OPINION

A governor without clothes
By Maxwell Nwadike
 
Has Gov.T.A.Orji heard about the tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes?” If he has not I hope he read this. 


The story goes like this: A long time ago, a vainglorious emperor, who did not give a damn about his people except wearing beautiful clothes and robes, was approached by two liars (like some of the people around the Abia state governor today) who promised to weave the finest clothes ever made for the emperor. The emperor was excited. 

The swindlers told him that the new clothes would be so magnificent and so esoteric that only the very smart and worthy among the people would be able to see them. The robes would be invincible to idiots, stupid and obtuse people. The clothes would also be invincible to members of his cabinet unfit for their offices. The emperor then paid the swindlers large sums of money to start weaving the magnificent clothes at once. “If I wore them,” the emperor thought, “I would be able to know which men in my empire are unfit for their posts. And I could tell the wise from the fool.”

The swindlers set up two looms and pretended to weave, though there was nothing on the looms. They requested the finest silk and purest old thread which all went into their traveling bags, while they worked the empty looms far into the night. It was a classical 419 case.


After the “clothes” had been woven, the swindlers went along to “dress” the emperor in the imaginary clothes. The emperor himself did not see anything. He was confused. Is it that he himself was not worthy of being an emperor? But he said nothing. His cabinet members who also did not see anything pretended they saw the esoteric clothes for fear of being labeled unfit for their offices and incompetent. The swindlers then led the emperor in a procession before his subjects to show them these new wonderful clothes. The people played along, not wanting to appear foolish and stupid. This lie continued until a little child in the crowd, too young to understand the scam that was going on, screamed that the emperor was stark naked. At this point, a few others also started crying out. The emperor shivered, suspecting that they were right but he proudly continued nonetheless.

Watching and seeing Gov.Orji and his band of praise singers reminded me of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” or “The Emperor Without Clothes” as some writers prefer to call it. Gov.Orji has continually telling all sorts of lies to the helpless people of Abia while his cabinet scammers are even recruiting more choristers on every page of social networks, TV/Radio stations, and newspaper houses to praise unseen or projects that never exist, a total demonstration of wickedness in government or you may call it a new version of “ORJI-MAGIC led administration. The act of shamelessness that has been demonstrated by this government of Gov.Orji lack words to describe it.


Gov.T.A.Orji needs to look around himself. He has no clothes on and yet his political associates are telling him that he has the most gorgeous clothes on. His government is now the subject of very angry conversations among Abians. But no political appointee will tell him the truth that he has tragically lost touch with reality. In other words, this naked governor does not have the advantage of that little child who screamed that the emperor was actually naked. It is so ironic that a governor who claimed to have liberated himself and Abians can be so out of touch with the same people he claimed to have liberated.

I have been a critic of Gov.Orji government for what I see as incompetence, insincerity and a lack of focus on the part of the governor. I have done this with the fervent hope that Gov.Orji would sit up and lead the state in a way that would benefit the greatest majority of Abians. I have all along been living in delusion that the governor could and would change but the way Gov.Orji sees himself, I have come to the conclusion that this governor cannot change. He is too far gone!

Yes, Gov.Orji has gone too far!