PETER OBI REINSTATED AS THE GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA Dec 28,2006
“This judgment today, again, calls for a sober reflection about our past and most importantly about our future. It calls for the re-affirmation of our unit by eschewing our differences of yesterday and building on our collective strength for tomorrow.
“I again apologise to those I must have offended in any avowal commitment to turn around Anambra State. I also forgive all those that may have offended me with a firm promise never to seek revenge or malice; but to apply one another’s strength positively towards building a better Anambra State.
“Anambra State, especially the future of the society in which our children will live in, calls for an urgent resolution of the current contraction within us and sacrifices by all towards ensuring a better society for our children.
“Our generation and the one before us have lost it, but we must not bequeath the same situation to our children or else history will not forgive us. We must work towards ensuring that Anambra State, the light of the nation, becomes the exemplary state it is meant to be in the nearest future” - Governor Peter obiNigeria governor sacking reversed
A court in the south-eastern Nigerian state of Anambra has reversed a controversial impeachment of the state governor, Peter Obi.
He was impeached in November for gross misconduct and replaced by his deputy.
The state assembly's speaker said some of the 23 members who had apparently voted to impeach Mr Obi later denied being present when the vote took place.
This is the third sacking this year of a governor that has been declared illegal by Nigeria's courts.
Last week, Anambra's chief judge and three other senior judges were suspended over their alleged roles in these sackings.
Some say the recent impeachments are part of a fight against corruption.
But critics say it is often more about rival politicians trying to take charge of the states so they can control the elections due early next year.
Power struggles
A spokesman for Mr Obi told the BBC that Anambra High Court judge Nri Ezedi had ruled the impeachment was null and void.
His deputy, Virginia Etiaba, had become Nigeria's first female governor after the impeachment decision last month.
Both Mrs Etiaba and Mr Obi, from the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), only occupied their posts in March this year.
They took power after a court ruled that Mr Obi's predecessor had rigged the election in 2003.
Chris Ngige, from the governing People's Democratic Party, had been Anambra's governor for three years, but had fallen out with senior party figures soon after the election.
He said it was because he refused to loot public money to pay them back for their support.
Since Mr Obi took office in March, he has been locked in a power struggle with one of the president's closest aides, Andy Uba, who wants to win the governorship in next year's elections.
bbc/Thisday/Afripol
November 3, 2006
"Anambra State has sworn in Dame Virginia Etiaba as governor to replace Peter Obi who was impeached yesterday for “gross misconduct”. She was sworn in by the state Chief Judge after initially declining the offer from the State House of Assembly that removed Obi.
But Obi has vowed to continue seeking for judicial redress in order to regain his mandate that he also got through the intervention of a law court in March this year. According to Etiaba, she decided to accept the position due to what he called the peculiarity of the situation at hand.
Obi has stated also that her decision is not a betrayal and that he did not feel disappointed as she was doing what the law requires. This development has made Etiaba the first female governor in the history of Nigeria." Etiaba was formerly the deputy governor.Mr. Peter Obi
11 impeachable offenses as filed by Anambra House against the executive governor of Anambra State in Nigeria: Governor Peter Obi.
October 16th, 2006
Article 1: That Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virgy Etiaba in violation of their Oath of Office and constitutional obligations not to allow their personal interest to influence their official conduct and decisions, did corruptly influence and caused to be placed, huge sums of money belonging to Anambra State Government in Fidelity Bank Plc, being a bank both of them have substantial interest in and of which the Governor was the immediate past Chairman, thereby putting themselves in a position where their personal interest conflict with their duties and responsibilities contrary to Code of Conduct for public officers (Fifth Schedule Section 1, 1999 Constitution).
Article 2: That Mr. Peter Obi in violation of his Oath of office and constitutional obligation not to allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct and decision, did corruptly influenced and caused to be awarded and without due process, the contract for the reconstruction of the Governor’s office Complex, Awka in the sum exceeding One Hundred Million Naira to one of his campaign managers and associates Mr. IK Nwandu using his company as a mere stratagem and instrumentality, thereby putting himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities contrary to Code of Conduct for public officers (Fifth Schedule Part 1, Section 1, 1999 Constitution).
Article 3: That Mr. Peter Obi in violation of his Oath of Office and constitutional obligation not to allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct and decisions, did corruptly influence and caused to be awarded to his kinsman, Mr. Anthony Akpulu, using Akpulu’s company, the contract for the construction of buildings in the so-called Business Village worth over One Hundred Million Naira without due process and appropriation by the State House of Assembly, thereby putting himself in a position where his personal interest conflict with his duties and responsibilities contrary to Code of Conduct for public officers (Fifth Schedule Part 1, 1999 Constitution).
