Anyone conversant with the murky politics that Anambra State has been known for will not be surprised at the political adrenalin that has been injected into that state politics as 2011 fast approaches. Such a person will not be caught unawares by the heightened intrigues and tensions that have been built into the politics of the state by varied species of hustlers, desperados and political philanderers that have, once again, set their eyes on dominating the affairs of that tempestuous state for the next political period. No one will be surprised at the thick cache of contestants to the Anambra governorship enroute 2011 but what will task any researcher on Anambra politics is to find any of them with the patriotic zeal and intent to take that badly governed state, which has enjoyed a rare streak of political sanity for the period the incumbent governor, Peter Obi has reigned, to the next level.

At best, most of those on display in the impending Anambra governorship contest are the usual jobbers and glorified traders of fortune who have invested so much in pulling the state down the valley of despair it is struggling to pull out from since Obi happened on that unfortunate state. They are all neighing for the prized diadem with the hope that it will service their personal gluttony, feed the wild appetite of their godfathers and sponsors and give them uncensored access to the resources of the state. Most of them have never subscribed to nor believed that any state could be ran without the devastating contribution of these ramparts and have deigned it an aberration that Peter Obi has governed Anambra State for three years without waiting upon the indecent desires of these marauders and their lackeys.

But then 2010 would not have been possible without the personal sacrifice of Obi who had twice been illegally removed from office but who had employed the instrumentality of the law to set legal precedents that have redefined the concept of democracy in Nigeria. Would there have been a 2010 in Anambra were Obi bugged down by the defeatist mentality to refrain from trying what was seen an impossible task of retrieving his stolen mandate? Would 2010 be an eventful date in Anambra State if Obi had succumbed to the expansive project to confiscate a hefty chunk of his mandate and give his diadem away to impostors who were molded in the most distasteful violation of decent electoral conducts? If Obi had succumbed to the job comforting, which an average short-term Anambra politician were wont to give, would we have been talking of a governorship election in Anambra in 2010? For the avoidance of doubt, we owe the prospect of an election in Anambra in 2010 to the unputdownable spirit of Peter Obi and his unmatched belief in the laws of the land, which, even in its manifest imperfections, he trusted to do what is right in the Anambra issue. He wasn’t disappointed, neither were Nigerians who marched on with him even when it seemed they were on a hopeless cause.

If Obi had not gallantly fought his cause, we would at best, be having a flattered impostor sitting pretty in Awka, doing what he knows best, which is the prosecution of the destruction of an endowed state. We would have completely leased Anambra to political rough necks, who would be locked in an unending warfare to take control of that state. We would have been content to live with so much bewildering illegalities both in the governance of Anambra and the statutes of the country’s electoral system. We would have been content with an unending vultures feast in Awka and the manifestation of howling aberrations and told to either live with these deviant culture or ship out. We would have been imposed with an unlivable state of vice, drunkenness, darkness and bizarre gluttony.

For the three years he has been in power, Obi has been a stabilizing force in Anambra such that he had brought the boiling political temperature of the state to a near zero level. He had brought sanity, decorum and a track able template of accountability to bear on the hitherto wild act, which the governance of Anambra became before he came. He has pulled Anambra from the brinks of a failed state and has reflated the wheels of progress in that stricken state. He had been able to do these because he lacks an over-bearing godfather or city father who breathes down on his neck demanding his desert for foisting him in power. He had acted a needed neutral role because he never subscribed to the abnegating tenet that relegates the interests of the state and promotes the brazen needs of the loud cabal that has found room in the fluid political structure of the country to take advantage of the system. Equally, Obi has invested governance with an unnerving humility and sincerity of purpose that has roused the anger of the deadly locusts and their patrons because it has ensured a bare harvest for them for the period he has been in power. He has shunned the greed of the unabashedly hungry political charlatans that fool themselves as stakeholders and has focused mainly in attending to the ravaging needs of the whole, which have been abandoned for the long period governance has gone on recess in Anambra.

Curiously, Obi is paying dearly for this cardinal sin as 2010 approaches. In a country where the cankerworm of corruption and political patronage has become the norm, Obi is being criminalized for not unlatching the doors of the state treasury to free loaders to feast on. He is being made to pay for not leasing out the state to build a political structure and for this, he is being made to arrest his dream for an encore in a 2010 he practically wrestled from these denizens of political filth. In a land where nauseous aberrations have become epitomes of acceptable behavior, this rare specie of political and financial prudence is being tongue-lashed for ‘not being a good politician’ and therefore undeserving of a second term in office. In a country where good politics has to do with an incumbent filching his state dry, it is a popular feeling that Obi would not get a second term, not because he had not performed well, not because he had stolen the resources of Anambra but because he did not feed the idlers that pose about as political stakeholders in Anambra. One can even feel the elite conspiracy in the gathering cloud of mischief that are aimed at stopping Obi in 2010, which is no more than a protest that a governor that should sit in wait for their elastic interests, is abandoning their narrow ends to attend to the wider interests of the whole.

