By STEVE ORURUO.
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who made the immortal assertion that life is a journey and not a destination. Unarguably, Enugu state owes much of its tranquil political climate and robust democracy to PDP’s unwritten zoning formula – a principle deeply rooted in the power of ideological variety, equity, fairness and egalitarianism., The first Enugu Governor of the fourth republic, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, an Nkanu stalwart, in his conscience conceived and advocated for power shift to Enugu West at the twilight of his memorable tenure. His decision was without prejudice to the plausible expediency to brazenly enthrone another Nkanu man with the prevailing brutality, brigandage, rascality, electoral flaws, distrust, unbridled fear and an apparent conspiracy of silence that accompanied our nascent democracy from 1999 to 2007. That rational thought led to the emergence of His Excellency, Barr. Sullivan I. Chime, the colossus of Agbaja extraction, who modernized Enugu’s sociopolitical culture and transformed its infrastructural landscape. It was only fair and intuitively right for Enugu North Senatorial District (Nsukka Zone) to produce the next governor in 2015. Despite appearing perhaps a simple decision on the face value, a critical mass of the Enugu stakeholders under the auspices of PDP CAUCUS MEETING unanimously agreed that the gubernatorial rotation should not only be officially adopted but entrenched forthwith in the same sequence. Yours sincerely had the singular honour and rare privilege of signing the minutes of the aforesaid meeting as the then Secretary of the Caucus of a party that dominantly conscribed the state to a one party system. This heralded the emergence of a temperate governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Thanks to the good people of Nsukka who birthed and nurtured Governor Ugwuanyi into the caliber of person and titan of a leader he is and has blessed Ndi Enugu with. As we approach the end of his time in the Lion Building, Governor Ugwuanyi’s reformative footprints on every inch of Enugu’s canvas will forever be indelible.
The axiom that there is richness in diversity is exemplified by Enugu’s dynamic political history and structural blueprint under the leadership of the PDP. A people soldered together under the wawa thicket, yet proud custodians of a variety of socio-cultural norms, religions, leanings and values. Rotating the mandate for the highest office in the state among the zonal tripod, like has been done for the past 24 years, guarantees that the state optimally benefits from the potpourri of talents and differing perspectives available to it. The alternative is a society afflicted with political inbreeding, deprived of the spice that is variety and deliberately programmed for an unending strife. The Enugu we would have in this forbidden imaginative scenario is one allergic and deliberately resistant to change and growth; plagued by chronic reinvention of the wheel stemming from a monotony of ideals and ideas, and ticking down rapidly to self-destruct. Sequel to the speculative power of clairvoyance of a visionary PDP who officially instituted the zoning arrangement through old-fashioned but sophisticated dialogue and humanism, Enugu doesn’t lack the variety of leadership potential, talents and ideologies needed in its determined momentum towards being a truly resilient modern society.
As Governor Ugwuanyi prepares to hand over to Dr Peter Mbah, whose massive victory at the polls is all but guaranteed judging from his antecedents as an accomplished captain of industry and public servant and his unassuming and genuinely godly persona, some Nsukka elites, disgruntled by their failure to impose their selfish interests on Enugu State or milk the state dry, have been working overtime in an attempt to malign the Ugwuanyi brand and quench the phenomenal flow of an irrepressible Mbah tsunami. Slaves to their pecuniary and parochial agenda, they seek to break faith with Enugu’s loyal constituents who willfully entered into a gentlemanly agreement to rotate power amongst themselves. Thankfully, the majority of Nsukka people, admired for their faultless sense of discernment and unimpeachable mastery of modern society’s mechanics and Enugu as a political microcosm, stand solidly behind their inimitable leader, brother and friend, Governor Ugwuanyi. Unfortunately for the few bad eggs and their cabals, desperate for continued hegemonic relevance in the face of a flurry of inclusive positive change inspired by Governor Ugwuanyi, the Nsukka man is not susceptible to manipulation; they have historically been able to sniff out gutter-level mendacities, transactional chicanery and brazen deceit from miles away.
