Ahead of April 11 gubernatorial election in Imo State, the apex association of Imo State musicians, ICMA is maintaining their stand that they have not made any deal with any of the gubernatorial candidates in the state.
According to the leader of the group, Imo Contemporary Musicians Association [ICMA], there have been calls for them to endorse a candidate ahead of the election, but the president, Mr. Chinedu Hardy Nwadike has revealed that nothing like that was done.
According to him, Imo artistes have been neglected by the past and present governments of the state but it is not enough reason for them to take sides during the election.
“We want to protect the interest of our members and the best way to do it is to stay neutral. People might see it that we are missing an opportunity to enrich ourselves at the moment, but there is no way we can sell our conscience for money”, said the leader.
“We have our members in their thousands across the state and I believe we can make a statement when we come together but I will never support the mortgaging of the votes of our members for an agenda that might hit back on us, he stated.
“I call on our members around the state to come out en masse and vote for the candidate of their choice after all, artistes are like preachers, we’ll always pray for the winner when he emerges” Hardy said.
Mr. Nwadike also called on the guber candidates to understand that empowering artistes has gone beyond giving some of them appointments. He said that politicians should wake up to the realities of the recent time and change the way they do things. Artistes have a lot to contribute in the Internal Generated Revenue of the state.
“Some will say they had one of you in their cabinet, but at the end of the day, there’ll be nothing to show for that. We want life changing policies and programmes; we don’t just want the appointments, we want to be part of the government by being able to say what we want and how we want it.
“There has been little effort from the present government and we commend the Governor for that, but we want more. We want something that will give our children hope that the talent of music in them will never be a waste.
I also urge our members to vote wisely and never let any politicians use them to cause mayhem during the elections” Hardy added.
He went on to add that Artistes in all classes are recognized and utilized by governments in developed societies for as entertainers and spiritualists, they influence the society and heal its ills.
