Brother Hippo, I just read your submissions about Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the reservations Nsukka elites have against him, with respect to what could be best described as the "entitlement mentality" of our people during the eight years tenure of our brother.

Bros, I really don't know you in person, but I have heard of the roles you played for the Labour Party (LP) during the last general election in Nsukka Zone. All you said here are understandable and portrayed how an average Nsukka man feels. But one pertinent thing to note is that we should expand our horizon to see beyond our personal interest in the political gamunts of our state, Enugu, and our country, Nigeria.

The high expectations of our people during Ugwuanyi's tenure as governor were shortchanged by strange challenges from the very beginning of his administration till the end, which our people have deliberately refused to consider or take into consideration in crucifying him.

For instance, you mentioned that Ugwuanyi couldn't secure Vice Chancellorship position of UNN for us (Nsukka people) as Chimaroke Nnamani and Sullivan Chime did for their people. But you forgot to put the records straight that the duo (Nnamani and Sullivan) had an upper hand by virtue of the fact that their political party, the PDP was in power at the national level during their tenures as governors, and they had their way automatically to influence the choice of VCs of UNN then. This is as simple as that.

The same happened in the appointment of Ministers and other federal appointments.

These were challenges that our brother, Ugwuanyi, unfortunately had to face just because PDP lost the presidential election of 2015 to the APC when he became governor of Enugu State. That was God's design, and Nsukka people ought to have reasoned in that direction and taken it in good faith.
Today, Governor Peter Mbah, who is also not in APC, is facing the same challenges Ugwuanyi faced. Mbah couldn't influence the appointment of the Minister from Enugu State, even though the Minister, Chief Uche Nnaji, is from his senatorial zone. The Minister is the APC governorship candidate in the last general election and will most likely run against Gov. Mbah in 2027. This is obviously not a good omen for the present governor, politically.

I would want our people to be comparing Ugwuanyi's administration with the present administration of Gov. Mbah, which has the same challenges, viz: not being in the same political party with the government at the centre; economic; and security challenges.

Nnamani and Chime had favourable experiences.
I am glad that you pointed out that a lot of Nsukka people acknowledge that Ugwuanyi did well in attracting developments to Nsukka Zone. I am also glad that you revealed that the acrimony Nsukka people have against Ugwuanyi was the choice of Gov. Peter Mbah, as his successor, against their popular choice of Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party from the old Nsukka Division. Edeoga is from Isi-Uzo LGA in Enugu East Senatorial District, but Isi-Uzo LGA, which is the mother LGA of Ugwuanyi by birth is in the old Nsukka Division, also known as Nsukka Cultural Zone.

We share in that sentiments but I believe Nsukka people should have given fair consideration to our brother, Ugwuanyi, who as a governor then was privy to certain classified intelligence and other factors that could have hindered that our demand. There were certain sensitive things he knew we did not know concerning that our I6 years: I6 years agenda between old Nsukka and old Enugu zones.
I believe that Ugwuanyi's open-door policy and his strive to please everybody contributed majorly to the issues he had with our people.

He became familiar with everyone irrespective of class, religious or political differences to the extent that most of us forgot that he was a governor and took him and the office of governor for granted. We saw that rare privilege he extended to us, his brothers and sisters, as an entitlement and opportunity to break even in life, whether good or bad!

Anyway, that was an expensive lesson to learn from. As we can see, Gov. Mbah has learnt from it already.

Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Nsukka may never see a kind-hearted, humble, compassionate, and God-fearing leader like Ugwuanyi again.

In journalism parlance, Ugwuanyi is likened to a generalist (unlike a specialist) who strives to give everybody general attention as a kind-hearted, humble, and grassroots politican and ends up not satisfying many because of the insatiable nature of man.

Those saying that Ugwuanyi didn't empower Nsukka people are being economical with the truth. As a governor who went through two economic recessions, with the resultant effect of diminution of the state's resources; as a generalist who believed in the miracle of five loaves and two fish, Ugwuanyi distributed the scares resources to development issues and empowerment of the generality of the communities and people of the state respectively. In this regard, the majority of Nsukka people, not a particular set of people, were empowered.

It is unfortunate that Nsukka people were overwhelmed by this entitlement mentality syndrome, and we allowed it to take us to where we are today. This is because as far as 2023 general election is concerned, we all are victims of the betrayal and gang-up against Ugwuanyi and Gov. Mbah. That is just the gospel truth.

I am aware that you, as a seasoned politician, know that elections in most cases are not just thrown open for the electorate to decide. But our brother, Ugwuanyi, did just that. Not that he didn’t know what to do, but God used him to test the real hearts of men of Nsukka. That unusual decision Ugwuanyi took reaffirmed what the Bible says in *Matthew 12:34*: "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of", and also in Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart of man is shrewd, and unsearchable; who shall know it? (Each person's heart is depraved, and unknowable; who can understand it?)".

All the same, 2023 elections are over. Everybody in Nsukka Zone did what was in his or her mind during the elections. Nsukka people should move ahead and stop antagonising ourselves. No other Senatorial District in Enugu State is still attacking themselves on social media over the outcome of the last elections. Why is our own different for God’s sake?

The consequences of what Nsukka people did or the kind of parochial sentiments we exhibited during the last elections are grievous that it may hurt us for a long time.

The UNN VC contest is around the corner. The questions begging for answers are: How prepared, united, and strategic are Nsukka professors and our leaders? What roles did Nsukka people and University Community play during the 2023 general election, especially during the presidential and governorship elections? Why should Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo and his advisers hastily rush to the Media (Arise TV) as their first port of call for such sensitive demand that requires intense underground lobbying or was that a spoiler show?(God forbid!) What is our commitment with Governor Peter Mbah on the project even though he is not with the APC-led federal government? How cordial is our Nsukka professors with other professors and academic bodies in the University including the Governing Council?

I believe that Nsukka needs to review the way we do things and reorient our collective psyche to align with the tentacles of state, regional and national integration and development.

Nsukka is a place to be proud of. Nsukka is blessed. Nsukka is a force to reckon with if we put our house together, stop demarketing our own or washing our dirty linens in public, and have a common front of positive and endearing political direction. It is really time to forget and move on speedily in our overall interest, that of our children and those yet unborn. Thank you Mr. Hippo! God bless all of us!

~Charles Nweze

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