*Still on Peter Mbah's One Year of Tears and Agony in Enugu*

By John Agbo (John Lead)

July 1st, 2024

This is a rejoinder to an essay published on social media on Sunday, the 30th day of June 2024, by Mr. Reuben Onyishi. He wrote under his usual pseudonyms Ohayi Ukwueze and Nwomaga Nwedo. Onyishi, the senior special assistant to Governor Peter Mbah on new media, was responding to my own article titled "Bishop Chukwuma, An Eternal Moral Burden to Christianity", which I published on social media on 29th June, 2024. Mine was equally a response to the government-sponsored appearance of the former archbishop of Enugu Diocesan Anglican church, Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma, on Urban Radio, Enugu, on Tuesday and Thursday, the 25th and 27th June 2024 respectively.

Ordinarily, I do not need to introduce myself to the reading public of Enugu State, because I have been in the business of advocating good governance through writing long before the emergence of the government that employed Mr. Reuben Onyishi. But, for the avoidance of doubt, let me inform the reader that my name is John Agbo, aka John Lead. I am from Mbu Ezeutazhi in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State. And I have been writing with my full identity to the extent that the reading public of Enugu State, including Reuben Onyishi, are fully familiar with my name in the media space. So it is so shocking that an article I published with my full identity even on my Facebook page (John Lead) was deceptively ascribed to Hon. Barrister Chijioke Edeoga for whatsoever aim Onyishi and the Peter Mbah government wanted to achieve.

The SSA's response to my write-up is wickedly titled "Chijioke Edeoga, When the Animal Strays into the Vineyard of the Lord". By act of deliberate mischief, Peter Mbah's government set out to dodge all the issues I raised against both his government and Bishop Chukwuma, who had gone on radio to distort facts as regards the trouble the new state government has brought upon ndi Enugu. It became convenient for the failed government to pick Hon. Barr. Edeoga as their regular punching bag in a matter that shouldn't concern him.

In his first paragraph, Mr. Onyishi and Gov. Mbah still lament that Edeoga contested and actually won the election against the governor, as if it's a crime to contest an election in the first place. Yes, I alluded to that in my write-up on Bishop Chukwuma. It was only a combination of corrupt INEC officials and corrupt judges of the Nigerian judiciary that denied Edeoga the mandate Enugu people freely gave to him via the March 18th, 2023, elections. So it would be wise if the handlers of today's government recognize that Enugu people have woken up and would no longer accept the PDP one-party system marred by excessive praise-singing. Thus, whatever we write should never be ascribed to Mbah's opponent, especially when we use our full names.

Gov. Mbah's SSA, Onyishi, goes ahead to allege that Edeoga attacked the church, bishops Chukwuma and Onah bla bla bla... And I ask, can Reuben Onyishi bring out any proof that it was not me John Agbo (John Lead) that wrote the article about bishops Chukwuma and Onah? And, by the way, where is the attack in all that I wrote about the lord bishops? The last time I checked, stating the obvious facts known to Enugu masses can never be an attack. All the things I wrote in my article on Bishop Chukwuma, for instance, were well-known facts that cannot be denied by even the Asaba-born cleric himself.

My piece was all about the kind of politics, not church leadership, he has been playing in Enugu State for the past 26 years he came to the state on a missionary duty. It was my observation that Bishop Chukwuma never supported Enugu masses at their difficult and trying moments. He has always found a way to justify all anti-people policies and activities of any unpopular government. I gave an example using the Fr Mbaka's adoration ground massacre of March 2002: Bishop Chukwuma spoke like one supporting the butchering of 14 innocent worshippers and an unborn child, and he perhaps helped in ensuring there is no justice till date! Bishop Chukwuma himself is alive today, and I know he can't deny this fact, talk more of any other person. I equally made mention of the fact that I have never heard the bishop preach the word of God to anyone on radio or TV, or even carry out any deliverance session, as is common among Nigerian pastors, on worshippers that go to his church. This, too, is not a lie against the bishop, as I always hear his voice only on controversial activities involving the state government.

Instead of proving my observations wrong, the state government's spokesman (Onyishi) decided to incite the church against another person who has nothing to do with what I have written. And I ask, how does Peter Mbah want Enugu people to take him seriously, when he has this reckless and untruthful human being heading his media team?

