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...Read the full article.

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Ugo,
Spot on... although you left out the plight of pensioners.

As a young man, I lived in Enugu, though I am from Imo. My memory of Enugu had remained that of a very clean, orderly and very beautiful city. But, unfortunately, Enugu now makes me sad. It has lost that scenic beauty I have always associated it with.

...But all that have gone now. Okpara Avenue now looks as if it was lifted from the very heart of Ajegunle. Dirty and in bad shape!

Chimaroke Nnamani is such a monster that it is easy to agree with the general opinion that madness runs in his family. He ran beloved Enugu to the ground within 2 years of his tenure.

Apart from the 1km Rangers avenue you couldn't drive 100 metres on any strip of road in Enugu without skirting a pothole.

Chima was to some the worst Governor under OBJ and, to God be the glory, he is now an honourable senator. Which means the rest of the country will indirectly enjoy his brand of dividends of democracy.

Sullivan has been quiet probably because the new governors are waiting for UMYA to determine post OBJ modus operandi. Under OBJ, the father of modern corruption, governors knew that they will never be held accountable as long as they remained loyal, so they visited PDP impunity on their states.

Take heed, Sullivan.

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=chibuzor;188156>Ugo,

Chima was to some the worst Governor under OBJ and, to God be the glory, he is now an honourable senator. Which means the rest of the country will indirectly enjoy his brand of dividends of democracy.

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:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::lol::lol::lol::lol: :lol: :lol::lol:

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I don't know why I make myself read these things but they leave me so annoyed and choked up for words. This article on Baba's boyz just makes one more annoyed...


Nigerian Guardian News
Saturday June 30th, 2007.

CHIMAROKE AND THE BURDEN OF HISTORY
BY SAM MBAH
After much hesitation, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, the erstwhile Chief Executive of Enugu State and by far, the most advertised Governor of the fourth Republic fatefully elected to return to the country to face up to his eight year reign. For the records, the man whom the popular Nigerian mass media literally invented from the labyrinths of obscurity and transformed overnight into an intellectual iroko, complete with swagger and hubris, dutifully set forth at dawn, in a manner of speaking, on Monday, 23rd April, 2007, barely two days after he was purportedly elected to represent the people of Enugu East Senatorial zone in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, on a mission not unconnected with a bid to evade the approaching claws of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

I dare suggest that the demagogue, clairvoyant, sorcerer and mythmaker seemed an unlikely candidate for fugitive from justice, not least of all because Enugu worked so well for him in the period under consideration. How could he possibly abandon all of 172 houses or much more, an integrated ICT outfit, a private university, a five star specialist hospital, one of the most expensive co-educational high schools in the country, in addition to numerous investments whose net worth runs into several tens of billions of Naira, which he 'attracted' to the state?

I suppose that it is apt to embark on an exorcism of the Chimaroke years, now that the demons and ghosts that hitherto held the state by the jugular appear to be in full flight. The present exercise is but a precursor to a comprehensive documentation of the pillage and plunder that were mindlessly wrought on the fabric of the Coal City State between 1999 and 2007. Arguably, Chimaroke's tenure was dogged by graphic charges of serial looting, money laundering, assets-stripping and gross abuse of office, but as was his wont, rather than muster the rigour to rebut the very grave charges against his name and stewardship, he had embarked on a familiar game of grandstanding and political brinkmanship directed against the EFCC. He effortlessly proclaimed his innocence before droves of spin doctors and journalists-of-fortune from across the country, who were, at his beck and call.

Even more so, had he not routinely won high praise and adulation from no less a mortal than the self-professed founder of modern Nigeria himself? Chimaroke taunted the EFCC endlessly and took broad swipes at its chairman, in a political showmanship which only the ebeano kingpin was capable of.

For the avoidance of doubt, the emergence in 1999 practically from nowhere of Chimaroke was greeted with a sigh of relief by a generality of the long suffering people of the state. Mass disillusionment with military rule appeared to give way, in the face of the sheer prospects raised by the coming of a complete outsider, untainted by the political compromises and opportunism of the Abacha years.

