Before March 2014, Anambra North had never produced a governor. It took the instrumentality and doggedness of Mr. Peter Obi and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to correct this injustice. However, in righting a wrong; Obi made a grave mistake by selling a bad product to the good people of Anambra State. On Obi’s recommendation and insistence, Anambararians across party divide voted overwhelmingly for APGA and elected Mr. Willie Obiano as Executive Governor of Anambra State.
My name is Nwankwor Emeka Nwankwor and I am from Anambra South. To be precise, I am from the Old Aguata Union – a political bloc comprising Aguata, Orumba North and Orumba South Local Government Areas (LGAs). For the uninitiated in Anambra politics, my zone is arguably the undisputed heavyweight in the politics of Anambra State. However, the feeling across the zone and indeed across Anambra on the emergence of Mr. Obiano as governor was euphoric to say the least. The sense of equity, fair play and justice that saw his emergence appear to have conquered whatever misgivings the people had about his candidacy. The common belief was that there had been an invisible glass ceiling that hitherto prevented Anambra North politicians from assuming the top job. There was no better way of smashing this glass ceiling than electing Obiano on the platform of APGA – a party under which Obi performed tremendously well in terms of infrastructural and human capacity developments. Again, in support of Mr. Obi’s stance that executive power must go to Anambra North; a lot of us, particularly those in the academia, argued that we, Ndi Igbo, cannot be clamoring for Igbo presidency at the federal level while we abhor the politics of inclusiveness in Anambra State.
Having contributed no dime to the campaign (as I was recently reminded by Obiano’s Chief of Protocol), I made up by contributing my intellect through writing and preaching the need for continuity and inclusiveness – the former on account of Governor Obi’s giant strides and the latter on account to the seeming marginalization of Anambra North. It never occurred to me that sometimes in life, one has to be careful about what we wish or pray for.
During the electioneering campaign, Obiano’s body language was that of a man who is running against his wish. Many in the other side of the political divide interpreted this and his general meek disposition as indicative of a man who is incapable and unfit to hold executive power; but we excused those observations on the premise that Willie is new to politics and will settle down quickly and get the job done once elected. Again, the fact that I had a private conversation with him reinforced my belief that he is the right man for the top job.
Upon swearing-in as governor in March 2014; the once reachable Obiano became unreachable. Perhaps consciously or unconsciously, he started an alienation policy by effectively erecting what he thought was a political fortress around himself and his cronies to the exclusion of others. Today, Governor Obiano has practically surrounded himself with a crop of selfish and poisonous politicians who do nothing other than fan the flames of division and hate amongst our people. At the risk of sounding immodest, if high-ranking Anambra professionals and academics cannot reach our governor, or get a response to our many communications to him or even an acknowledgement from any of his retinue of aides; what then is the hope for the market man and woman on the streets of Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia?
For inexplicable reasons, our governor decided to discontinue with Obi’s open-door governance policy; and rather unfortunately, he opted for Mbadinuju’s policy of government of a group, by a group, and for a group. Governor Obiano has taken this failed and obsolete governance policy to a ridiculous new height; and if nothing is done urgently to address the level of resentment and discontentment of Ndi Anambra, history will be unkind to him.
As stated in one of our many correspondence to the governor and for the record, it is important that the government understands that the capacity and ideas that will re-road Anambra to the path of progress is not necessarily in Awka. It may be hidden somewhere in a village in our 177 communities; and without the democratization of policy formulation process such lofty ideas will never make its way to our state policy making chamber in Awka – it will simply die a natural death. Again, the concept of an open political space should not be seen as an abhorrent policy by a governor who rode to power on the basis and need for inclusiveness.
Another Mbadinuju Syndrome that we have witnessed recently is the empowerment of uninspiring entities to intervene in the political process. Governor Obiano has recruited a clan of never-do-wells into positions of serious social responsibility and leadership. One among them is a certain arrogant Uzu Okagbue – Obiano’s Chief of Protocol. The young man needs to be tutored in ethics and behavioral standard expected of a public office holder. To Obiano’s credit, however, the appointment of Mr. Chinedu Obidigwe as Political Adviser is highly commendable – he is without doubt, a model of what a public servant should be.
As a matter of grave concern, there are clear indications that Anambra State is steadily inching back towards the inglorious years of the monumental tragedy called
Chinwoke Mbadinuju. It’s like deja-vu. The signs are ominous and the end results – dashed dreams, forlorn hopes and mortgaged futures – are likely the same. In the opinion of this writer, Governor Obiano’s governance policy is a painful reminder of the outdated political culture of we-against-them; the political culture that brought Anambra to her knees between 1999 and 2003.
Recently, there have been calls from certain quarters for Ndi Anambra to excuse some of Obiano’s actions and inactions. They argue that since the governor has serious alcohol addiction problems, then most, if not all of his actions must be judged with some degree of diminished responsibility. Well, if that is the case, it means that in 2013; we voted for continuity and inclusiveness without recourse to the far-reaching implication of inclusiveness. I for one never thought by any stretch of imagination that inclusiveness would extend to accommodate chronic alcoholics.
The mistake of 2013 has been made, we must live with it. On the other hand, we must also appreciate the silver lining that is Mbadinuju Syndrome. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was a one-term governor; Obiano will certainly bow out of office on March 17, 2018 if he continues to rebuff our call that he redefines the ethos of his administration and rethink his current policy directions. Thank God for Mbadinuju Syndrome and may God bless Anambra State.
Nwankwor Emeka Nwankwor PhD is the Convener, Anambra Village Square