You can take it to the bank that the good people of Nsukka are not only going to fully support Peter Mbah as he claims his God-ordained mandate, but they will also ferociously chart Governor Ugwuanyi’s triumphant entry into the Senate to continue his unrivalled record of public service. Nsukka felt the impact of Governor Ugwuanyi’s inventive policies and projects oriented towards systemic transformation, as an astute House of Representative lawmaker and as an epoch-defining and dogma-disrupting governor. While truly enacting the “for everybody and for nobody” rhetoric, Governor Ugwuanyi has always delivered to his kin and kith in Enugu North, their fair share of the state’s patrimony, even more than his predecessors. From Nsukka town – a fast-rising cosmopolitan megacity to the suburbs and across the stretch of the rural fringes, Ugwuanyi’s impact has been of immeasurable magnitude. He built modern road networks to facilitate Nsukka’s access to Enugu metropolis and to connect remote villages to the state’s main economic arteries. A new tertiary institution in Igbo-Ano, an annex of the state secretariat, modernization of Ogige Main Market, a state-of-the-art stadium and socioeconomic elevation of the enterprising Nsukka youth, name them all. Needless to say, no governor has done more for his people than Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
What manner of stunted logic makes Governor Ugwuanyi’s naysayers believe that the true Nsukka man or woman will abandon or defy their finest hero or unplug themselves from the mainstream of political contention by going against the PDP? The Nsukka man doesn’t turn his back on family because family is everything, more so when that family member is Governor Ugwuanyi, a man of unequalled pedigree and character and an iroko; a true scion of the Nsukka stock – godly and amiable yet relentless, enterprising and resolute. A man whose loyalty to his people has always stood the test of time and whose mission to elevate Nsukka to the Everest of economic prosperity is clear even to the blind. Enugu needs an Nsukka united around her trueborn heroes who keep its engine of progress revving, because the state and nation will always rely on the trove of potential and talents from this orchard of intellectual giants, think-thanks, business masterminds and indomitable youths.
It is refreshing to see Nsukka people massively rally around Governor Ugwuanyi. A fence of support is building around him, stronger than the city walls of Constantinople, fending off blunt arrows and tame cannonballs from the enemy. Governor Ugwuanyi is an Ijele-masquerade that must not fall. His career in public service is an empire and a crusade, highly profitable to the ordinary man and aligned with Nsukka interests, that must never be defeated. Fidel Castro was protected by the Cuban people during his protracted strife with the American government who tried several times to depose him. He was Cuban by blood and essence, and a symbol of resistance against foreign intervention and imperialism, so his people stood by him despite perceived shortcomings. His Excellencies, Chimaroke Nnamani and Sullivan Chime were stoutly defended by the Nkanu and Agbaja clans respectively, during the tempestuous periods of their political careers, and so were countless other leaders in Enugu and beyond. Governor Ugwuanyi’s people-centric leadership, ideals which he integrated into Enugu’s sociopolitical fabric has made him powerful enemies – resentful narcissistic elites who can no longer treat the state as a cash cow. Nsukka people cannot afford to abandon Ugwuanyi to be a lone warrior amongst beasts. A stronger Ugwuanyi is a stronger Nsukka as a new regime beckons .
The Peter Mbah brand is one Ndi Enugu should embrace for several reasons. His issue-based campaign which touches on all critical areas of governance is unprecedented. Take your pick among his endless list of qualifications – his undented image and reputation, his pedigree as an accomplished industrialist, his limitless brilliance and undying quest for knowledge, his unfaltering fear of God, or his genuine empathy and camaraderie. The Nsukka man or woman who is concerned about losing power at the helm, can be assured that a dispassionately rational, buoyantly articulate and conscientious Peter Mbah is poised to carry everybody along. Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah realizes the gem that Nsukka is owing to its strategic geographical position on Enugu’s landscape, its abundance of resources, its rich cultural heritage and the uniqueness of its people. As the Peter Mbah campaign train gains momentum in the coming days and weeks, the opportunity presents itself for Ndi Nsukka to reaffirm their commitment to Enugu’s longstanding political contract, take a solid stance on the right side of history and pat Governor Ugwuanyi on the back for a job well done through a resoundingly vociferous support for his senatorial ambition.
Steve Oruruo is the Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu State on Information.
