By Valentine Obienyem
Today, the 19th day of July, 2017, the man regarded as one of the
best in governance, at any tier, in the annals of our country turns 56. As
usual, drums would be rolled out by some of his admirers who believe excellence
ought to be celebrated. They contend that if for nothing else, it is a means of
promoting merit as role models in name and indeed. In a country where even
imbeciles garbed in purple fall over one another seeking attention, it is about
time the society set up a clear template for granting honour to whom it is due.
*Peter Obi |
In another vein, beyond panegyrics by his enthusiasts, most people
will just wish him a perfunctory ‘Happy Birthday’.
In this piece, I set out to re-examine, through the memories of his
tenure, what good governance is all about and to encourage Nigerians to look up
to him as the man who came into governance through entirely different route,
with an entirely different mentality and left it as nobody has done in the
history of governance in Nigeria. For me, this is decent birthday present that
would also instruct those in governance on the right way to go.
Born on July 19, 1961, Peter Gregory Obi started his life in the
rustic city of Onitsha , and obtained his initial
formal education in Onitsha
and Nsukka. He has since attended some of the best tertiary institutions in the
world in his thirst for intellectual insemination to boost his competences.
How shall we rank him? Which of us possesses so varied the Knowledge
to understand him adequately? As an experiment in perspective, let us see him
through his dramatic entrance into government and what he did while there as
distinct from business as usual.
Before him, news emanating from the State was not palatable at all.
It was always stories of intrigues, squander mania, rape and rapine. Visions
and memories of the State tormented all persons of goodwill; an involuntary
gloom penetrated our souls, chilling their imaginations. The Bakassi group and
their co-predators worsened the situation as they turned our dear State into a
vast Golgotha of carnage, an arena for horror,
where her children tore and destroyed one another with the clear conscience of
nature. Concerned like other decent people, Peter Obi developed an urge to turn
these barbarisms into civilization and this was what compelled him to seek
election into public office.
*Peter Obi with wife, Maragaret |
He campaigned vigorously and was seen as the best candidate for the
job. In many respects he was different: He was softened to tolerance by
education and experiences as a top board-room man. He relied on persuasion and effective
marketing of his programme of action to garner support and votes. Alas, his
opponents, hardened by the streets and subterfuge, stole his mandate.
Evidently, Almighty God always has special interest in Peter Obi’s
affairs; and for every indignity he suffered, he came out stronger and as a
reference point for the country and Nigeria-watchers. By regaining his stolen
mandate through the courts, he became a locus calssicus in that regard, not
just from the point of law, but from establishing a commendable precedent as
the first Nigerian to have done so. A study of the circumstances that led to
that feat will easily show that it was due largely to the grace of God and his
perseverance and ability to remain focused.
A few months into his tenure, some renegades in the State House of
Assembly led by Hon. Mike Belonwu contrived his impeachment. It was not hidden
that the impeachment process that came to its peak on the visit of the then
President Olusegun Obasanjo, had some of its roots in the swelling resentment
against his parsimony; how, rather than business as usual, he was using the
resources of the State to work for the State and her people. Consider one of
the reasons why he was impeached: the House used to "add and share";
accusing him of re-building the burnt Government House with less than 50% of
the actual money budgeted for that purpose. This may sound incredible, but it
is true.
It was the mark of the rascality of the time that the house ended up
impeaching him. Convinced of the rightness of his conduct in office, Peter Obi
challenged the action of the House of Assembly in court; and set another record
as the first State Governor to come back into office from impeachment.
As the Governor, he had many challenges, but as customary with him,
his usually calm and thoughtful temperament often saved him from unsavoury
situations. Despite his convictions that the condition of Anambra required
early decisions and quick implementation of policies, Obi, in the freshman year
of his government, submitted himself to robust debate over the State’s many
problems. He started with a profound bow to planning by establishing the
Ministry of Planning.
*Peter Obi with Paul Ryan, US House Speaker |
He did not have to rush into new projects - mostly unplanned - when
there were many projects started by his predecessor which needed to be
completed.
As a board-room guru, he subjected his decisions to the Executive
Council [EXCO] for proper debate and consideration. He did this because he was
the captain of the ship and was in control. Till this day, his erstwhile
Commissioners recall their exhilarating times with him. One of them is the
highly-respected Dr. Patrick Obi who revealed that the then Governor was often
“Prolonging Council meetings, always returning to the question – Is this just?
Is that useful? He subjected each question to exact and elaborate
analysis".