This is the reason why no one should be surprised that a pot pouri of questionably rich mandarins are now positioning themselves to take over Anambra and are engaged in a do-or-die warfare for their businesses. We should not be surprised that dark forces ranging from those that made more monies than the richest states from just attending to the libidinous needs of the former president, those that raped the state in the interregnum Obi was illegally removed, those that were forced on Anambra through devilish oaths and allegiances and glorified successful traders are now bandying together in an elaborate illicit alliance to unseat Obi. This looks like a common denominator binding all those that have vowed that Anambra will never again be ruled by someone that ‘neither eats nor allows others to eat’.

So let no one be deceived on the heightened propaganda war going on in Anambra State now. Let no one be deceived of the alliance of the bad, the worse and the ugly in Anambra and their ill-tempered propaganda aimed at ensuring that Obi does not get a second term and that one of their ilk, who will ensure an unfettered feast for them is brought to power. Let no one be carried away by the yellow effort to make an issue of the N250million allegedly found in the car of some operatives of the Anambra State government in Lagos. For a governor who retuned over N1.6 billion security votes when he was impeached and a hefty N36 billion in the treasury of Anambra State at that same period and who owned series of thriving businesses including a bank before he became governor, it amounts to a syndicated and poor insult to insinuate as the desperate forces that have gathered on Anambra presently did, that such was evidence of financial recklessness of the governor. Let no one be deceived on the orchestrated tension that has been visited on Anambra State as 2010 approaches. They are nothing but desperate effusions of those that want to take Anambra down the valley of despair from where it is being pulled out.

It should be put straight that if these dark forces succeed in overwhelming Obi in 2010, and this may be the case, given the fraudulent electoral system in place in Nigeria, it was made possible because of Obi’s subscription to a people-oriented, incorruptible template of governance and not because he had not done well to give Ndi Anambra a result-oriented and accountable governance. At the grassroots where it should matter were we to have an accountable democracy, Obi has a groundswell support in the grassroots that should give him a comfortable victory in 2010 but ours remain a mad game manned by hirelings and racketeers who would gladly subvert the system to ensure their anointed lackey gets to power. This should be a challenge to all Anambrarians, both at home and in the Diaspora and they should take it up to decide which state they want; either the peaceful and settled state of the present or the chaotic and prebendal state of the immediate past.

Peter Claver Oparah.

Ikeja, Lagos.

E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com 

Robot  # 1 | 23.06.2009 23:17

Anyone conversant with the murky politics that Anambra State has been known for will not be surprised at the political adrenalin that has been injected into that state politics as 2011 fast approaches. Such a person will not be caught unawares by the heightened intrigues and tensions that have been built into the politics of the state by varied species of hustlers, desperados and political philanderers that have, once again, set their eyes on dominating the affairs of that tempestuous state for the next political period. No one will be surprised at the thick cache of contestants to the Anambra governorship enroute 2011 but what will task any researcher on Anambra politics is to find any of them with the patriotic zeal and intent to take that badly governed state, which has enjoyed a rare streak of political sanity for the period the incumbent governor, Peter Obi has reigned, to the next level. At best, most of those on display in the impending Anambra governorship cont...Read the full article.

Chidi Anyaeche  # 2 | 24.06.2009 06:38

Peter Claver As always, not a very clever article by you. I wonder what state you are writing about? Anyway Oparah is not an Anambra name so you can wallow in your stupidity. Cheers Odenigbo 2010

Simbili  # 3 | 24.06.2009 08:13

For a governor who returned over N1.6 billion security votes when he was impeached and a hefty N36 billion in the treasury of Anambra State at that same period and who owned series of thriving businesses including a bank before he became governor, it amounts to a syndicated and poor insult to insinuate as the desperate forces that have gathered on Anambra presently did, that such was evidence of financial recklessness of the governor. Let no one be deceived on the orchestrated tension that has been visited on Anambra State as 2010 approaches. They are nothing but desperate effusions of those that want to take Anambra down the valley of despair from where it is being pulled out. Another corrupt Nigerian with 'striving businesses including a bank'. Why can't we ever get any comprehensive bio data or profiles on these Nigerian politicians with 'banking experiences' via the internet, just like you would get on any official in the civilized world? Any person holding public office should have some info for all to read. They are not private citizens but people who claim to have the peoples' mandates. No public official should be in office without a detailed bio data with educational background and all for all to see. After all, they are servants of the people and are not private citizens. Not again. . . .the glorification of corrupt individuals in Nigerian politics continues. Welcome to Baghdad Nigeria. Anambra state, Nigeria. When will we ever wake up to good news coming from Nigeria?

