Anambra: Time to Act is Now
By Olatunji Adebayo
"I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom...I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honour awarded me in the 2004 Honours list." The foregoing were the highlights of a letter from a literary icon and Asiwaju of African literature, Professor Chinua Achebe to President Olusegun Obasanjo on why he rejected the 2004 national award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) offered him, as widely reported in the dailies. There is virtually nobody who went to secondary school in Africa, and indeed many parts of the world, President Obasanjo inclusive, who did not come in contact with the name Chinua Achebe. In fact, a few months ago, a national daily informed us that what is widely acknowledeged as Professor Achebe's masterstroke, Things Fall Apart, first published in 1958, had sold over 15 million copies having being translated into more than 16 international languages. Achebe, among many other things, is a recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award, the country's highest honour for intellectual achievement.
In saner climes, when a person of Chinua Achebe's stature speaks, the whole nation listens. And with rapt attention. But in Nigeria things are done the other way round. It is a country where it has become illegal to be law-abiding. It is a country of anything goes. It is a country where the President would preside over a meeting where plans are hatched to kidnap a sitting Governor who, interestingly, is from his party. This perhaps explains why people like Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, Senior Special Assistant to Mr. President on Public Affairs will, at the drop of a hat, blab his gum. Fani-Kayode should have channlled more energy into finding out what could have made a person of Professor Chinua Achebe's stature take such a position on such an important issue as national honours? Professor Achebe is based in the United States, where the arrowhead of the renegades had recently boasted to the bewilderment of hundreds of Nigerians that "Anambra is too small for me, I control the federal government." It is perhaps also instructive that the many court rulings, which, of course, have been constantly flouted with impunity by the "federal forces" were handed down by the State High Court sitting in Ogidi, Achebe's home town.
Instead of admitting that the issue of "a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places (Aso Rock)," was beyond him, Fani-Kayode chose to, as it were, dance naked at the market square. In his interview with The Punch on October 18, Fani-Kayode made a futile and belated attempt to absolve his boss of complicity in the Anambra crisis. Pity! It will be an uphill task to convince a new-born baby that Mr. President has no hands in the travails of Governor Chris Ngige, let alone mature adults who were witnessess to the sordid drama of July 10, 2003, till date. Or is by sheer coincidence that of the 36 State Governors Dr. Ngige is the only governor without police security even when the police is directly under the command of Mr. President? And is it not this same police that is denied Ngige that are at the beck and call of his political opponents to harrass and intimidate the Governor and his supporters? Is it not the arrowhead of this "small clique" who, perhaps not satisfied with playing godfather in Nigeria, Hiding behind the pillar of a dubious court order (whose author has been so ignominously booted out) Mr. President and his yes-man Inspector-General of Police perhaps think Nigerians are amused by their hide and seek game on Ngige's police security.
Truth be told, I am not from Anambra State. In fact, I am Yoruba. But I am also a Nigerian who has resided in Anambra State since it was created in 1991 and who feels very embarrassed, if not ashamed, by what is happening in this very promising but beleagured state. Having done my youth service there, I had little problems settling down particularly as I was offered automatic employment by the state government. Today, however, I have joined the league of struggling businessmen, no thanks to Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju's "no salary" administration. I resigned from the Anambra State civil service in 2002 shortly after one of my old school friends introduced me to paper recycling business. My business base is Onitsha, but I have to constantly travel around the state which afforded me the opportunity of feeling the pulse of the people vis-a-vis Ngige's efforts. If I was not convinced that Ngige has transformed Anambra State, I would not have wasted my precious time contributing this piece.
Ngige's efforts at transforming Anambra State and the apparent hostility of the Presidency to his administration is very puzzling to say the least. Even though I am not a politician, I cannot bring myself to understand why the federal government under Obasanjo is battling Ngige. This fight, I strongly believe, cannot be for the best of reasons because, even though Ngige may not be a saint, nobody has come up with proof of what he has done wrong. We are constantly buffeted by chants of "Ngige must go", by his political opponents. When you demand from them what wrong Ngige has done, they respond by scratching the back of their heads. It is baffling that Mr. President has refused to associate with persons like Ngige who use his office to demonstrate due process and accountability, the high points of Obasanjo's administration. From what I have seen in Anambra State, I wish Mr. President would send his Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence unit to understudy due process under Ngige. Without such virtures it would not have been possible for Ngige to pay salaries when due, even bending backwards to pay up the over seven months' arrears owed by Mbadinuju. Is it not good news that pensioners hardly die these days in Anambra? Most of them started giving up the ghost when Mbadinuju called them "dead woods" to their faces. Today, courtesy of Ngige's prompt payment of their pensions and gratuity they have once again become "living woods." On a personal note, my car began to enjoy a new lease of life the moment Ngige began his road construction programme. Anambra State is so safe today that in Onitsha, where I reside, I can afford to drive into a filling station at 9 pm to fill up my tank! Restaurants, night clubs, cyber cafes and some supermarkets now operate on a 24-hour basis! Ngige has brought so much sanity into Anambra that even the armed robbers have fled. Result: Not a single armed robbery-related death in Anambra since Ngige took over. The state has been transformed from the most crime-laden one to the safest haven in Nigeria.
Obviously Professor Achebe has been getting situation reports on Ngige's "miracles" and soaring popularity in his home state. And so are many other icons from and beyond Anambra State. Obviously, they would have heard how Ngige goes about with boys' scouts as security while one of the "renegades" has almost a whole unit of mobile policemen at his disposal. No doubt, President Olusegun Obasanjo made a mistake by habouring these "renegades." Many other icons are bound to embarrass Mr. President nationally and internationally should these "renegades" be allowed to continue their reign of terror. However, it is not too late for him to opt out of this embarrassing alliance and make peace with Ngige. Until Mr. President does that, the likes of Professor Achebe, many Nigerians, and indeed posterity will judge him as one President who aided and abetted "a small clique of renegades" to subvert the Nigerian Constitution. Mr. President the ball is in your court. Time to act is now.
Mr. Adebayo lives in Onitsha.
|
