20 Oct 2006 |
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Is Anambra jinxed? THE people of Anambra contributed a lot to the struggle for democracy in Nigeria between 1993 and 1999, through the efforts of their distinguished children in various positions (Achebe, Anyaoku, etc.) who carried the banner for democracy and helped to strengthen the collective resolve against continued military rule. But since 1999, and the return to civilian rule, these people have not enjoyed any long season of peace, the politics of Anambra has been characterised by thuggery of the deepest hue, criminality of the most unimaginable invention, marked by a descent into anomie. No other state has been visited with so much destruction, so much acrimony and so little in form of development. Whatever development is recorded is soon set aside by rampaging political thugs who burn down public property, and threaten constituted authority. Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju who was Governor between 1999 and 2003 practically could not function because he had to contend with forces beyond his control. Those forces insisted on dictating the tunes in that state. Teachers' salaries could not be paid, schools were shut down; cases of murder were recorded. Not much happened in terms of growth. And yet we all prayed that "it shall be well with Anambra..." Mbadinuju was succeeded by Chris Ngige in 2003. But Ngige also had a long battle with a Godfather identified as Chris Uba, who had great access to super-Godfathers in Abuja. Thugs made it impossible for Ngige to govern, and because he had no "access" to Abuja, he eventually lost his position. And we prayed at the time that "it shall be well with Anambra..." Ngige was succeeded on March 16, 2006 by Peter Obi, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate who was declared the legitimate winner of the 2003 elections, by the courts. And it seemed at that point that at least for the remaining part of the present process till May 2007, Anambra State would enjoy some peace. Apparently, that is not happening. Obi is in the eye of the storm. The impression is now being confirmed that whatever had happened in Anambra since 1999 is the product of a grand orchestration by persons and interest groups that are interested in power for its sake, persons who do not care about law and order, who in fact will use the courts to serve their convenient interests, only to turn round later to repudiate same; these are persons for whom again, the end justifies the means, their kind of democracy is gun-barrel democracy; their approach is not one of dialogue but of might and intimidation. They will stop at nothing. They will use any means fair or foul. It is inevitable that Peter Obi would also have to confront these entrenched forces. In the configuration of Anambra politics, he is more or less alone, being an APGA Governor, who must do business with a PDP-controlled House of Assembly. He came to power following dissension within the PDP; his three-year battle in the courts to regain his stolen mandate was resolved in his favour, it now seems, because it was convenient to do so at the time. The "PDP" needed him then to get rid of Ngige. They have used him. They have used the courts. Now, they want to get rid of him. This is the kind of democracy that Nigeria is having: a democracy that is not based on principles; a democracy that has been hijacked by speculators and power-mongers, who wreak havoc, using the instruments of state, leaving victims in their trail. Before our very eyes, these forces have been organising coups after the fashion of military operations in different states. The biggest victim is democracy and the rule of law. The current situation in Anambra, where the state House of Assembly is seeking to impeach Governor Peter Obi bears out the spirit of these general statements. President Olusegun Obasanjo had visited Anambra State last week to inspect some of the projects that the Obi administration is working on. In the course of the visit, the President reportedly announced publicly that Peter Obi should forget about being re-elected as Anambra Governor in 2007, because that position has been reserved specially for Dr. Andy Uba, who is currently a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs! Obi may be spared, however, if he agrees to decamp from the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that is the President's party. After inspecting the Awka-Nibo-Enugu-Ukwu ring road, the President also turned on Senator Obi, representing the Anambra Central Senatorial Zone and ruled that the Senator will need that road at the end of his tenure in May 2007 because he will not be re-elected. The Guardian in its October 16 edition reported this incident at some length at page 3. It is perhaps helpful to quote portions of that report at some length. The Guardian wrote: "....The President ended his two-day official visit to Anambra State on Saturday. Obasanjo shocked Governor Obi on the possibility of the latter's re-election when he stated with a measure of finality that his Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Dr. Andy Uba would take over the realm of power in the state come 2007....except he (Obi) dumps his party, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)." Following this, members of the Anambra State House of Assembly felt emboldened to lash out at the Governor; they were of course trying to impress the President. So we are told : "The state Assembly members used the visit to their chambers by the President to debunk all that Obi had earlier claimed to be his achievements. This left Governor Obi disturbed...Obi remained speechless." Now consider what happened to Senator Ben Obi, a native of Awka, representing Anambra Central: "...What followed was like a well-rehearsed drama involving the President, Governor