Norris  # 4 | 24.06.2009 10:15

Odenigbo your choice of words are unfair and malicious; I don't think were one comes from should seclude or prevent him from running a commentary on whatever he desires - please hemn in on your emotions. Peter your piece clearly indicates your partisansip towards Obi but doesnt reflect the real situation on ground. The very low level of security and service delivery has remained his albatross and in a free and fair election he will never MAKE IT BACK.

Onowu1  # 5 | 24.06.2009 11:06

Odenigbo, I tried in our last encounter to encourge you to be more civilize or show your political sagacity by presenting better political argument or rubuttal to the writers opinion. Here is the story of Imo State University VC to illustrate the type of corrupt elites and politicans we have in Igbo land today. EFCC arrests VC with N6m cash in his bedroom Wednesday, 24 June 2009 00:00 •N500m fraud rocks varsity •Bursar spends N110,000 on recharge cards •Fake receipts issued for N25m collected from students •Another official indicted Kunle Olasanmi, Abuja MONTHS after he was asked to go home on suspension, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested the embattled Vice-Chancellor. .. of the Imo State University, Professor Chuka Okonkwo, over an alleged N500 million fraud. The anti-graft agency confirmed the arrest yesterday. Also arrested with Okonkwo are the Bursar of the institution, Mrs. U.A Nwogu, and one other person. According to a source at the commission’s Abuja office, the VC was arrested with huge sums of money in his bedroom. The source put the denomination of the currencies seized in Okonkwo’s room during a search conducted by the operatives as: N4.554 million, $11,203 and 700 euros. The Nigerian Compass learnt that the VC allegedly collected N25 million, being the proceeds of the N5,000 paid by each of the graduating students of the school. Said the source: “I can confirm to you that the Imo State Vice-Chancellor, the school Bursar and one other senior official are with us over alleged fraud totalling about half a billion. “The EFCC, acting on information, stormed the school campus and arrested the VC after being interrogated. “We searched his bedroom and recovered N4.554 million, $11,203 and 700 euros. Cash deposit slips of huge sums of money were also recovered. At the time of arrest, he operated nine bank accounts with four banks. “He also unilaterally awarded contracts without due process. He awarded a N20 million contract to buy six cars. He approved for himself and collected N12 million to renovate his lodge without any sign of renovation of the building. “Without the approval of the school Council, he connived with the Bursar to use fake receipts to extort N5,000 each from graduating students of the school. “The amount so far collected is N25 million which was not paid into the school account. He claimed that the money is with one of his friends. “He approved N110,000 for the Bursar to buy recharge cards”, the source said. According to investigations, the EFCC chairperson, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has given the commission’s legal team a nod to file charges against the trio. The spokesman of the commission, Mr. Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrest and promised to give further details.

chudi97  # 6 | 24.06.2009 11:24

=Norris;366307>Odenigbo your choice of words are unfair and malicious; I don't think were one comes from should seclude or prevent him from running a commentary on whatever he desires - please hemn in on your emotions. Peter your piece clearly indicates your partisansip towards Obi but doesnt reflect the real situation on ground. The very low level of security and service delivery has remained his albatross and in a free and fair election he will never MAKE IT BACK. "situation on the ground". When you politicians talk about situation on the ground, I laugh b/c you guys think that everybody on the internet must be living abroad and aloof. We have our foot on the ground, and we are not so scared to visit and see for ourselves. You all believe that people on the internet only depend on people like you to know what it "the situation on the ground". Wrong as always! "security" and "low level of delivery" is the new mantra, but the grassroot people that actually matter think otherwise. They are no fools like you think. When they see a road that was impassable for 20yrs and suddenly the road becomes passable, they notice that somehow, somebody made it happen. Also when they see long broken bridges being reconstructed, schools having lab equipments, and workers better pay, hospitals getting renovated and accredited, they notice that someone made it happen. So development is like pregnancy, you cannot cover it for a whole 9 months! Politicians, and I mean all of you have started again in Anambra. Sponsored kidnappings, killings, blackmails and all these sorts of "security" issues are you guys ploy to steal another election. Do not try to turn Anambra into another Ekiti, it wouldn't work. Anambra is not for sale. If you guys want to lead the state, talk about yourself and how you are better than Obi. Get your own PDP House in order. As long as Chris Uba, Andy Uba, Ugochukwu Uba, Mbadinuju, Emordi, Obi-Okoye, Nwoye and all these PDP crowds are still relevant in Anambra state with you guys, the people would always not be interested. Anambra is beyond what you want us to be. Progress is on and the people's silent revolution is still on course despite detractors. If you want to overtake a model on the ground, build a new model that would make it an old model. Chukwudi Nwokoye

