As the November 8 Governorship Election Campaigns in Anambra State approach the climax, candidates and their parties are firing on all cylinders to emerge victorious. We are however, worried at the spate of name calling and bad politics threatening to mar the process. While it is expected that candidates and parties should be focusing more on their manifestos, the reverse has become the case, leaving responsible citizens embarrassed.
Indeed, since the Second Republic Campaigns, in which the then Governor of Old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, and the late Chief Christian Onoh, were principal characters, when politics of rancour and name calling were the vogue, things had improved in later years, with emphasis on the blueprint by candidates and parties for the electorate taking the upper hand.
But fast forward to today, it seems we are back to the dark years, given the type of bad blood being experienced now. Not long ago, supporters of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, clashed with their All Progressives Congress, APC, counterparts in Agukwu Nri, at an event.
There was also the altercation between the Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, and the Guber Candidate of APC, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, during the recent By-Election in Anambra South. It was a confrontation that nearly resulted in fisticuffs.
But lately, something of another kind has begun to rear its ugly head and that is name calling and casting of aspersions on opponents. Surprisingly, however, the chief aggressor happens to be the number one citizen of the state, Prof Chukwuma Soludo.
If he is not trolling the Candidate of APC, Ukachukwu, for having poor results in the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, he is accusing Ukachukwu’s running mate, Senator Uche Ekwunife, of having a fake doctorate, and threatening to deal with those with fake results after the elections, in the same way he is now dealing with fake native doctors.
The other day, when his former opponent, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, came to greet him at an event, Soludo started making unnecessary loud remarks about Ozigbo who quietly avoided him and went on to greet other people.
These things coming from a chief executive of a state and who has a high academic background, is to say the least, worrisome and unbecoming, as these could trigger responses from those other people’s supporters that could heat up the polity.
Really, we expect that Soludo should be the one reining in his supporters from embarking on a campaign of calumny, rather than being the one to be instigating such in the name of campaigning. We find it purely infra-dignitatem.
Soludo as the number one citizen, should lead by example and address issues rather than personalities. It is the electorate that will decide who to vote for based on the candidate’s pedigree and scorecard. There is nothing to be gained by calumnious campaigns but everything to gain from issues based campaigns.
This is not about running down our governor but about truthfully addressing what is going wrong. Anambra has outgrown this type of politicking which was last seen in the Second Republic.
No one should unnecessarily disturb the peace of the state through unchecked utterances, not least the state’s number one citizen. The election can surely be won without such. Let everyone apply civility in these times and pass a positive message to the younger generation.