It was little surprising therefore that when the godfather crisis blew open in the state sometime in year 2000, the people pitched their tent with Chimaroke, who was portrayed as a hapless victim of the caprice of the old breed political class. As the protracted crisis took a heavy toll, his policies and programmes suffered a huge distraction; the indirect impetus provided by the events which propelled the man along the path of initial populism ultimately evaporated.

Let it be said that, although Chimaroke's larger than life image, first, as an intellectual, and, second, as a great achiever, was largely a media creation, its survival over the years owed much to his power as a mythmaker, and the credulity of the Nigerian public above all.

While most of the claims are blowing in the wind, I shall nevertheless interrogate a handful of them, if only to set the records straight. It is a trite fact that over 50 per cent of all projects undertaken in the state in the life of Chimaroke's administration were located at his hometown, Agbani, until 1999, an overgrown village; another 40 percent was located in the Enugu metropolis, with the rest of the state having to share the balance of 10 per cent. What today passes for a Law School Campus at Agbani, was, prior to 1999, a fully built-up site originally intended as P and T Training Schol and was completed in 1985. The ESUT Teaching Hospital is a refurbished Park Lane Specialist and referral Hospital, which had been in existence since the days of old East Central State. The institution's structures and facilities underwent extensive rehabilitation and refurbishing under the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) regime. It is as well beyond dispute that the much hyped international conference centre dates back to the Jim Nwobodo administration in the old Anambra State.

What more can anyone say about 600km of asphalt roads? Since seeing is believing, it is not in the least surprising that the Enugu metropolis paints a contrary and debilitating picture with its array of pot-holes and crater-riddled roads. As for intra-state roads built by Chimaroke, over 80 per cent of those had failed or had been washed away by the rains. The 'Loma Linda Housing Estate', with 324 flat apartments is clearly a phantom. Not a single flat has been delivered at the site to date. Interestingly as far back as September 2006, Chimaroke's propaganda machine had generated and was circulating simulated compugraphic visuals of the complex, awaiting commissioning. Any journalist, intent on independent investigation instead of the all-expenses paid round trip that Chimaroke made popular, will find, as of a fact, that the Loma Linda site has largely not left the foundation stages. Indeed, a first time visitor to the Coal City will find it rather difficult to come to terms with the reality that, even as a former regional capital, Enugu can hardly boast of any form of public street lighting. At nightfall, the Coal City resembles the epicentre of darkness, the overpowering pall of a ghost capital submerged in a thick fog of insecurity and uncertainty. This is a city sentenced to darkness by the megalomania, the civilizing mission of a brain-drain democrat.

We can spend all the time in this world talking about Chimaroke's unique brand of "democracy-dividends", it must be emphasized however that the cornerstone of democracy is good governance and popular participation. Good governance consists in transparency, accountability, due process, respect for human rights, observance of the rule of law as well as the continuous expansion of the democratic space. These ingredients which are catalysts of development and popular empowerment were regrettably in short supply under Chimaroke. The budgetary process was characterized by an opaque public expenditure management profile. Public works contracts in addition to the allocation of scarce values such as lands were not subjected to any form of competitive, open tendering process or due process mechanism. Only one firm undertook all the major public procurements and contracts in excess of N30 billion between 2003 - 2007. The contract regime bore traces of an incestuous business relationship and could hardly stand up to scrupulous benchmarks of transparency. To cap it all, Chimaroke engaged in habitual abuse of his oath of office, by actively promoting nepotism, cronyism and clan hegemony in public appointments, contrary to the provisions and spirit of the 1999 constitution on the imperatives of federal character.

Good governance consists as well in the ability of a leader to cast a vision and to sow the seeds of long term socio-economic transformation of society. This was, sadly, again, absent in Enugu State under Chimaroke's charge. Although Enugu is an agrarian state, the former governor failed to come up with a single agricultural initiative in eight years to either harness the fertile land mass available to the state, or particularly to tap its potentials in the areas of rice and cassava cultivation. The state's overall tourism potential ratings, were left untapped and unharnessed. To further underline the impaired vision at work, the widely acclaimed Enugu Zoological Gardens, which used to sit on 48 hectares of land in the GRA, was in year 2000 shut and all the wildlife liquidated to make way for yet another of Chimaroke's numerous private estates. A similar fate befell the famous Enugu market garden, the sprawling agricultural seedling and horticultural nursery centre, which played a part in Malaysia's emergence as a major exporter of palm products.