On Peter Obi’s capacity for work, the cerebral & forthright
Professor Chinyere Okunna says: "I have never seen him tired, I never
found his mind lacking in inspiration, even when weary in body. Never did a man
more wholly devote himself to the work in hand, nor better devote his time to
what he had to do”.
He was yet to conclude his first term when elections were conducted.
As far as everybody was concerned, that was his end. Dr. Andy Uba was already
sworn in as the Governor before Peter Obi’s erudite lawyer succeeded in his
tenure interpretation case. I recall that as soon as Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN
mentioned that, Femi Falana, SAN picked up the gauntlet and turned the matter
into a forensic debate. Some intellectual charlatans have recently tried to
appropriate the copyrights, but we have the records. The end of that saga was
the successful interpretation of the tenure matter, which induced another
significant political earthquake - the staggering of elections in Nigeria . Peter
Obi thus became a key architect of the overhaul of the political landscape in
the country.
One of the major challenges of his tenure was the issue of security.
Though the entire South-East was having security challenges at the time he assumed
office, the case of Anambra was horrendous as the State had little relationship
with legitimate security agencies. In the first instance, he restored this
strategic relationship with those agencies; supporting them as no other
Government in the State has ever done, including donations of over 500
vehicles, among which were Armoured Personnel Carriers and Armoured patrol
vehicles.
Reflecting on the far-reaching measures he took on securing the
State, one has to admire Peter Obi’s ingenuity of compelling a society to
improve its ways of protecting itself from crime and criminality, including
armed robbery, kidnapping, and cultism. For instance, while the likes of Ofe
Awkwu, Ngwu Ekeluomu, Osisi ka Ngwu were literally parading as unchecked
despots of the underworld, he came up with a legislation which enabled the
destruction of buildings used to keep kidnap victims. To further enhance
security, his administration provided at least one security patrol van to each
of the 177 communities in the State as well as to various other organizations
as markets and Churches. When one of the dare-devil kidnappers, Evans, was
caught recently, he confessed the truth that propaganda has held hostage for
long: that it was Peter Obi that made criminals to run out of Anambra State
because he made the place an operational hell for them. At another event when
Obi was asked about security in Anambra
State during his tenure,
he replied rather cryptically in Igbo: “Woke nuchaa ogu, nwanyi enweluakuko”
[“After a man fights the battle, the woman takes on the story”].
*Peter Obi with successor, Gov Willie Obiano |
With his overall achievements, the State, which until his tenure was
treated as a pariah, was opened again to the world. It was at this time that
several Envoys of countries represented in Nigeria started to visit the State
for collaborative projects and programmes. These include: United States , Britain ,
Russia , European
Union , South Africa ,
Belgium , Israel , The Netherlands and Canada . In the
same vein, Development Partners such as UNDP, UNICEF, The World Bank, DfID, and
UNESCO began to take active interest in the State. Indeed, hitherto, many of
them had nothing to do with the State. Under the Obi administration, Anambra State was consistently adjudged one of
the best States in development partnership and commitment to reforms for good
governance.
Before his tenure, the manufacturing sector – not to be confused
with commerce -- was comatose. The few operators that hung on groaned under the
debilitating effects of an uncongenial environment of bad roads, low patronage,
excessive [and mostly illegal] taxation, insecurity, no government support,
among others. The Obi administration resuscitated this critical sector not by
the inundation of propaganda, but by practical steps -- including development
of an Industrial Policy for the State, consultations with operators and
concrete enablement for them -- which yielded tremendous results and boosted
the socio-economy of the State and environs. Link roads, other relevant
infrastructure and logistic support were provided for such vibrant
manufacturing outfits as Innoson Vehicles, Chikason, Cutix Cable, Juhel
Pharmaceuticals, Krisoral, Orange Drugs, EkuloGroup, and many others. The
administration also attracted giant manufacturers like Intafact, INNOSON,
Neimet, and Distel.
Among others, Innoson Group has continued to acknowledge that the
patronage of the Obi administration ensured the survival of its vehicle
manufacturing company – with the purchase of billions of Naira worth of
vehicles and personal introductions to The Presidency and other State
Governors.
Easily one of the unsurpassed attainments of Peter Obi was in
education. Here, he achieved another first on January 1, 2009, with his return
of schools to their original owner-proprietors – Voluntary Agencies, including
Churches – with commendable results. While the management of the schools was
transferred to the agencies, the State Government retained the funding
responsibilities, including capital projects, staff salaries and emoluments,
and other recurrent expenditures. Such was the impact of this momentous
decision that Obi administration stabilized basic education in the State. Among
other outcomes, Anambra
State leaped from its
usual 24th place of the 36 States in many external examinations to Number One
in results of both the National Examination Council [NECO]and West African
Examination Council [WAEC]examinations for three consecutive years. Indeed,
this revolutionary partnership and phenomenal achievement informed the World
Bank-commissioned study group led by the renowned Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University .
