By Jude Atupulazi
Three of the five Southeast states in Nigeria are controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. In Ebonyi State you have Francis Nwifuru as Governor; in Enugu State you have Peter Mba and in Imo you have the greatest beneficiary of the APC power, Hope Uzodimma. The other two states are governed by Labour Party (Abia), with Alex Otti as Governor; and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA (Anambra), with Chukwuma Soludo as Governor.
The reality of the day however, is that all the five states’ governors are pro-Tinubu, who is the President of Nigeria on the platform of APC. But of all the governors mentioned above, only the Anambra State Governor, Soludo, has been the one fighting the brightest shining light of the Igbo stock in politics today, Mr Peter Obi.
It is instructive that none of the full APC Southeast Governors has openly attacked Obi who is vying for the Presidency on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, ADC. To say that Obi is the cleanest politician in the country today is to state the very obvious. At least if he is not clean the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which has become the lapdog of the ruling APC, would have since gobbled up Obi.
But going to 12 years after he left office, not a pin has been found missing under his care by the EFCC. And all this while, many of his counterparts have been indicted one way or the other by the EFCC, including the immediate past Governor of his state, Willy Obiano.
But while the rest of the country is celebrating Obi for being different from the corrupt pack, somebody from his own state seems hell bent on de-marketing and diminishing his profile through his utterances, as well as write ups. Who will forget the famous, or is it infamous letter he addressed to Obi in the run up to the 2023 Presidential Election in which without provocation he wrote to tell Obi that Obi would not win the election.
It was a letter that infuriated a lot of Nigerians who scratched their heads to know the reason for that letter. Was he forced to write it or did it entirely emanate from him? He even promised to write a sequel or part two which however never came, probably because of the backlash that followed the first. That singular action has been affecting the popularity of our Governor, and despite the wonderful work he is doing in the state in terms of provision of infrastructure, the majority of the people have not really warmed up to him.
While one may point to his victory in the ensuing Guber Election as rubbishing this argument, it must be noted that the state has been voting this way recently, even in the time of Obiano. They would vote for APGA in the Guber and State Assembly Elections but would vote for Obi in the Presidential.
In fact, because of Obi’s name being on the ballot in the Presidential Election, the people usually vote all the way to such an extent that many candidates in the National Assembly Elections normally win because of being in same party with Obi. It did not just happen here in Anambra but in other states, including the north.
In fact, Obi is so much loved by Nigerians that any attack on him does not need him to talk or fight back; they do that for him free of charge. This is while other politicians hire and pay people to defend them on social media. As can be expected, many of Obi’s adversaries do not like this one bit and often describe Obi’s supporters as a headless mob.
Their anger, as I stated, is understood. The man accused of not spending shishi (not spending money at all) is getting free and nationwide support, while those stealing from our commonwealth to hire and pay people are not getting any good deal.
It will therefore, take a lot of maturity for any opposing politician not to hate Obi. We understand, but at the same time feel no pity for such people. They cannot have their cake and eat it. They cannot be stealing from our commonwealth, depriving Nigerians of their due and caring less for their welfare and expect to be loved. It is either they for the masses or against them.
This is why Obi disrupts events any time he enters the arena. This is no matter how he tries to evade notice. The most recent happened at the dedication of the new cathedral in Nnewi. Soludo was there and was in the front seat as the numero uno man in the state.
Obi sneaked in and took his seat at the very back in the cathedral, such that few knew he was around. But during the introductions, things began to happen. The Bishop of Nnewi Catholic Diocese introduced Soludo and recounted his contributions to the success of the day’s event. There were cheers but they were rather subdued.
But the moment the Bishop announced the presence of ”A former Governor of Anambra State…” the church erupted in thunderous cheers to such an extent that it embarrassed even me watching it later on social media. Despite the Bishop’s pleas to the congregation to stay quiet, the cheers continued as they turned their heads to know where Obi sat, when Obi stood up fleetingly to acknowledge the cheers, the roof of the church nearly came down as the cheers reached a crescendo. It was almost five minutes before the din abated.
Now, it was not as if it was the first time the people in the church were seeing Obi. No. Obi had always been going round, visiting many mission schools and hospitals to donate money for their development and the people had been watching and reading about the visits. In fact, Obi has visited more educational and health institutions in Anambra and beyond than any sitting governor and the president to boot. Yet, this is a man who has not been in office for the last 12 years. If this cannot draw envy from opponents, tell me what will.
But in all this, Obi doesn’t call anyone’s names. He merely talks with the students and sometimes interacts with them, while urging them to take their studies seriously. So why would anyone feel threatened by Obi’s actions? Shouldn’t the governors feel happy that someone is lessening their burden? But then some of them have asked him not to come to their states. They are not asking him not to come for campaign, but they are telling him not to come and help their people.
First was Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, a reverend father, and then the Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo. You hear this kind of thing and you wonder how stupid and petty some people can be because of politics. These are people who cannot do what Obi is doing for their people. This is Nigeria where absurdity reigns.
But if these things happen outside Obi’s state, it becomes very worrisome if he cannot find respite in his own state. This is where Soludo should be prevailed upon to listen to wise counsel and quit attacking Obi. It is so, so unnecessary and only diminishes him as a person. I’m sure if Soludo had been working with Obi, or even not just attacking him, he would have been more popular.
Somehow, Obi has become the anointed of many Nigerians, the suffering masses, who see him as their only hope. I see it as silly for any Igbo man to talk about ”waiting for our time” or wasting our votes by supporting Obi. It is more ridiculous when such comes from home. Whether or not anyone likes it, Obi is the best product coming out from the Igbo Nation.
The Igbos know it, the Hausas know it, the Yorubas know it, the Itshekiris know it, the Nupes know it. But while those other people feign ignorance of this fact, we should not be the ones to help in sustaining the lie that it is not true. The best thing anyone from the East should do is to keep silent like the other Southeast Governors are keeping silent. What he has been saying now is that Ndigbo should not waste their votes; that he and Tinubu are progressives working together. But can he tell or show us what that working together has brought to Anambra State? I am yet to see.
Before someone reminds me that Obi during his time as Governor, worked with Jonathan, it must be noted that no Igbo man was contesting for Presidency, least of all from his state, Anambra, as Obi is doing now.
If the greatest beneficiary of APC’s electoral fraud, Uzodimma, is keeping silent, I wonder why it is Soludo who should be shouting. Soludo, himself, is another great product from the Southeast whose turn may one day come to play national politics. But it is what he does now and how he does it that may count against him when that time comes. Even if the people forget, the internet never does. It is not every time that one talks. At times, silence is better, much better.
