There has never been a time an election to the honorable office of the president of Aba Sports Club generated the degree of interest as that of the forthcoming election where a bonafide candidate in the stature of Chief Greg Okafor Owelle has shown political dexterity and poised to coast to victory on the appointed date.
What is of particular importance to independent pundits like me is the dust the candidacy of Chief Okafor has raised in the mind of some people who from all indications and critical appraisal of their livid attacks on the aspirant have betrayed a deep sense of fear.
A fear, perhaps, rooted on the political, social and economic dynamism that will accompany Chief Okafor to the exalted stool of the Aba Sports Club presidency which he has proposed to reform and consolidate on its past and present glory.
It is quite unfortunate that at this critical time of our history, some people would marshal-out paid media warriors to wage an unnecessary war against an obviously qualified candidate who would break the status quo and send those who are hell bent on dragging the immaculate image of the club in the mud, to an everlasting political and participatory limbo.
The fear which manifested initially as a subtle disagreement with the clearly wise choice of Chief Okafor as the president, by this unknown members; metamorphosed into flurry of media attacks not only on the personality of a man who needs no introduction in the hall of fame, but also on the qualification he graciously obtained from the prestigious Abia State Polytechnic Aba.
It was the lamest of media hogwash that some people would stoop so low as to gobble out rubbish in the name of press releases and features to pour aspersions on a man whose slate needs no cleansing. One of such allegations was that he did not obtain a certificate from the Polytechnic and thus is not qualified to aspire for the Club’s presidency.
It would be a great service to be honest to make a brief dive into that claim. For that purpose I went into research first by getting in touch with the authorities of the Abia state Polytechnic. I had it in good authority that Chief Gregory Okafor was a bonafide student of the school and had passed through all layers of academic scrutiny and qualified to be a diploma holder.
While, I would like to evade mentioning the suit filed by Barr. Uche Emeagwara at the Abia state High Court against the candidacy of Chief Gregory Okafor, the Registered Trustee of Aba Sports Club, Chief Jerry Kalu and Amb. Darlington Nwokolo, it will be worth mentioning that the institution of the court proceedings without first exhausting other internal mechanisms of conflict resolution within the club shows a desperate attempt to register grievances in an extreme manner.
Also the purported investigation which confirmed that Greg Okafor Owelle was actually a student of Abia state polytechnic deflates every other argument made against the obviously qualified candidate.
It is pathetic that those peddling the unfounded allegation have exhausted their media arsenal and are not at their final kick to register falsehood against apparent truth.
With the latest finding where it has been confirmed that the certificate was properly obtained and that a court case instituted to stop Chief Greg Okafor from contesting in the coming election has essentially failed.
So far, the Sports Club has continued to pledge it unalloyed support for Owelle come 1st December 2021 and frowned on the persistent media attack on the Club and its leadership by Chief Emeka Diwe.
So I urge all the detractors to find themselves a more honorable profession.
