Mr. Amah Amaonye Consultant, Media and Publicity, Sea Map Group
My attention was drawn to an article titled: Still on a Certain Peter Obih, published on page 49 of Vanguard Newspaper of Monday, July 18, 2011 written by one Valentine Obienyem, who claimed to be SA to Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State.

I have read many articles with many ingredients of emotions and sentiments showing they were written by paid writers, responses by Obienyem to every perceived criticism on Governor Obi in the media leave me with no choice than to wonder aloud whether this SA truly has a portfolio. SA on what? Is he the media assistant to the Governor or the image maker?

In any case, the article on the left side of the spread of page 49 (page 16) of the same Newspaper provided all the answers Governor Obi and any paid writer are seeking. These were lucidly stated in the write-up by a neutral writer, an Abuja-based civil servant, Mr. James Chukwujama. The article was titled: Who is afraid of Ngige and why.

The phenomenon he called Ngigephobia is the reason for the onslaught and refusal to pay Sea Map Group for a clearly verifiable freight forwarding job it did more than five years ago, which Governor Obi’s government acknowledged on page 13 of Vanguard Newspaper of April 28, 2006. I totally agree with Chukwujama when he said that Dr. Chris “Ngige symbolises Igbo leadership, an agent of change who must be adored, followed and supported”.

Ngige did not achieve popularity and adoration by the masses via chasing of shadows and campaign of calumny as some governors are doing through paid writers. He confronted the immediate problems of the people and not to thrive on empty propaganda as we are seeing today; he simply did good and no incumbent government can stop him from taking the credit.

Much as I am avoiding joining issues with anybody, to clear misrepresentations, let me state that Sea Map Group is a business and not a political organisation. The company is only asking the government of Peter Obi to pay for a job which the government is aware of and acknowledged was done. The then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health who received the consignments from Sea Map at the ministry is still in Obi’s Government. These things are verifiable.

The company is not a ghost contractor somewhere, the consignments that it cleared were used by Governor Obi to equip cottage hospitals and health centres in Anambra State. The Governor has made so much noise over what he achieved by equipping hospitals with equipment that Dr. Ngige brought in. Why then is he sitting on the company’s hard earned resources deployed to clear the goods?

It bothers us a little if anybody wants to pay writers to confuse Anambra people and the general public about due diligence and compliance to due process about a governor, when we visit Anambra all the time; when we pass the dilapidating roads and other infrastructure all the time, when we see and perceive the heaps of refuse and dirt and pungent air all over major towns in Anambra State; when we see only propaganda and media campaign instead of tangible work.

Just before he became governor, I met Mr. Obi at an event at Eko Hotel, Lagos and he assured me that he was going to unseat Ngige and become governor. He further told me that Ngige was implementing his programmes in Anambra and stressed that he, as the initiator of the programmes, will run it better than Ngige to benefit the Anambra people.

I regret to say this, sincerely I do, majority of Anambra people are scoring Governor Obi too low; they are very unsatisfied with what he has achieved so far. If the polls become credible,  Obi may be heading for political suicide by all that he has experimented or neglected to do as Governor in Anambra. The Governor can, however, make amends and still achieve something before the end of his tenure if he can listen more to the voice of the people and ignore the many sycophants who tell him things that he wants to hear.

Sea Map Group as a business venture does not intend to be dragged into political matters, the company has not sent any publications to any media house in any guise to Awka; the company is not working for or with Dr. Ngige or Onwa or any other person for that matter.

The company is only crying out to the world to see if those oppressing it can have pity and release what belongs to the company. The general public should condemn situations where political sentiments are invoked in businesses, as when those businesses suffer, many people get affected.