With Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s victory sure in the bag, Imo entertainers in their numbers are now jostling for the two positions that are up for grabs in the new cabinet the reelected governor would be forming after May 29 hand over.
With many lobbying through top government officials for the positions, others have taking to social media to express their interest on the two positions.
It will be recalled that the same scenario came up in 2011 when Gov. Okorocha was elected for his first term, leading to the skipping of the office which was very visible in the cabinet of former governor Ikedi Ohakim who then appointed Okey McAnthony.
In 2011, there were gospel singer Prince Chinedu Nwadike; Nollywood actress Nkiru Sylvanus who is presently the Acting Director General of Imo Film Academy; Ugo Stevenson, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, Buchi George, Kelly Hansome and other entertainers who worked to see Gov. Okorocha elected that year.
Some said the governor was trying to avoid hatred between these entertainers when he skipped the office of the Special Adviser on Entertainment in his cabinet for four years, while others said that the governor utterly ignored entertainers in the state even when Hon. Uche Ogbuagu’s appointment as the Chief Comedian to Government House was supposed to be the governor’s redemption.
With this memory not too far from entertainers, the fresh lobbying could still cause them those spots if they don’t play their game well.
The Chief Comedian to Government House is only up for comedians which means the position of the SA on Entertainment will be going to an artiste or probably a well-known stake holder in the industry.
My advice to Gov. Okorocha should he decide to appoint people into these two offices is that he should forget Imolites who are not living in Imo State. There are these popular sayings that “na who wear shoe know where e de pain am”, “only a ninja can kill a ninja”, so only an Imo State based entertainer who has been part of the plights seen by everyone here can help the governor Rescue that sector.
It will still be the choice of the governor to go political on these positions by using them to compensate people who worked for him during the election, but he should also be aware that times have changed and if the person is found incompetent in any way, such aides will be on pages newspapers and blogs on weekly basis, not to talk of Facebook which has become a abattoir for under-performing politicians in Imo State.
The governor can still get it right in the entertainment industry should he appoint the right people in these two offices and if he is looking for a reference, he should look at the tales of Uche Ogbuagu from the day he was made Chief Comedian to the day, Ka O Puo CDs were released.
So far few names like MC Bannana Mouth have been visible for the post of the Chief Comedian to the governor, even though they are mere social media recommendations, while others with interest in the office of the SA are doing their best to be on the low, while their internal lobbying does the work for them.
Imo entertainers will surely be hurt again, should governor Okorocha choose to ignore the office of the SA on Entertainment, which many still blame for the dwindling fortunes of entertainers in the state as well as the poor rapour between them and the government in the last four years.