Chimaroke was far too busy chasing after intellectual acclaim to ponder the long-term economic prospects of Enugu State in the face of the inevitability of resource control? What is worse, Enugu State witnessed massive de-industrialization during the Chimaroke years. The few state-owned business establishments that could have constituted a critical base for the future industrial and technological take-off of the state's economy were, through neglect, mismanagement, cronyism and sustained assets-stripping, allowed to go under and rot away. The roll call includes, but is not limited to: Hotel Presidential, Enugu, Phoenix Hotels, Enugu, Ikenga Hotels, Nsukka, Ogbede Aluminum Company, Nigergas, Enugu, ENTRACO, Sunrise Flour Mills, Nigersteel, Emene, Oghe Cashew Industry, NCFC, Universal Insurance, AVOP Vegetable Plant, Nachi (which was cannibalized and burnt down in suspicious circumstances in January 2006, while the state government turned a blind eye. Chimaroke did not deem it worthwhile to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the mystery inferno or to ascertain the extent of damage caused). This is to say nothing about Chimaroke's numerous abandoned projects like the Golf Course Estate, Harmony Estate, Ebeano Bye-pass, International Market at Ninth Mile, New Haven Shopping Complex e.t.c.

The sustained impoverishment of the state and the ruination of its commonwealth contrasted markedly with the blossoming fortunes of the family business conglomerate which Chimaroke built up within the same period. It is difficult to place a value on this burgeoning private concern, Ebeano Plc. Suffice it to say that its asset base probably runs into several tens of billions. The catch here is that for every single public project that Chimaroke embarked upon during his tenure, he had executed two or three others for himself or in the name of his family estate. The custodian of all the loot is none other than Sister-Excellency, the former governor's immediate elder sister, who, prior to September 1999, was a struggling housewife in America. To put it mildly, Chimaroke's thirst for propaganda and mass deception is matched only by his insatiable appetite for primitive accumulation. Enugu was working to the extent that it was transformed into the ruler's fiefdom

It was little surprising therefore that all those who routinely scored Chimaroke high on overall performance in office were, for the most part, rank outsiders and total strangers to Enugu State. The list included ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the likes of Chief Tony Anenih, Col. Ahmadu Alli, Bode George, in addition to the 13 European Union Ambassadors in Nigeria who allowed themselves to be viscerally manipulated by a practiced demagogue, out to exploit to the fullest the sheer photo-opportunity of their presence in September 2005. It is instructive to recall that on the occasion of the 14th Anniversary of the creation of Enugu State on 27th August, 2005, the Enugu State Development Association (ESDA), the body that fought for the creation of the State, issued a communique endorsed by Igwe Charles Abangwu and Chief Enechi Onyia (SAN), in which it bemoaned the twilight of good governance under Chimaroke. The association scored the administration (at the time) below 40% on all indices except one: propaganda and public relations where Chimaroke registered 99% (see Vanguard, Saturday, 27th August, 2005, p.32). How apt for an impoverished state that had by far the biggest public relations, media and propaganda budget out of the thirty-six states of the federation in all of the past eight years.

In the light of what has become common knowledge, Chimaroke's stewardship raises a number of fundamental questions about the future of the Nigerian polity. These questions touch on the integrity or lack of it as well as the sense of judgment of a number of principal actors in the Chimaroke saga.

Take the media, for example. Shortly after Ex-president Obasanjo's visit to Enugu in late June, 2006, during which the august visitor (as usual) lavished praise on his host, a journalist with The Sun had asked deviously in his column. "What does OBJ's encomium on Chimaroke say of the Enugu opposition? By the opposition, of course, he was referring to the very victims of Chimaroke's misrule, elements in the state who had been most vociferous in their condemnation of Chimaroke's reign of impunity, rapacity and corruption in the state. In retrospect, we might as well reconstruct the question thus: what does EFCC and Code of Conduct Tribunal's ultimate indictment of Dr. Chimaroke say of broad sections of the Nigerian media? This is so because the media up till the last moments continued to trumpet uncritical support (Enugu is working!) for Chimaroke, even in the face of undying charges of graft, impunity and reign of terror. By so doing, these sections of the media failed, refused or neglected to perform their duty as societal watchdogs. More than any other institution, the media are complicit in the tragedy of Chimaroke. Even more reprehensible is the realization that the show of support derived principally from corporate commercial interests and individual pecuniary considerations. Now, would the media be courageous enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their Father Christmas till the fateful end?

