BY OLALEKAN BILESANMI

A group called Anambra North Unity Forum, whose primary aim is to ensure that Anambra North retains power come 2017 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, has emerged. The Chairman of the group, Chief Sylvanus Ohaemesi (Ochudo), in this interview, says the mandate currently enjoyed by Chief Willie Obiano belongs to the people of the area and that his group is prepared to work round the clock to ensure that Anambra North takes the second tenure with or without the incumbent governor.

•Chief Sylvanus Ohaemesi

What is the purpose of coming together at this time?
Anambra North Unity Forum started early in April 2016, and was inspired to keep the people of the zone together. Our agenda is to ensure that Anambra North is allowed to complete eight years in office, that is, joining the first and second tenures.

Anambra has witnessed phenomical growth within this democracy but the people of Anambra North have continued to feel alienated and, sometime in 2006, a strong agitation for power shift arose. This and other factors led to the entire state agreeing to elect a governor in 2013 from Anambra North. In fact, the major parties presented candidates from the North.

Constitutionally, a person elected as governor is entitled to a maximum of two tenures. However, once power rotates to a zone, it must not be for a particular person, the zone should be allowed to complete the eight years either by the political party in power or another party. It is a political arrangement which has the capacity to keep the state in equilibrium.

When people are sharing whatever that accrues to them, maturity must be employed. As things stand today, at the completion of the four year tenure of Obiano, Anambra North will still be lagging behind as per the number of years in leadership of the state. For instance, Anambra Central has been in power for eleven years, Anambra South has taken six years, so under a gentleman’s arrangement, it will be good to allow Anambra North to complete eight years. It can then rotate to the South which has just taken six years.

There are people who say that zoning has always enthroned mediocrity, and it should be done away with.
Those who are saying this should bear in mind that problems in the country today and within some states arose as a result of people feeling alienated. In dealing with problems, one must device workable solutions. There is no way you get to any of the three senatorial zones each of which has seven local government areas without finding qualified and competent material for the governorship position, and there is no way the rotation arrangement would hamper quality service delivery.

This arrangement of zoning to engender peace has worked in other states, and people of like minds in the state, business people, politicians, and elders who are politically experienced evolved this idea with the aim of reducing tension associated with election. You can see the communique of the traditional rulers of Anambra State who came together to state that incumbent Governor Willie Obiano should be given a second tenure, and in particular the traditional rulers from Anambra North stated that it would be only fair that the zone be allowed to complete eight years. There is a growing consensus on this.

But there are those who have rated Obiano poorly, stating that he has not done enough to merit a second tenure, and against what the traditional rulers have done.
Well, if people are not happy with the present governor, all we asking is not that power be retained by a person but by the zone. All we are asking is that Anambra people should give us a second chance to prove that we have good materials for the plum job.

We have been moving round the state and people across the state are very happy with what we are canvassing, and many have been signing up for it. Our message to the people of Anambra is that they should consider our request and give us a second chance. Like I said before, the governor might come from any political party. Our first acid test is to work towards ensuring that during the primaries of the governorship election, all political parties in the state elect their candidates from Anambra North.

Don’t you think that some people are going to accuse you of working for certain governorship aspirants?
Anambra North Unity Forum is neither an agent nor fronting for any governorship aspirant or any aspirant. This group evolved out of the need to bring a lasting peace and mutual understanding in the political atmosphere of our state where every section of the state will have a sense of belonging and love one another. We intend to do so by ensuring that Anambra North Unity forum is non partisan, it accommodates all the political parties so that every group will go to their party and ensure that their own political party comes up with a candidate from the zone.

Some have accused us of working for the incumbent governor, but we are just working for the long term peace of Ndi Anambra and our state. There can only be progress where there is peace and tranquillity. In this case the zoning arrangement for any state must start from somewhere and those of us in Anambra North Unity Forum have matured both politically and in age to bring a mutual political arrangement in Anambra state and once our people agree to adhere to this arrangement from now on, the state will join the group of peaceful political arrangement in the federation, if we continue to wait for a day all the contestants in the state come together to agree on zoning arrangement, greed will not allow most of them to see the truth.

We know what the activities of our self styled godfathers and moneybags have done to our people and our state, and we have resolved that the issue of money of should not be allowed to continue to control elections in Anambra State, I know without prejudice that with exception of former governor Peter Obi, all other governors that governed the state were not money bags, and even Mr Peter Obi did not spend more than the other candidates to win his election. We believe that when God says yes no person can say no, so we are making our own political arrangement and praying to God to bless our view.

So has the group considered the other option that the Anambra people may decide to shift the position by voting someone from another zone?
Well, we are not God and cannot see the future, but it is not our wish to begin to imagine what would look like. We want Anambra state to remain peaceful, and Ndi Igbo have a high sense of fairness and justice. The other day, I read in the papers the SA to the Governor also expressing the same view advising that peace should be allowed to prevail by supporting the North to finish their eight years.