I read the article with the above title posted on Nigerian Village Square on Friday, January 16, 2009, by my very good “brother”, Odenigbo Chidi Anyaeche.

I agree with some of his submissions especially on the issues on ground in Anambra State. Odenigbo like every other person in Anambra State knows that the only ‘place’ you can find APGA in the State is on the pages of newspapers, government house/governor’s lodge in Awka. Never at the wards nor at the local governments. Also, he cannot be more correct on his analysis of Governor Peter Obi led APGA government. His apt description of Victor Umeh cannot be faulted.

However, I found it difficult to understand the yardstick he used to arrive at the conclusion that, “the APGA Candidate, Hon. Azuka Okwuosa is a more SEASONED and people oriented politician than the PDP Candidate, Ikechukwu Obiorah” and that, “...Anambra State may loose fine representation in the Senate in the person of Hon. Azuka Okwuosa...”

I am from Anambra South Senatorial Zone, and I believe that Odenigbo (he is from the same zone) knows Ikechukwu Obiorah and Azuka Okwuosa well enough to understand how wrong his assertion was. My first impression is that he wrote the article to explain how bad leadership/governance could be as is  being manifested in the State under Governor Obi. But, could Odenigbo have gone that far? My answer is an emphatic NO!

The questions Odenigbo should have asked himself are: Who are the candidates and what are their political pedigrees? In determining between the two candidates which one is “more seasoned”, the questions are very relevant because my ‘little’ dictionary tells me that “seasoned” means “having a lot of experience of a particular activity”.

If Odenigbo had made the slightest inquiry about Mr. Okwuosa, he would have found out that the APGA Candidate for Anambra South Senatorial Zone had NEVER won any election in his life. The closest he had ever come to a political post was when he was appointed (by a military administrator in the State) the Caretaker Chairman of Nnewi North L.G.A. I wouldn’t want to waste so much time on how disastrous his outing then was but it may interest you to know that one of his greatest “achievements” was that he sowed a seed of discord in the Nkwo Nnewi Market. The crisis involving one Ejiamatu Igbokwe and the Nnewi Market Traders is one of the legacies Okwuosa left in Nnewi. Of course, his bid to be elected the Local government chairman failed woeful before this senatorial adventure.

On the other hand, the PDP Candidate, Mr. Ikechukwu Obiorah as a very young lawyer in 1992 was overwhelmingly elected to represent Nnewi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. It is very instructive to note that at the time of Obiorah’s election, that Anambra State was controlled by SDP Governor, Ezeife while Mr. Obiorah was elected on the platform of NRC. Although, that dispensation was short-lived, his performances and role in the NRC presidential campaign are verifiable facts.

Again, in 1999, he was massively voted to represent Anambra South Senatorial Zone on the platform of PDP. Unfortunately, while he was busy co-ordinating his election, Dr. Eriobuna was issued with the PDP ticket on the eve of the Election Day. The role of the billionaire, Chief Emeka Ofor in that saga due to Mr. Obiorah’s refusal to mortgage himself to any godfather should be a topic for another day. Mr. Obiorah was eventually appointed a Federal Commissioner to represent Anambra State in the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Abuja.

In addition, he contested for the Anambra South Senatorial seat in 2003 and had a tremendous support from the people. I believe that what happened during the 2003 elections in Anambra State is still fresh in our minds. However, in 2007, he was elected a Senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone in the National Assembly.

The critical question to be asked is how “people oriented” was Mr. Obiorah as a Senator of the Federal Republic before the nullification of his election on December 18, 2008.

I know that my respected brother, Odenigbo Chidi Anyaeche lives in far away London, but I also know that he follows with keen interest the political developments in Nigeria. In view of that, I believe that he must have followed the activities of the first term Senator representing his zone in the Senate. If my assumptions are correct, then he must have known that the first thing Mr. Obiorah did as a Senator was to fight for the re-opening of the Ibetoh Cement Factory closed down by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mr. Obiorah championed the fight until President Yaradua graciously ordered that the Factory be re-opened. However, as far as Mr. Obiorah was concerned, his fight did not stop with the re-opening of the Factory. He used his legislative privileges to canvass for compensation for the shareholders of the factory for the loss they suffered during the period of the closure. In a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce and Industry titled “UNLAWFUL CLOSURE OF IBETO CEMENT FACTORY BY OBASANJO ADMINISTRATION: BUDGETARY PROVISIONS FOR RESTITUTION” dated January 17, 2008, he requested the Committee to make budgetary provisions for the sum of N1.85 Billion to compensate for the losses suffered by the factory during the period of closure.

Furthermore, Mr. Obiorah manifested his willingness to sacrifice his personal gains/comfort for the fight of whatever he believes is just. Thus, at the risk of being branded a member of an ethnic militia, he took up the fight for the release of the MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazulike. He formed a very strong partnership with Uche Chukwumerije. The duo applied “a scatter bomb approach” in their efforts to get Chief Uwazulike released. They took the matter to the National assembly where their motion was stood down. They went to the Presidency and when the result was not forthcoming, they went to Court. They pleaded with Justice Nyako to grant the custody of Uwazulike to them. Writing on this issue in November 2007, (published on Nigerian Village Square), one Ossie Ezeaku correctly observed that Mr.Obiorah’s interest in Uwazulike’s case was “...amazing. Coming at a time when many Igbo who are not even in politics would rather not write about Uwazulike’s incarceration for fear of being labelled pro-Biafra. And equally at a time when some of his peers would rather not, in their thinking, dent their image with Ralph Uwazulike, Obiorah did otherwise”.

Further still, Mr. Obiorah at the risk of being sanctioned by his Party, the PDP, cried out when he believed that there was “a grand design to edge out” people from the Southeast from meaningful positions in the country. The Guardian on Friday, June 20, 2008, among other national dailies quoted Obiorah to have been “shocked beyond belief” that the number of the board appointments given to the Southeast was the least, 104 as against 120, and 140 in the other zones. In Obiorah’s words, it was “totally unjustifiable, its one of those acts of marginalisation or if you may, obliteration because that is what we are facing right now in this country”. Mr. Obiorah took very serious issues with less than one year duration of a south-eastern as the Head of Service. The orchestrated attack of calumny against the Governor of Central Bank, Prof. Soludo received the Senator’s bashing.

The above were just a few instances Mr. Obiorah as the Senator of the Republic has manifested his selfless and people oriented services. The projects he attracted to the Senatorial zones are there for everyone to see. He communicates on regular basis with the all the town unions within his senatorial zones on his activities in the Senate. He is by all standards a very comfortable young man but extremely humble. According to Mr Ezeaku(quoted above”,”...those who know his (Obiorah’s) background would agree that he has taken his late father’s qualities-empathy and uprightness into politics. In a few months in the legislative chambers, Ikechukwu Obiorah has assertively identified himself with notable Igbo causes”.

In all honesty, those of us from Anambra South Senatorial Zone couldn’t ask for more. If I could borrow from the scripture, In Anambra South Senatorial Zone, Ikechukwu Obiorah, we know! Who is Azuka Okwuosa?

Obunike Ohaegbu,LLM

(Dynamic Chambers)

+234-8034898172

obumohaegbu@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 19.01.2009 07:18

Mr. Obiorah championed the fight until President Yaradua graciously ordered that the Factory be re-opened. However, as far as Mr. Obiorah was concerned, his fight did not stop with the re-opening of the Factory. He used his legislative privileges to canvass for compensation for the shareholders of the factory for the loss they suffered during the period of the closure. ...Read the full article.