By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
I remember vividly how we used to shout down a fellow student in the classroom or in an academic gathering when he or she was making a wrong statement or giving an answer that did not concern the subject matter under discussion. Voices bombed the air with, “OP! OP!! OP!!!”. This means out of point.
It means a digression or beating about the bush. It is just like leaving the road and walking through the bush. When I was in the secondary school, a particular student always frightened us during examinations with voluminous writing. Almost every five minutes, he raised his hand shouting, “Paper!” When I was trying to finish one page, he had already written five pages.
He believed in volumes whereas I concentrated on points. One day when the answer scripts were shared, I saw him fuming and soliloquizing. He wrote ten pages and got 50% while I wrote three pages and scored 80%. I casually glanced into his answer script and saw three pages of his answer script marked with bold X in red. On top of each page, the teacher wrote ‘OP’ in capital letters.
In our Geography class test, we were asked to write three pages on the Monsoon Region. One of us, who was very proud and self-righteous, began by clearing the bush in two pages before dealing on the subject matter in one page.
The teacher cancelled the bush clearing and judged him on the third page. He scored 30% over 100%. Instead of admitting his fault, he went to the teacher to complain. The teacher dismissed him with a wave of hand and told him that he wrote out of point in the first two pages. From that day we nicknamed him OP.
During my first year in Philosophy at Bigard Memorial Seminary Philosophy Campus, Ikot Ekpene (now known as Saint Joseph’s Major Seminary Ikot Ekpene), I was highly impressed with the method of an expatriate priest lecturer, Father Marcello Gonzales, who thought us Introduction to Philosophy.
During periodic tests or semester examinations, he insisted on points, rather than volumes. Those who suffered from cancer of volume scored low marks. It is better to hit the nail on the head than parading with a hammer around it. A touching homily delivered in fifteen minutes is far more beneficial than an empty homily given in one hour. Priests and Men of God, take note! Some of us preach out of point.
Where am I going? The first civilian Governor of the new Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife (Okwadike) of blessed memory, was planning and planning on how to develop the new state for a period of two years. The money he stored lost its value every passing day. He was just like a boy who took excessive time in drawing his catapult until the bird he was aiming at suddenly flew away.
Before Governor Ezeife could begin any developmental project, the military struck and took over government. All democratic institutions were dissolved with immediate effect. When he retired home on that fateful coup day, it was alleged that his villagers counted him among the local vigilantes to guard the town on that night. What a humiliation! His two years of planning ended in OP. However, he was a good man but time choked him.
When democratic rule returned later, the late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju came on board as the second civilian Governor of Anambra State. He was more interested in market prayers than developing the young state. Worst of all, his political godfather held him captive and siphoned the monthly allocations of the state. Thus Mbadinuju was koboless. He owed civil servants.
Most affected were the teachers. When the teachers could no longer bear hunger, they went on an indefinite strike. As a result government schools remained closed for one full year. As an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, some of the students and pupils joined bad gangs. A few, whose parents could afford exorbitant fees, migrated to private schools. Regrettably, Governor Mbadinuju spent four years without any meaningful achievement. Indeed he governed out of point for four years.
Respite came to Anambra State during the three years administration of Governor Chris Ngige. He narrowly escaped the trap of his political godfather. In fact he was kidnapped, but destiny saved him. He paid off the debts owed to civil servants by his predecessor. Then he built lasting roads across the state, but more in his home local government Idemili.
For him, charity begins at home. Anambrarians doffed off their caps for him for bringing light into the darkened state. No wonder he has ‘Onwa’ (Moon) as his nickname. Unfortunately he was governing with someone’s mandate. Thus the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu sent him packing.
My people say that if an adult takes a child’s property and raises it up, a time will come when the pains in the raised-up hand will compel him or her to put down the hand so that the child will reclaim its property. At the appointed time, the stolen mandate of Governor Peter Obi was restored to him and he took the oath of office as the duly elected Governor of Anambra State.
To solve the out of point palaver bedeviling the state, he asked two joint pertinent questions: ‘Are we cursed or are we the cause?’ Eventually, he found out that we, Anambrarians, were the cause. After diagnosis follow prescription and healing. Within the eight years of exceptional governance, he raised Anambra State to an enviable height in academics, medicine, humanity and magnificent structures.
Thus, Anambra State became the Light of the Nation. Indeed, Peter Obi wrote his name in gold in the state and nationwide till date. He contested the 2023 Presidential Election under the Labour Party and excelled. Everybody knows what happened. If he is given a chance to be President in 2027, Nigeria will come next to America.
His successor, Governor Willie Obiano (Akpokuodike), continued from where Peter Obi stopped. He was popularly nicknamed Alert Governor because he paid civil servants promptly. His greatest achievement from saving Anambra State from out of point syndrome was the building of the magnificent Anambra Airport. Anambrarians started flying like birds.
The present Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, came with effective out of point solutions. In every cranny of the state, Solution is there. He is connecting the state with lasting roads and dualizing the major roads. He builds hospitals, markets and parks. Within the space of three years, he constructed the best Government House in Nigeria.
He does not owe civil servants. His goal is to market Anambra State as the Dubai of Africa. Very soon marketers and tourists will be pouring into the state. He is transforming the state without borrowing. As a former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, he knows how to manage available resources. He has woken up to secure the lives of the besieged citizens of the state.
Hence, Terrorists, kidnappers and bloody native doctors are on the run (Oso Soluudo). My prayer is that they should not come back. Perhaps no one will talk and act out of point in Anambra State again because Solution is here! Will Solution still be here in 2027? Our votes shall tell, come 8 November 2025.
On the National level, most of the past military and civilian leaders of Nigeria ruled out of point. Consequently, after 65 years of Independence, we are still crawling. Corruption seems to be endemic. The recent past president, Muhammadu Buhari, is said to have taken Nigeria eight years backward. His Change Mantra brought retrogression, instead of progression.
The 2023 Presidential Election was highly controversial and out of point. Instead of the promised electronic transmission of results, it was manipulated manually by INEC chairman and the powers that be. To worsen the situation, the Supreme Court ruled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into office. He came to power with his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Without providing adequate measures to curtail the sufferings of Nigerians, he removed the Fuel Subsidy. Suffering multiplied automatically and the result is renewed suffering. The cost of living became extraordinarily exorbitant.
He went further to devalue the Naira and put in place crushing economic policies that have crippled the country. Insecurity rose from worse to worst. According to His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, “Living standards of Nigerians have drnopped significantly in last two years.” Nigeria is sinking deeper into a point of point palaver. Who will bell the cat in 2027? God save us!