Under the Obi tenure, Anambra
State was the first in
the Federation to procure and distribute over 30,000 computers to secondary
schools. These included 22,500 from HP, which the Managing Director HP (Africa
and Middle-East) described as their largest such procurement in the Middle-East
and Africa . In the same vein, Internet access
was provided to more than 500 secondary schools, which the CEO of Galaxy
Backbone then (Mr. Gerald Ilukwe) characterized as incomparable to any other in
the country. Microsoft Academies were also established in those secondary
schools – a project the then Head of Microsoft in Nigeria
(Mr. Ken Span) described as the biggest of such in Africa
to date.
Similarly, secondary schools in the State got over 700 buses, while bore-holes were sunk and classroom blocks constructed in several schools in the 177 communities of the State.
Similarly, secondary schools in the State got over 700 buses, while bore-holes were sunk and classroom blocks constructed in several schools in the 177 communities of the State.
Having determined that the partnership with the voluntary
agencies/Churches was working, he steadily extended the formula to other
critical sectors. In the health sector, for instance, the symbiotic
relationship resulted in a tremendous boost to health care delivery across the
State with investments of grants, structures and supplies to the tune of
several billions of Naira. Among the beneficiary-organizations – whose
transformation made positive impacts on the sector – are: Iyienu Hospital,
Ogidi; Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala; St. Charles Borromeo Hospital,
Onitsha; Diocesan Hospital , Amichi; Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha;
and St. Joseph Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu. The Obi administration also constructed
the Joseph Nwilo Heart Centre at St.
Joseph ’s Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu, where heart
operations are now being performed satisfactorily.
The grooming of health-care professionals similarly received serious
attention. By the end of Peter Obi’s tenure in 2014, over 12 health
institutions, including two hospitals, had secured accreditation for their
courses and programmes. Interestingly, prior to his assumption of office in
2006, no health institution in Anambra
State was duly
accredited.
Predictably, the achievements of Peter Obi as Governor elicited
several authentic, verifiable commendations and awards. Among others, he won
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation US$1 million prize for best-performing
State in immunization in the South-East. With complementary funding from
Government, he used the money to construct 10 Maternal and Child Care Centres
across the State, particularly in rural communities, in partnership with the
Churches.
One of the acts of Obi that nobody would wish away is his ability,
against the convention, to clear debts owed pensioners running into over 37
billion Naira; his consistency in paying workers’ salaries; and commitment to
paying contractors on certificates generated – and yet being able to leave in
excess of N100 billion [including set-aside funds] in the State treasury for
his successor. This is one of the features that define him from others that
seek the governance of the people. How he did it will one day become a topical
issue in this country. Another marvel is that even with that huge savings, he
still recorded more achievements than most others that owed hundreds of
billions.
Commenting on Peter Obi inclination to hard-work, one of his
Commissioners, Chief Joe Martins Uzodike noted that “Mr. Peter Obi wore himself
out as he did others; the engine was too strong for the body. He crowded a
life-time of events into twenty years because he compressed a week into a day.
He came to his desk about 7am. It is only those not in Nigeria that would not appreciate what he did
for Anambra State and how he is sadly being repaid
today. But like his other travails, he takes them with equanimity”.
On her part, his wife, the oil behind the strong engine, Mrs.
Margaret Obi is perplexed that what he suffered has not driven him to insanity.
She asserted that her husband remains the person he used to be: “He still eats
well and sleeps like a baby. He could go to sleep at will, at any hour and in
any place wherever he needs repose”.
The man himself revealed that he keeps different affairs arranged in
his head or memory as in a closet with several drawers: “When I wish to turn
from business, I close the drawer that contains it, and open that which
contains another. If I wish to sleep, I shut up all the drawers and I am soon
asleep”.
Rather than seek by what magic or inspiration Obi achieved all this and get close to him to achieve a fraction of his goodness by prestige imitation, they are busy running round the lunatic asylum. When they discovered it would not lead them to anywhere, they resorted to propaganda and elevated it to a State industry, almost a monopoly.
As he turns 56 and is increasingly relevant because he has something
to offer, may we raise our glasses and cling to his continued good health and
pray to God to always lead him aright.
*Obienyem wrote in from Lagos .
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