Iberiberism: The lousy spirit Ihedioha must exorcise from Douglas House By Kingsley Obom-Egbulem

Anytime I think of ‘Iberiberism’ I think of it as a spell-at worse, a demonic whim. And at such moments I remember my favorite Mount Zion Movie-Agbára Ńlá (Ultimate Power).

Anyone who saw Agbára ńlá – a serialised Christian movie written and produced in the 90s by the iconic Mike Bamiloye would remember ‘Ayamatanga’ a chant that grew on us and reminds us of the dark world that movie portrayed.


In Agbára ńlá, the village of Muwonleru is besieged by several forces of darkness with Isawuru, a powerful herbalist being their human agent and representative in that community. Isawuru had enormous powers for oppressing the villagers until a young couple sent as missionaries showed up in Muwonleru to declare Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Deliverer from the powers of darkness. The battle line was drawn and the rest of movie saw a clash of powers-between light and darkness with light prevailing ultimately.


With Rochas’ eight years of waste and inanity, Imo State looks to me like the Muwonleru of today. And each time I try to psychoanalyse Rochas, I see our own Isawuru and the chant of ‘ayamatanga’ then substitutes for ‘Iberiberism’ – a slang we are happy to use thanks to Okorocha’s pointless loqaucity.


I am not sure Emeka Ihedioha – the Imo state governor elect has the abilities of an exorciser. But to raise the bar of political leadership and leave a mark with regards to excellence in governance in Imo, he needs unusual powers; indeed ultimate mental and moral powers, akin to that of an exorciser.


What else do you need to confront and expell a spirit as menacing as ‘Iberiberism’.


More than being a spirit, Iberiberism is a political philosophy and a system of government that is likely going to be a legacy in Imo if Emeka, like most Nigerian politicians move into government house without a clear-cut governance and sustainable development masterplan.


Adapted from the word “Iberibe” which in Igbo language is a nice sounding word for foolishness or ‘stupidity’, Iberiberism therefore is a derivative which became popular after it was adapted or coined by the talkative Imo state out-going governor.


The entire Imo owes Rochas for appropriately deploying his charisma and poetic silence to hand us a word that aptly describes his style of leadership and approach to handling state affairs.


Iberiberism!


What a word!


It truly describes a missed opportunity to write one’s name in gold and make the average Imo indigene hold their heads high, walk with a bounce and feel proud of coming from the eastern heartland.


It means being dumped and shamed by a party you decamped to after rubbishing the platform that brought you to power.


Iberiberism!


From crass nepotism to the erection of statues (that has no cultural and historical significance and economic benefits to the people of Imo) to profligacy and absence of decency, tact and class in resource mobilisation and management, it was Iberiberism all the way. Imo state bore the shame of having a commissioner for “Happiness” who interestingly was Rochas’ younger sister. And then he almost capped the streams of absurdity with the imposition of his son-in-law as successor thus extending the number of years Imo people would have to bear the burden of Iberiberism.


And just like in Agbára ńlá, Imo People, who apparently have had enough of this foul spirit began to seek for deliverance. On the scene came former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and a few others. With Iberiberism insisting on remaining in Douglas House for another four years, the battle line was drawn.


And the people prevailed.


But victory at the polls is only half the fight. Rochas is only on his way out of government house and far away from running the affairs of government. But he’s done a lot of damage to the state. He’s leaving eight years of locust as legacy. Of course, he’s leaving Iberiberism behind-the spirit and philosophy of agbata eke(share the booty) , and bia ká anyi rie (come and let’s devour).


Iberiberism epitomizes cluelessness, lack of vision, lack of capacity and the absence of a master plan to deliver on the priorities and aspirations of the people of Imo state. Iberiberism is spending an entire term politicking, clowning, drama, paying political debts and pandering to the dictates of senseless barracudas who have nothing to offer the state only to wake up few months to re-election showcasing projects only accomplished on paper. Iberiberism is investing heavily on imposing billboards with your portraits on petty projects.


Sadly, Iberiberism is mediocrity coupled with an obsession for being an Imperial demagogue instead of a civilian governor. It is being pompous, confident in emptiness and noise making while lacking the wisdom needed to attract the best minds of Imo extraction to your team.


Iberiberism is the spirit Emeka Ihedioha cannot afford to negotiate with. It is one spirit he must bind, incapacitate, cast out of Imo and sent possibly to states where foolishness is a highly prized commodity.


And it is not difficult to do!


Emeka only needs to see Imo state as a business with him being the new CEO appointed by shareholders who in this case are the people that he needs to account to in three years.


What do CEOs of dying companies do to get the business up and running again? They do a lot but one thing they don’t do is embrace mediocrity, stupidity and sentiments. Unfortunately, most governors love to negotiate with mediocrity due to how people get into power in Nigeria.


The path to political leadership in Nigeria is skewed, brutish even deadly. That is why I concluded that becoming a governor in Nigeria is tough. But succeeding as a governor is simple.


Ironically, most governors in Nigeria succeed in the difficult aspect of the task (which is campaigning and politicking) but fail in the simplest.


Just to understand what I mean, try to imagine the day to day life of the CEO of a large scale business who is competing and trying to remain afloat in a fierce business environment like ours. It is not a tea party.


Check out the job description of your company’s Chief Executive Officer, Group Managing Director, Chief Operations Officer or even your bank’s executive directors and you will realise that succeeding as a governor in Nigeria is a stroll in the park.


In the first place, they have no job description or clearly defined performance indicators. The governor, depending on how he got there – the size of political and financial debts he has to pay, determines whether he wants to succeed or not.


So, how do you patronise mediocrity as a governor?


Simple: appointing your doctor friend as commissioner for health (or that party member who is a doctor) who couldn’t afford the quality of thoughts and capacity needed to run a small clinic or hospital successfully. A man who couldn’t manage a 7 bed clinic with 4 auxiliary nurses and couldn’t afford to retain a doctor and midwife for 1 year now wants to cater for the health of 3 million people.


He’s likely going to fail.


Governors who end up leaving a mark and raising the bar in terms of providing visionary and the right political leadership simply write and rewrite the rules of the game. They go against the grain and assess the situation on ground, determine their priorities, put together a master plan, attract the right people to form a team and set performance indicators for team members and then hold everyone accountable on behalf of the people (shareholders) to deliver or be asked to leave.


This is where most governors fail.


And they do fail big time. Emeke can’t afford to repeat these failures. He must not.

Obom-Egbulem is a media strategist, development communication specialist and talent manager