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Anambra�s controversial Liberation Day
John Ameh
The first anniversary of the abduction of Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, on July 10, 2003 was celebrated last Saturday in Awka, the state capital. The anniversary could easily pass for a jamboree. Those who had expressed fears that the event could lead to violence must have been disappointed as it was done peacefully. Beyond the personal desire of Ngige to pray and thank God for �surviving from being held at gun point for over three hours on July 10, 2003,� the people of the state, either for reasons of long period of inactivity or in solidarity with Ngige, seemed to have been longing for an opportunity where they could catch some fun, dance and sing.
While the major event of the day, as stated on the programme of events, was to be an Inter-Denominational Thanksgiving Service to be followed by prayer sessions, it turned out that the service started and ended in less than 25 minutes. For the next five to six hours, jubilant men, women, youths, civil servants, traders, motor cyclists, local government election candidates, students and many other groups, sweated it out dancing under the scorching sun at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Square, Awka, venue of the celebration.
10:15 am
Invited guests started arriving. They included traditional rulers, members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, members of the Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industrialists, delegations from the Hausa and Yoruba communities, the clergy and artistes. With music and drumming of all shades blaring from loudspeakers mounted at strategic points within the square, most of the groups engaged in dancing before the service commenced.
12:10 pm
Ngige, the Chief Celebrant, arrived the square in style. He came with an unusually long convoy of cars. His entry into the arena was heralded by about 200 motor cyclists who rode into the square performing wild stunts. The agile young men on the bikes wore lemon colour vests with the inscription, �Governor Chris Ngige, Carry Go!� Waving his trademark elephant tusk at the crowd, Ngige, who came with his wife, alighted from his new bullet proof Mercedes Benz jeep to shake hands with dignitaries. Then followed the National Anthem. Drumming, dancing and the shout of Onwa (the governor�s traditional title meaning the moon), were so loud at this moment that it was difficult to engage in any conversation.
12:20 pm
Service of songs and thanksgiving commenced. Ngige took the first reading from Exodus15: 1-13; 17 and 18, while his Deputy, Chief Ugochukwu Nwankwo, took the second from Ephesians 4: 17-18 and 22-32. The Gospel reading for the celebration was taken from Luke 12: 42-48. Methodist Bishop of Onitsha, Rt. Rev. Chibuzo Okpoko, admonished political leaders to be clean and pure in heart while taking decisions that would affect the lives of the people. �Unless there is a clean heart and a commitment to peace and unity, our leaders, whether at the federal, state and local government levels, will be wasting their time,� Okpoko said.
12:45 pm
End of service. Then began the �Liberation Day Rally,� which was turned into a musical concert and carnival. Those that performed struggled to outdo one another. With the atmosphere now charged, what followed next could best be described as confusion. It got worse when Evangelist Sunny Okosuns took the stage to give the crowd a dose of some of his popular tunes such as �Ziga-o-Ozi,� �No more War,� �Africans Unite� and other liberation songs. Perhaps, since he left the defunct Mass Mobilisation for Social Justice, Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery, some years ago, the Senior Special Assistant to Ngige on Mass Mobilisation and State Orientation, Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuka, had never been so worn out in trying to control a large crowd that would not stop dancing even after all singing and drumming had been ordered stopped.
When Chukwuka succeeded in partially calming the crowd, civil rights activists, Chief Mike Ozekhome, Mr. Festus Keyamo and the Director General of the Peoples� Democratic Institute, Abuja, Dr. Haruna Damin, took their turn on the podium to condemn the July10, 2003 abduction of Ngige by those they described as �mercantilist godfathers and the forces of evil.� Ozekhome advised the people of the state to �pursue the forces of evil into the forest,� while Keyamo enjoined them not to �allow the new phase of democracy in Nigeria, represented by Ngige, to be destroyed.�
Benue State Governor, Mr. George Akume, who sent his Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jacob Ogwuche, to the event, commiserated with Ngige. Akume recalled that he had a similar experience on March 3, 2004, while travelling to Kaduna for a meeting and narrowly escaped the assassins bullets. He said, �Just like you (Ngige), though I lost a bossom friend in that attack, all I had left for protection was my God who eventually saved me.�
4:05 pm
The governor mounted the rostrum to deliver his five minutes speech extempore. He went straight on the defensive, in apparent reference to critics who had observed that the celebration was a mere waste of resources as there was nothing to celebrate in his abduction, insisting that the day would ever be remembered in the state for setting the people free from the hands of captives. Recalling that he confronted death on the day to set a new tone for the development of Anambra State, he said, �For over three hours, I was held incommunicado at gun point. I could have been killed but I stood my grounds. And today, we have marked the day without bloodshed, without the police. It simply means that the people cherish their freedom. We shall not surrender to injustice but continue to fight.�
4:30 pm - 5 pm
Driving ahead of a procession from the square, the governor went to the gates of the Government House, Awka, to unveil �The Freedom Statue.� He then drove through major streets in the town to the Governor�s Lodge, Amawbi, for a state banquet. A church Service wound off the event on Sunday.
Controversy, however, has continued to trail the three-day event, which started on Friday, July 9 with a public lecture at the Women Development Centre, Awka. Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, delivered a lecture entitled, �The Imperative for True Federalism in an Emerging Democracy: A Case Study of Nigeria,� while Ghana�s Minister of Integration and New Partnership for Africa�s Development, Dr. Kanadu Apraku, spoke on �Nkrumah�s Vision for the Emancipation of Africa and its Relevance to the Development of ECOWAS.�
In spite of Ngige�s defence, many critics had advised against the event, recalling that the events that led to the abduction were disgraceful enough and better forgotten. The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party had ordered the event cancelled, warning that it was too early for Ngige to celebrate. The party expressed the fear that celebration by any of the contending forces in the state�s political crisis would only erode the gains made in the efforts to resolve the conflict. It advised Ngige, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Venatius Ikem, to shelve the event.
A stalwart of the All Nigeria Peoples Party in the state, Air Vice Marshal Canice Umenwaliri, was not sure if the state had been libearted as being claimed by Ngige. Umenwaliri, who attended the event based on a personal invitation extended to him by Ngige, said, �The governor personally invited me to attend. But as to whether Anambra is now liberated, only the government can explain their choice of the day. I am not a member of the PDP. I am not in this government. They know why they are celebrating this day. I don�t know.�
However, a former Minister of Defence (Airforce), Chief Dan Chuke, said the day was worth celebrating. Chuke said though there might be different views on the issue, �The truth is that since the abduction, things have been taking shape in this state. It is truly a day of emancipation. People might have their views yet, the fact remains that there is something to remember about today.�
The Punch, Tuesday July 27, 2004
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