The political culture of any democracy is structurally imbued with hierarchies that have institutional mentoring templates. In such a setting, you may not need to be an expert in political science to make conjecture on the destination of a political player.  Most politicians in such a situation do not start to learn the ropes when elected or appointed into offices, they hit the ground running based on the ethical distillation they passed through.
The above analysis aptly captures the political odyssey of Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. For Imo gubernatorial election in 2015, it has seemingly been business as usual for most the aspirants and the incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha, but the political temperature of Imo State charged when Ihedioha declared interest for the plum job. Presently, the heat has even got to a boiling point as senior citizens from Orlu, Owerri and Okigwe zones have gone public with their unalloyed support for Ihedioha.
Audacious, charismatic and known for measured diction without unnecessarily being grandiloquent, Ihedioha’s unassuming nature has enabled him to sail through the complex politics in the House of Representatives.
He got there because of his impeccable record of community service, hence, the people of Mbutu convinced other constituents that made up of Aboh Mbaise/Ngo Okpala Federal Constituency to cast their lot for the son of Mbaise nation to represent them in the House of Representatives in this democratic dispensation.
Ihedioha remains the first all-party backed member of the House of Representatives to emerge as Deputy Speaker in the history of Nigerian legislature. His political party, the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State has always benefited from his sustenance of the party since the party was ousted from power in the state in the 2011 election.  He has consistently drawn the line between   Governor Okorocha’s claim of developing Imo State and his own empirical agenda for real change.
Because of Ihedioha’s   political pedigree, spin doctors gunning for his jugular, even in his party as well sent a dummy signal the other day that he was an All Progressives Congress sympathizer. They expected militant zero sum game principle to govern his political behavior. To this, he said, “I am Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. I am familiar with the rules of political engagement in a multi-party system. Having earned the confidence of my people to be here for some time now, I should know, I think I know the border line between partisan parochialism and national interest. I have unrepentant conviction that national interest should come first. For me, the PDP remains the Leviathan that powers the vehicle for state voyage, the Noah’s Ark of Nigeria’s destiny”, he once told the inner caucus of his political fraternity.
It was more for the fear of Emeka Ihedioha and not necessarily for the love of Mbaise people that took Governor Rochas Okorocha to Mbaise on the day they were celebrating their sacred New Yam Festival. The governor went to Mbaise to test the political waters and his gait in that occasion touched off brinkmanship crisis. If that ugly scenario is a forerunner to 2015, then, I will force to say, attention Nigeria.Aspirants for Imo gubernatorial election in 2015 are oblivious of the history of Emeka Ihedioha’s social ascendancy. He would rather not shoot than to shoot and miss. He never misses.
Therefore, Governor Okorocha has reason to panic. Technically, my reading has proved that the Achilles Heels of Okorocha in the battle for Douglas House in 2015 is the burden of self- acquittal. If Ikedi Ohakim had been so militant and intolerant of opposition, Rochas Okorocha wouldn’t have been governor.
With the Mbaise misadventure, critical public of Imo politics are saying that the style of the government and its anachronistic game master herd mentality needs to be checked. And this can only happen with the emergence of a left-wing virtuoso politician, powered by wit and progressive radicalism to provide a counter poise to checkmate the political subterfuge holding Imo state hostage. To put it mildly, what is happening in Imo State is happening because we have a sole administrator as governor where other democratic organs are gagged. This affords the governor the leeway to rule the people the way he likes.
Lest we forget, we need a governor who will say good morning Ndi Imo and the people will not crosscheck the time. Looking at the hexagonal architecture of Nigerian power equation, Imo State, the Oriental Heartland of the Igbo nation needs a thinker who has been found worthy in learning and character to be in Douglas House in 2015. At the moment, Imo people are yearning for a governor who can reconnect Imo State to the epicentre of Nigerian power system.  With the rank of Chief Whip of the House of Representatives and now Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives, none of those angling to be governor of Imo State in 2015 has richer dossier than Ihedioha.
With his track record, Ihedioha will return Imo State to the league of developed societies to partner with President Goodluck Jonathan so that the Imo exiles will return. They will return because the factories will be humming again, a governor that will construct roads and structures which shall stand the topographic vicissitudes of Imo State.
The advantage to Imo State of Ihedioha’s experience with Nigeria’s first eleven is inexhaustive. Because Imo people need a consummate pan-Nigerian worker with eclectic economic alchemy and at this historical juncture, the exposure Ihedioha acquired gives him the rare access code to the pumping station of Nigerian possibilities.
As the second in command to the branch of government that appropriates resources for the development of the whole of Nigeria, lest we forget, Ihedioha understands the favourable investment conditionalities of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), London and Paris Clubs, G-8 world economic powers, the G-20 countries. Oriental Axis is privileged reach to his blue-print to rebuild Imo State in 2015-2019 showed that these institutions are in the calendar of his building plan as strategic partners.
Another advantage is that he may not need to go through any intermediary to engage fifty top investment personalities and 100 top investment corporations to make Imo State investment destination. Oriental Axis, a think-tank working group, believes that Imo State should be shepherded by he who is prepared. With his master plan for the state, the “Work in progress” road sign shall return again at every nook and cranny of Imo state, a la Sam Mbakwe
•Okeke is the Director, Oriental Axis and Special Assistant, Media and Strategy to Senator Matthew Nwagwu,  Abuja.

Emeka Ihedioha and Imo 2015