Article 4: That Mr. Peter Obi in violation of his Oath of Conduct of Office and
constitutional obligation not to allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct and decisions did corruptly influence and caused to be awarded with out due process and competitive bidding the contract for the construction of the State Secretariat Complex at the cost of over half a Billion Naira to Mr. Paul Enidom (Paul B. Nig. Ltd) his partner and business associate, with whom he is jointly enterprise in the development of a Shopping Complex situated in the Central Business District Abuja, opposite Dipeharima House, Federal Ministry of Transport, adjacent to the Central Mosque.
Article 5: That Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virgy Etiaba in violation of their Oath of Office and constitutional obligations not to allow their personal interests to influence their official conduct and decisions did corruptly and without due process competitive bidding and appropriation by the House of Assembly, did award contracts for the following: Several township roads, Construction of IGR Building, Purchase of twenty Refuse Disposal vehicle and Four Pay-loaders, Construction of New Office Building for Ministry of Lands, Purchase of 40 Buses, Construction of New Stock Exchange Building at GRA Onitsha.
Article 6: That Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virgy Etiaba in breach of their constitutional duties as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively to execute the laws made by the State House of Assembly have refused to continue the execution of various roads projects awarded by the past administration pursuant to the Anambra State appropriation laws, occasioning huge losses to the State of heavy deposits of money already paid on the roads by the State Government to wit: Ogbunike – Nkwele Ezunaka -33 Road; Oko-Nnana Road; Mmili John Road; Nnamdi Azikiwe Road Awka Dualisation; Upper-Iweka-Ezeiweka-Awda Akuora Market Obosi Road; Iseke-Ursumoghu-Ukpor-Utu Nnewi-Awka Etiti Road; Agulu-Nnobi Road; Ezi-Elias Enugwu-Ukwu-Neni Road; Oba Ofemili-Ebenebe-Awka Road.
Article 7: That Mr. Peter Obi and Virgy Etiaba in breach of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution and Anambra State Local Government Law 2002, constituted
themselves into a sole administrators of the 21 Local Government Councils of
Anambra State.
Article 8: That Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virgy Etiaba in breach of Section 162 (6) (7) (8) of the 1999 constitution and Anambra State Joint Local Government Distribution account Law, 2002, have constituted themselves into sole administrators of the State Joint Local Government Account and sole custodian/disburser of the Local Government funds.
Article 9: That Mr. Peter and Dame Virginia Etiaba in breach of their constitutional duties to execute the laws made by the Anambra State House of Assembly have unilaterally dissolved some Statutory Bodies and Commissions particularly, the Anambra State Universal Basic Education (ASUBEB) contrary to the ASUBEB law 2005, the Anambra Vigilante Services, contrary to the AVS Law, No. 12, 2000. The State Independent Electoral Commission, contrary to the ANSIEC Law No. 4, 200 and the relevant constitutional provisions, and other actions contrary to the Street Trading Prohibition Law No. 3, 2005. The Park Administration and Management Bureau Law, No. 12, 2005 and the dissolution of the Judicial Service Commission, contrary to the express constitutional provisional relating thereto and the laws setting up these bodies and Commissions.
Article 10: That Mr. Peter Obi in breach of his oath of Office not to do or direct to be done in abuse of office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the right of any other person and in utter disregard of the right to life of every citizen and other fundamental rights of every citizen enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, issued a SHOOT AT SIGHT ORDER during the recent Onitsha crisis leading the death of over 700 innocent citizens of Anambra state.
Article 11: That Mr. Peter Obi in breach of his Oath of Office to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of Anambra state and Nigeria failed to show concern and sensitivity to the victims both injured and bereaved of his shoot at sight order, through remuneration and compensation but rather justifying his obnoxious order on the need for increase in internally generated revenue, which said revenue has even plummeted in spite of the very high number of casualties.Therefore, we the undersigned members of the Anambra State House of Assembly in accordance with Section 188 (2) of the Constitution and pursuant to the foregoing do hereby present to the Honourable Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, with this notice of allegations against Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virginia Etiaba, the Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Anambra State, who by the foregoing are guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of their offices as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Anambra State of Nigeria.
Peter Obi Is Not A Politician
By Uche Nworah
info@uchenworah.com
Peter Obi may have sealed his own fate the day he accepted the appeal court ruling which upturned the ‘election’ of Chris Nwabueze Ngige. By accepting and rejoicing over the belated ruling, he may have danced on the grave of his political future having accepted what many at the time regarded as a poisoned chalice.
He faced battles on many fronts from day one, some of which he did not start and this may have affected his ability to perform in the state. However, in asking for geduld (patience) from Anambra people, he forgot that Ndi Anambra had already reached their maximum endurance point. They had become battered and abused by the empty promises and broken dreams, they didn’t see Anambra as home for all anymore, the big masquerades had taken over and were now owners of those that own the state.