Beyond the media, I am afraid that the Chimaroke saga leaves question marks and indelible scars on the integrity and rational judgement on the part of the self styled founder of modern Nigeria. The Chimaroke saga indeed provides a context for further examoration of the sincerity or lack of it and quality of leadership offered the fatherland by an ex-president whose pious preachments in office stood miles apart from concrete actions. In addition to the Ubas, the Oladbode Georges and Adedibus, former President Olusegun Obasanjo kept regular company with Chimaroke, the latter became a willing tool and a potent common fodder in the several excesses of the innermost core of the "nest of killers" that ran the PDP machine.

The high presidential traffic to Enugu over the period was no doubt a measure of Obasanjo's endorsement of his alter-ego in the South East. In one of his numerous visits, Obasanjo proclaimed it to the high heavens that "Enugu is working, I see am with my korokoro eyes". Obasanjo's predilection for duplicity had never seemed more apparent. He gave his cynical verdict in spite of a prior protest letter against his visit by the Enugu State Development Forum which he duly acknowledged receipt of.

In the letter dated 19th June, 2006, the Forum had stated: "Under normal circumstances, the visit of Mr. President to Enugu any day ought to be a thing of joy. But these are far from normal times in Enugu. Whereas the State is reeling under the yoke of impunity, abuse of office and lack of transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business, the barrel of propaganda issuing from Governor Nnamani's well-oiled machine paints a different picture. Thus a visit by Mr. President to commission any of the so-called completed projects is tantamount to providing Gov. Nnamani with ample ammunition in the form of photo-opportunity with which to step up his psychological warfare directed against the EFCC. What is more to the point, Mr. President's presence in Enugu is capable of sending a dangerous signal to the rest of the country concerning the Federal Government's commitment to the anti-corruption crusade. Lest we forget, Governor Nnamani has definitely executed and completed more private projects as part of the Nnamani family estate in the past two years, all of which are also in dire need of commissioning".

Obasanjo was not at all swayed. As recently as Thursday, April 19, 2007, the ex-president was in Enugu to commission the new permanent site of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH). The commissioning over, he did not fail to perform what had become a ritual: lavish presidential encomium on his battle axe in the South East. Chimaroke was not deceived, for only four days later, Obasanjo's shining example of a great achiever and PDP's symbol of a performing Governor, went AWOL.

The political choices that it made provides a mirror image of the moral character of the Obasanjo regime. Consider all the good men, all the credible men and voices of reason from Enugu State that Obasanjo wasted in his consuming resolve to prop up Chimaroke. Consider the Nwobodos, the Nwodos, the Aniagolus, the Nnaemeka-Agus, the Allison Maduekes, the C.C. Onohs e.t.c. Consider former Senate President, Ken Nnamani. The Chimaroke saga is a telling evidence of a statesman and founder of modern Nigeria whose actions were never motivated by a desire to ensure good governance, least of all uphold the rule of law.

It bears recalling that in the autumn of 2002, 16 out of 24 members of the Enugu State House of Assembly had satisfied the constitutional requirements for the impeachment of Chimaroke from office as Governor, but what should have gone down as the first act of lawful and due-process-driven impeachment was countermanded from the Presidential villa.

The palpable lack of direction in Igbo politics today, which has re-opened the traumatizing spectre of confinement to the margins, of the country's political equation is a consequence of a warped logic of power, of baleful compromises coupled with a unique brand of debilitating anti-people politics that place premium on seeking validation from outside and exercising power for its own sake as evidenced by primitive accumulation, which the likes of Chimaroke especially entrenched in the past eight years. One of Chimaroke's less dignified accomplices has said it all: the South-East Governors severally and collectively failed the Igbo nation, adding that they left Igbo politics in tatters, in complete disarray, much worse than they met it eight years ago.

