EBONYI GUBER 2019:

WHAT GOD WANTS EBONYI PEOPLE TO DO

By Monday Eze
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His Excellency Engr. David Nweze Umahi

The Bible is the greatest book I have ever heard of, seen or read. It's contents are as inspiring as they are all-pervading; permeating every aspect of life and human endeavour. John 1:1-3 states that "In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him". In a nutshell, the Bible is a sacred book of history, geography, prophecies, law or commandments et cetera.

His Excellency Engr. David Nweze Umahi

The books of history and geography in the Bible show that God created the universe, man and all other things animate and inanimate; while books of prophecies and law evince that God ultimately rules in the affairs of all His creatures. The implication of this indubitable fact is that in all that one does under the sun, one should be mindful of the God-factor [also known as the G-factor]. Those who ignored the G-factor like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4 and the rich fool in the gospel of Luke 12:13-21 did so at their peril! This is enough to say that ideally one should incorporate the G-factor into one's decisions/actions including the important decision of who to support for the on-coming 2019 Ebonyi Gubernatorial Elections!

With the current trend of false and flying prophecies which are denied by their issuers, finding out what God wants Ebonyi people to do in the 2019 Ebonyi Guber Election becomes imperative. This is moreso because in the face of God's express instructions, prophecies become irrelevant. According to our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of God's commandments are "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ... love your neighbour as you love yourself"! (Matt. 22:37-39). This commandment is regarded as the golden rule and it cuts across all major religions: In Judaism Leviticus 19:18 commands that "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"; Buddhism states in Udanavarga 5:18 "Hurt not others with that which pains you". For the Hindus "One should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated" as stated in the Hitopades; while in some other oriental religions, the golden rule is expressed as karma. In the Quran, the golden rule is stated in 13:22, 23:96, 41:34, 28:54, 42:40 and furthermore, forty Hadith-Nawawi explicitly puts it to the Islamic Ummah in the following words: "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." The African Traditional Religion has only one commandment and that commandment is the golden ruule.

The religion chart of Ebonyi population, nay Ebonyi voters, show that 70% of Ebonyi population are Christians, 20% are African Traditional Religionists, 8% are Muslims while 2% are shared among some of the various oriental religions mentioned above. Given this religion chart, one can safely say that there are no atheists in Ebonyi state! This correct assertion brings every Ebonyi citizen under the golden rule.

At this point, one must take a critical look at what God has done and what God is still doing in Ebonyi state: It pleased God to use Gen. Abacha to create Ebonyi state in 1996. Apart from the take-off administrative structures put in place by Walter Feghabor, Simeon Oduoye coordinated the 1999 democratic process in Ebonyi state. Proper development of Ebonyi state and her people began with the onset of democracy: Dr. Sam Egwu is celebrated for human capital development while Chief Martin Elechi united the parts of Ebonyi landscape which were cut off by Ebonyi river with the rest of Ebonyi landscape through the unity bridges.

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi state, apart from providing bulwarks of support for all the previous administrations in Ebonyi state has recorded high profile achievements for Ebonyi people on sectors like human capital development where his "stomach infrastructure" and other empowerment programmes for women, youths, the disabled, the aged and other vulnerable groups of the society are ranked the first and the best in the Southeast of Nigeria; road revolution where the speed and quality of the completed Akanu Ibiam overhead bridge, EBSU pedestrian flyover, 44 internal roads and on-going Presco (now Offia-Nwali) junction and Margaret Umahi International market overhead bridges, Onueke and Afikpo internal road networks, intervention in federal roads with a total distance of 54.5 kilometers, and numerous virgin road projects has earned Umahi the moniker of "the Roadmaster"; the health sector where the lassa-fever virology Centre and other medical centres he built made him a trailblazer; agricultural revolution which has upgraded farming into a profitable venture and made Ebonyi rice an international brand; the labour sector where Ebonyi comes first in the list of states where workers are paid 13th month salaries under this recession; the educational sector which is being digitalised just as fees of Ebonyi State University has been reduced by ten thousand naira only by Gov. Umahi even as other states are increasing the fees of their institutions; the peace and security sector where Umahi's peace pacts in Ezillo and other communities have been extolled by security agencies and lay persons. The list is inexhaustible!

Given the above premises, it is pertinent to ask one question at this juncture. The question is: What does God want Ebonyi people to do in the 2019 Ebonyi Gubernatorial Election?

In answering the above question, facts in Ebonyi state have to be brought before the prism of the golden rule: We have Chief David Nwwze Umahi, someone who has supported all the previous administrations in the state, not just as a governor but according to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo during the Zik Prize Awards, he is equally "a doer, an achiever"! A man who gave undiluted support to his predecessors deserves to be supported by all and sundry. A performing governor who is acclaimed both within his state and beyond equally deserves the support of the citizenry. There, it suffices that God almighty wants Ebonyi people to support Governor David Umahi in the 2019 Ebonyi Gubernatorial Election! This is just, and God is the God of Justice!

Monday Eze is the Technical Assistant to the Governor of Ebonyi state on Social Media.