Obi and Senator Obi. (The President then said) ... "well that would be about the time when the Senator would be retiring to his village at the end of his tenure in 2007, because he is going to retire at the end of this tenure as a Senator and would need the road to go to his village..." But the Governor interjected: "Your Excellency Sir, he is continuing, because he is coming for re-election. The determined President simply chuckled, "hmmm!" All that Senator Obi said in response was "as it pleases you Mr. President". Does anyone need any further proof, if you are searching for the fertilizer for the present crisis in Anambra and the travails of Governor Peter Obi? Even before the President left Anambra, groups of PDP sympathisers were already appealing to him "to release Andy Uba to us!" The President was not visiting Anambra as a politician seeking votes; he was not on a campaign trail; he was there as President of Nigeria, and as a guest of the people of Anambra and their Governor. But he chose the occasion to embarrass the Governor. And to announce the results of the 2007 elections in that state long before the elections. It is the people of Anambra that should decide whether Obi should seek re-election or not, and whether or not Senator Obi should remain in the Senate beyond 2007. We are running a one-party state, so why should Peter Obi join the PDP, for him to be favoured? And who granted the President a veto power over elections? The President may not have asked the Anambra lawmakers to embark on an impeachment trip against the Governor (I concede that), but once he "raised the hand" of an alternative to Obi in 2007, he had more or less disowned Peter Obi, who up till now, had drawn a lot of mileage from the widespread impression that the President likes him. The hawks in Anambra, had before the President's visit, been preparing the grounds for Obi's impeachment but they obviously interpreted Baba's statements, which may at best be facetious, as "the go-ahead" that they needed. By Monday this week, they had prepared eleven allegations against the Governor and his Deputy as grounds for their proposed impeachment. The allegations are specious to say the least. Obi is being accused of saving state funds in Fidelity Bank where he is a principal shareholder. It is said that he is not following due process in the award of contracts. He has been accused of nepotism and acting unilaterally. But the sub-text which was provided by The Nation newspaper is that the 22 Obi-Must-Go lawmakers are on war path, because Peter Obi "has refused to continue a certain arrangement they had with the erstwhile Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige. The arrangement is said to "have made both parties happy", with the lawmakers empowered enough to resist any outside pressure...." (The Nation, October 18, p. 5). The lawmakers have denied this; and they have refused to listen to the PDP leadership which has tried to broker peace. In fact, they have suspended the five Anambra legislators who dared to differ! The country is faced with a gale of impeachment and in all the cases, it is difficult to know where the truth lies. The class of present-day Governors is heavily compromised by its corrupt conduct, by the lack of legitimacy, and the failure of politics, but Obi is perhaps one of the few who can be given the benefit of the doubt. All things considered, the current situation in Anambra throws into bolder relief, the growing risk of legislative rascality, or the tyranny of the legislature. These days, lawmakers have become blackmailers. They claim that they are acting as the people's representatives when they are merely pursuing their own selfish agenda. Their conflict of interest is palpable. Who will check these law breakers? We also have on our hands a democracy in which the Presidency has become very powerful, indeed too powerful. So powerful is the present President that Governors now fear him. Don't be surprised if one of these days, state Governors organise themselves into a pressure group and start carrying placards! Some state Governors are already saying, more or less, that a visit by President Obasanjo could at this time be the beginning of the end for a Governor. To buy protection, some Governors are entering into arrangements with state legislators that will "make both parties happy". In one state, the Governor recently bought Prado Jeep for all the lawmakers. His timing is surely clever! But the problem is not with the Presidential system of government. The problem is with those who are managing it. In Anambra, Peter Obi is now between the devil and the deep blue sea. If he chooses to declare for the PDP and cross-carpet, that may still not save his job. The 22 lawmakers who want him out have both the yam and the knife. Even if he tries to do whatever it is that they wanted, it is already too late. The only protection that Obi can seek is that of the people of Anambra. But it is not even Peter Obi that should be protected but the state of Anambra itself. Chinua Achebe had long foreseen the present state of anomie and in anger he had thrown back at the Federal Government, the national honour that he was offered. Achebe is being proven right. The short of it is this: when civilians do not allow democracy to work, they will make it possible for soldiers to govern them through the back door as has now happened in Ekiti and has happened before now in Plateau State. The removal of a Governor from office does not necessarily address all the problems in a state, as the people of Ekiti are now discovering. We can only hope once more that "it shall be well with Anambra..." And that it shall be with Nigeria too, our dear country, now at the crossroads of possibilities, at the brink, at the edge of a precipice...
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