Obi: Victory So Sweet

Comfort Obi

Peter Obi, the governor of Anambra State, was on Saturday, February 6, given the nod by the people of the state for a second term in office. For the soft-spoken governor, and his beautiful, vivacious wife, Margaret, victory couldn’t have been sweeter than what they got on February 6. Obi had three things going for him. His unrivalled delivery of democracy dividends in his first term in office. His unflinching trust in God. And his confidence in the people of Anambra State. The three worked for him perfectly. And so, he and his wife celebrated. While he celebrated in a business as usual manner, attending to official files, receiving congratulatory phone calls and messages, and calling and/or receiving phone calls from his former co-contestants, Margaret, his wife, as lively as ever, celebrated with a traditional dance. Whichever way, the Obis should celebrate, praise God, and thank Anambra people, especially, the common people who were so overwhelmed by the governor’s achievements that they resolved to vote him back into office, inspite of the equally overwhelming obstacles.
In getting a second term in office, Obi added yet another first to his string of firsts. The first governor to regain his seat through the courts, after it was usurped by a pretender to the office, Dr. Chris Ngige, for three years. The first governor to regain his seat through the courts after being impeached by the State House of Assembly. The first governor over whom the date of the governorship election for a state was shifted by three years. The first governor over whom an elected governor was removed after a-17-day stay in office. Not to forget that his party, APGA, has no member in the State House of Assembly, yet Obi has had it smooth with the Legislature. The icing on the cake is the most recent. In the history of Anambra State, beginning with the old Anambra State, no governor has been re-elected after a first term.
In getting re-elected into office, Obi battled a lot of obstacles. Chief among them: the continuous tackling by a former Chairman of his party, APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who has since been expelled by APGA, but who has continued to dance naked in the market square. One of the things which amazed Anambra people is that Okorie, while laying claim to the Chairmanship of APGA, expelled, illegally, the only governor the party had. Not a few likened Okorie to the woman in the Holy Bible, who stole another woman’s baby, and while laying a criminal claim to the baby, urged King Solomon to divide the baby into two. It took Solomon’s wisdom to detect the baby's mother. And it was simple. You don’t destroy your own. Obi also had to battle a good number of other people who did not want him back because he refused to open the state treasury for them, to the detriment of the people. Added to that is what one Anambrarian described as a conspiracy of the elite in the State. He cited former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, money bag, Chief Arthur Eze, Dr. ABC Orjiakor, among others, as a combination one couldn’t ignore. Publicly, led by Ekwueme, they backed morally and financially, former Central Bank Governor, Professor Charles Soludo. But they didn’t reckon with the power of the people. The people were steadfast. They listened to Obi's sermon. "If anybody offers you money, take it. It is your money. But vote your conscience." Ekwueme has been shamed by the outcome of this election. It is so bad that he was defeated in his own constituency. – Aguata – comprising Orumba North and South. Of course, there has been, rightly, a strong condemnation, led by Obi, over the logistic failure of INEC, which resulted in the disenfranchisement of a whole lot of voters. Yet the strong opinion is that, it affected Obi most. Many of those who had voters’ cards, but whose names were not in the register openly said they wanted to vote for the Cock – the symbol of APGA. Most of the rejected votes were for APGA. Most illiterate voters simply thump-printed on the cock, instead of the space beside it. The lesson here for Ekwueme and other Igbo statesmen and elders is that the time has come for the Igbo to ignore party affiliations and vote for individuals who would genuinely develop the region. Out of the five state governors in the South east, only two of them are delivering democracy dividends. Obi is one of the two.
The governorship field was peopled by formidable candidates. Leading the pack is Dr. Andy Uba. Well connected, and with tons of cash to spend, Uba, ordinarily, would have been a strong opponent. But his nemesis came in two folds. The first is his former party, the PDP, which inexplicably preferred Soludo to him. Uba, you would recall, flew the PDP flag in 2007. He won the election after INEC ignored Obi’s case in court to the effect that there was no vacancy in the Anambra Government House. Seventeen days after he was sworn in, the courts threw him out of office. Not a few people expected the PDP to field Uba again to compensate him for the time and money he lost, both during the campaigns, and at the courts. But the PDP decided to field Soludo, regarded by many PDP stakeholders in the state as an outsider. Uba, therefore, chose to run under the Labour Party, a party which is non-existent, almost, in the state.
Obviously, in running under the LP, he was relying on his alleged popularity in the state. But he didn’t reckon with the anger of the people against the Ubas generally. In Anambra, not a few people associate the name with thuggery. They hold the Ubas responsible for the mayhem which the state suffered under the rogue regime of Ngige. It was Chris Uba who truncated the people’s wishes, and installed Ngige. When the two of them fell apart, the state was consumed by fire. Unprecedented terrorism, which came in the burning of government property, including the Governor’s Lodge and Government House, held sway. Ngige, a sitting governor, was humiliated and abducted. When the Uba brothers – Andy and Chris – fell apart, snippets of who, between the two of them, did what in the mayhem that engulfed the state was made public. While Chris alleged that it was his brother, Andy, who was beating the drum he was dancing to, Andy alleged that the bad name the Ubas are associated with is the handiwork of Chris. Most voters, therefore, decided to give Andy a thumbs-down this time.
In Soludo’s case, the cards were stacked against him from day one. The surprising thing is that he either refused to take note, or he was just plain ignorant and/or naïve. His entrance into the race, and subsequent endorsement by the national executive of the PDP, led by Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, polarised and factionalised the PDP. His co-aspirants saw him as an outsider, one who came to reap where he did not sow. They revolted, and worked against him. His subsequent presentation by Chief Tony Anenih, who said he would change his name to Anene, in order to make Soludo governor, angered not a few Anambra people. Indeed, when Soludo’s father was kidnapped, many people felt that has given him a leeway to opt out of the race, especially as he is a total stranger to the crafty ways of politicians and their fake promises. But he did not. Yet, he should have known on the day he launched his campaign that he was going nowhere. No PDP governor, not even those of the South east, attended the launch. Worse, several Nigerians felt that after the rot discovered in 10 banks which Soludo supervised as the CBN governor, it was untidy of him to plunge head-on into the governorship race. They expected him to lie low, and watch the outcome of the Sanusi Tsunami which has, in no small measure, put a question mark on his tenure at the CBN. To crown all of this, those who knew the very close relationship between Soludo and Obi were scandalised that Soludo could allow himself to be dragged into the governorship race. Before Soludo fell for the bait, another Anambrarian, who is a top government official, but who is equally very close to Soludo, had rejected the offer, citing close friendship with Obi. Obi’s wife is the God-mother of Soludo’s daughter. And because of the close relationship, their daughters attend the same school in London where Obi’s daughter act(ed?) as a kind of guardian to Soludo’s daughter. Yet, no other candidate attacked Obi more than Soludo.
Another strong candidate was Ngige. But he had baggages. First, his party is not popular in Anambra State, and indeed the South east. That did not help him, especially, as those who came to lead his campaign, all came from the South west. Of course, Ngige endeared himself to the people for standing-up to the Ubas, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. But the people, most of whom are Christians, have not forgotten his visit to the infamous Okija shrine. Worse, quite a number of people see him as “bad business.” They feel he is a bad investment, who wouldn’t keep to promises. Noted a prominent businessman in the state: “We know the problem of the Ubas, but the way Ngige backed out of their agreement was an eye-opener. Added to that, he knew he did not win the 2003 elections, still, he hung on for three years, wasting state funds in the courts.”
But the big surprise in the governorship race is Honourable Uche Ekwunife. A true amazon,elegant, a dogged fighter, and resilent, she took the state by storm with the ferocity of her campaigns. She touched hearts, and had a number of women rooting for her. Not that she would have won the election, but she made an impact, and truly deserved a better outing than she had. Her gender, lack of funds, and the non-popularity of her party in the state certainly worked against her. But she has proved herself a strong character, a good campaigner, and a good politician.
Finally, for once, I salute INEC. The election was not perfect, of course, but it was a huge improvement on previous elections. The result reflected the true feelings of the people, and put a big lie to fake opinion polls. A few thugs were caught, but their activities were minimal when compared to other elections. There was no rigging. Any candidate who claims to have been rigged out is a big liar. They lost fairly, and squarely. The police, for once, were up to their duties. There were no fake policemen. This election was quite refreshing – so much so, that most candidates have congratulated the winner. And the icing on the cake: The Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and even the PDP, wasted no time in congratulating Obi. With a little more effort, we can do it in 2011. Yes.


