By Nye Ekpe

For a man not used to stoking controversy many of those who have followed the political path of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State have been brought to the unusual situation of seeing him in the centre of the furor over the experience, or rather lack of experience, of Peter Obi to be president of Nigeria.

Governor Okowa spoke in an interview with BBC Pidgin. In the interview under reference, he also brought to light the fact that even as a sitting governor that he has willingly subjected himself to the political tutelage of his principal, H.E. Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Remarkably, the interview became an issue for many of those who over the years have been looking for a faux pas with which they could bring Okowa to opprobrium. Remarkably, these also include some local political rivals, but pitiably, their attempt to tar the PDP vice-presidential candidate appears to be a difficult job.

Okowa had said:“His (Obi) previous experience is not enough for this one (presidency), it will be hard. His experience is not deep enough. Even as a current governor ruling in a time of crisis, I know how hard it is. I even want to learn under Atiku because he has experience with the federal government. The thing is not easy. For them to have handled the economy at that time and made it something better, offering hope, creating jobs, and filtering the society, was not easy because it’s a bigger thing. So someone is supposed to learn through that. If you look at Obi’s experience you’ll know it’s small.”

His assertion flowed from the experience of Peter Obi in managing Anambra State following his experience as a bank chairman and trader.  

While many give plaudits to Obi for his positive moral fibres, the truth about experience as claimed by Okowa is easily brought home to bear in the popular story of how Obi left about N72 billion for the governor that succeeded him.

Many development advocates are of the view that the shallow experience of Mr Obi may have misguided him into thinking that governance is a matter of projecting positive balance sheets. At a time when Anambra State was deficient in infrastructure it is shocking for any development economist that the best option that Obi thought of was to save money, and most of it in naira which at that time and till now has not proved a good store of value.

That money if Obi were indeed experienced or allowed himself to be surrounded with people with experience would have been better invested in infrastructure or other development windows.

It is as such instructive that Okowa as governor of Delta State while not throwing away money has channeled resources as they come into development of infrastructure and human capital.

It is in this wise that if one were to measure development in terms of infrastructure and human capital in the two terms Obi and Okowa served as governors of two states that are remarkably contiguous, that the indicators are undoubtedly in favour of the PDP vice-presidential candidate.

Evidence of Peter Obi’s need for experience is evident in the fact that a substantial segment of the citizens of the state he governed had while he was governor preferred to take residence in Asaba rather than in Awka or Onitsha. Indeed, some of the state’s prominent political actors are known to resort to Asaba till today rather than the undeveloped enclaves of the state which were and have not been developed.

This is not in any way undermining the moral fortitude of the Labour Party candidate, but projecting honesty is fundamental to the urgent need by the majority of Nigerians to salvage the country from the incompetence of the All Progressives Congress, APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The proper place to begin that journey is to sincerely admit one’s capacity and readiness to grow into leadership. Okowa has said the right words in contextualizing his political insight into the discipleship guidance of Atiku Abubakar.

Obi believes that he knows it, but the evidence on the ground in Anambra questions his judgment.