The PDP may betray its mandate
SIR: The recent organised terrorism in Anambra State has been described in many frightening terms: mayhem, aggression, barbaric, vandalism, acts of terrorism, sustained carnage, heinous crime, sacrilegious, mafia-style, extreme provocation, shameful action, etc.
During the three-day siege on Anambra State, almost every known government structure in Awka and Onitsha was destroyed: Governor's Office, Deputy Governor's Office, other offices, the State House of Assembly, Women Development Centre, Ikenga Hotels, the State Independent Electoral Commission, ABS Radio and Television Stations at Awka and Onitsha, UNIZIK Students Bus, among others.
The action of these hired and well-coordinated terrorists has been roundly condemned by all segments of the society: the Ohaneze Ndigbo, the League of Anambra Professionals (LAP), traditional rulers in Anambra State, the Society of Ozo titled elders in Awka, the House of Representatives, and an Association of Christian Women that went from one destroyed structure to another, carrying their Bibles on their heads, weeping, praying, rolling on the ground, and asking the Almighty God to punish the perpetrators. The society of Ozo titled elders in Awka were shown on television placing curses on the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
The destruction of UNIZIK bus must, indeed, qualify as an act of "extreme provocation", as the students were busy preparing for their examinations, and had no grouse with anybody at all. The terrorists must have known that UNIZIK is a federal institution. We commend the management of the university and the students, that the students did not surge to the streets to challenge the arsonists. If they did, some of the buses that brought the hoodlums would not have left Awka, and there would have been more injuries, and even deaths.
It is strange that what happened in Anambra State is being explained in terms of the struggle between factions of the PDP in the state. One would expect that the rank and file of PDP know very well that the structures destroyed belong to the people of Anambra State, and neither to the PDP as a party, nor to Dr. Chris Ngige as governor. We must thank God that they did not proceed to burn down the markets in Awka and Onitsha.
It is even more strange that while those who contested elections and lost are patiently following the proceedings at the Election Tribunals and the Appeal Courts, those who did not contest elections are on the rampage. If the organised thuggery had been organised by supporters of an opposition party, there could have been some weird logic to their action.
For the PDP to suggest that what happened could be explained as the struggle for power between factions of the party in Anambra State, clearly forebodes evil for 2007. The leadership of the PDP must be worried about this.
In 1999, a weary nation, sapped by years of military dictatorship gave a clear mandate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to re-direct the nation and lead us to the promised land. Five years on, events like the Anambra debacle, the State of Emergency in Plateau State, the horrors in Zaki Biam and Odi, the internecine struggle in the Niger Delta, the challenge of the Sharia, the unbearable inflation and unemployment rates, the intractable war against corruption " all these are frightening indicators that the PDP will betray that mandate.
G.E.O. Ogum,
Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka, Anambra State
