A shout-out to Sullivan (3)
An open memo to the next Governor of Enugu State (3)
M. O. EnE
New Jersey, USA
egbedaa@aol.com
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Brother Sullivan:
Greetings! Pardon my style of salutation; it has become my favorite form of address for all Enuguites. In a few months, n’ike nke Chineke, I will gladly use “Your Excellency” -- if you so desire. For now, let’s get to the goat of the gist.
PREAMBLE
I must apologize for the delay in delivering the third part of my shout-out series. The reasons are four-fold:
(a) I was waiting for the February 13th INEC deadline. We thank God that you are unscathed by the broad brush that has tarred many aspirants fairly or unfairly.
(b) I spent available free time in exploring the challenge of your opponents and in establishing that none of their recent realignments has dented the solid structure of Ebeano PDP. Truth be told, you remain the man to beat in a crowded field of 25 candidates cleared by the electoral commission for the Enugu gubernatorial race alone.
(c) The latest babbled brouhaha involving the incumbent Governor and your designated deputy threw up some sand in the basin of otherwise fine garri grains. With the media mishandling of the matter, in their rush to sensationalize, permutations became one dirty dozen a dime. As in all such propaganda-propelled permutations, even I got my musings wrong.
(d) I waited to honor an invitation to a select social last night, at which your "4-point Agenda" was presented to the crème de la crème of our New Jersey community and beyond.
PRESENTATION
As you must have heard, the gathering was great. Within a short, telephone notice, friends and admirers braved the below-freezing temperatures and snow-flurries forecast and assembled in the hilltop mansion of New Jersey’s prominent pharmacist Everistus Njeze (Galaxy). The array of attendees and the reach of residences show that many are supportive and hopeful that your advent will signal a new dawn. They came from Philadelphia and from Maryland-Washington, DC, from New York and from Connecticut. The personalities range from the famous Enugu’s world-class pharmacologist, with whom we learnt you grew up, to an Enugu-trained but Lagosian medico resident in south Jersey; from the Imo-born president of Nigerian lawyers in a neighboring mega-metropolis to a Delta-born vice president at Merrill Lynch; and from the old acquaintances, many of whom have excelled and established in their chosen fields, to an Anambra-born school proprietor and other accomplished professionals from across Nigeria with whom you may never meet.
The gathering is a testimony to the yearnings of Nigerians abroad for a better tomorrow for all our peoples. It showcased the desire for a stable and progressive Enugu State, the soul of the East, and the devotion of Nigerians this side of the Atlantic to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. It is therefore a thing of joy that the presented agenda measured up to expectation. Though the taste of the pudding is in the eating, the eyes do predict a ripe corn accurately. This corn is ripe, full, and ready to pluck in a few months.
POLITICS
You are set for the race, no doubt about it. To quote Senator Hillary Clinton, you are in it to win. Unless some unthinkable happens, tufiakwa (God forbid), you will triumph. I will not revisit the recent ricocheting rash of reports and fantastic claims across the country. In the fullness of time, the naked truth shall endure and set us all free "makana eziokwu bu ndu." As an officer of the law, you know too well that only courts of competent jurisdiction can sieve the grains from the garbage. Therefore, above and beyond the usual praises and promises, your campaign should be about “the empowerment of people” fairly and equitably to embrace the “open, accountable, and responsive” government you promise.
I have been following the activities of your major opponents. Without combing the names, I must say that making the incumbent an issue and trying to sectionalize the race are serious mistakes. First, the good people of Enugu State and indeed most Nigerians are now less interested in the candidates’ place of primary residence; they want a government that knows its right from its left. It is that simple. As for the incumbent governor, he is not -- and he should not be -- the issue. If he is the only issue they have, there will be no contest; Governor Chimaroke Nnamani is not running. Those who still want to fight him should take their fight to Enugu East, from whence he is running for the Senate seat.
Let us not be naïve here, my brother; there is a reason why they go after the incumbent: They want to cut off the head and watch the body die. Good war strategy, if you ask me, but this is not a war; it is an exchange of ideas. So you should redirect them to the new head; dare them to debate you – you are running. The symbolic umbrella from the incumbent and the equally symbolic presidential flag are enough proof that you are now the new sheriff in town.
OPEN THE UMBRELLA, BROTHER!
What do I mean? I enjoin you to open the umbrella and even add attachments for all your party faithful. Whatever happened was not personal but, rather, a matter of politics and personality differences. Times change, and old party foes often become associates. With the symbolic umbrella opened fully, you can accommodate the teeming new fans and old associates alike. You will showcase in the process that you will practice what you preach in your four-point agenda: “good governance… no matter where they (our people) are in the state.