Peter Obi stepped into the giant shoes left behind by Chris Ngige; a product of destiny and a special candidate of the gods; this same Chris Ngige that Peter Obi derided every step of the way all through his brief stay at agu Awka was to later lead to his ultimate downfall.
For some people, Peter Obi behaved like the proverbial lizard who after overdosing on a meal of pounded yam and egusi soup challenged his chi to a wrestling contest.
Contrary to the clean cut ‘good guy’ image which he used to charm Anambra voters in the 2003 elections, he still has not revealed the pacts that he entered into with the state’s power brokers as pre-conditions to his occupancy at the hottest political office in south eastern Nigeria. Such agreements may well not be in the magnitude of the one that Chris Ngige entered into but later reneged on but have remained subjects of media speculations.
Peter Obi is a container importer and millionaire and he doesn’t hide it, this seems to be his favourite line at every speaking engagement. He always alluded to the fact that his investments in Fidelity bank is now worth over 3 billion naira and that he wouldn’t recourse to public funds. Well, sing it to the birds now your ‘Excellency’. Maybe another song may have served you better as this one that you chose was already well worn out. Where were you expecting to recoup all your election expenses from, which probably have crossed the billion naira mark?
Politics is a game played for the highest stakes. A politician knows how and when to deploy his survival tools, some of which include communication and negotiation skills (Peter Obi lacked this and chose to neglect and deride the state’s legislators rather than reach out to them), propaganda (he said he hates it), bandwagon (he failed to ride on Chris Ngige’s road construction coat tails), political dexterity (he is more adept at financial and business matters), political bridge building (he was always a man out on a limb, at war with his party members and opposition state legislators) and finally some Machiavellian tendencies which have kept many politicians alive today.
In the end Peter Obi couldn’t save himself from the inevitable, it was always going to be difficult for him to survive in a state populated by opposition party members in the legislative chambers. Jideofor Adibe’s argument in the essay Does Peter Obi Really Deserve Our Sympathy places the Peter Obi saga into perspective. I personally do not subscribe to the sentimental argument that Anambra people would be worst off from whatever is going on at the moment. Peter Obi had the opportunity to disprove cynics but his slow start after being sworn-in reduces further any sympathy votes he may have won from Anambra people, who having not tasted development in over a decade got a feel of what that word actually means in the days of Chris Ngige.
Peter Obi knew that the odds were stacked highly against him and yet when he was appointing his state commissioners, he blew a big opportunity of introducing disunity amongst the ranks of the PDP dominated state assembly, he could have appointed a couple of them as commissioners to create the way for possible carpet crossing, he sure did not show any signs of understanding the intricacies of political survival by this daft move. He appointed his state commissioners from the academia some of whom were no longer in touch with reality. They forgot that theory and practice are miles apart from each other. While defending his choice of a mass communication professor as the commissioner for information, Peter Obi said that Professor Stella Okunna was not the type given to propaganda and gimmickry (an obvious reference to Chris Ngige) , an obvious mistake considering the information battles that was to later face his administration. Since Anambra state does not yet have a basic functional website, It was always Peter Obi’s words against those of Anambra people on whether his government was passive and docile or not.
Even Anambra people that could have been his last line of defence and buffer were also in the receiving end of his snobbish behaviours. On several occasions he flaunted his wealth before them, he told them of his huge bank account balances but all that talk were not translated into tangible dividends of democracy. Stripped bare, Peter Obi probably was just all puff and no substance. How long does it really take to make a difference in a state if one is determined?
And then President Obasanjo came calling and Peter Obi the businessman turned politician placed the final nail in his political coffin, what a difference a month makes. He misunderstood the rage of the young lawmakers for youthful exuberance and forgot the Igbo adage that a neglected small pot could indeed over boil and extinguish the fire. Having previously sang the praises of his new found friends in Abuja during a meeting with Anambra indigenes in London, Peter Obi forgot that in politics, people don’t keep permanent friends, rather they maintain permanent interests. He also forgot that Obasanjo’s gifts to the state during his visit could also be likened to a Greek gift including the reported 3 billion naira that Mr President re-imbursed Anambra state for federal road projects constructed by Chris Ngige. This may have been Peter Obi’s parting gift.
As an Igbo man, Peter Obi forgot the Igbo saying that the woven basket always comes down whenever vulture eaters congregate. During Obasanjo’s visit, Peter Obi tried as much as possible to sideline the state legislators from having an audience with Mr President and took the glory for whatever little progress that was visible in the state at the time., in so doing he neglected the works of Chris Ngige and allegedly claimed credits for most of the road constructions but the state legislators had other ideas. As PDP members they still managed to convey their feelings and position to the president who must have left Anambra state with his mind made up that it was time to compensate Andy Ubah for his loyalty.
