Lets build Anambra after the rigging
Chinedu Maduabum
Onitsha, Nigeria
Friday, April 13, 2007
Nigerians are expected to troop out in their millions on the 14th of April to caste their votes for their preferred candidates that will run the affairs of their various states for another four years. The build up to the general elections have been very tensed and where immediate success is attained by saying what the people can be made to believe, rather than what is demonstrably true, accent has been generally placed on the desirable than on the possible. Hence, it is in times like this that politicians make promise(s) to build a bridge even where there is no river and it even baffles them that the people believe them. If there is one terrain that political activities have been very tensed, it is Anambra state. It is the only state that has produced four different governors since 1999 when the country was liberated from military dictatorship. One of who became the first female governor in the country.
The political build up to April 14th in the state so far has further indicated that it will be one of the closely monitored states. The actors are all ready and I must say that this is indeed the first time that most of the candidates if not all have really embarked on massive campaigns. However, and with due respect to other aspirants many will be monitoring closely the events between Dr. Chris Ngige (AC) who has the ‘crown’ and Andy Uba (PDP) the acclaimed anointed governor of the state. The anointing and the crown It is one thing to be anointed and another to have the crown. It is the lord that anoints but the people crown. He anointed David but the people (Israel) crowned him as their king after they were impressed by his character and strength. Christ was also anointed by the God to be king but it was not easy for him and, after three and half years of ministration, only 120 people were in the upper room to receive the fire; a mark of those who accepted him then. He had to go back so as to come again, which we are all anticipating. The issue is not just to be anointed but for the people to accept you.
This is however not another biblical event so we don’t expect God to anoint anybody directly or indirectly but a political event that requires the anointing of a godfather all the same. In most cases after such anointing, the lucky one goes ahead to win the crown even if the people are willing to crown him. At least it’s the difference between that of God. If God anoints anyone, there is a 100% assurance that the people will accept him and that is what is called theocracy. Christ is today being accepted worldwide irrespective of the fact that he left behind only 120 to spread his message. However, this is not theocracy but democracy the Nigerian style where the anointed one must emerge governor irrespective of the fact that he is accepted or not by the masses.
A typical example of the Nigerian style is Anambra state. It is quite a complex one and everyone will be watching with great interest how it will end. There is no doubt that if any election is conducted in the state on a free and fair basis, Chris Ngige of Action Congress (AC) will emerge winner but it seems he is being hunted by his own past. It is said, ‘he who digs a pit must surely fall in it’. In 2003 when Dr. Ngige emerged as the controversial winner, he was in the same position as his fierce rival and the acclaimed anointed one – Andy Uba of PDP. However, Ngige have worked his way to reckoning and is now the bride of Anambra politics and arguably the most talked about politician in his day. On the contrary, Andy Uba who has already been anointed from Abuja will be looking to restore the pride of their family name that is already in the recycle bin. So what are their odds?
INEC as an instrument
The
build up towards the election has been very frustrating on the path of Ngige –
no thanks to INEC that has left him like a candle in the wind. Even after the
court has declared that INEC should put his name in the ballot paper, INEC has
continually insisted that Ngige stands disqualified. Initially it was because he
did not attend the screening exercise but presently it is that an administrative
panel indicted him. There is no doubt that INEC is working for the interest of
Andy Uba - if rumours are anything to go by. It is even believed from this end
that he recommended INEC chairman Prof Maurice Iwu to the post. How then do we
expect the body to work against him? Unconfirmed reports even have it that the
president is willing to sacrifice the Federal to Anambra simply because Andy is
now the new Otumba Fasawe – at least he will be immune with immunity.
I see the whole thing as pay back time to Ngige. Power they say is an emotionally charged word. When we possess it we call it influence, but when someone else holds it we are content to use the ugly word. Yet there is nothing wrong with power; it takes power to get things done. Power is the application of intelligence to force. A river maybe a terrific force, but it develops power only when directed through a turbine. Today unlike four years ago power was on the side of Ngige that is why he was declared winner by INEC even after he lost at the polls. The whole thing has happened so fast that many seem to have forgotten the past so quickly or maybe they are merely satisfied with what Ngige achieved than how he emerged. Then if this is the argument and it is now a culture, INEC should go ahead and declare Andy winner knowing fully well that he will loose at the polls. Surely he will deliver the state just as Ngige or don’t you think so?
