No longer a family affair in Anambra
By Reuben Abati
THE people of Anambra State woke up on Tuesday, November 9, to discover that their state had made the final descent into anarchy, with "things falling apart" around them; as elected representatives were smoked out of their homes by rampaging thugs, the Governor was most conveniently trapped in temporary exile in Abuja; all over the state, legitimate authority had been replaced by the rule of the mob. Make no truck about it, the devil is now effectively in control in Anambra state. Chris Ngige, its embattled Governor, was quoted yesterday as saying: "My state is very peaceful and governable, so anybody who says anything different is on his own". If Anambra State is peaceful and governable, why is Ngige in hiding in far-away Abuja? Why did he not return to Anambra the moment he heard that the state was in the hands of political thugs? If he is as courageous as he is saying he is, why did he have to evacuate his children and wife? We are told that he is in Abuja to brief President Obasanjo. I hope he would be granted the audience that he seeks. I am on my own: I intend to say something different.
Around 3 a m on November 9, a group of thugs, generally referred to as "unidentified gunmen" in media reports launched a violent attack on government property across the state. Armed with guns, kegs of petrol, explosives and other dangerous weapons, they burnt down public buildings including those housing the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) Radio 2, Onitsha; ABS Radio 1 at Enugwu Ukwu, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), and the State Education Commission, Awka. In a significant display of contempt for constituted authority, they besieged the legislative quarters in the state capital, drove Anambra lawmakers, and their families out of their homes, vandalised as many vehicles as they could lay their hands on, and left the lawmakers in a state of utter helplessness. They did not leave out the Government House, the seat of power. Ngige was quite lucky he was out of town. They set fire to his Executive Chambers and vandalised the Deputy Governor's office. A unit of the rampaging thugs also operated in Onitsha where they set two luxury buses ablaze, and blocked the River Niger bridge.
This Mafia-like operation must have gone on for almost seven hours. There has been no report to the effect that the thugs were masked, or that they were afraid of any reprisals. These were hardened criminals involved in a premeditated act of arson, and disruption of public order. They are bold beyond description, and assertive in a scandalous manner. That they could execute their dastardly act, in open defiance of the law, and with all institutions and apparatuses of the state, totally prostrate, points to nothing else but anarchy. It is a sad comment on the character of the Nigerian state. It is a sad day for Nigeria, and a long night for the people of Anambra. What has happened in Anambra, is a failure of security, and the failure as well of intelligence and reason. It was so bad that even all the security agents who were supposed to save the situation, became spectators. Not surprisingly, a lot of concerned Nigerians are asking the questions: what is wrong with us? Is there hope for this country? Are we all on the road to a certain perdition?
And I ask two questions of my own: But is anyone surprised? Should anyone wonder why the situation in Anambra has gone totally out of control? Professor Chinua Achebe has been vindicated. Unknown to him, he was making a statement in the realm of prophecy, when in rejecting the offer of a national honour by the Federal Government, he had expressed displeasure with President Obasanjo's handling of the Anambra crisis. The saliva had hardly dried on Achebe's tongue, in spite of the government's misplaced response, when Anambra was fatally wounded by "unidentified" arsonists and gunmen. A tragedy of this proportion, or even worse was bound to occur in Anambra state. This is what happens when government refuses to stand by the truth and justice, and ensure that the rule of law is not subjected to narrow considerations. This is the inevitable prospect when democracy is turned into a commercial matter, when politics is personalised, and the evil day is wilfully postponed by public officials behaving like traders. This is the effect, as it were, of the seizure of power by an irresponsible party and its undisciplined members, without any grand vision of national progress.
Following the July 10, 2003 failed abduction of Governor Ngige, the enlightened community of commentators and stakeholders had advised the Nigerian government to respond appropriately to the challenges posed by that assault on democracy and constituted authority. The substantive issues were fairly straightforward - one, that it is criminal for anyone or group of persons, purporting to be aggrieved, to seek to effect a change of government through the forceful removal of an elected Governor; two, that only the state House of Assembly is constitutionally empowered to impeach a sitting Governor, following due process, and finally, three - that persons who openly subvert the rule of law must be made to answer for their deeds. At the time, a number of moral and ethical revelations were subsequently made about the democratic process in Anambra State, the most scandalous being the contractual agreement between Chris Uba, and Ngige, and the occultic swearing to an oath by the latter. It was, all round, a shameful situation, a blot on the escutcheon of democracy, an extra-ordinary event, requiring a decisive response. But what happened?