The Chimaroke saga is best captured in Wole Soyinka's imperishable lines at the 2004 Reith Lecture: "Any fool, any *****, any psychopath can aspire to the exercise of power, for a share in the diet of power, as long as you are sufficiently ruthless, amoral and manipulative; power is within the grasp of even the mentally deficient". The tragedy of Chimaroke is, unfortunately, the tragedy as well of Enugu State nay Igboland. To what supernatural force shall we, then, ascribe this unique, affliction?

Sam Mbah Esq., is Executive Director, Tropical Watch an Enugu-based civic organization.

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Beyond paying salaries and cleaning up after Chima Nnamani, the most important thing the new governor should do as a lawyer is to use his sense of LAW & JUSTICE (if he has one) to undo all the wealth accumulation of the Crazy Nnamani family over the past 8 years. The current governor's eternal legacy will rest on the extent to which he disavows Chima Nnamani and cooperates with other concerned eminent citizens of Enugu state, such as CC Ono, Senator Ken Nnamani and other as well as federal investigators in rendering justice and disgrace to the aswhile thief.

The damage that Chima Nnamani did to Enugu state goes beyond his stupendous wealth accumulation. His tenure has made it nearly impossible for the time being for any villager to believe that their sons and daughters from the United States and others western countries are any better than my uneducated grand father in dispensation of public officer and caring for the PUBLIC GOOD. This intangible damage will take some years to repair and this brings me to the recent NLC strike.

The NLC was striking for the nearly the wrong reason. What the NLC and ASUU as well other well meaning Nigerians should be striking about is for JUSTICE TO BE DONE to all the looters who denied them not only immediate salaries while increasing the cost of food & fuel but also any useful future for the children. What they should be striking for are reforms that will rebuild a strong middle class and ensure a brighter future for their children. Where is the outrage? Where is the media in holding these former office holders to account? Where are the courts?

Until there is unabated outrage that shakes the entire nation, a thief will remain an honorable. For those of us abroad, our duties should not be limited to philosophical contemplation. I was waiting to led a protest at Havard law school if the rogue Chima Nnamani had in fact been granted admissioon. That was not the case. We need to keep a vigilant eye on these criminals if and when they show up in the West for speeches, education or any event meant to massage their ego. Our voice should be heard more in Nigerian Press. That is your duty -- to stand watch and report any sighting or planned event in Europe, Asia, and particularly, the United States.

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Nigeria we hail thee...
I pray that Gov. S. Chime will deliver over and beyond the people's expectations of him. I pray that he will go beyond the call of duty and make our dear senator Ken Nnamani`s enviable record of stewardship at the national assembly seem like old wives tale. I pray that Gov. Chime can work with the deputy senate president -senator Ike Ekweremadu harmoniously and persuade the federal government to invest in building an IGCC plant in Enugu to harness our abundant coal reserve. I pray that Gov. Chime, understands that South Africa produces over 120,000BPD of diesel directly from coal using IGCC technology!!
Enugu's coal deposit provides enough basis for an energy project that can power the entire south-east Nigeria, -a similar project being built by Bechtel for Duke energy is valued at about $4-$5billion dollars, other gasification plants are springing up globally.

NNPC need only invest less than $1b, and willing partners like Conoco, Shell or Sasol can complete the budget like they are doing in both NLNG & BrassLNG, and this will solve over 60% of Nigeria's energy problem. Next think of the impact of establishing gasification plants in Enugu, and production of say 80,000BPD of diesel, or the volume of jobs that can be created by such strategic move. Or they may choose to establish several small gasification plants all over the place, which will likely cut the cost down.

If these new governors can reach out to we who have thought through some of these issues, they may learn how to establish projects in their respective states that can guarantee at least every resident graduate in their state an income of up to $100/day- monies made in Nigeria.

God bless Enugu State, the home of the forerunners of my tribe, the heart of Igbo-land, may your sun never set again.

Warm regards
Ike Chidolue
Houston,TX