By Charles Uzoukwu

Aside Governor Willie Obiano, the only sparkle in this race for Anambra governorship election next Saturday, is Osita Chidoka. But Chidoka is in the wrong geopolitical zone and in the wrong party. Case closed. Political leadership calls for more grit than glamour. Osita is from Anambra Central, but the auguries favour only candidates from Anambra North at the moment.

Obiano

This is clearly understood. His resolve to forge ahead with a doomed ambition which everyone knows would crash, gives him away as a cheap attention seeker, who is merely positioning for patronage. In reality, of all the candidates lining out against Governor Willie Obiano, Oseloka Obaze cuts the most pathetic picture.

No quotable quote is credited to him. No sparkling slab of thought. He is not even allowed to fashion out his own economic blueprint.

He was forced to accept his god-father’s primitive ANIDS as his panacea for the problems of the state.

Obaze is everything that gubernatorial candidates should never be. His god-father has totally eclipsed him. Sadly, weeks to election day, Obaze has shown no signs of emerging from the thick shadows of Peter Obi.  His claim of innocence elicit only derisive laughter from people who know him closely.

Though Nwoye has made good and spruced himself up to become a federal lawmaker, he is reputed to be one of the mutest lawmakers in the lower  legislative chamber, making little impression at the National Assembly. He is not known to have sponsored any important bills or raised his voice on burning issues concerning his constituency.

Nwoye was content with making up the number.  As a candidate who fancies himself a representative of the youth, Nwoye has yet to articulate youth in a gerontocracy like Nigeria. Indeed, how can he, Nwoye feels handicapped. He opened his campaign by calling Governor Obiano a thief, if that is his strategy, it is  a bad one. Many people dismissed him with a wave of the hand after that goof.

They concluded that he has nothing to offer. Strangely, the final nail into Nwoye’s political coffin was hammered in by his god-father Prince Arthur Eze. In one voluble moment, the multi-billionaire allegedly described Nwoye as a poor boy from a poor village, whom he wanted to make governor. What emerges from the above analysis, is the imposing image of Governor  Obiano.

It is crystal clear that Obiano’s immense personage looms over the Anambra horizon with the sound of victory echoing in the distance. What will not escape anyone who has followed Obiano’s first term in office, is the fact that, he started campaigning for his return, early. In fact, much of the foundation for the success of Obiano, as we know it today, was laid during his first 100 days in office.

It is to his credit that none of the people challenging him has any clearly communicated vision and mission for Anambra State. Worse still, people expected Obaze to come up with a robust economic blueprint, rather, he brandished Obi’s discredited ANIDS as his magic wand for Anambra State. Similarly, Nwoye has no economic plan whatsoever.

The only thing for Nwoye is that he wants power. As for what he would do with that power, the man has no clue. From all indications, the next Governor of Anambra State is already known to anyone with ability to see. It is so clear that no one can miss it. And if we care to look in the mirror, we can see the face of the winner. We can all see Willie Maduaburo-chukwu Obiano.

*Uzoukwu lives in Abuja