Mr Peter Obi must be living in another planet if he thought that Andy Ubah flew to Enugu airport last week in two private jets and a helicopter just to pick up the PDP gubernatorial nomination forms. The rest is now history.
Come 2007, Andy Ubah would formally take over as the governor of Anambra state baring any other surprises from the gods. The situation currently suits Chris Ngige who if he dares enter Nigeria to attempt to fulfil either his presidential dreams or the much befitting gubernatorial position may be arrested by the EFCC’s on trumped up charges. Were the gods to be on his side again and he survives any such scare tactics, then he may just be the spanner in the works of Andy Ubah’s gubernatorial ambitions.
On the Peter Obi saga, some Anambra indigenes have been expressing their thoughts. According to Murphy Mofunanya ‘Peter Obi deserves his fate; he claims to be a rich man, so what is he doing in politics? He should concern himself with his containers and leave politics for politicians’. Ikenna Enekwe, U.S based editor of the popular Igbo website nanka.org says that ‘Peter Obi forgot he was amidst a majority party that never wanted him there in the first place. And then he proceeded to make mistakes that he should not have made considering a person in his position. He forgot that a deal made with Obasanjo to aid him oust Ngige will be the same deal that will return to become his poison’.
Interesting times indeed.
November 2006.
Peter Obi: Exit of the Orange Juice Governor
by Chidi Anyaeche
Chidi_Anyaeche@hotmail.com
Enfield, London
November 5, 2006
Politics in its true sense and practice is a profession as in medicine, law, engineering and other professions. Therein lies the phrase a politician: a professional ploughing his trade in the art of governance.In politically mature countries there are professional politicians – individuals who had made a career, a living in the art of governance. Think about USA with the likes of Edward Kennedy, Bill Clinton and John Kerry to name a few. Think about UK with politicians like Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Think about great African politicians like Oginga Odinga, Patrice Lumumba,Silvanio Olympio, Kwame Nkrumah and Abdul Nasser. And in Nigeria remember the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Aminu Kano. As recent as second republic Nigeria, there were the likes of Jaja Wachukwu, the NPP senate leader, Jonathan Odebiyi, the UPN senate leader, Olusola Saraki, the PDP senate leader. These were professional politicians, career politicians, individuals who paraded the streets, nukes and corners of politics and successfully to some extent.
In Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, the plethora of military coup de etats took its toll on party politics and by default on career politicians.The political profession and professionals became disjointed, interrupted and
virtually wiped out. With the return of democracy and party politics in Nigeria, a political-career vacuum surfaced and nature abhors a vacuum. This vacuum then threw in all manner of individuals into politics: illiterates, 419’ners, the unemployed, the unemployable, touts, native doctors, and traders. The later group is where Peter Obi belongs. Peter Obi’s main career was an importer of commodities, mostly orange juice and claims to have made a decent living out of it. He never had any expertise in administration, he lacked a structured career experience, he does not understand how big organisations and indeed government business are carried out. His expertise is in buying and selling, dealing with unregulated Asian traders in the UK, dealing with clearing agents at Apapa and Tin Can Island Wharf’s, negotiating with Customs officers, organising IDR’s, arranging container freight trucks and warehouses.He parades CV’s showing stints at ‘Harvard and other universities’, what this had to do with importing orange juice into Nigeria, only he can tell. Around year 2001, the Obasanjo administration as part of their economic measures to promote local industries, to create jobs, to conserve scarce foreign currency prohibited the importation of some commodities like orange juices, biscuits, clothes etc. This import prohibition measure had immediate impact on importers and traders – overnight their trade took a big nosedive and they had to resort to other measures to survive. The smart ones amongst them went into some sort of local manufacturing, others diversified into other businesses and some capitalised on the political-career vacuum that is now in existence in Nigeria and dabbled into party politics. The later group is where Peter Obi belongs. There is nothing wrong with one venturing into party politics irrespective of academic and professional background. Politics is not an exclusive reserve of a group or profession. But one needs to know his limit, his capability, his experience, his sincerity, his honesty and integrity before aspiring into positions. One can play politics behind the scenes, one can be a power broker without seeking high office. There are many ways to kill a dog. But in Nigeria there is “an anything that goes” mentality. People just assume that they can be anything or do anything, just like that, without learning the trade, without doing a pupilage, an educated illiterate psychology. A nurse thinks he is a medical doctor, an architectural draughts person thinks he is an architect, a primary school teacher assumes he is a university professor, a native doctor believes he is a surgeon, an importer of orange juice believes he can be the chief executive of a state just like that. This later group is where Peter Obi belongs. If an importer of orange juice wants to venture into party politics, into elective position, the correct way to do it should be to learn the art of governance, the art of administration and management from first principles. The correct way to do it is to probably start initially as a local government councilor and work your way up. This way you should know whether you are equipped to lead physically, cerebrally, innocently or otherwise. This way you should identify where and what you are good at politically and perch there. In countries with sound political structures like US, UK, India, we find great politicians who remain as senators, as congressmen or other roles without aspiring to be Presidents for they know their strengths and weaknesses and just do what they are best at doing. We have the Senator Jonathan Edelman’ s and the Colin Powell’s in the US, in the UK, we have the likes of the late Robin Cook and Jack Straw and in India, there is Sonia Gandhi.
