₦airaland Forum

Peter Obi, Akunyili And Political Folly

April 18, 2011
Okey Ndibe
OPINION
COLUMN
It’s sad to see how Governor Peter Obi of Anambra has made himself a bewildering figure. That a man whose political stock was once solid would so abjectly fail to rise to people’s expectations is – there’s no other way to put it – a matter of profound tragedy.

It’s sad to see how Governor Peter Obi of Anambra has made himself a bewildering figure. That a man whose political stock was once solid would so abjectly fail to rise to people’s expectations is – there’s no other way to put it – a matter of profound tragedy.

Mr. Obi rose to the nation’s admiration when he rejected all entreaties to forego the gubernatorial mandate that the people of Anambra had given him in 2003, and which the PDP and its candidate, Chris Ngige, had usurped. Spurning misguided pleas to “leave everything to God,” he sought the reclamation of his mandate with a stubbornness that was refreshing to encounter in a Nigerian politician. In the end, he (and the people of Anambra) secured victory. His profile rose even further when he persuaded the Supreme Court to dismiss Andy Uba, a former presidential aide, from Government House, Awka. Mr. Uba, thanks to Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu, had been enthroned as Anambra governor.

Given his history, Mr. Obi’s political currency ought to lie in how jealously he guards his reputation as an espouser and defender of electoral integrity. Instead, with former Information Minister Dora Akunyili as his accomplice, Governor Obi has all but wasted this particular currency. And he has squandered this resource, paradoxically, in pursuit of power by all means. This particular obsession has magnified the governor’s shockingly small-minded statecraft.

For a man who has been a victim of electoral fraud, Mr. Obi’s conduct in the April 9 National Assembly elections is, quite simply, appalling.

Let’s begin with the campaigns. Mr. Obi and his team of handpicked candidates had entered the campaigns on a huge deficit. The governor’s political crisis was self-inflicted.

First, the governor’s party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), had alienated party faithful by handing its tickets to elements that had just landed – expediently – from the PDP planet. As I wrote here a few weeks ago, Mr. Obi (along with APGA’s chairman, Mr. Victor Umeh) betrayed Anambra when he invited Chuma Nzeribe, an unpalatable political figure, to take one of the party’s senatorial tickets. Mr. Nzeribe was a prominent – and to this day unapologetic – member of the cabal that was empowered by former President Obasanjo to turn Anambra into what I once called a theater of absurdity.

It was bad enough that APGA fielded the likes of Nzeribe. That treachery was then compounded by the fact that, before choosing the PDP turncoats, the party had collected steep fees from longtime party members interested in the various elective posts. Is it not repellent conduct to collect fees from would-be candidates when the party’s plan was to embrace an all-PDP slate?

What’s more, Mr. Obi’s political capital in the state had become terribly meager. In the state’s governorship election of February 2010, many Catholic priests had made the deplorable blunder of proclaiming from the pulpit that Mr. Obi was the beloved political son both of God and the Pope. But soon after the election was concluded, many of Mr. Obi’s ecclesiastical supporters began to regret ever championing him. They suddenly beheld a man who is in the main self-absorbed, with scant concern for the well being of the governed. As I write, medical doctors as well as judiciary workers in the state have been on strike for several weeks. Yet, a governor who was sold to voters as commissioned by God and the pope has not deigned to enter into serious negotiations in order to resolve issues. Does the governor derive perverse pleasure from watching patients go through agonizing pain and even death because he’s too preoccupied to talk with striking doctors? How about the fact that he’s treated with disdain the state workers’ demand for the implementation of minimum wage standards?

If his nonchalance towards striking workers is ghastly, the way he conducted the campaigns for his legislative candidates was unbecoming of a man and governor. In fact, I was so ashamed of the governor’s reported utterances that I made efforts to ring him up and tell him that he ought to know better.

Several witnesses told me how, at campaign stumps with Mrs. Akunyili, Governor Obi told his audience not to vote for Mr. Ngige because the man is too short. Then he permitted campaign posters to be circulated in which the image of Mr. Ngige, a medical doctor and candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was aligned with those of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and former Governor Bola Tinubu. By contrast, the governor’s candidates were lined up with the late Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ikemba Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The sordid idea was to portray Ngige as belonging to a “Yoruba team.”

It beggars belief that a governor, any governor, would see fit to make his opponent’s height a campaign issue. Such an untoward focus on somebody’s physique is utterly immature and speaks to a bankruptcy of ideas. Does it mean that Mr. Obi believes a person’s height to correlate to ability? Does he consider himself more intelligent, more capable or morally astute than everybody who’s shorter than he? For that matter, does he believe himself to be inferior to all taller people? For if height is a criterion of stellar leadership, then we must wonder how Mr. Obi became a governor. Alas, Anambra boasts many, many men and women who are taller than he is.

It is similarly appalling that a governor who reportedly has ambitions for higher political office could not restrain himself from disparaging Mr. Ngige as a Yoruba candidate. Even if we accepted the silly argument that the ACN was a Yoruba party – so what? Is the governor allergic to forging political alliances with the Yoruba? Is he not aware that such appeals to base, ethnic sentiments would return to haunt him if he ever seeks to be a political player at the national level? At any rate, was Mr. Obi not chastened by the fact that the ACN is sweeping the southwest and making inroads elsewhere in the nation, while he and his cohorts have left APGA bereft of electoral prospects anywhere? If any proof is needed, it suffices to see how Andy Uba trounced Obi’s man, Chuma Nzeribe.

