Anyone can be the hunter and the hunted. Will he survive this onslaught? Will he be able to turn the table at this stage? Questions, and more questions.
Chidi Obineche
The bell tolls for the impeachment of the Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere. The Lawmakers of the Imo State House of Assembly officially served an impeachment notice on the embattled deputy governor in the penultimate Tuesday. It was a culmination of a ding-dong affair between him and his boss, Governor Rochas Okorocha, which has effectively severed the burgeoning relationship between the duo that has lasted for over 25 years.
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The last two months had seen the deputy governor spearheading a coalition that tended to thwart the desire of the governor to place his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu as his successor. On the heels of the impeachment notice, hundreds of supporters of the deputy governor thronged the streets of Owerri, the Imo State capital to protest the impeachment notice. They brought business activities and vehicular movement to a standstill. The impeachment notice which was served on the deputy governor by substituted means (newspaper publications) was signed by the Speaker, Acho Ihim and 13 other lawmakers.
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The notice alleged that the deputy governor had “concealment of felonious conduct affecting the presentation of self as an eligible candidate of office of deputy governor, Imo State, having been convicted and imprisoned for theft in the United States of America.” Other allegations of misconduct include” absence without official reason of permission duly obtained for a period of three months” The notice of service, according to the Speaker, was in pursuant to Section 188(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
As if this was not enough, the House in its sitting in the penultimate Wednesday, ordered the Clerk of the House, Chris Duru, to write the State Chief Judge, Paschal Nnadi, to probe the allegations and ascertain if the deputy governor was guilty of gross misconduct as contained in a petition signed by 13 members of the House. The Chief Judge in compliance with the letter has set up a seven-man panel, thus crossing the last hurdle in the deputy governor’s impeachment procedure. Protesters against the move, however, aver that the charges are trumped up to punish him for daring to oppose the governor in his determined bid to foist his son-in-law on the state as governor.
The battle between Okorocha and Madumere has polarised the party and ipso facto the state. James Mattis once reminded us that “Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down” The governor forgets in his obsession to get even that there is no crying in fishing. Just lots of swearing. In his disdain for his deputy he fails to reckon with a classical creed of hunters that it is fruitless to expect them to apologise for being hunters and that “if it flies it dies, if it hops it drops, if it hooks, it cooks.” Universally, a hunter must stalk his prey until the hunter becomes the hunted; then the prey becomes the predator. Then the predator and the hunter fight” If this theory holds, then the battle is just about to begin in all sensations.
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A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of the ultimate goal. When you start out strong, you are most likely to become the hunted instead of the hunter. This is the state Madumere has found himself. He may have gone hunting without an accordion. Hunting is about the journey and not the outcome. Anyone can be the hunter and the hunted. Will he survive this onslaught? Will he be able to turn the table at this stage? Questions, and more questions.
He was born on July 4, 1964 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with family roots in Achi, Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. He attended Primary and Secondary education in Owerri and Lagos State respectively, after which he travelled to the United States of America where he studied management in San Jacinto College, University of Houston and Texas Southern University. He is an entrepreneur, management consultant and astute administrator. He was sworn-in as deputy governor after the impeachment of the former Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, by the Imo State House of Assembly.