Anambra, are we cursed or are we the cause?

By Theo Eze
IN 2002, the current governor of our state asked this question as he set out to convince us that our destiny can be changed upon his assumption of office as  governor.

That year, violent crime was perfectly under control  then and there was no propaganda or publicity about it. Mr. Peter  Obi who had three Peugeot 504 cars was seen as a man with  modest taste who campaigned on issues. Obi introduced himself to us as a trader and  his deputy as a teacher.

Now, you dare not refer to Obi as trader as he has reinvented himself as a whiz kid banker. He freely talks about  his banking days with the likes of Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

Obi has however shown by his practice that he is a consummate trader. Since he assumed office, money is the principal fixation and every decision is based on it. Why do you think this maverick governor failed to conduct local government elections after nearly four years in office? Money is the issue.

Precisely, it is about him not personally losing control of the billions in local government funds monthly. Why does our governor delay payment of salaries? No civil servant was paid his salary before this Christmas again. For the fourth year in a row under our current governor, our civil servants spent Christmas without being paid a dime and we are not talking of bonuses here but their basic salaries.

Most months, these workers get their pay in the third week following the month it was due.For a governor who promised to resign from office if workers were not paid by the 26th day of any month, it is unbelievable!

The answer is very simple; the interest on the money being ‘saved’ for us has to mature before our  workers can be paid. Why are certificates of contractors for work already completed not being paid to them? Most contractors have not been paid since January 2009 and bank interest accrue by the day on funds borrowed  have wiped off any gain they would have made.

These contractors are now running losses because they executed legitimate contracts. Why are mega projects like the new airport not being executed while his mega shopping complex in Abuja is being rushed to completion ?  As a trader, our governor knows the power of money. In fact, he knows the manipulative power of money. He brags about how everyone has a price.

I have since believed him after seeing a handful of his critics queuing up for crumbs falling off his sumptuous table, including two former  federal ministers of health from our state, both  former arch critics of our governor,  have suddenly seen the wonders he is performing.

Today, our governor no longer campaigns with Peugeot cars but helicopters, yes helicopters. Our governor charters aircrafts too, for various sponsored groups to come and inspect executed projects in Anambra. These are the same projects awarded by his deputy in the three months for which he sponsored articles against her that she ‘squandered’ billions of ‘saved’ funds.

Today also, our governor flies Ojukwu around in helicopters because it is no longer safe for Ojukwu to arrive our state by road and yet, this was the same Ojukwu whom our governor alleged was part of the Nnewi Mafia that impeached him.

It is election time and once again our manipulative governor no longer wears any attire that does not have Ojukwu’s imprint on it. Yet ,this is  the same Ojukwu whose son our holy governor could not work with in  his cabinet. Not just Emeka Ojukwu jr. but over  ten other cabinet colleagues also resigned in disgust.

In an NTA interview Point blank with the then Director General Tonie Iredia, our governor claimed that he does not use anything other than Peugeot 406 as official vehicles when the truth was that at the time, his convoy of jeeps were longer than that of Mr President’s.

He even had enough that when five of them on ‘official’ duty to Lagos , he still went about his duties without any inconvenience.  Even our  first lady, God bless her, cruises around in a convoy of jeeps too. Our governor in fact believes that we are fooled by the chaplets he carries  in each pocket. He told media men before  that he invested N250 million meant to be invested by him in MTN in the 2003 campaign.

As a trader, that investment in 2003 yields monthly dividends several  times over, never mind the security situation in the state, as we saw in the Ejike Onwusogbulu Glitz Introvert Extrovert ‘story’. This governor knows that with money, a lot can be achieved so he sure understands politics.

Anambra is not cursed and recall that in 2003, Obi called for a mental check on all political office aspirants. Today, I make the same call. According to Rudolph Okonkwo in his latest work on  Obi, “deep inside, Obi is a trader who parades himself as an intellectual. I will rather have as governor, an intellectual who parades himself as a trader. While they are all hypocrites, the later character will be much more at home in Anambra State ”. If we need a banker as our governor, Soludo will suffice.

Mr.  Eze, a lawyer, writes from Anambra State.