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APRIL 9, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 26

Clash of Interests

Achike Udenwa, governor of Imo State

The presidential campaign train of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) with the Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Ebere Udeagu as vice presidential candidate berths to an uneasy welcome in Owerri, the Imo State capital
By Eugenia Okpara, Owerri
The resentment which followed the emergence of Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Ebere Udeagu, as the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and his subsequent dumping of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came to the fore penultimate Friday, March 23 when it took protocol personnel at Government House, Owerri more than 45 minutes to open the Executive Council Chambers for Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and his campaign team.
The apparent reluctance of the protocol officials to open the chambers for the campaign team of the presidential candidate to settle down before the two governors would come in saw the Aide-de-camp (ADC) to the Deputy Governor running helter skelter looking for them in order to avoid the embarrassment which the action would cause the state government.
The Government House protocol went further to change the position of the Deputy Governor’s seat in the Executive Council chamber, from its normal place at the left side of the governor to the left side of Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, hiding under the excuse that he came on campaign rather than as the Deputy Governor.
However, the action did not dampen the spirit of the campaign tour of the DPP as they brushed aside the resentful attitude of the protocol officials and continued with their mission.
The presidential candidate of DPP and Governor of Sokoto State, Bafarawa, who was in the State in continuation of his campaign tour of the South east was in Government House on a courtesy call as well as to solicit the support of the governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, in his presidential quest.
At the Government House he advised his brother-Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, to avoid a repeat of the mistake of the last eight years by putting all eggs of the South east in one basket thereby consigning them to the difficulty and under-development of the last eight years.
Bafarawa: “It will be too bad for the South east put all their eggs in one basket and face the same difficulty of under-development and crisis of the last eight years. In Nigeria politics, it is better to use one eye and ear in every situation to avoid losing outrightly. For instance, when I joined politics in 1976, I, was in the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) while my brother, the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari was in National Party of Nigeria (NPN)”.
Bafarawa further urged Udenwa to open up the State and allow his people to go where they can aspire higher and refrain from stopping others from supporting him even if he (Udenwa) will not support him.
His words: “It will be foolhardy not to open up the state and the zone in order to allow the people to venture to areas where they will have better opportunity of aspiring to higher positions. I did not come here to ask to work against your party, the PDP, rather to be a patriotic Nigerian who wants the best for the country. I am appealing to you to provide level playing ground for all the political parties and most important, not to prevent Imo indigenes from supporting me if you will not”.
Reiterating his earlier advise that he should allow people to aspire higher, Bafarawa warned Udenwa to avoid the temptation of blocking other people so that he would not be blocked.
Responding, Governor Udenwa said that the visit of the presidential candidate is a practical demonstration that Nigerians want democracy to move forward, pointing out that politics would be meaningless if politicians do not put the well-being of the people first.
He said that Governor Bafarawa being a thorough-bred Nigerian and politician who understands the country very well and the things that bind Nigeria together, knows how to unite the country, adding that what Nigeria wants is a human being as its president and not religion.
Udenwa: “If you have same vision with the late leader of the defunct Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP), Mallam Aminu Kano, then you are the president that Nigeria want. Anybody with the same philosophy as late Aminu Kano will get my support. What is important in politics is not religion but a human being who wants the best for the people. We want unity for Nigeria, unity based on equity, justice and fairness”.
Praying for a president that will bring prosperity and means of better livelihood to the people, Udenwa said that he hoped that Bafarawa would convince Imo indigenes to vote for him in the April 21, 2007 election.
At the Dan Anyiam Stadium, venue of the rally, Bafarawa maintained that governors have no reason not to perform as they were given more than enough to develop the States, said that Nigeria is not a poor country rather lacks good managers.
Stating that he will manage the nation as he did in Sokoto State with the allocation from the Federation Account, the DPP presidential hopeful waned Ndigbo not to allow the opportunities offered by his party to slip through their fingers as there are no better ones.
His words: “The nomination of Chief Ebere Udeagu as my running mate is a deliberate attempt to bring Ndigbo who he represents into the mainstream of the nation’s affairs. There is no better opportunity than this one that DPP is offering you. Do not miss it, but if you do, you have yourselves to blame. It will be suicidal to put your eggs in one basket as you did in the last eight years, with nothing to show for it”.
Continuing, Bafarawa reminded Ndigbo that in the last eight years of the democratic dispensation during which they gave maximum support to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), there is nothing in terms of development to show for their support except crisis and the exclusion of Abia and Imo States from the Coastal States, which he said will be redressed in his first 100 days if elected.
Pointing out that apart from Alhaji Shehu Shagari picked an Igbo man as his deputy, who 28 years ago no other president has deemed it fit to remember them. The Sokoto State helmsman said that he is soliciting their support in order to build the nation with them.
“Please, do not play with this opportunity given to you by DPP. We do not have money to give but we have the goodwill and hope of eradicating under-development in the South east by providing appropriate infrastructure that will create employment opportunities for the youths. Do not put yourselves into another difficulty like in the last eight years of PDP rule”, he pleaded.
Udeagu on his part also pleaded with Ndigbo not to play with the golden opportunity offered by the Democratic Peoples Party, adding that it is a challenge to Ndigbo not to cheat themselves again.