Half Of The Commissioners Will Be Women, If… – Ugorji Assures 

By Tim Elombah

On the heels of the second postponement of the Ahianjoku Lectures by the Imo State Government, a major academic and political gathering took place in Owerri on December 18, 2025. Over six hundred and seventy five people from around the world converged at Rockview Hotel Owerri to witness and participate in the Conference on the Aba Women’s Revolt of 1929.

Organized by the OFO Educational Foundation, headed by Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji, the event brought together scholars, activists, policy makers, public administrators, students, and artisan women in great numbers. Through speeches, dramatic sketches, spoken word performances, and round table discussions, the heroics of women in the 1920s came to life in Owerri.

The event was chaired by Nigeria’s first female Minister of Education, Professor Chinwe Obaji, who flew in from the United States, via Abuja to deliver a soul searching speech, in which he called on Nigerian women to go from revolt against colonialism in 1929 to a revolt against internal decay in morals. The Keynote speech was presented by Professor Chima Korieh, who also flew in from the US. Korieh cautioned that Aba in the nomenclature of the revolt was a limitation to the full appreciation of what was a regional phenomenon and a real war, with casualties.

After the conference, which reportedly cost about eighteen million Naira to host, journalists in Owerri converged around the convener, Dr. Ugorji, the pioneer commissioner for Homeland Security in Imo State. Asked why he spent so much money to revisit an event that took place ninety six years ago, Ugorji said that he has always been a history buff.

 According to him, he chose to remember and celebrate the bravery of women against colonial forces in 1929 because the roles of women in the collective struggles of African people does not get the attention they merit.

The journalists pressed on. Did the conference have anything to do with his rumored interest in succeeding Senator Hope Uzodimma as Imo State governor in 2027? Dr. Ugorji demurred. And then he said “Everything has political implications.” Admitting that he is actively exploring a run for governor, Ugorji said the conference was only the latest manifestation of his life long commitment to women’s struggle for relevance and respect in a heavily patriarchal ecosystem.

He then dropped the bomb. “If I become governor, half of the commissioners in Imo State will be women. It is as simple as that.” This seemingly campaign promise was in tandem with conference’s communique which was referred to as The Owerri Declaration of 2025. The declaration called for 50/50 parity for women in politics and leadership and in elected and appointed positions in Nigeria.

However, Ugorji said, he could not fully discuss politics at this time for two reasons: As an APC chieftain and the APC Acme Leader in Aboh Mbaise LGA, he will look to Governor Uzodimma for “direction.” And as a man still in the mourning period for his traditional ruler father (the late HRH Eze Stephen Nwabueze Ugorji, Orji Ukwu 1 of Lorji Nwekeukwu Autonomous Community) who was buried in May of 2025, he will not fully engage until after the mourning period, which will end in May of 2026.