Umahi's Second-term Project Under The Prism Of The Golden Rule.

The Bible is one of the greatest books I have ever heard of, seen or read. Its 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 geography, history, prophecies, law or commandments, et cetera. The books of geography and history 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 things that we do under the sun, one should be mindful of the God factor also know 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 always incorporate the G-factor into ones decisions and actions including the important decision of who to support and action of who to vote for in the oncoming Ebonyi gubernatorial election scheduled for 2nd March 2019!

With the current trend of false and flying prophecies which are often denied by their issuers, finding out what God actually wants Ebonyi people to do in the 2019 Ebonyi guber election becomes imperative. The scriptures are God's compass designed to guide His people as they do the journey of life. It suffices that in the face of God's express scriptural instructions, prophecies become invalid and the search for it, unnecessary. According to our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of God's commandments is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your entire 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, the Torah in Leviticus 19:18 judaists have a command: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". Buddhists are ordered in Udanaverga 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 all other oriental religions, the golden rule is expressed as karma. In Islam, the golden rule is explicitly stated in 40 Hadith -Nawawi for the Islamic ummah in the following words: "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself". African Traditional Religion, ATR, has only one commandment which is the golden rule! The religion chart of Ebonyi population, nay Ebonyi voters, shows that 70% of Ebonyians is Christian; African Traditional Religion constitutes 20%; and Muslims make up 8% while the remaining 2% is shared between 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, it is imperative to 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 processes which gave birth to democracy in Ebonyi State in 1999. The developmental journey of Ebonyi State and her people began with the onset of democracy: Dr. Egwu is celebrated for human capital development while Chief Martin Elechi connected some parts of Ebonyi landscape which were cut off by the tributaries of Ebonyi river with the rest of Ebonyi landscape through the Unity bridges.

There are incontravertible facts to prove that Governor David Umahi, apart from providing bulwarks of support for all the previous administrations in Ebonyi State, has recorded durable, meaningful and high-profile transformational achievements for Ebonyi people on all sectors. In a sector like human capital development for instance, Umahi's "stomach infrastructure" and other mega empowerment programmes for widows, women, youths, the disabled, the aged and other vulnerable groups in the society are ranked as both the first and the best of their kinds in the entire Southeast of Nigeria. The infrastructural sectors of Ebonyi State under Umahi brims with a galaxy of achievements. Worthy of special mention is the Road sector where countless roads which sit on rigid pavements across the landscape of Ebonyi State testify in loud decibels of the expertise and proactive commitment of Governor David Umahi and his dependable loyalist - Engr. Fidelis Nweze - to the wellbeing of Ebonyi State and her people. The three 700-meter twin overhead bridges and the overhead pedestrian crossing all along the African trans-saharan highway as well as the PMB overhead glass tunnel in Akanu Ibiam junction are generational landmarks. Apart from their roles as life-safers and decongestants of the Accident and Emergency wards and mortuaries of our hospitals, they equally boost the asthetics of the new world and tourist destination which Ebonyi State has become under Umahi. The "One man, one hectare" agricultural revolution which has ensured food security and made farming profitable in Ebonyi State; the first virology centre in the whole of Southeastern Nigeria; the largest waste recycling plant in Nigeria located at Umuoghara will continue to place Umahi in a conspicuous place in the memory of Ebonyi posterity. Umahi is one of the few governors in Nigeria who have never owed workers' salaries since 2015 till date. Tasking future leaders more by raising the bar of good governance, Umahi is running a bold and coordinated industrialization programme for Ebonyi State which has three industrial clusters and a power programme component with the cumulative target of generating 7.5 megawatts of electricity through biomass gasification! The icing on the cake of Umahi's long list of achievements which I will abridge here for want of time and space is the restoration of peace between Ezillo and Ezza-Ezillo brothers. As I write this piece, Ezza-Ezillo people have Izzo autonomous community created for them by Umahi, while sincere and practical resettlement programmes for Izzo people is at the level of finishings.

Given the above premises, it is pertinent to ask one basic question at this juncture. The question is: What is the proper thing for Ebonyi people to do about Umahi's second-term ambition in the 2019 Ebonyi Gubernatorial Election? In answering this moral question, reasonable verifiable facts in Ebonyi State have to be brought before the prism of the golden rule. We have Apostle David Nweze Umahi, a man who has supported all the previous administrations in the State, not just as a Governor but according to former president Obasanjo during the presentation of the 2016 Zik Prize awards, "a doer and an achiever" in the gubenatorial race. This humble apostle of the living God who gave undiluted support to all his predecessors in their respective two-term eight-year administrations deserves to be supported by all and sundry. A performing Governor whose achievements in less than four years are acclaimed both within and outside the state deserves the support of every citizen of Ebonyi State. A man whose courageous political will has made a leadership model in Ebonyi State, the pride of the Nigerian nation and the envy of the political world deserves an undiluted second-term support from the entire people of Ebonyi State for whom he has continued to demonstrate yet-to-be equaled love. Therefore, the imperative of the second term gubernatorial ambition of Governor Umahi for Ebonyi State and her people have transcended mundane politics, permeating the realm of culture, morality and the golden rule. For Ebonyians who are rightly known as a people of honour and integrity, supporting Umahi in 2019 is moral obligation anchored on the golden rule. This is equally the heartbeat of God in the 2019 Ebonyi guber election!