By Seth Mbam

ON Friday July 2 this year, a history of ground-shaking proportion was enacted when the enemy held territory of Umuahia, Abia State, fell into the hands of the progressives’ army commanded by the General himself, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

 It was a day Abians were liberated from the iron clutches of those that had held the state to ransom for 13 long years – 1999 to 2010. It was a day the government and people of Abia rose together and spoke with one voice that enough was enough and broke loose from the manacles of an oppressive hegemony that had pinned the state to the ground, denying the long-suffering people the dividends of democracy as witnessed in the fellow sister states of Anambra and Enugu.

 It was a day Governor Theodore Orji mustered the courage to flee from the political contraption called Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, to seek a much welcome political asylum in the only truly Ndigbo party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

Thus, APGA which swept the South East states in the massively rigged 2003 elections but was ruthlessly denied her mandate has started reclaiming what rightfully belongs to her.

First it was in Anambra State that an epic and now legendary battle was fought by a certain young man, Peter Obi, who resisted all manner of overtures, pressure, intimidation and death threats to finally reclaim the overwhelming mandate given to him three years earlier by his Anambra people but was stolen by the then awesome PDP rigging machinery ably oiled by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who believes that even God cannot conduct a credible election in Nigeria. It was the first time a sitting governor would be tossed out of office for stealing votes.

But before the euphoria of that victory could abate, PDP struck again. With covering fire from Aso Rock, some renegade elements in the Anambra State House of Assembly, under the cover of darkness, illegally impeached Gov. Obi on flimsy, trumped up and laughable offences. In doing this, they had turned deaf ears to the wise counsels of Anambra elders and religious leaders who were against the evil move.
Obi went back to court and within three months, made another history as the first governor in the country to overturn an impeachment.    

Even though the wolves who conspired against him had squandered the resources of the state in his three-month absence, Obi painstakingly returned to the drawing board to restore the face of true, sincere governance in the state.

But just as he was settling down again, the enemies of democracy once more shoved him out of office after barring him from contesting the 2007 ‘selection’ and having the leeway to install their puppet as the new helmsman of the state.

Obi, a firm believer in due process and the rule of law, headed back to court. This time, he went for tenure interpretation in the Supreme Court, arguing that he was still the governor of the state as his tenure had not expired. He maintained that his tenure of four years began on the day he was sworn to the oaths of allegiance and office and thus, INEC should not have conducted any election in the first place in Anambra State in 2007.

In a land mark judgement, the apex court returned Obi to power by interpreting the law in his favour. It was again the first time such would happen and it triggered the conduct of staggered elections in the country. A few other state governors have since reaped from the Obi effort and will now serve out their full tenures.

Obi had gone on to give his people unprecedented good governance, touching their lives simultaneously on all sectors through the wonderful ANIDS vehicle.

It was no surprise that when the time came for the first staggered election on February 6 this year Obi redefined history by becoming the first man to be returned as governor in Anambra State.

It is very clear that without the man, Obi, there would have been no APGA for the likes of Orji to seek solace in. It is Obi’s tenacity that is currently keeping Martins Agbaso going in Imo State where he is in court fighting fiercely to reclaim the mandate given him in 2007.

Obi has shown that it pays to be steadfast and principled. Although he operates in what is supposed to be a hostile environment – the state legislature being entirely controlled by PDP – he has through his maturity, humility and good governance gained the support of the present House of Assembly, the majority of who have been singing his praises.

To cap it all, they have commenced the long expected transfer of allegiance from PDP to APGA, with the first two members recently declaring for the Ojukwu-led APGA for which the gallant Victor Umeh, its national chairman, has fought bravely to keep away from the snapping jaws of enemies of Ndigbo.

Today, thanks to the tenacity and vision of Obi, the unwavering and towering aura of Ikemba and the bravery of Victor Umeh, APGA is back to assume her rightful place in Igboland. It has started reclaiming ‘lost’ territories from enemy occupation. First it was Anambra, then Abia. The party’s formidable armada will now head to Imo to liberate her caged people, even as it beckons on diasporan Igbos in the south south to come enlist in the people’s army.

I wish to use this forum to appeal to the Enugu and Ebonyi states’ governors, Sullivan Chime, and Martin Elechi, to heed the call of Ikemba that our people should shelter under one political umbrella. All our sons, brothers, sisters, daughters, fathers and mothers in the state and national assembly should emulate the worthy examples of Abia’s Theodore Orji, his legislators and the two members of Anambra legislature, Benson Nwawulu and Chinwe Nwaebili, and return to the fold.

The Igbos have remained scattered for too long and the hour has come for us to return from our self-imposed political wilderness and settle down in our roots,

It remains the only way we can have bargaining power and then begin to nurse any hope of someday producing a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. There is no better time to act than now!

Mr. Mbam , a political analyst, writes from Nnobi, Anambra State.