IN two years time, the office of the Governor of Anambra State will be vacant. By then Governor Peter Obi, now in his second term in office, would have spent eight years.

A rare opportunity others before him never had. That is because the State spurned such munificence and consistently yanked off, with some uncanny force, those who tried to exert compliance. Mbadinuju, Ngige, Andy Uba et al had great trouble applying themselves to that goal.

From observation, leading the State for as long as eight years may not be as demanding as leading and satisfying its disparate interests, which are indeed legion. Those who bear responsibilities of elected office in the State know this much. Few states, if any, can claim to be as politically rumbustious as Anambra. Even states on the nadir of riotous politics hardly provoke the kind of animus witnessed in Anambra politics at some point. The ignominious role played by godfathers in the politics of the State has remained a sore point in her annals.

That phase in the political development of the State has continued to elicit a lot of jibes from Nigerians even as some states have since slipped into the same rot.EdoState, for example, has in the run-up to the July 14 governorship election become a hotbed for political violence. Brutes, probably godfathers, recently infiltrated the fortified ambience of the State Government and wreaked havoc. Reports of violent political deaths ahead of the election show thatEdomay in the end surpass states hitherto seen as bywords for violent politics. The embattled Governor Adams Oshiomhole seems already drenched in battle as he fights from every flank. His earlier claims of successfully sending all godfathers inEdoStatedown to Anambra have since become mere jokes. The resurgent political violence portrays either of two possibilities. One, either the Governor is losing grip to the godfathers in the State as evident in the attacks, and therefore could not successfully execute his self-imposed charge, or that Anambra has since divested itself of the lures of political violence and therefore unattractive to those he purportedly sent.

Political violence and godfather intervention in politics have remained largely the bane of our political development. Till date, few states, if any, are without one or two incidences. What may vary is the degree. Renascent Anambra was once a manifestation of unrestrained political violence that overlapped two administrations in succession. After the frenzies, the State lost enormous resources, both human and material. A sneak overview of the period showed that considerable benefits accruable to the State were lost. Apart from extra-judicial killings, there was also unabashed abduction of the then Governor, and large scale destruction of the commonwealth. Anambra was literally in the news for the wrong reasons and has continued, over that one moment of indiscretion, to be a reference point until some couple of years back.

It would seem from
considerable insight that the greatest legacy the Peter Obi administration has bequeathed the State may not be in the number of bridges it constructed, the kilometers of roads built, the various schools renovated and equipped, hospitals built and accredited, infrastructure, transportation, judiciary, or its commitment to attaining, among few other states in the country, the MDGs by 2015. No. It is in the ability to rein in on wide scale impunity and instill in the people the need to de-emphasize politics as profit-making business. Some have argued that the issue of political violence was settled in the context of the failed abduction. But I dare say that the flight of impunity goes beyond physical confrontation of the bugbear. It was and still is a function of sustained subtle engagement.

Arguably a state that has been on a string of army of political merchants and upstarts cannot yank off, at a fell swoop, such control. It takes a combination of tact and prowess to hold the predators in check. To keep the state away from the pervasive course for six years and still counting is a function of complex political/economic strategy. Today, there are no more gladiatorial theatres in the political space of the State, and Anambra has since moved on. There may still be some noticeable disquiet in the land, going by disparaging articles penned by opposition desperate to take office in 2014. But Obi has effectively tamed the monster at least in not slaking the desires of political merchants and hangers-on.

Ahead of 2014, however, there is need for certain considerations to be made if the State must continue on the path of peace. To avoid a possible relapse, stakeholders, among them Obi himself, must strive to present to the people, list of credible successors. If the sacrifices made by his administration are not to be made naught, the temperament of the person, as well as the political behavior of the State, must be considered. No longer will desperate politicians be shoe-horned into positions as governors. The pedigree of who takes over from the Governor is very important just to ensure that there is no invasion of error. For consolidation of the current gains, the State must dispense with luxury of lazy political habit. In electing a successor to the office, the people must not abandon conviction in deference to popular clamour. The possibility of affronting the reclaimed values is an ever present danger in the State if an unserious person takes over as governor.

In this part of the world the dividing line between sane and irrational politics is very thin. Recidivistic politicians, those weaned off the succour of political office, will certainly resurge. Since the saying that interest is the only permanent thing in politics, it goes without saying that there will be consistent foraging of the office from politicians.

On this note, it is only a focused and determined Governor that can maintain the current trend.  The tide of public sentiment alone should not be allowed to determine who takes over, but commitment and character.

Mr. EJIKE ANAYADUBA, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Abatete, Anambra State