No Apologies God Is The Foundation of The Uzodimma Government

By Collins Ughalaa KSC

On Sunday, May 14, 2023, Imo people joined Governor Hope Uzodimma to worship at the Government House Chapel, Owerri. It was a special Sunday service in many respects. It was the sixth Sunday after Easter and Christians were still in Hallelujah mood, celebrating the risen Christ. On this sixth Sunday after Easter, the first batch of 300 pilgrims to the Holy Land who returned safely came to thank God for journey mercies and other blessings of the pilgrimage.

For over 16 years, Christians in the state were denied this all-important spiritual exercise, but Governor Hope Uzodimma, a strong believer in God, an Ecumenist, sponsored 1,000 Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. For the first time, this religious programme was insulated from politics on the clear directive of the governor, and Imo people who had no money and probably could not afford it but had the burning desire and thirst for God, made it to the Holy Land. They all gathered to thank God, who made it possible for them to visit and worship in the Holy Land. Listening to the experiences of the pilgrims, one can only wonder at the level of impact the exercise has on their spiritual life.

Thanking the governor on behalf of the pilgrims after the Sunday Mass, the Commissioner for Public Orientation and Religious Affairs, Hon. Anthony Ikechukwu Okonkwo gave a graphic account of their journey and memorable experiences. He told the governor that none of them absconded, that they were all of good conduct, and that the organisers gave them good treatment. He informed the governor that one of the pilgrims had lost his money equivalent to N2M, but the money was picked up and returned by another Imo pilgrim.

If you were the governor, you would feel satisfied that you are helping your people on the right path, especially helping them in their worship of God and strengthening their faith. The governor was justifiably glad that rather than war-war, Imo people were happy performing their religious obligations. He commended the pilgrims for their comportment, conduct, and integrity, noting that it was a thing of joy that the number that travelled was exactly the number that came back. Thanking them for their prayers, the governor said: “While you were praying in far away Holy Land, God was already answering your prayers” considering the several achievements the state has recorded so far, including the projects that were commissioned in their absence and the ones that are about to be unveiled after approval had been received from the federal government.

The governor also used the occasion to reassure Imo people that his administration is rooted in God as God is the foundation. It takes an administration rooted in God, an administration that has God as the foundation, to surmount all the obstacles the governor has surmounted. The way those who stole the mandate “perfected” it by excluding results from 388 polling units and putting the governor on the fourth position, it would only take God’s intervention to retrieve such mandate. Of course, God was, and still is, with Senator Hope Uzodimma! Any sincere believer in God who has been so helped by God will always acknowledge the role of God in his government and personal life. That was what Governor Hope Uzodimma said, that God is the foundation of his government, that his government was installed by God. The governor also reassured Imo people that he is running an all-inclusive government, that he has forgotten events of the past and is now interested in issues of today and the present. He called on all Imo sons and daughters at home and in the diaspora to join hands with him to move the state forward, amongst other lofty things the governor said.

But rather than commend the governor for not abusing the mandate given to him by Imo people, remaining faithful to the people, delivering on all fronts and surpassing expectations, the PDP began its melancholic lamentations, quarrelling with the governor over his strong faith in God and for recognising God as the foundation of his government. In a press release on Tuesday, May 16, the battle-weary minority PDP, rather than rejoice that our brothers and sisters who travelled to far-away Israel came back safely without anyone absconding, and tap into the unfathomable blessings that come from such rich spiritual exercise; instead of rejoicing that we now have an open, all-inclusive and masses-driven government, the party whined that the governor has put all his faith in the living God, the giver of power and maker of Kings, the Almighty God. It said that the governor should pretend to love God, pretend to be a strong believer in God, and Christ the Saviour, instead of his genuineness, sincerity, ecumenism, and fear of God.

From all indications, the PDP is angry that Governor Hope Uzodimma has made God his Rock of Ages, Shield and Buckler, Helper in times of need, and the foundation of the Shared Prosperity Government. This is why the governor is a god-fearing man. A man who does not fear God would by now be fighting political foes and pilfering the resources of the state, but not so for the governor. But in their ungodliness, the PDP prefers a voo-doo, witchcraft government anchored on Satan and Satanic practices. This was what it did when it held sway, putting Imo State in bondage and introducing Satanic practices. Because it sold its soul to Satan, it set the state ablaze and made itself the enabler of non-state actors. But all that has been destroyed by God Almighty, the foundation of Imo State, our Rock of Ages and Helper in times of need, and Imo is now liberated.

No one can give what he does not have. The PDP does not know God and does not understand what it means to have God as the foundation, the rock, the beginning, and the end. As people who don’t know God, the PDP has persecuted the governor with everything in their arsenal for over three years now, but one with God is the majority. Power belongs to God, and he gives it to whom he wants. That is the reason we read in Psalm 62:11: “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God.” In the book of Ezekiel 21:27-29, we also read: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come[s] whose right it is; and I will give it him.” When God gives power to “whose right it is”, our role is to submit to the authority, as captured in Romans 13:1: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”.

The Shared Prosperity Government is established by God, and he is the foundation.
Our responsibility as children of God is to live in submission to the human authorities in government and pray for them. “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” – 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

The Holy Bible tells us that every government leader has ultimately been established by God for His own purposes. Prohpet Isaiah, according to Isaiah 45:1, spoke of Cyprus as God’s annointed to deliver the Jews from Babylonian bondage, same way God chose Governor Hope Uzodimma to liberate Imo State from the shackles of bad leadership, corruption, nepotism and all forms of cankerwarm that ate into our economic and sociopolitical fabrics. Known as Cyrus the Great, he was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and King of Persia from 559 to 530 BC., and he is venerated in the Old Testament Bible as Cyrus the Messiah for conquering Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity. This kind of liberation would normally cause some dislocation, such as the loss the PDP suffered on January 14, 2020.

Instead of coming to God in penitence and humility, the PDP tries to mock those who believe in God and to politicise the sacred duty of all men to worship God, reverence and recognise him in all their ways. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” Proverbs 3:5-6. To recognise God and walk according to His direction is a difficult task for the PDP, and it prefers to play to the gallery and lament about its misfortunes. They have no other story to tell Imo people other than whining about insecurity, which the governor has tackled to the glory of God and support of Imo people, or mourning over its loss of Jan 14, 2020. It has absolutely nothing else to say but to recycle these stories. But Imo people are wiser. They have seen the light, that is why they cling to Governor Hope Uzodimma.

The PDP can whine, but it cannot curse a man chosen by God and by the votes of Imo people.