… And Dora Akunyili
Let me start this with a story. I forget the exact year now. But it was during Professor Dora
Akunyili's, unforgettable tenure as the Director- General of NAFDAC. The Ministry of Health had embarked on a mass vaccination of children against polio. And a couple of states in the North were not comfortable with the vaccine. So, they refused their children being vaccinated, pointing out that there was something in the vaccine capable of affecting the childrens' health. It was not mere propaganda. There really was something. But its quantity is so small that it would have no adverse effect on any child. Akunyili knew this. Health officials knew too. But the health officials were afraid to tell the governors the truth. Their reasoning was simple: If the governors are told this, their fears will be increased, and the vaccination exercise will be a failure. But Akunyili deferred. Her stand was: It is better to tell the governors the truth, but reassure them that the quantity of whatever substance they were complaining about is so small it would have any adverse effect on the children. There was a kind of stand-off. And so, Obasanjo invited the parties to a meeting. Akunyili, as the DG of NAFDAC, was also invited. But her husband, Dr. Chike Akunyili, stopped his wife from attending the meeting. Dora was at a cross-road. All her pleas fell on her husband’s deaf ears. So, she called me to come and plead with him. It fell within the period she had just escaped the assassin’s bullet. Playing the protective husband, Chike had a "good reason" for his wife not to attend. “Tell them you are still traumatised,” he kept repeating. But both of them knew that was not the reason. Chike was just holding onto straws. So, when I got there, he told me the truth. “Nkem (Dora) is just recovering from this assassination attempt. I don’t want her to go and enter into this vaccination controversy. It will be too much for me.” On hearing that, Dora pleaded: “Honest, Chike, I promise you, I will just sit down and listen to them. I will not talk. I promise.” I joined in the pleading and promises. But Chike burst out laughing, and said: “Comfort, I know my wife. She is like a volcano. There are things she cannot stand. She will listen, until somebody makes one silly remark, and the dam will burst. She will talk."
I tell this story today for the benefit of those who feel that Akunyili was playing to the gallery when she presented her memo to the FEC, asking that President Umaru Yar’Adua, who had been away on health grounds for 80 days and counting, be told to endorse Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President. Anybody who saw the very disgusting look on her face in a photograph published in a couple of newspapers, at a briefing of State House Correspondents by the now erstwhile Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, as she listened to, and watched him, would have known Akunyili had been so bottled up, she would soon explode.
That explosion came a few days later. Of course, Akunyili is not a saint. Nobody is. But when a mere shaking of hands extends to the elbow, when it comes to push, the Dora Akunyili that I know would stand with the people. That was what she did. Her patriotism, as usual, shone above everything else. She put her country first. She spoke out when her colleagues shamelessly played dumb. And I am very proud of her.