MADAM SPEAKER AND ONLINE BLACKMAILERS

It is now clear that a syndicate that specializes in defamatory writings has taken pleasure in playing around the office of the Speaker of Anambra State, Rt Hon Chinwe Nwaebili.

They have tried to vilify Madam Speaker and her family with so much hate. Their malignant pieces are fast metastasizing and if unchecked, with equal rage, may debilitate their target.

I am writing this piece, not as a rebuttal because there is nothing to refute in all their claims against the high performing head of the State’s legislature.

When I read their latest attack in a deleterious piece titled “Madam Speaker who Gov Obiano says her ass is like v-Boot vows to deal with Sen Igbeke (Ubanesse)”, I couldn’t but imagine the low life mentality of the schemers.

The defamatory essay and its likes find greater expression on the net possibly because, unlike the print media, this medium exacts no responsibility on offending publishers. It also allows for mediocre writing which hardly survives the rigours of the print media. More than that, the vast profusion of the stories published in the blogs comes from the same stable with slight alterations to give the impression of varied authorship.

Unbeknown to many a serial liar writes the offending pieces without byline, while a discourteous publisher brazens out the odious publications. It does not matter to these men the level of odium which they have brought upon themselves. With mindless relish, they distort facts and publish them as news stories just to score cheap political point or gain some readership traffic. Even when it is obvious they have run flush out of idea (which is often the case) they still upload lies on the net just to slake a primitive desire for lucre.  Nothing can be more brazen.

To buttress the ridiculousness of the author and his story, let me quote Madam Speaker, “I’m in no way angry with Sen Ubanese not to talk of being at loggerheads with him”. This she said when I called her attention to the mischievous piece.

The author of the malicious piece failed to realize he was only creating enmity where there’s no atom of disagreement.  I blush at such  queer obsession to distort every situation and present same as credible.

It beats me as to how a decent mind can tell lies with the ease with which a defecating child breaks wind. What could be responsible? Perhaps lucre, perhaps jealousy, or both?

Even the story on APGA Congress was not told any better. Is Ubanese from Ogbaru? How does his relationship with Madam Speaker affect the choice of Ndi Ogbaru on who will represent their interest? Has the Congress not come and gone? Are the people, Ubanesse and Madam Speaker not happy?

Is it the story about the Speaker’s daughter, Speaker’s nomination as Commissioner or her son being an SA? The story was tailored to sully the image of the number three citizen of the state. Any other reporter would have told the story with a measure of disinterestedness but not the syndicate. They have since disobliged the good people of Anambra State by abandoning news dissemination for bruiting of lies on the net.

The blackmailer also tried to paint Madam Speaker as an enemy of the people. What else could be farther away from the truth. A lady who has changed the face of Ogbaru through empowerment programmes, employment placements and attraction of life saving projects. Our people sing her praises in and out of her presence. Within her time as a legislator, Rt Hon Chinwe has touched all parts of Ogbaru in addition to her sterling performance as an outstanding female Speaker of the State House of Assembly.

No leader is without shortcomings. None ever will be. I admit of no such person, but critics must be seen to be constructive otherwise they become a bit imbecilic and history will be most unkind.

So far all the attempts made by the syndicated blackmailers and their pay masters to cause Madam Speaker down, rather than achieve the objective, have advanced her. The target audience – the good people of Anambra state – is not rash. They can easily tell a capital B from a bull’s leg.

There is still time for the syndicate to change course or risk their readership because nobody wants to be on the net just to read trash.

Meanwhile, the rising political profile of Madam Speaker, Chinwe Nwaebili is unstoppable.

Chukwuma Emeobi, Chairman of Ndi Ogbaru Progressives Forum writes from Atani in Ogbaru Local Government (chuma.emeobi@gmail.com