For the Record: Engr. Onyekachi Irokwe Lit Up Isingwu, And Obi Aguocha Should Not Dare Put His Name On Another Man’s Solar Lights – Mandate 27 Group

For the Record: Engr. Onyekachi Irokwe Lit Up Isingwu, And Obi Aguocha Should Not Dare Put His Name On Another Man’s Solar Lights – Mandate 27 Group

Before the season of borrowed glory begins, let the people of Ikwuano, Umuahia North and Umuahia South hear the facts, plainly and in advance. Solar street lights have been installed in the Isingwu autonomous community, and the man the community itself is thanking for them is Engr. Onyekachi Irokwe.

According to the post circulating from the Ohuhu Mouthpiece platform, Engr. Onyekachi Irokwe is a true son of Okaiuga Nkwoegwu, and his mother hails from Umuokwenunta Okpu in the Isingwu autonomous community. In other words, this is a son of the soil, who reached into his own roots and gave the people light. The community did not hide its joy. In the words of its own people, they are grateful to him, and mere words cannot describe how happy they are. They have also prayed that every secret prayer of his be answered.

The pictures speak just as loudly. One shows a dusty community road that now glows under a solar light at night, where there used to be darkness. Others show rows of blue light poles laid out neatly on the ground beside a school building, waiting to be erected, which tells us this is not a single lamp but a serious supply of lighting for the community. Anyone who has lived without street lights knows what that means: safer evenings for women and children, safer movement for traders returning late, safer roads for the elderly, and fewer hiding places for those who thrive in the dark.

Now let us speak directly to the politics of it. In 3 years and 9 months, the incumbent, Hon. Obi Aguocha, has not produced a clear, verifiable scorecard for this constituency. Not one project list with locations, dates and figures has been placed before the people. It is in that very vacuum that the temptation arises to pick up the achievements of others, dust them off, and present them as one’s own. We say it now, before the first press statement is drafted: Hon. Obi Aguocha, these lights are not yours to claim.

The people of Isingwu know who installed them. The community itself has named him in public. A thank-you note from the beneficiaries is the strongest proof of authorship any project can have, because it comes from those who are actually walking under the lights. No flyer, no graphic and no media team can rewrite that.

If Hon. Obi Aguocha wants to be credited for solar street lights, the process is simple. Install your own. Choose a community, buy the poles, mount the lamps, and invite the people to switch them on. Then let the beneficiaries thank you in their own words. What cannot be allowed is the shameful habit of showing up after the work is finished, photographing another man’s labour, and calling it a personal achievement. That is not representation. That is borrowing, and it deceives the very people it pretends to serve.

We also remind everyone that this constituency has watched carefully. The people know the difference between a project and a poster. They know that a light you can see at night is worth more than a promise you only hear in the day. They have seen who attends the unveiling and who actually did the installing, and they will remember.

So let the record stand. Engr. Onyekachi Irokwe, a son of Okaiuga Nkwoegwu with maternal roots in Umuokwenunta Okpu Isingwu, gave Isingwu solar light, and the community thanked him for it. If Hon. Obi Aguocha or his media team claims it, the pictures, the people and the facts are ready to answer.

And the question that has never gone away remains: Hon. Obi Aguocha, where is your own scorecard of 3 years and 9 months?