Igboamaeze  # 7 | 24.06.2009 12:33

---------- Just for clarification. Security of life and property is in the hands of the Federal Government. There is little that a State governor can do; such as providing support/logistics to the security agencies particularly the Police. A practice, which in my view, is tantamount to aiding and abbetting corruption because such funding from state governments are squandered by the Commissioners of Police and their men (and WOMEN!). Anyway, neither Obi nor any other governor should be held responsible for insecurity in the states. And my last line? Always: Better Peter Obi for life than Andy Uba/Chris Uba/Emeka Etiaba (or any Etiaba) or even, kwaa kwaa, Odenigbo(!) for a day. That's the clarification...

RAHIM  # 8 | 24.06.2009 12:35

As much as I am not an expert in Anambra State politics, it is common knowledge that there will be a gubernatorial election next year so mudslinging is to be expected in that regards, the question is how much of it will stick. PDP wants every state in the federation as we saw in Ekiti, Anambra will be no exception but hopefully the reaction from the masses will be different here.

Norris  # 9 | 24.06.2009 13:28

Chudi please spare me that generalization, I think my two paragraph text is clear for anyone to decipher properly - I strongly object to your teaming me up with politicians and the Uba gang. I must not come or be in Anambra to feel the pulse of the people or know what is happening. Gone are those days when critics are tagged Uba boys to give them a bad name, that strategy will fall face down this time around. It is ludicrous to attempt blaming the recent insecurity on fifth columnist, are you trying to say that all the kidnappers,robbers and assasins prowling Anambra are on a payroll, o boy - maybe the fifth columnists placed 250 millions in his Lagos bound convoy as well. That argument of yours is too epileptic to come from someone who boasts about being on ground. The cries of Anambrarians today is that the man at the helm has lost touch and what it takes to handle their security in addition to ensuring a balanced and equitable location of infrastructure beyond religious denominational considerations. The proactive attempt by his fellow Governors in neighbouring states in curbing kidnap activities are paying off hence the criminals are moving over to Anambra a place of less pressure - simple. Please note that Anambra has ascended to a stage were trumped up provisions of basic amenities like roads and schools would prove a poor electoral blueprint or manifesto, Chris Ngige proved that much. This time around it is going to be about ideas, courage, will power, security (which the people hold dear) and track record. 2010 is a straight battle between Ngige and Obi and as long as they are rig free, Obi should prepare to hand over to a more people oriented and impartial government.

peterclaver2006  # 10 | 24.06.2009 15:16

It is not in my character to comment on my articles. I feel it is just and proper to allow others do the commentaries. But I want to make some little observations based on some of the comments made here. I was in Anambra for two days, a week and half ago, precisely in Nnewi. At that time there were serious concerns about an upsurge of violent crime in that industrial town and some of the commentators on this square would be shocked by what the people down there feel about this sudden upsurge of crimes. The opposition that have become really desperate in Anambra has a lot of works to do to dispel the impression that they are not levying war in Anambra just to present the governor as not up to his duties and seize the state. When common people, at the very grassroots feel like this, the marauders that strut every available public space to tell how they are politically relevant should prepare for greater battle ahead than day-dream that their half-cooked propaganda will unseat a governor the people can easily identify with, not through the platoon of armed goons and fleet of cars he goes about with but identifying with the people at the lowest point of contact. When you couple this with the undying zeal of Obi to go for that which others think impossible, then those who are entertaining the fantasy that they can fool the people and take back the state to the leviathan Obi rescued it from should have another thing coming. Peace, I read in today’s Vanguard that the PDP has summoned the members of Anambra State House of Assembly to Abuja to hand them the fiat to impeach Peter Obi before 2011. we shall certainly see how they will do this but it says a lot that they are not thrusting their suddenly contrived picture of bedlam in Anambra to fool the people and hand the state back to their bestial hands.

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