By Valentine Obienyem
Nigeria is crying for liberation. A lot of things have gone wrong in the country. Anambra was once like that but underwent a profound transformation from 2006 to 2014. In those years, the state witnessed an interregnum of peace and progress. At the end, the state was left with over N75 billion and other surpluses amidst recording the highest development among all the states.
*Peter Obi
Unfortunately, his successor ended up destroying everything that he built; proving that from civilization to barbarism only take years provided a barbarian lurking around the gate is offered a little inroad. To whom, more than any other one man, do we owe that precious and epochal liberation? Mr. Peter Obi.
As Obi turns 62 today, how do we rate him? How shall we, who fret at the
pinpricks of private tribulations, understand a man who came far ahead of his
time? I am perhaps among the most privileged to talk about him. The fact is
that if we should subpoena even his most virulent critics to the judgement box
of truth they will speak eloquently of him when hatred and subjectivity are
cast aside.
Born on July 19, 1961, he
started early in life and at every age engaged in what ordinarily his mates
were considered as too young to do. With a little modification, we can say of
him as Achebe said of Chimamada, “he came fully mature”. As a pupil of primary
school he was already a successful trader. In secondary school, his trading
craft further blossomed and as an undergraduate was already bearing fruits.
With the same commitment with
which he conquered every challenge he had faced, he entered politics and at
once made his marks. If one cares to study his life as a model of growth and
development, one would be happy to include unusual political achievements that
really introduced new order to the country. This will be our focus today as we
celebrate his 62nd year on earth – the boundless possibilities of man’s
contributions to his society.
The Nigeria we all used to know
was a place nobody had ever taken post-election litigation seriously. At the
end of each election, those that were obviously cheated would threaten to bring
down heavens only to later chicken out. They do this either out of promise by
the crooked “winners” to carry them along or because they had been paid off
using the resources of the state. However, when Obi felt cheated, he went to
court and defied all odds and became the first Governor to ascend the throne
through the arbitrament of the tribunals. Soon after Obi succeeded, he proved
to Nigerians the infinite possibilities of our courts when approached with
sense of duty, commitment and godliness.
His initial governance of Anambra
State was perilous. Coming into Government with an entirely different
orientation unknown to the “ekperima’s” of politics, he started by trying to
upturn the old, entrenched system. It did not go well with the old, they ended
up impeaching him. Undaunted, he fought the impeachment vigorously, trusting in
the judicial process. Eventually he was returned. Again, he set the record that
impeachment is not a death sentence, especially when you mess with the wrong
person. I recall that momentous period in the history of Anambra State, when
impunity was the order of the day and decency took a flight.
Added to his very nature, his
peculiar experience in the state and the unusual challenges imposed on him the
task of changing the psyche of the people to see politics for what it is
supposed to be and not the congregation of gangsters. He succeeded because,
under him, Anambra moved many notches up in the scale of human and
infrastructural developments and became an exemplary state. As the Governor, he
displayed abilities rarely combined: rugged zeal and administrative skill. He
showed us the infinite possibilities of the state once it is rightly governed.
Even at times he was drawn into controversies; he attacked ideas, not
characters.
In 2009, when the time for election
was approaching, Obi wrote to INEC informing them that constitutionally he was
supposed to serve out his tenure, excluding the period Sen. Chris Ngige served
wrongly. INEC not only refused, but went ahead to conduct an election. Again,
Obi returned to court and successfully won, because the court agreed that he
was constitutionally bound to complete his tenure. This was the reason Senator
Andy Ubah lasted just 17 days. This is the reason Anambra holds gubernatorial
election on a different day. Soon, other states followed his footsteps,
regained their states from usurpers and today hold elections on different days.
This remains a precedent by Obi, showing the nation the infinite possibilities
of one man to change a corrupt system.
Many years after he left office,
he goes about like the Sophist of Socrates’ time, dishing out in full scale,
words of political and economic wisdom that if imbibed by our leaders would
restore the glory of the country. However, the president we had at that time,
Muhammadu Buhari, was impervious to good governance and reason which was why
many people regarded him as a disaster. His years were unmitigated disaster
such that for once, noting the danger, Nigerians became united in the clamour
for Obi to come on a rescue mission.
His involvement has exposed to us the true nature of man and has made some of us lose faith in humanity. One particular person and a class mate I had considered as a genuine activist was the most surprising. The election exposed him and his ilks as fake. It also exposed us to the antics of many Nigerians for what they really are. In some of the fora I belong to, it was distressing seeing human beings turning truth and our values topsy-turvy in the name of politics.
What lessons are we teaching the young ones when we have failed at
our ages to follow the example of the reasoner who is seeking truth, and not of
the eristic who is contradicting for the sake of what Nigerians call “stomach
infrastructure”? We can now speak or write vividly about some characters we encountered
during electioneering for the simple reason of using them to teach Nigerians
what to embrace and what to run away from. This is in line with actions
associated with Obi always being didactic by their very nature.
Who remembers the group whose two
members were shamefully named in the recent EU report on the 2023 election?
They think that politics is about eloquence aimed at hair-splitting and
quibbles of words. I once describe their tribe as that of the depraved who
carry paunches of poison under their tongues; when they speak this venom mingle
with their words and pollute the surrounding air. Clearly they speak with their
hopes and wishes rather than with their brains. The unfortunate sequel is that
they usually end up overwhelming little minds without illuminating any mind.
What of our Anambra brother? He is like an orange in their hand; one squeezes
the orange, and throws away the peel. During the election, they all made
themselves targets for public contumely where they will remain for the reminder
of their years.
On the contrary, we also
witnessed men, amidst the political decay, who preferred edifying ethics to
those of their time. We are not ashamed to mention their names. We have our own
Chimamanda Adichie, whose voice came when it was needed most; Prof. Okey
IKechukwu, who knows how to make thoughts shine through words; Mr. Atedo
Peterside, a worthy representative of ennobling expectations from elders; Prof.
Pat Utomi, who always teaches us that to give life a meaning and chart a new
course for a country like Nigeria, that Nigerians should strive to have a
purpose larger than selves; Aisha Yesufu, is always ardent at escalating unjust
instances on a bravely broadening scale; the young Ndi Kato reminds us of the
ancient “Cato the Younger”, admired for his integrity and insistence that
dictatorship must be resisted; Kenneth Okonkwo deliberately made himself seem
fierce by his actions accentuated by a full jaw ready to masticate
stupidity.
Their speeches and releases are
warm with love of freedom, democratic ideals, toleration, justice and reason.
*Obienyem
is media adviser to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party,
LP
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