As if to deceive Enugu people who read my piece on Bishop Chukwuma and equally listened to him on Urban Radio, Gov. Mbah's SSA makes a needless attempt at buying the emotions of the two bishops: "The offence of the bishops was that they acknowledged Governor Mbah's good governance and milestone achievements in his first one year in office".

First, Bishop Godfrey Onah's instructed second collection throughout his Nsukka diocese comprising 157 parishes, with an estimated population of 397, 935 Catholics, just to raise money to help thousands of previously well-to-do traders reduced to abject poverty by Gov. Peter Mbah through his wicked and most senseless demolition in human history, cannot be an acknowledgement of Peter Mbah's performance as a governor. It is a gross, albeit unintended, indictment of the governor by Bishop Onah himself. So it is either Reuben Onyishi is insane or the entire government of Peter Mbah as we know it is on a mission to punish Enugu people for rejecting him wholesomely during last year's elections.

As for Bishop Chukwuma, no Enugu man takes anything he says in politics seriously because -- I repeat -- he is known for speaking in favour of any willing government in order to line up his pockets. Otherwise, how did he arrive at a decision to appear on radio to launder Mbah's image, when his colleague in Nsukka was attempting to alleviate the pains Mbah had brought on the people? This is despite the fact that I score him (Bishop Onah) very low on that, because he didn't genuinely feel for the people affected. If not so, he would have used his position to advise the government against such policy or spoken out publicly against it. "You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.” “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” (Anonymous) This could have made the heartless governor reconsider his decision to induce a cascade of suffering on the masses. Bishop Chukwuma too kept a blind eye when the cries of the masses against this planned demolition, unquantifiable increment in taxes, killing of one Bonaventure Nwodo at Ogbete Main Market were everywhere. Ordinarily, his silence was enough indictment -- he supports whatever ordeal being unleashed on Enugu people by the illegitimate government of Mbah. His going on air like an ordinary media aide to the governor convinced everybody, including himself, that he never meant well for Enugu people and, strangely, derives joy in seeing our people suffer. This has nothing to do with being a man of God or not. He arrogated to himself a position of stakeholder in Enugu matters, yet he has never been on the side of ndi Enugu. What manner of stakeholder goes about supporting everything that puts his hosts in pain?

Gov. Mbah, through his media team, continuously talks about Edeoga losing the election. But every Tom, Dick and Harry in Enugu knows that Chijioke Edeoga did not lose the election in 2023. It was Gov. Mbah that lost in most polling booths in Enugu until vote thieves succeeded in cooking up wonder votes in his Nkanu East LGA. That represented the height of electoral madness in Nigeria. Sadly, instead of correcting the heist in Nkanu East LGA that was even admitted by the INEC, the judiciary decided to plunge ndi Enugu into this deep mess by allowing Mbah to be sworn in, against the wishes of Enugu people.

Since one year of this abnormality imposed on our people, all that has been witnessed is a multi-faceted retrogression laced with epic suffering, no thanks to Gov. Mbah and his team. It is foolish for anyone to even think that, each time a concerned citizen like myself raises a voice against the government, the best thing to do is to blame it on Edeoga -- because he contested the election and beat the PDP candidate blue and black throughout the state. This is because Enugu people have now woken to their civic responsibilities of holding every leader accountable for his actions. What on earth still concerns Edeoga (who I learnt has since moved on with his life) with how Peter Mbah chooses to govern the state and the ripple effect of people's reaction to it? It is now characteristic of this wicked government to blame the opposition for all of its failures for the past one year. The governor will continue to face legitimacy challenges in Enugu State.

