DEVIOUS PLOT TO UNSEAT PRIMUS ODILI

(By Juventus Chukwunweike Okoli)

The Chief of Staff to His Excellency, Chief Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano, the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Primus Ugochukwu Odili, is a man I have known since the early 1990s.

I met Primus at All Hallows' Seminary Onitsha, the Home of the Humble.
I met him a young seminarian aspiring to answer God's call. At such a tender age, he was impeccable and highly promising; exhibiting the love and tenderness of a good, responsible, very sincere, honest, hardworking, dedicated, straightforward and result-oriented fellow.

Little wonder, he was accepted and loved by all who came across him - the rector, the priest formators, auxiliaries, teacher prefects, his classmates and his fellow seminarians.

This acceptance continued until that date in 1999/2000 academic year, about two months to his diaconate ordination and about six months to priesthood, when, purely out of his personal volition, he packed his belongings and left the seminary leaving no word with anyone. This unexpected act touched every member of St Joseph's Senior Seminary, Ikot-Ekpene, where he was undergoing his priestly formation and training as at that time. The Onitsha Archdiocese, his home diocese, was not spared the untold surprise.

From the foregoing narrative, it becomes clear that Primus was never expelled from the seminary as speculated in one of the sponsored viral articles on social media some months back. His classmates in the seminary with Very Rev Fr Barr (Prof) Kenneth Oraegbunam, lecturer of law at Unizik; Very Rev Fr Barr (Dr) Maurice Okey Izunwa, lecturer of same law faculty and University; Very Rev Fr Dr Felix Okey Akamonye, lecturer at SS John and Paul Major Seminary, Awka; Very Rev Fr (Pharm.) Justin Olisaemeka, US based; Very Rev Fr Dr Phillip Ibeneme, the Financial Administrator of Onitsha Archdiocese; Very Rev Fr Cosmas Nzeabalu, US Military; Very Rev Fr Edmund Ani, US Based; as representatives are there for inquiries by whosoever pleases.

The above said, let me quickly say that those who are plotting the downfall of the Chief of Staff are simply kicking their legs on an impregnable rock.

Primus is a pure child of destiny!

He is placed where he is by God alone. His track records and achievements in life have clearly marked him out as the favoured of God.

His assumption of the office of the Chief of Staff was purely Divine. He never struggled for it, he did not malign anybody to arrive there; rather, like the biblical Matthias, the lot fell on him.

Again, his coming to the Chief of Staff's office brought positive and result-oriented vision, yielding youthful encounters which have largely aided the governor to achieve the giant strides his administration has made in Anambra State.

Primus has greatly used his good offices to attract a great number of youths back to Anambra State, especially those in diaspora who have come to invest in the state. I know a good number of our people in Europe, America and Asia continents who are currently trying to erect some businesses in Anambra, while some of them are already done with theirs, due to the youthful prompting of the COS.

His leadership style is second to none, and this is richly seen in the manner he has successfully brought all the Commissioners, the MD/CEO of government agencies and all other political appointees under the Great Team WhasApp platform, and through this effort, made the Governor's administration become very highly informative, participatory and productive.

For sure, we cannot talk of Obiano's great achievements on security, education, agriculture, building of the Anambra International Airport, International Conference Center, road construction and maintenance to mention but a few without factoring in Primus Odili's input.

The COS has been able to show his political correctness and power or better, influence in all his duties. This political mettle has brought him face to face with known and unknown enemies, some of who even conspire to undermine him for their perceived advantage. They live in a fool's paradise forgetting the Igbo wise saying, "Chi onye adighi n'izu, onwu anaghi egbu ya".

The EFCC was once brought in to further the persons' devious machinations against the COS. In this too, God saved the innocent young man. In another development sometime ago, a conceived plot to lock the COS's office was discovered. That plot also failed, as the lock and key meant to be used in locking his office were soon dropped or broken in his favour.

Not resting, they sponsored the $1.8m American House purchase article, which also hit the rock. Today, they have sponsored another dastardly article accusing Maureen Odili, the good wife of Primus, of bringing in Corona virus to the Government House Awka in December, 2020, where they claimed that 30 senior government staff have been infected. Yet, no single name was mentioned from the said 30 senior staff. Simply giving a dog a bad name in order to kill it. What a dirty way of playing politics!

Politics must not be do or die. We must not endulge in character assassination of our own colleagues because we want to climb the political ladder. One's family must also not be slandered for our selfish political gains.

Those who aspire to political leadership should embrace honesty and sincerity in pursuit of their goals.They should not incriminate others and unnecessarily heat up the polity for whatever political gains they want.
Let those aspiring to leadership positions come up neat and clean to political offices.

No attempt to devalue Chief Primus Ugochukwu Odili and slyly succeed him today as the Chief of Staff, or even to push him away from future participation in politics and from the corridors of power will see the light of day.

Primus' Chi cuts his success ways and Chukwuokike endorses his increasing flight to greater heights. In truth Chi na-eme eze; so it is with Chief Primus Odili.