By Ignatius Okorocha
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state has debunked as fallacy insinuation by Senator Smart Adeyemi that he is a drunkard saying he neither drinks nor begrudge those who drink.
Senator Adeyemi had penultimate week on the floor of the Senate , while contributing to debate on a motion on general insecurity in Nigeria , veered off by calling Ikpeazu , a Champaign drinking Governor who has no time to give people of his state good governance , let alone , ensuring security of lives and property.
The Governor in a nutshell , is a drunkard , the very reason , no tangible development is taking place in the State and some other states being governed by unserious governors ” , Adeyemi had alleged .
Reacting to the allegation at the book launch of the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe ( PDP Abia South), at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre on Monday,Governor Ikpeazu said he doesn’t drink at all , let alone , being a drunkard.
” I don’t drink at all and I don’t begrudge those who drink , making me to wonder what prompted the allegation .
” Leadership demands decorum and high sense of responsibility , the very reason why those privileged to have the calling by virtue of occupying position of leadership must be cautious in what they say or do .
” I’m not planning to take up the person who made the reckless allegation because in the words of Chinua Achebe , a man whose clothe was taken at the River Bank by a mad man needs to be cautious by not running nakedly after the mad in order not to create a scenario of not knowing who is mad between the two of them by onlookers ” , he said .
Ikpeazu who was the Special Guest of Honour at the book launch titled : “Made in Aba “, commended Abaribe for writing the book which according to him, is all about resilience and can do spirit of the Aba people in particular and Ndigbo in general.
” It is good that the Senate Minority Leader , wrote the story of his life , his people and that of Nigeria as captured in the book because if you don’t write your story , other people will write it in a very distorted way “, he said .
Continuing he said,”But in this book though I have not seen or read it, I think that the caption points to something and that is the tenacity and never dying spirit that Aba, exhumes, represents and reflects and that encapsulates the personality of Distinguished Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe.
“Aba does not bother about taking fall because Aba is sure it will rise all the time it falls. And Aba is not deterred by anything in size, whatever. That is the African traders and the Lebanese, and we produce everything that China can produce.”
The Chairman of the occasion , Mr Peter Obi , said Abaribe represents what a legend should be globally by speaking truth to power at all times .
Meanwhile former Senate President and Secretary of Federal Government( SGF)Senator Anyim Pius Anyim has described Senator Abaribe as a colossus.
According him,”The controversy in the life of Sen Abaribe started as deputy governor to former governor Orji Uzor Kalu. I think I have to say that a public without controversy is not complete.
“There must be a time you will challenge the statuesque. There must be time you must take a stand that everybody will not be comfortable with. There must be a time you will stand out whether people like it or not and I think that would have dotted the history of Senator Abaribe.
“It a history that is dotted with firm conviction or issues whether the crowed goes the same with him or against him he will stand his ground, he will make his point, he will push his point and he will defend his point.
Other dignitaries at the book launch were the Senate Deputy Leader , Senator Robert Ajayi Borroffice ( APC Ondo North) who represented the President of the Senate , Ahmad Lawan , the Minister of State for Health , Senator Olorunnibe Mamora and many of the serving Senators.