The PDP resolved that it was "a family affair" and proceeded to sweep the scandal under the carpet. A series of reconciliation meetings were purportedly held. But the hypocrisy of the PDP solution, and its ineffectuality as a political party, has now been exposed. The Anambra debacle is no longer the family affair they thought it was. The conflict that they sought to bury has refused to die. Since 2003, Governor Ngige has not been able to govern. He has been living day by day, governing provisionally by the hour, with the fear of his own shadow trailing him about. As Governor, there was no room for him to concentrate on the development process, because of the enemies around him. He did not even have official protection. He was at the mercy of his own arrangements. He was a man in a race against time. It was only a matter of time before his enemies got him, or before he made peace with them, or before their conflict degenerated into mayhem.
I pity the people of Anambra State. They are the sad victims of the reign of anarchy in that part of the country. All the public buildings that have been razed to the ground were built with the people's money, and they would be reconstructed at the people's cost. Government exists to serve the people, but the government of Anambra State has been effectively sacked. How would Anambra lawmakers now sit to deliberate, knowing that there are unidentified gunmen out there, monitoring their movement? And would the Governor be able to return to Awka? Would he take the risk of walking into the waiting hands of the enemy? And if he does, who would offer him protection? Ngige is in a worse situation than he was a year ago. In 2003, the Chris Uba faction of the Anambra PDP accepted responsibility for the attempt on his office.
This time, the two PDP factions are trading accusations, pointing long and short fingers at each other, with nobody accepting responsibility. So, who are those gunmen? What is their mission? Who are their sponsors? What exactly do they want? These are pertinent questions to which the Nigerian state should be seeking answers. The outlaws in Anambra did not issue any statements, nor have they made any claims. What is known about them is the signature of violence that they have left behind. It is sad that we live in a country where unidentifiable gunmen enjoy a special privilege to commit crimes, and melt into oblivion. They are emboldened by the failure of the Nigerian state to check the spread of criminality. Every act of murder, or arson that goes unresolved strengthens the resolve of the next criminal to inflict injury on the state and individuals. It is Anambra today, it would be another state tomorrow, and this is so because of the failure of leadership in Nigeria.
There have been speculations as to the intention of the Anambra gunmen. The Chris Uba faction is calling for the declaration of a state of emergency. Governor Ngige is insisting that he is still in charge. The declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State had created so much controversy, particularly because of the arrogant manner in which the Presidency handled it. But how about Anambra? If the Governor can no longer be safe inside Government House, and members of the House of Assembly are in hiding, then, what is left of government? The resurgence of hostilities in Anambra should provide an opportunity for addressing the key issues which have robbed the people of that area, of the benefit of a peaceful democratic process, since 2003.
The people of Anambra must begin to speak up, no matter their situation, and insist on their own preference. Do they want peace? Or are they also mere spectators in the unfolding of the tragedy of their lives? Anambra, like Plateau before it, is a metaphor for Nigeria. There is a lot that is wrong with this land. There is a lot that needs to be done. Government has a responsibility to ensure that the democratic argument is not won by those who carry guns, explosives and kegs of petrol. The faith of the average person in Anambra in the Nigerian state is being eroded. The ultimate cost is hard to imagine. The reign of gunmen in Anambra state must be brought to a quick and decisive end. Those outlaws must be taken off the streets, handcuffed, detained, their sponsors must be unmasked and they must all be sent to the prison where they belong. This is an issue in which President Obasanjo cannot feign indifference. If he is so concerned about Darfur, Ghana, Liberia, and elsewhere, he must realise that he owes the people of Anambra a lot more than he is offering.
This was part of Achebe's message. Anambra must not be allowed to become the undoing of the rest of the nation. In front of the now deserted Governor's office in Awka is the inscription: "It shall be well with Anambra State". We can only hope so.
