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As it can be recalled, the executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma hosted an Interdenominational Thanksgiving service earlier this year to mark his allegedly ‘successful’ one year in office and to give gratitude to his Chi for bestowing on him this tantalising position. Any truth-speaking observer would quickly deduce that with this singular act, Governor Hope Uzodinma is trying to play to the gallery to show how religious and upstanding he is not knowing that he is playing a very dangerous game with his ‘Chi’.
For those who do not know the meaning of Chi or Chi Na Eke in full, they mean the supreme forces behind the creation of life form in the World. Transcending the multiplicity of deities in Igbo religious mythology are these supernatural forces called Chi Na Eke that many are not oblivious of the truth that Chi Na Eke are not monotheistic.
The average Igbo religionist thinks of Chi Na Eke as an all-powerful, all-knowing divinity, the maker of the cosmos as well as all the minor deities that make up the Igbo pantheon. Chi Na Eke are not believed to have human attributes, and often referred to as the ‘Eternal Sources of Creation’ dwelling in the Sun.
The Sun, also is believed to be Chi Na Eke’s ‘eye’ on the Earth. The central relationship between Chi Na Eke and the Sun is evident in the people’s cosmology and traditional prayers. According to Chinua Achebe, ‘Among the Igbo of Awka a man who arrives at a point in his life when he needs to set up a shrine to his Chi (personal deity/fate) will invite a priest to perform a ritual of bringing down the spirit from the face of the Sun at daybreak. Thereafter, it is represented physically in the man’s compound until the day of his death when the shrine must be destroyed.’
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Because every person’s Chi descends directly from the Great Chi Na Eke, all humans share in this supernatural character. This participation in the realm of the spirit is symbolised in the Ikenga, a statue that every adult may enshrine in his or her compound as a reminder that in everyday thought and action, one’s spirit must constantly be elevated toward his Fate and Maker. Some call Chi the ‘soul’ of the person, but it is equally possible that the correct translation is ‘fate,’ because another word, obi, best approximates the English meaning of ‘soul.’
What Governor Hope Uzodinma did by throwing that Thanksgiving Service is akin to pure hypocrisy and ‘eye or lip service.’ Here is a man who does not have any regard for religion, his chi, a man who blatantly disregards the laws of good and bad, the laws of nature and even the laid down laws of fundamental human rights. A Governor who is a complete embarrassment to the powers which his position carries yet at the slightest opportunity, he runs to the Church to give thanksgivings all in a bid to bribe his Chi.
A good observer might throw the question as to what the purpose of the Thanksgiving service seeks to derive when his wards, the Imolites are complaining bitterly about how worthless and despotic his Government is. He has completely mismanaged the affairs of Imo State up till the extent that he is being labelled as one of the worst Governors to ever hold that position in the State.
There is actually no new infrastructure in Imo State, no contracted engineers or tractor machines at worn-out, dilapidated roads or public facilities in the State. Workers are being owed arrears upon arrears of salaries and pensioners are having it bad with the pension service because there has been no official statement or announcement pertaining to the disbursement of their pension levies. The most painful part of it is that the state of insecurity in the State keeps getting worse as security officials are holding a steady competition of how incompetent they are at their jobs.
Governor Uzodinma in his delusion and sudden religious fanaticism thinks that throwing a Thanksgiving Service at this point in time will save him from the punishment he would be getting in full measure from Chi Na Eke if he doesn’t desist from his method of terrible leadership while trying to pay lip and eye-service to his sycophantic religious followers who believe that he is one with his Chi. His non-payment of dues and wages would not stop his Chi from giving him a full dose of his ‘punishment salary’ when the day is due.
There are laid down laws of Good and Bad, and Uzodinma even in his buffoonery knows this; it would be only preposterous of him if he starts pretending like his conscience is clear while he knows that he has a big box of nemesis awaiting him at his due time. No one can deceive the forces of nature and no amount of religious fanaticism or Thanksgiving Service can assuage the supernatural forces governing the entirety of the Earth when one deliberately fails to comply by them and tread with fairness thus even if Uzodinma likes, let him run to Archbishop Anthony Obinna or even the Catholic Pope in Vatican City to shower forth all the words of blessings in this life upon his clueless head, they will not wriggle him out of his impending doom if he doesn’t genuinely make amends and offer restitution to Imolites.
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