By Asogwa Ugwuanyi
Whether it be lack of wisdom, idiocy, thoughtlessness, ignorance, wickedness or naivety, Chijioke Edeoga plays most foul for it in everything he does. Edeoga behaves like someone whose mind has been taken away. Or at best someone given to the left in negative terms, a thing to which people revile and spit to the left. His unruly and indecorous attitude is quite unseemly of someone who ever dreamt to be a governor. While tears coursed down the cheeks of the Ofunwa family, the people of Eha-Alumona and the PDP family in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga on a purported and unsolicited condolence visit to Nelson Ofunwa’s family, accused the slain, Nelson, of anti-party activities, claiming that while Nelson lived, he supported his governorship bid, though he was a councillor under the PDP.
Edeoga was quite insincere and only he and his gullible minions could tell why he chose to tar the slain at the guise of condolences. Why should he politicize Ofunwa’s death? A reasonable person should have paid the visit to the family, commiserated with them and left, rather than make such incediary statement that would pitch the dead Nelson against his party.
Edeoga clearly wanted to add salt to injury. Already, tongues have begun to wag that Nelson played ‘agada agada,’ a kind of political hypocrisy. What Edeoga perhaps intended doing was make the PDP revile at Nelson and shun his burial and perhaps withhold any assistance to Nelson’s aged mother. It was a deliberate target to bring Nelson and all he represented to utter ruination, for at death, he is further disgraced as a political knave, who in the morning played PDP and at night Labour Party.
Although councillors of the 260 wards in Enugu State had condemned Edeoga’s claims against Nelson, Edeoga’s speech had already done the harm. Tongues are wagging, and people are beginning to associate Nelson Ofunwa with political knavery. The dead cannot speak for themselves; otherwise, Nelson would have spoken for himself. Whatever informed Edeoga’s speech surely targeted at rubbishing the goodwill the young man commanded. It was meant to diminish the sympathy many held for Nelson and his family. Some persons had said Edeoga meant to score some cheap political points with his purported condolence message to the Ofunwa family, but was unmindful of the further harm he did to the dead with that.
Edeoga claimed Nelson had told him Eha-Alumona was with him. Nelson was the councillor representing Eha Uno Ward in the Nsukka Local Government Legislative Council. He biologically hailed from Mbu in Isi-Uzo Local Government, but was born and bred at Eha-Alumona. He was a young man committed to community service. No wonder the people of Eha-Alumona, notwithstanding his place of origin, loved and voted him their councillor. The young man had done very well while he lived, and had at no time given any impression to merit suspicion of hypocrisy, untill Edeoga decided to play politics with his heartrending murder.
Whether it be foolishness or naivety, Edeoga chose to do harm to the dead by bringing Nelson Ofunwa’s remains and name to opprobrious condemnation. The people of Eha-Alumona must not allow this to stand. They must do everything to wash the remains of Nelson, Chijioke Edeoga’s tars. The Peoples Democratic Party in Nsukka Local Government and Enugu State has got to ignore the vexatious claims of the sinking politician called Chijioke Edeoga, and give Nelson a befitting burial, as well as render help to his aged mother. Edeoga is an agent of darkness whose ministry is to kill, steal and destroy. He ambushed Nelson Ofunwa at death, stole his virtues and destroyed his good name. Tufiakwa!
Asogwa Gabriel Ugwuanyi wrote from Eha-Alumona, Nsukka.