Charity begins at home. It will be ironic to see some of your party people standing in the rain, while the core Ebeano is sheltered from the rain. No party harbors only ditto-heads or “amakaekwu”; there are always refuzniks (“ndiekweghi”), those who push the envelopes within the party but eventually vote along party lines for a win. That is the bottom line. This applies also to the opposition but, sincerely speaking, a spread of 24 multi-colored flags out there will constitute a rainbow riot. The failure to build a similar strong structure as the Ebeano group has left a gaping gap in the political terrain. The little gains of APGA in 2003 dissipated, as did the A(N)PP thrust in 1999.
PROGRAMS & POLICIES
Election
campaigns are about ideas. You have taken the lead in presenting concrete
programs and policies. Reading through the 4-point Agenda, it appears your team
has been reading my shout-outs and making notes. Permit to mention the four
points:
(a) Physical infrastructure (roads, housing, water and electricity): The “key thrust” is music to my ears. While we master-plan “emerging peri-urban areas and satellite townships,” we must also plot the renaissance of existing so-called “urban jungles” and carve connecting roads, as the brilliant Chief Z. C. Obi Link Road, to facilitate easy entry and exit. As I told someone at the gathering last night, imagine leaving Onitsha at 6 PM, arriving Enugu at about 7:30 PM to attend a function; leaving Enugu at about 10:45 PM for Nsukka, and arriving at about 11:30 PM for yet another engagement. Then you leave Nsukka at about 2 AM to return to Onitsha before 4 AM. I don’t imagine it: I just did it within the Garden State of New Jersey. In fact, a brother drove up from Baltimore, Maryland, covering a distance of Port Harcourt-Enugu, and he got back to base before dawn. It is doable in our southeast Nigeria. See what the cellular phone revolution did within a few years.
(b) Economic Expansion and Employment (industrial development, agricultural development, tourism): These issues need not be overemphasized. I have already harped on 9th Mile Corner; its potential for revenue generation is enormous. Go for it. However, I must caution on the privatization of coal. The place of coal in our socioeconomic and political development must be preserved. I have read Minister Lesyle Obioha (solid minerals) talking about privatization of “coal properties.” What exactly does she mean, and what does that mean for the good people of Enugu State? I doubt the details of the new Mining Act have been studied. This matter must not be rushed; the happenings in the Niger Delta should guide us in giving total control of coal “properties” to fly-by-night investor cowboys. On tourism and for agreeing with me, please accept a high-five; the Mmanwu Festival is a surefire winner, and the internationalization of Akanu Ibiam Airport is dear to the heart of all southeasterners at home and abroad.
(3) Rural Development (rural access, CDCC, rural industry): Missing here is the proposed empowerment of town unions. Believe it or not, town unions have done a lot more than any local government council in addressing the needs of our communities. You know what I mean. From water to electricity, and from structures to security, town unions have been at the forefront of developmental programs. Let’s face it, the so-called “traditional councils” with propped-up pseudo-monarchs have failed as they did under Lugardian Indirect Rule. The Igbo are rugged republicans; they pay to play willingly in an accountable and open democratic polity.
(4) Service Delivery and Good Governance (basic social amenities – health, education, law & order/security; public service empowerment – housing, transport, training, work environment, pension): This loaded and even cramped category needs no salt and pepper; it covers everything from “increased autonomy” for state’s tertiary education to community policing. The idea of one technical college per senatorial zone can be extended to every local council, as in my original proposal. Every senatorial zone should have a campus of the state university; the west has none! Also, the scrapping of NCE and HND should be pursued in line with the Federal Government guidelines.
CONCLUSION
In all, your proposals target one big goal: Improving the quality of life for all our people regardless of their political perspective or social sophistication. It should not be a do-or-die wrestling. I know why our politicians are bad losers: the winner-takes-all mentality. If you maintain an inclusive approach in your issue-oriented campaigns, you will win more admirers, especially from those who have nothing else against you except that you are supposedly the incumbent’s “surrogate.” Don’t even engage the “I am my own man” mantra; you are the product of a structure, and that’s the bottom-line.
The structure that threw you up has a core component, but the periphery of that core is a part of the whole. Now that you have emerged on top, you need an umbrella strong and wide enough for all your party faithful, no matter their bends and twists these past years. Eventually when you become the governor, the umbrella will cover all our people.
To be continued:::>
A shout-out to Sullivan: (3): An open memo the next Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime
A shout-out to Sullivan: (2): An open memo the next Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime
A shout-out to Sullivan: (1): An open memo the next Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime
M.
O. ENE:
Ebeanaeje: 2007 and beyond