Money/gift sharing
Another interesting factor in the build up to this election is the fact that the people see this era as the only realistic time of getting something out from these politicians. And Andy Uba is highly noted for this gesture. He splashes gifts ranging from rice, motorcycles, grinding and sewing machines etc and money everywhere he goes like it means nothing to him – of course it means nothing to him. Other parties that Andy Uba is splashing money and gift to electorates so as to buy their vote have heavily criticized this gesture (you can call it kind if you like). And the rumour that these gifts such as motorcycle and the rice were those seized by this administration from fellow Igbo traders is escalating. Whether it is true or not, no one is sure but in every rumour, there is an iota of truth. But who cares: one of the beneficiaries of the gifts made me to understand that this is his only realistic chance of getting something out from these politicians. Get yours if you can – he concluded after all someone must always be the victim.
I do not really think it is immoral to splash gift and money to electorate during campaign. Politics will be incomplete without these money and gift. And if in Nigerian politics the electorate see it as their only realistic chance of getting something then it is a welcome development. What is immoral here is the rumour that Andy Uba is robbing Peter to pay Paul. According to the same rumour that is escalating pretty fast, the man whose bags of rice were seized is from Nnewi. There is so far no evidence to back this rumour and no official denial from the Andy Uba camp. This is act is evil and completely immoral.
However, my concern is the fact that in 2003, Chris Ngige was splashing the same gift to the electorate during his campaign trail. He was going about splashing gift and money. It is believed that he did not spend from his coffers but was being sponsored by his acclaimed godfather and half-brother to Andy Uba in the person of Chris Uba. It is the same scenario today because it is also believed that Andy is not spending from his coffers. But he is being sponsored from Abuja. Chris Ngige is not sharing money/gifts this time around but he is going about asking the people to guard and protect their vote against any rigging, which is wonderful. I know Peter Obi did the same but went on to loose at the polls. Oh! Poor Ngige how time flies so fast.
The case of rigging
It was the same Ngige who openly boasted in 2003 that he does not need the vote of the masses to become the governor and he was right about that. He was being booed everywhere he goes to campaign but that did not deter him an inch. The same thing no doubt is happening to Andy Uba. He was stoned and thrown sachets of water but he remained focus that he will be declared winner whether the masses vote for him or not. The people do not want Andy and he is aware of that just as Ngige in 2003 but an unconfirmed source has it that he boasted of his chances irrespective of the outcome at the polls. What an interesting déjà vu.
It will therefore be morally unjust for Ngige to preach the doctrine of rigging when he made it clear that his election was written on the same table with that of the president in 2003. And it was justified when he lost at the tribunal. Many have even argued that Ngige would have finished his tenure if he had not fallen apart with Abuja and Peter Obi would have been languishing in the cold. However, all that has happened so fast and Ngige who benefited from the rigging of 2003 is now at the receiving end, asking the same people whom he rigged their vote in 2003 to guard it this time around. I don’t think Ngige is being just. I think he should endure it through the tribunal, which is no doubt the next stage after Andy would have been declared winner after April 14th and sworn in on May 29th all things being equal.
Conclusion
Having said all these, it is very important to point out that Anambra state has suffered a lot. This is the only state that is yet to witness true peace since its creation. And with the way things are going, there is bound to be more and more crisis that will continue to keep the state static. I want to use this opportunity to call on whoever that will be declared winner more especially Andy who is almost certain going by the analysis of this article to know that the state belongs to us all. Four years may look like far away but it is not. Some of us who are observing now will be fully matured to participate and we will no longer sit and allow some few individuals to continue to strip the state of its already battered image. I enjoin all of us to embrace whoever that will win and lets work as one to restore the pride and dignity of the state. It is our state and we must stand for it. It is widely believed that if Anambra is stable, the southeast will be stable. Hence, I appeal to everyone to burry the hatchet and embrace peace so that we can use the next four years to heal the wounds and then focus on the subsequent four years to produce the next president of this country. We can do it if we all agree and work towards it.