But in Nigeria, any thing goes. That is why an importer of orange juice whose business was threatened will with one fell swoop want to be and actually becomes a governor or even a President. That is why in Nigeria nothing works. But it is one thing to get into an office without learning the trade and another thing to meet the challenges of the job you are ill-equipped from onset to do. That is why Peter Obi, the orange juice trader failed woefully as governor of Anambra state. The challenges of the job were way beyond his comprehension. He was cerebrally challenged to strut his stuff as the chief executive of Anambra state. He could not get his act together, the office was simply too big for him. He lost his marble and resorted to what he knew best: deals. For deals are the way traders conduct their businesses in Nigeria and that was why he was impeached only seven months into office.
Peter Obi came, saw but was conquered by the challenges of the office of a state governor. The immediate transition from an orange juice trader to a statesman was just too much for him. That was his downfall and nothing more.
On a lighter note, there is a lot in a name: In Bayelsa state, erstwhile Governor DSP Alamesiegha chose a Jonathan Goodluck as his deputy and mother luck smiled on Jonathan, now he is the governor. Peter Obi chose Dame Virginia Etiaba as his deputy and Dame Etiaba somersaulted into the governorship position. For non-Igbo’s, Etiaba in my dialect means to somersault. Future governorship candidates, beware of the name of your deputies.
Chidi Anyaeche Mr. B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. (London), M.Sc. (Cranfield)
Does Peter Obi really deserve our sympathy?
By Jideofor Adibe
editor@adonis-abbey.com
Monday, October 23, 2006
The moves by the Anambra State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Peter Obi have recently dominated the news. The fact that the impeachment moves came on the heels of President Obasanjo’s state visit have led some to point accusing fingers to Abuja – despite denials and moves by the president’s men to show that the contrary is the case. The impeachment moves have also evoked many emotions – not necessarily on whether the allegations made against the embattled governor are true or not, but that the good people of Anambra state deserve a breathing space.
The emotions are understandable. Anambra state has hardly known peace under any ‘democratic’ dispensation (or more correctly under any plural political competitive environment). The history of ‘wahala’ politics in the state pre-dates the coming of the current Republic. It was for instance a key feature in the Jim Nwobodo regime (1979-1983), where he virtually waged battle and succeeded in forcing out all known political figures from the state NPP in a bid to become the only star in the state’s political firmament. Jim’s Vanguard also routinely battled the Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, whose Man Friday, Senator N. N. Anah, vowed, and did in fact return fire for fire. When Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu returned from exile and allied himself with the NPN and the tempestuous Dr Chuba Okadigbo, the political temperature in the state became considerably raised, with Jim’s Vanguard routinely slugging it out with the Ikemba Front.
Yes, the above was in the old Anambra state, one may argue, but as they say, it is the same shit, just another day. Fast-forward to 1999. Shortly after the inauguration of the current Republic in May 1999, the new state governor, Dr Chinweoke Mbadinuju began his own macabre hide-and-seek dance with one ‘Sir’ Emeka Offor, said to be his political godfather. Anambra state was turned into a theatre of the absurd, with the highly inept Dr Mbadinuju funnelling all the state resources into his private battles for survival while salaries were unpaid, and schools were on indefinite strike. No one could rein in Dr Mbadnuju - who conveniently masked his mischief and incompetence with a religious façade while the state regressed and was being underdeveloped under his watch. The self-styled ‘Sir’ Emeka Offor was also a law unto himself and no one seemed able to call him to order – not Abuja, where he obviously enjoyed unfettered access to those that matter, not the love of the collective good of the Igbo who were being set back by those shenanigans, not the fear of sanction by his Oraifite community because he felt he had grown bigger than his town.
