represent the state as a minister. President Bola Tinubu may soon reconstitute the ambassadorial postings. Therefore, even without the consent of Professor Njoku, this writer is urging and proposing to the governor to recommend him for a grade A ambassadorial appointment in countries like the USA, Canada, etc. Professor Njoku, who recently left an excellent office, remains to continue in that trajectory as his excellency the Nigerian ambassador to another great country.
Ifeanyi Maduako,
Owerri, Imo state
