Anambra past and present

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State

By Ajulu Uzodike
I was asked a year ago by several people whether I intended to contest or could be made to be interested in contesting the gubernatorial election in Anambra State in 2010. My answer was an emphatic No! My reason was that the current Governor, Peter Obi, was doing a very good job and I doubted that I could do better than him. Thank God that Governor Obi got the nomination of his party despite the obvious bobby trap set for him by enemies of APGA.
I contested for the office of the Governor of Anambra State in the election of 2003 robustly and willingly. I did so because it was so clear that the ship-of-state in Anambra State was speeding in reverse gear and the Governor then did not know where the brakes and forward gears were. I felt that Anambra State deserved a better leadership than it had then. I meandered through the maze that is called politicking in Nigeria and lost at the election. INEC announced a winner with results which differed seriously with the compilations we had done ourselves using the actual results from voting centres.
We are witnesses to the events since then, which only God made possible for us in Anambra State. Dr. Ngige, godfathered to become Governor, was kidnapped by his godfather. By God’s intervention, through some courageous people, he purged himself of his godfather and achieved significant progress for the state. In 2006, by divine intervention again, through the ruling of the courts of Nigeria, Mr. Peter Obi, the true winner of the 2003 elections, became Governor and has been same even after several attempts to remove him illegally. Governor Obi’s achievements are unparalleled in size, scope and depth since Anambra State was created in 1991. This he did and continues to do through his sustained, concurrent, multi-sector and geographically dispersed development schemes, in spite of the rough political terrain he had to endure or overcome.
By 2002, I, like many others, was seriously considering quitting Anambra State. I was almost cursing myself for taking my factories to Anambra State where the quality of life was devaluing and degrading daily. For example, there was no road from anywhere to Nnewi, where I was and am still living in, that was motorable. It took two hours to get to the state capital, Awka from Nnewi, a journey that should be about 30 minutes. Security of life and property was at a low level and a ‘Stone Age’ security solution which involved crude public be-headings was being hailed as our salvation. Things were so bad that industrial growth in Nnewi, which had been previously referred to as the ‘Japan of Africa’, had stopped.
The pitiable situation replicated itself in most of Anambra State and in many other forms. The desperation of the situation forced me to decide that I would contest the gubernatorial election then.
Is Anambra State an Eldorado today? Surely no! However, the situation has improved tremendously. I can now count more than seven very good tarred state roads leading to Nnewi (the two federal roads to Nnewi are still bad). It takes only 35minutes to get to Awka even with the waste of time at the police/army check points. The police and the local vigilantes, who are this time supervised by the police, are now responsible for security. They are achieving significant but largely un-reported successes and there are no more crude public be-headings.
The previously ubiquitous internal revenue agents and their menacing road blocks have virtually disappeared and I believe that more internal revenue accrues to Government now. The same level of improvement can be seen in the education, health, water resources, sports, intergovernmental relationships, business interface and other sectors. Every part of Anambra has seen significant progress. Hope for a much brighter future has been restored to the whole of Anambra State. My companies, like other companies, have begun to invest in expansion projects. Two new mega factories – for motor manufacturing and food processing, were recently commissioned at Nnewi and more are in the pipeline. There is now hope in the ‘Japan of Africa’.
Which of the candidates vying for the Governor’s office has the potential of moving us closest to par or ahead of par in the next four years? On paper, many of the candidates appear good. However, I find it very easy to choose Governor Peter Obi – the most tested candidate with a transparent and credible track record for that office.
We need to remember that Anambra State had suffered a lot because of some political godfathers. Anambra State had also suffered considerably in the hands of the last Federal Administration and her cronies. We, at Anambra State should be weary of candidates linked or linkable to those people or organs that made us suffer so much. The campaign rhetoric, promises, glitz and drama have not shown me new candidates that could match the present governor, Mr. Peter Obi.
It would be too risky for Anambra State to willingly, in a true and fair election, replace a Governor with a sustained credible track record with another whose potentials are murky. The saying goes that “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush”! That is why I still say that there is no vacancy in Anambra State Government House.

Dr. Ajulu Uzodike, OON is the Chief Executive of Cutix Plc and a community leader