In 2003, a realignment of political forces at Abuja resonated very powerfully at Anambra state, throwing up a new political god-father, ‘Sir’ Chris Uba, and a new political godson, Dr Chris Ngige, whose battles are too well known to be recounted here. I am among those who felt that Peter Obi could have, (after fighting for the mandate for about a year) dropped his protracted legal battle to reclaim a mandate he was thought to have won at the polls – for the greater good of the people of Anambra state. History is in fact replete with people who have subordinated their individual ambitions and rights to the collective good. Justice – the act of determining rights and assigning rewards or punishments - must never be confused with rights – what someone is entitled to, or feels entitled to morally and legally. While justice is communal in character, rights are usually individualistic. Peter Obi’s protracted legal battle was waged on the grounds of the search for justice – rather than for rights (it is really no one’s rights to be a governor). But in doing so he forgot the communal nature of justice, which could have been an auto-restraining factor in this quest, and which would have forewarned him when to give it all up – especially given what Anambra state was going through, and had been through, under the highly incompetent Dr Mbadinuju.
In many parts of the world, elected presidents and prime ministers sometimes willingly step down from a position they had worked hard to get to when they feel that their actions, or sometimes even the actions of their subordinates, have threatened the common good. Some refuse to pursue the quest for justice to the point where the common good will be threatened.
A good example is Al Gore, often described as "the man who used to be the next president of the United States." Many people still believe he was robbed of victory in 2000. But he knew when to stop the quest for justice for the greater good of the community. He had to throw in the towel and send a congratulatory message to President Bush shortly after the recounting of the votes in Florida to avoid a protracted legal challenge that would further polarize Americans and rubbish the country more in the eyes of the world. He accepted his fate with certain equanimity, saying: "I wanted it, and it was not to be." Today he has built sufficient political capital, in part by the dignified way he accepted his fate, that no one will begrudge him if he chooses to cash this accumulated political capital in 2008. Peter Obi similarly had a good opportunity to accumulate a huge political capital had he been a little more gracious in his pursuit of justice, had he not mistaken justice for rights or vengeance, and had he been a little more discerning to find he was merely a pawn in a bigger political chessboard in the state.
His obsession with reclaiming his mandate via a three year legal battle also made him oblivious of the fact that his party, APGA, was disorganised, was from all indications not ready to rule, and had only two members in the House of Assembly. This was the kind of situation where a more discerning person, knowing the nature of Nigerian politics, and knowing the fate of Balarabe Musa as a PRP Governor in an NPN-dominated Kaduna House of Assembly in the 1980s, could have cautioned himself that the mandate, if actualised under the circumstances, could be a poisoned chalice. I was particularly miffed that he was still fighting for the mandate even when there was only one year left of it and the people of Anambra state seemed to have happily moved on under Ngige. Given the fact that the learning curve for posts like governorship could stretch to 18 months, and that Peter Obi was never known to have worked in the state’s public sector to properly understand the nuances and dynamics of running the state, his regime, coming at the time it did, was bound to be seen as retrogression. I believe this was why he was routinely accused of non-performance. Things necessarily had to stop or slow down for him to find his rhythm, learn the job, get used to the office and its politics and articulate his own vision based on actually existing realities (as opposed to campaign promises that tend to be theoretical and platitudinous ).
No one will take away some of the personal achievements of Peter Obi, including his board memberships and chairmanship of many high-profile companies, and the fact that he comes across as a decent man – despite his reported wealth. The argument however is that he could have built more political capital for himself by knowing when what was a fight for justice mutated into an unbridled struggle to realise a personal ambition. At this point, a number of people stopped seeing any altruism, any consideration of the interests of the people of the state in the whole quest to actualise the mandate.
It is true that Dr Ngige’s performance may have been exaggerated but in a state where, even under Governor Jim Nwobodo’s old Anambra state, newspapers carried such headlines as “Teachers to Smile” (because their salaries were being paid), his ability to pay teachers’ salary as, and when due, was a huge achievement (Dr Mbadinuju owed them arrears of over six months, and schools were closed for over a year). Dr Ngige was also credited with repairing and maintaining roads – again something people of the state do not usually expect from their governor. The fact is that perception of competence, even when there is not much to show for it on the ground, is salutary to development. Today Nelson Mandela is regarded as one of the greatest living moral authorities – and rightly so. But try to pin down his concrete achievements and you will run into problems because Mandela’s legacy is intangible – a hope for white and black South Africans. For Dr Chris Ngige, he seemed to give hope to the saying that ‘it shall be well with us’ (now conveniently mocked by some journalists). This hope was the reason why Abuja could not use the State House of Assembly to remove him, why the various inanities of ‘Sir’ Chris Uba failed, and why Abuja could not create the conditions that would enable it create a state of emergency.
Dr Chris Ngige, despite his obvious weaknesses spoke the language of the people, and in time, could become one of the rallying points of Igbo renaissance. Again, whatever name we may call members of the Anambra state House of Assembly today, let us remember that they stood solidly behind Dr Ngige – despite pressures from known quarters. They refused to play ball with forces that were more powerful than Ngige, and which could feather their nests far better than Ngige could.