The most provocative aspect of Gov. Mbah's response to my piece is that Reuben Onyishi, who knows me very well in this media space, is aware that I have never used a pseudonym in all my write-ups. During the build-up to the PDP primaries in 2022, precisely after the LGA election in February 2022, Onyishi and I once scheduled to meet at a venue in Enugu after we had established contacts through the essays I wrote then, just as he was writing copiously in favour of his boss Chijioke Edeoga then. We were to meet in person in order to further the discussion on Enugu politics. I had got to the venue when he called to inform me that he was unavoidably busy with his boss Edeoga at a campaign rally. So the meeting couldn't hold, but we kept on interacting on social media platforms. It was after the PDP primaries on 25th May 2022; and on 28th May I published my article titled "Open Letter to Hon. Chijioke Edeoga" (please check it up on Google) in which I registered my displeasure on how the primaries were conducted. It was the first write-up criticizing the PDP sham. It went viral expectedly, to the extent that it was severally taken to the then Gov. Ugwuanyi by his aides for a possible action.

Before I knew what was going on, I started getting numerous chats from Reuben Onyishi asking me to forget all that had happened and support Peter Mbah who was favoured by the heavily manipulated primaries. I was like everyone else -- a bit confused on why Mr. Onyishi of all people should be the one asking me to now support Mr. Mbah despite his deep commitment to Edeoga's ambition then. At this time, many people, including me, were not aware that Onyishi had betrayed his boss Edeoga by collecting money to support his opponent. I never knew then that the first assignment given to him was to surreptitiously lure those of us with strong media presence into supporting Mbah overnight.

What I did -- as I couldn't understand what was going on -- was to temporarily withdrew from political commentaries. It was the announcement of Edeoga's entry into the Labour Party some weeks later that brought me back, and I started writing again.

From that time onwards, Mr Reuben Onyishi blocked me from all his social media handles. So how then could he describe my name as a "penname" when we had been friends in the media space, and I have been writing with the same name ? The attempt to deceive Enugu people on this has again failed as it only portrays Mbah's government as a government of lies and deception.

Still talking about my essay but mischievously ascribing it to Edeoga, SSA Onyishi stated that I insulted the bishops, yet he couldn't mention one single insulting word used in the essay. And I ask, how does speaking the obvious truth about Bishop Chukwuma amount to insulting him or disrespecting God, as alleged by Mbah's team? Where lies the insult or any distortion of fact as alleged? It was never hidden to anyone that Bishop Chukwuma supported the deadly Ebeano regime of 1999--2007. It is a fact that he defended all the evils done by that government. And he has emerged again to support this wickedness Gov Mbah is dishing out to ndi Enugu. Would it therefore be wrong if I conclude that Bishop Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma Mgbese always feels very happy and fulfilled whenever Enugu people are compelled to suffer by the state government? Truth is sacrosanct.

The rest of Onyishi's response to my essay was spent talking about the electoral tsunami that happened last year, as if it has anything to do with the way and manner in which Peter Mbah is governing our state now. In fairness to him, the only connection between the events of the election and how poor things have turned out to Enugu people currently is that Gov. Mbah, like I stated before, is on a mission to avenge his electoral defeat -- by stifling life out of Enugu people by all means. But the diversionary antics of attacking the heroic Edeoga for an essay that has nothing to do with him will not stop us from focusing on the injuries already done to us by this government. It won't quench the questions on why the outrageous escalation of tax duties in a rapidly dwindling economy. The water promised ndi Enugu in 180 days is not running in any home after one full year. And a governor that promised Enugu people a paradise in his manifesto is resorting to blaming his opponent for his failure to achieve anything in one year.

Asking Bishop Chukwuma to explain to us why and how he came about praising Mbah in the midst of all these can never mean disrespect to God, because Chukwuma can never be God. He is only assumed to be an earthly servant of God who is prone to making mistakes. And correcting him in public is all we owe him since he always choses to err in public too.

Ndi Enugu are now wiser than they were during Mbah's first outing as commissioner for finance in 2004. His roles then are not a strange topic to ndi Enugu. He should be informed, however, that, in Enugu State of today, we shall always pry into the activities of his government, whether as opposition or as concerned citizens. It is left for Mbah to put a human face into his policies in order to serve us well or continue in his anger-induced punitive policies that will continue to invite unfavourable media presence. All that has happened so far proves that Enugu people were actually right in rejecting Peter Mbah during the election. And now that he has succeeded in imposing himself on us through the corrupt courts, we can only say that our fears were founded.

*Agbo writes from Okaigbura village, Mbu Akpoti, Isi-Uzo LGA, Enugu State*