A US-based clinical psychiatrist and All Progressives Congress (APC) member, Dr Stanley Amadi, has described widespread poverty and hunger in Imo State, saying many families now only eat rice at burial ceremonies because they cannot afford regular meals.
Amadi, a native of Ezeogba in Owerri North Local Government Area, made the remarks at the weekend when the Owerri Zone Media Practitioners Association (OZMPA) paid him a courtesy visit at his country home. He is seeking the APC nomination to contest the Imo governorship election in November 2027.
He said those who have governed the state in recent years had failed to improve living conditions. “I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the last 10 years,” Amadi stated. “I come home eight times a year and in the process of listening to our people I discovered that so many of our people have died because they could not afford hospital bills, most of our people do not know where their next meals would come from. Just attend any burial ceremony, see old women, men and children fighting over rice because that is the only means that they can get rice. Most people now look forward to burials. What a sad situation.”
Amadi, who said he is not desperate for the office, argued that the state has vast arable land that could support farm settlements and cottage industries to create jobs. He claimed that in his private capacity he has assisted thousands of young people and widows with scholarships, skills training and start-up funds, drawing on his own experience as an orphan. “It is the lack of concrete expectation that has led to the current hopelessness we have today in the state,” he said.
He pointed to developments in Burkina Faso under its young military leader as an example of the kind of turnaround he hopes to achieve if elected. “We have had enough of starvation, death and hunger. I will be there for the job not for fame. Imo State needs a positive change and not lip service,” Amadi added. He also remarked that a leader who truly serves the people does not need a large security escort to move around the state.
OZMPA Chairman Chief Everest Ezihe said the association’s main aim is to promote the interest of the Owerri senatorial zone, particularly the Imo Charter of Political Equity, which the group argues favours the zone producing the next governor in 2027. The association plans a town-hall meeting for candidates from the zone to present their programmes.
Former Nigeria Union of Journalists Imo State Council Chairman Chief Chris Akaraonye said the group would continue to support Governor Hope Uzodimma’s position that it is the turn of the Owerri zone to produce his successor, and would project aspirants from the zone through media advocacy.
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