Whatever goes around comes around. Whatever one sows one reaps - one way or the other. It will be absurd and hypocritical for a man to hire a prostitute and at the same time be complaining that he is not getting true love. When the late Dr Chuba Okadigbo connived and plotted in the removal of a fellow Igbo, Evans Enwerem, as president of the Senate, he was unwittingly laying the foundation for his own removal through the same process of intrigue because as they say, a coup begets a coup. Should we now rally to save Peter Obi – on the arguments that the good people of Anambra state have suffered enough – when he did not show the same consideration in his protracted quest to ‘reclaim his mandate’? I do not think it is any use dismissing the legislators as rascals. The governor should be made to reply to the allegations against him – some of them quite serious. Our emphasis should be in ensuring that due process is followed and that the legislators are not being teleguided from somewhere by the hands of Esau.
Beyond the fate of Peter Obi are a number of fundamental questions thrown up by the recurrent troubles in Anambra state, which have implications for the Igbo and the Igbo nation.
a) There is an urgent need for the Igbos to put their house in order if they want to be taken serious by other ethnic nationalities in the country. Granting that some of the recent travails of the state seem teleguided from Abuja using some Igbo rascals as fronts, it may also be pertinent to pose the question of whether a President of Igbo extraction could have been capable of teleguiding such mayhems in say Yorubaland or Hausa/Fulani land. These days, commentaries on Anambra politics have become a convenient mask to poke fun on the Igbos and deride their obvious individual achievements in many fields. To paraphrase a Ghanaian academic, someone may have helped to inflict the tragicomedy in Anambra state, but the ultimate responsibility to fix the problem, and refuse that it will happen again, is that of the Igbo.
b) The willingness of the Igbos to be used to destabilise and destroy their common good has also implications for the group’s position in the competition for the scarce socioeconomic resources in the country, including power at the highest level. This is because politics, in its crude form as practised in Nigeria and other developing countries, is essentially about who gets what, when and how? In this, the doctrine of the three Cs - Conspiracy, Consciousness and Cohesion, plays a determining role in the ability of the various contending groups to position themselves, filibuster, manoeuvre and decoy - without taking their eyes away from their critical objectives in the political processes and engagements. Unfortunately, the Igbo nation - as opposed to Igbo individuals - is terribly deficient in the 3cs, without which it is difficult for any group to maximise its gains from a political process.
c) The troubles in Anambra also bring up the need for the Igbo to make collective effort to develop Igboland, rather than seeing the homeland only as a place for retirement. This lack of a long-term vision for the area is perhaps one of the reasons why, with the possible exception of Enugu, all other Igbo cities - Onitsha, Aba, Awka etc are virtually ‘failed’ cities, incapable of attracting other non-Igbo to create the kind of competitive cosmopolitan environment where the Igbo thrive best. If the Igbo could develop and make their cities habitable as they contribute in making other parts of the federation, it will also be much easier to engender the kind of pride and consciousness that is currently lacking, and which will make it difficult for brigands to be used to subvert the common good. This I think should be the priority of Ohanaeze rather than the current embarrassment that it is (witness its support for a third term for Obasanjo at a time the same organisation was canvassing for a president of Igbo extraction).
d) The imbroglio in Anambra state equally raises a more fundamental question about the nature of our federalism. Federalism is a system in which the various federating units are each, within a sphere, independent and co-ordinate. Agreed that the atomistic nature of the federating units and the central government’s control of the key petroleum resources have made our system more of a unitary state in federal clothing, but the current environment where governors live in fear of an imperial president does not bode well for either federalism or democracy. It is a system that must not be allowed to continue. Unfortunately the governors who should be co-ordinating to collectively resist the imperial president are busy competing to be in his good books. Again, one of Peter Obi’s consolations in his largely self-inflicted travail was that the President had asked him to face his job. But as some will say, his travails may well be his comeuppance for subordinating the common good to his selfish ambition.
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Anambra is About Igbo Failure
By John Iteshi
izhiogoagbo@yahoo.com
London 20 October, 2006Anambra is about the failure of the Igbos… The fact that no Nigerian leader can ever do Anambra to any Yoruba state makes it clear that it is about the failure of the Igbo nation and nothing more. Anambra is not alone in failure in Igbo land, but the problem is that Anambra state has a special significance as the heart of the Igbos (Ojukwu and Zik’s home state) and as such its destruction ought to worry every right thinking Igbo man. Of course, we know that the origin of the crisis in Anambra state is the 2003 general elections when Obasanjo succeeded in doing to Igbos what no Hausa Fulani leader has ever been able to do to Yorubas even though they were in opposition. Despite this obvious fact about the origin of the crisis in Anambra one still thinks it is stupid for any Igbo leader to blame Obasanjo or his cohorts in Abuja as some people chose to do. It is rather more important for enlightened Igbo individuals to get together and organise the Igbo nation rather than their personal estates first.
