This Stability Must Remain

Anambra state is currently in the news due to the gubernatorial election slated for Nov 18 and as is customary in our climes, the campaigns have been heated and quite dramatic with various camps trying hard to win the hearts of the electorate.

I have always held the view that a people who don't appreciate where they're coming from, can hardly make progress and this is important when they are daily flooded with all manner of mudslinging masquerading as campaigning.

I recall the dark days of the Gov Mbadinuju led administration, how for four years, the state was in limbo.

Those were the days a governor felt the only way to curb crime was to invite an extra judicial outfit (Bakkassi Boys) who killed at will in the full glare of the public.

We cannot forget in a hurry how the scourge of Godfatherism held us down to the point where workers were owed for months on end but God had a plan and Mbadinuju soon gave way to Chris Ngige, a court certified electoral usurper who figured that the only way he could assuage the anger of same electorate he stole their mandate was to work and be seen to be working.

I'm sure you still recall how Ngige disagreed with his fellow electoral bandits and their failed plan to kidnap a sitting governor.

Thankfully the courts threw him out and Peter Obi of APGA got his mandate restored but it would take a while before things settled down because Andy Ubah briefly became governor.

I'm taking the pains of walking us down memory lane so we can appreciate how far God has brought us as a state.

Peter Obi of APGA governed for eight years and handed over to Willie Obiano who has so far continued the stable developmental strides enshrined in the APGA manifesto.

Indeed, Anambra was in darkness until APGA led the way and it keeps getting better.

You will agree with me that there was a time our relatives in the diaspora could not dream of returning home for kidnapping was rife but today, the case is different and huge kudos must be given to the Willie Obiano administration for tackling the security situation head on and relative calm pervades the state as we speak.

It needs to be mentioned that had God not blessed us with an astute administrator like Gov Willie, we would have had it rough in this era of recession but our Governor weathered the storm and today, ours remains one of the few states that has consistently paid salaries in spite of the general financial meltdown.

It should sadden the heart of any true Anambrarian that the campaigns have been hijacked by an opposition determined to hurl all manner of mud at a man whom God has prepared for a precarious time like this and I honestly fail to understand the rationale behind equating insults to issues.

A state that has seen the worst of leadership has no business denigrating a man who has created an enabling environment for investors to thrive.

It was not always so and we should really be worried when men in pursuit of selfish interest, equate their will to that of the people.

Unfortunately, the immediate past Governor is at the forefront of those playing politics of bitterness.

Daily he hops from one place to the other expressing self-righteous disdain for the incumbent and one wonders why politics must be done this way.

The other day, the APC candidate stood in front of a crowd and labeled a sitting governor a thief and one is saddened at this total lack of decorum from someone who desires the exalted seat of a governor.

Anambra state has been through a lot and cannot afford to jettison the stability it currently enjoys for untested hands whose one true motivation is Power for Power's sake.

To be clear, no true Anambrarian has any business being a part and parcel of Mr Peter Obi's vindictive drive and we have to make the clear distinction between his selfish anger towards Willie Obiano and the general good of our state.

We have to understand that his personal interest does not equate to the collective interest of Anambra state.

The pendulum of this election will be hinged on the need to maintain stability in the face of the current recession ravaging our nation.

It will not be decided because a man feels slighted and is on a personal revenge mission but on the need to stay our eyes on the ball so as not to rock the boat in these perilous times.

I have heard the APC candidate openly canvassing the need for Anambra to align with the center and one is forced to ask how this so-called alignment has favored IMO state where workers have been owed for months on end and the governor feels its normal building an expensive statue in honor of a visiting President.

Imo , an APC state where pensioners were forced to sign waivers dramatically cutting down their emoluments?

Do we mention Kogi, another APC state where the "youthful governor" has more or less put paid to the illusion that youth is the panacea for good leadership?

Can any right thinking person tell Anambrarians the advantages of connecting to this so-called center?

Do you talk of youth where experience is non existent?

You first came to real political limelight when Andy Ubah brought you in and made you chairman of the PDP party in the state and from there, without any proof of producing anything in your life, you contested and lost a gubernatorial election, then you won a seat in the House of Reps and now feel eminently qualified to become governor of a state like Anambra?

Even in the field of medicine, has he ever put on a stethoscope, not to talk of treating patients?

What am I saying? A man who hasn't for one day in his life added real value to the society he lives or indulged in real administrative work cannot effectively administer a complex organization like a state.

It doesn't matter that some chant his praise for identifying with the "youths" but in the complex business of administering a state, we do ourselves a great disservice if we elect someone who is coming to learn on the job!

Anambra is one state designed by God to enjoy progressive stability and this is why the rotation formula was put in place to engender peaceful transition of power among the various senatorial districts.

As it stands today, the North as epitomized by the incumbent currently holds the slot and it would be taking us back to the dark days if we ever go back on that laudable agreement.

I want to believe I'm addressing realists who understand the near impossibility of a man promising you he only wants to go for one term.

Except for Willie Obiano, ALL other contestants stand the risk of destroying the peaceful transition of power to the South should they be elected for Willie is statute barred from recontesting after four years.

The question now is, would you not rather put your faith in that enshrined by the constitution than the words of men who are not statute barred from repudiating their words?

I believe it is in the best interest of the state that this stability is sustained and we look forward to a peaceful and seamless rotation of power to the South in four years time.

Nov 18 is just around the corner and as the day draws near, the smear campaign would get worse.

You will be treated to all manner of denigrating commentaries designed to cast our state in very precarious robes and they will unleash all manner of stories to break the weak hearted in our midst but I enjoin you to stay focussed and not allow yourselves to be used as tools in furtherance of parochial interests that don't mean well for our great state.

In the words of a great son of Anambra, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, "IF IT ISN'T BROKEN, WHY BOTHER TO FIX OR MEND IT?"

May God bless us as we go out there to maintain the peace and stability as epitomized by the APGA Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano candidacy!

God bless you!

U don finish?, Oya loss !!!

victor8269:
U don finish?, Oya loss !!!

It's people like you that will stupidly vote for the wrong person because of small money way dem dash you in exchange of your future

APGA we know

Truth