By Amanze Ubochi
The final battle for Anambra State is barely three weeks away. November 18, the day for the election, is almost here.
The candidates to watch in the race include the incumbent governor, Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Tony Nwoye, All Progressives Congress (APC); Oseloka Obaze, People’s Democratic Party (PDP); Godwin Ezeemo, Progressives Peoples’ Alliance (PPA); Osita Chidoka, United Peoples Party (UPP); Oby Okafor, Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) and Henry Ikechukwu Onuorah, Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN).
Since Nigeria’s return to civil rule in 1999, Anambra has remained one of the few states in the country that you can be sure has not got it wrong in terms of who governs the people.
Regardless of the prevalence of political godfathers in the state who also see in politics a ting of business and want to profit from it, the highly informed people of Anambra (mainly the intelligentsia) always go for the technocrats to pilot their affairs. Perhaps that explains why the state has remained on the radar of upward growth in terms of availability of infrastructure in almost every sector.
Though the eras of Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Chris Ngige were the high points of political god-fatherism in Anambra, nobody can deny the fact that both governors were eminently qualified to run the affairs of the state.
In fact, to be qualified to run the state you must have made your mark in your chosen area of competence or comparative advantage, either in the academia, business/economy, politics; private or public service, name it. So, Anambra is like the trajectory other south eastern states among others that crave for excellence want to use to find their bearing.
But the history of modern Anambra political journey will not be complete if we fail to capture the role played by the late Biafra warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu, who, through the instrumentality of the APGA, envisioned the Anambra of tomorrow.
Ojukwu thought of a party that would capture the real essence of the Igbo in the Project Nigeria without necessarily braking away from the union. He saw in APGA a strong negotiation tool and mouth piece for Ndi-Igbo and had wanted the people to congregate around the party to pursue their destiny in Nigeria.
Fast forward to the eight years of former Governor Peter Obi under whose tenure APGA was first tested, and you will appreciate why the former governor is either wasting his time in PDP or would soon get frustrated and exit himself.
Even while Ojukwu was still alive and politically active, APGA’s journey was with issues like what anyone can see in other political parties. During the tenure of the pioneer Chairman of the party, Chekwas Okorie, there were issues that tended to tear the party apart, but reason prevailed that made it possible for APGA to be retrieved from the jaws of those who were out to tear it apart.
That is why the coming election in November 18 is not for Obiano to lose. The contest is between Obiano and the rest and all the contenders know that as fact. Call it incumbency factor, but it goes beyond that because the election is between APGA that has done so much for Ndi Anambra in the past 12 years and the other parties that are pursuing personal vendetta, and possibly cannot be trusted having shown they are green snakes in the green grass.
Obi, no doubt, is one of the greatest beneficiaries of what APGA stands for. His rise to political limelight is linked more to his membership of APGA than his so-called current appellation of political sagacity and sense of prudence in management of state resources.
Yes he did his best for Anambra as governor under APGA, but that he wants the party dead by all means tells a lot about his politics. Granted, he handed over to Obiano who has just done four years, but should Obiano whose second term will also come and go be the issue or the party that fielded Obiano which will remain forever if properly managed?
To be candid, the fact that Obi reportedly raised issues that tended to undermine the health and survival of APGA in the build up to the coming governorship poll, including the recent alleged sponsorship of a court case, goes to show he pays lip service over his love for Ndi Anambra that trusted him so much with their mandate under APGA for eight years.
The insinuations that other parties are thinking of going into unholy alliance just to stop Obiano won’t even fly. Why? That alliance if it takes place will go a long way in exposing to the people of Anambra who their real enemies and agents of darkness are.
But that alone is hardly the fear. What Ndi-Anambra should be more concerned about is the federal might that comes in the form of the police, the military and the civil defence. They are usually deployed as protection for the candidate of the party at the centre, today the APC, apparently to “arrange” victory for Tony Nwoye.
My take is that the Anambra electorate must be vigilant by resisting every attempt to compromise the election. They must also keep keen eye on the officials of the INEC many of whom are experts in result manipulation.
*Ubochi, a political analyst, is based in Owerri.