Anambra makes the boldest statement about the fact that Ndi-Igbo despite the great achievements of their individuals are probably the most primitive ethnic group in Nigeria . It makes it clear that being civilised is more about an organised society than merely having many successful individuals. Just as I once wrote to one David West who wrote an article in 2005 about the thousands of Nigerian PhD holders in the US that, 120,000 000 disorganised professors are equal to idiots, I would also say with great respect, that thousands of Igbo unorganised and selfish geniuses have proven they are equal to idiots by their failure to organise themselves. Anambra appears most disgraceful because they have enlightened people who ought to change things, but the case of Ebonyi is most pathetic and akin to the hypothetical ‘one-eyed man king of a country of blind’ because it has nobody and nobody at all shows concern about the disgusting state of affairs there. One individual runs the affairs of over two million impoverished people like his private estate with no single opposition. He uses public funds to buy all newspapers in Nigeria to sing his praises as the best governor in Nigeria and nobody is able to challenge him. The crux of the matter is primitiveness. Until Ndi-Igbo organise themselves at the Igbo level and not village levels, politics will continue to be viewed by our people as personal enterprises for individual survival. It is only primitiveness that can explain the fact that Ndi Igbo being one of the hardest working people in the world should allow common criminals to run their affairs.
Of course other Nigerians share similar individualistic attitude towards politics and modern governance, but the case of Ndi Igbo and some of their neighbouring cousins is strange in the sense that there is no limit at all. It is strange where one in pursuit of personal interest would never think about the implications of his actions on the overall interest of his people. For instance, Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State just like this writer hail from the most backward part of Nigeria, but it seemingly does not cross his mind (because he is busy looting public funds) to improve the quality of life of his people in order to escape a possible disaster in the future. If there should be a global disaster where everyone would have to run to the nearest hospital to stay alive, his Abakaliki people (Ngbo/Izhia, Izhi, Ezza and Ikwo people) will die most because for eight years he has dubiously failed to build quality roads and hospitals for his people. He rather preferred to build his private estate and those of dubious journalists. Meanwhile Anambranians who are probably among the most successful individuals in the world would be far more capable to buy Medicare than Ebonyians who have produced only one billionaire in Sam Egwu(through corruption not hard work) in the face of any major medical emergency today. The real fact is that what has happened to and still happening to Anambra and other Igbo states can only happen to Igbos and their Eastern Cousins because we are too individualistic and in fact primitive. It cannot happen to Yorubas or Tivs not to mention Hausas.
Igbo individuals are least conscious in Nigeria about their group interests. Our people typically and traditionally think about their personal interest first, even though there is a saying common to all Igbos that one man's interest does not outweigh that of the community. This statement has apparently lost meaning in the present money chasing world because all it now takes to become a lord in Igbo land is to acquire huge money by all means. The interest of a rich man or a governor in any Igbo community today outweighs public interest and the people have accepted it to be so. All it takes to become an Igbo leader today is not wisdom, but to get material and spiritual support from Abuja or Sokoto and you can become a governor or senator or any important position on behalf of NdiIgbo. Igbo village unions in America will not even ask questions about how you got there before they invite you to speak in some stupid world Igbo congress. Igbo Bishops will not hesitate to pay you homage as a rising Igbo leader. This is a true life story of the Igbo nation narrated by the emergence of things like Pius Anyim, Orji Uzo Kalu, Ngige, Sam Egwu and the host of others who from nowhere have become Igbo leaders and taken the place of descent Igbo people.
The only hope for Ndi Igbo now is for individuals like the religious leaders and other enlightened and distinguished private individuals who are not in politics and have no political greed or ambition to organise themselves and take up leadership of Ndi Igbo. Ikemba (being the greatest icon of Igbo unity) must be supported by enlightened Igbo individuals to organise the Igbo nation properly. Ndi Igbo need to organise themselves in Igbo land before it becomes too late. It is most crucial for the survival of the Igbo nation for proper Igbo orientation to be kicked off soonest. Noises about Igbo presidency do not make sense when we are unable to govern ourselves at home. I had also suggested an Igbo national conference for unity and reconciliation as a means of getting Ndi Igbo to understand themselves and why they have failed as a group. To my mind it should be the starting point for us. And this opinion is based on the belief that Nigeria will be better if each ethnic nationality could begin to build the Nigeria of their dreams from their respective home bases.
