Who is afraid of Alex Ikwechegh Mascot?
Beyond the prism of prejudice and ballyhoo, neoteric lobbyists, influencers and aficionados recognised jawbone as the potent espousal to make an aspirant alluring to the electorate in contemporary politics.
It is a loftier tactic to emotional blackmailing and emphasising consanguineous sentimentalism in promoting preferred aspirants.
Dissimilar to the gung-ho proselytes who rant, excoriate and sully rivals on social media, professional image-makers prioritised pedagogic presentation of the achievements and aptitudes of their aspirants.
I guess the Alex Ikwechegh handlers are au fait with this cardinal philosophy; hence, their maximisation of social media to appraise the young man’s odyssey, trajectory, accomplishment and prerequisites that stand him out as suitable for the job.
It is not astonishing, therefore, that his rivals bamboozled and dazed supporters have abandoned the promotion of the measly value of their political benefactors to fatuously accentuate conjectural financial peccadillo against him. They oafishly labelled his philanthropism a quid pro quo gesture without consideration for the susceptibilities of the recipients.
Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji served Abia State as commissioner for education and agriculture. To use consanguineous sentimentalism (our Ngwa brother) and emotional blackmail (marginalisation of Aba indigene) to appeal to the conscience of voters instead of his transformational records in both ministries portray him as inept for elective position.
The same goes to the APGA aspirant Mr Destiny Akaraka Nwagwu whose supporters — the most aggressive and vocal in the censure of Ikwechegh — are repulsively promoting with late Hon. Ossy Prestige’s political goodwill instead of his (Mr Destiny’s) aptitude and disposition. Such horse and boggy PR stunt no longer market aspirants. If it could, then, Hon. Ossy’s wife should be the consensus replacement.
But unfortunately for his social media warriors, what the Aba North/South federal constituents desire is someone with proven capacity to surpass the late Hon. Ossy’s achievement, not aspirants competing to fit into his gargantuan political shoe.
Let me overlook the APC candidate Mr Mascot Kalu whose followers and handlers have comported themselves properly so far. The Aba North/South constituents have long decided his fate unless there’s a sudden change of mind or sympathy votes.
For those who have their ears on the ground, the allegation of 21 months’ salary arrears Alex Ikwechegh owed LG workers is pervasive. It never started on my Facebook page. It has been pending and I found his reticent condescending to Abians and decided to call him out.
The young man immediately responded and sought an audience with journalists in Umuahia. Luckily, I was in Umuahia then. Other attendees were Iroegbu Emenike (AFN) Ugochukwu Nwankwo (Abia pulse) Uche Aguoru (New Gazette online) and Sampson Eze (GM Flo FM).
Without prevarications, he responded to all the allegations and even challenged anyone with evidence to present it. The right and judicious thing to do is to publish his response on my Facebook page and our online news platform – The Realm News -. Which I did. However, I promised publicly to write three feature stories, free of charge, from his life odyssey to motivate someone facing a similar challenge. The individuals’ present during the interactive session can confirm it.
Unlike other aspirants who hide under godfathers and allies to solicit votes, Ikwechegh is campaigning on his strength. Even if you called it a quid pro quo, the video evidence of his philanthropic gestures permeates social media. The recipients are also traceable.
Just like the Abia State PDP hierarchy, his traducers know that he is a force to reckon with and also a threat to the slim chances of their principals. A ticket for him instantly translates to a landslide for the PDP.
As for the belligerents who come under my comment section to pejoratively address me instead of raising superior arguments, you’re one comment shy of blocking. Your ranting on social media is tantamount to action in escapism if you do not have a voter card and resident in Aba.
Cease showcasing your witlessness in public. The Realm News is a corporate organisation with over 500,000 loyal followers and hundreds of thousand readers. The opinions I expressed on my social media platforms do not reflect the news outlet’s editorial policy.