Campaigning for Mrs. Akunyili, Governor Obi often reached for cheap blackmail. He threatened to deny, or pull projects as political appointments from communities that failed to vote for his candidates. In making these threats, he forgot that the people hired him for the job – and that he serves at their pleasure.

Apparently, the people of Anambra were determined to take the risk. Most of the governor’s candidates were thrashed. Many people in Anambra are certain that Mrs. Akunyili, the candidate most after the governor’s heart, was also decisively defeated. The haste with which she’s seeking a re-run of the senatorial race with Mr. Ngige suggests that she knows, deep down, that she was roundly beaten on April 9. It would amount to a monumental injustice to the voters of Anambra to revisit an election that became competitive only after the shameless manipulation that took place in Anaocha Local Government Area. The APGA team should not be rewarded with an undeserved re-run. INEC chairman Attahiru Jega should insist that the investigative panel he set up deploy forensic technology to probe the votes in Anaocha. I believe such a test would unmask a narrative of stuffed ballots.

It’s odd and disturbing that Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, would appoint Charles Esinone, a professor of pharmacy, as the new returning officer for the Anambra Central senatorial zone. The fact that Mr. Esinone and Mrs. Akunyili were colleagues in the same department at the University of Nigeria casts serious doubt about the returning officer’s impartiality.

Mr. Obi’s less than inspiring performance as a governor is, ultimately, responsible for his candidates’ electoral misfortunes. Rededicating himself to the service of the people of Anambra – rather than gubernatorial threats to his employers and obtuse politicking – is the only way to rebuild his tarnished political career.

(okeyndibe@gmail.com)





https://saharareporters.com/2011/04/18/peter-obi-akunyili-and-political-folly

Nigeria: Tinubu Promises More Jobs, Commissions 1,300 Housing Units
16 JANUARY 2001This Day(Lagos)
Lagos — Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday reiterated the commitment of his administration to the creation of thousands of new jobs through massive construction projects in the housing sector.

Tinubu made this declaration at the official commissioning of 1,300 new housing units which is the first phase of the Alliance Housing Estate, Ajah, now re-christened Senator Abraham Adesanya Housing Estate.

https://allafrica.com/stories/200101170241.html

tochifk:
This is crazy....
Most apartments in Lagos especially in the high density areas have little or no parking space,
Just hope the levy will be small amount so as not to hard more hardship to the already existing one faced by lagosians

it has to do with companies not individuals.

Dankovich1:
The best form of protest is for the youths to vote out all these evil government that lead them into this great menace come next year.

But meanwhile the army should not always allowed to be used as a tool in the wrong side of the government.

is buhari still contesting? What's the probability it won't happen in another party, Atiku was obj's vice during 2003 ASUU strike,Obi was also guilty of same as a governor of Anambra. Using this as a reason for voting isn't logical.

GamalNasser:
Best governor that couldn't give Lagos pipeborne water in 20 years and couldn't complete a mere 50 km Lekki Epe road in 20 years , that could complete a mer 35 KM light rail line in 20 years ...

he is still the governor after 20 years?..most of the roads built by tinubu are still standing till today,kudirat abiola way is one of them.

IboHausaYoruba:
I promise you that Obi will build world class hospital in all the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria. There will never be any need for our politicians travelling abroad for medical attention. He will make sure food is surplus in the country, good roads, rail and resuscitation of Nigeria Airways. Nigeria will grow to be the best economic destination in Africa thereby taking back the mantra Giant of Africa. There will never be ASUU strike again, our Naira will appreciate with a speed of light. Please let's join hand in making sure PO becomes our president. I am not saying all these because I'm Igbo, I know Obi is the best we can have

you are making the promise on his behalf, how sure are you?.

The mismanagement and lack of strategy by the youth during the endSars protest yielded more negatives. A lot of police officers and some military officers were killed, police stations were burnt,this led to officers of the law being demoralized. The series of prison breaks and anarchy that follows suit can't be separated from the endsars debacle.
Criminals became bolder and the rate of anarchy increased.A new government that can bring about the necessary measures that can improve the security situation in nigeria is needed.

Samunique:
Dear, I'm the op, I'm not Igbo, I'm Yoruba and, I'm telling what is going on, pls travel and make your research.

Do you think I want Tinubu to lose ?
Brother smell the coffee !

clearly the odds are against him, mostly due to the non performance of buhari especially in the security and economy but 8 months is still far,he is an experienced politician that can spring surprises.

Weyaed:
Back in 2015, You voted an incompetent dunce a.k.a Mannequin at 21 years old, by 2023 you will be 28 years old with no meaningful progress in your life. Continue.

If you like vote old cargos with no vision(You know them)

Your 30s will be wasted and at 40 you will have nothing to show for it.

Don't waste your life, don't waste your Children's future... Be warned.

so who isn't old among the top contenders?

wordsNOTswords:
This is a fake report from chicago state university , I decided to email the email of the university provided by purported school in this report, and I wasn't surprised it returned, mai delivery failure because the email couldn't being found. I have attached evidence to this reply.

use your brain, you can see the spelling of registrar in the email isn't correct.

chibrolex:
Akwaibom state is not added in your analysis....so u are not correct with your equations or data .you are just speculating

akwaibom delegates were not accredited due to a court litigation.

Fake news,he was not the one in the accident

DamianX:
Lol running from pillar to post. No one gives a fvck about you expect your urchins.
This man don run round Nigeria pass any other person. If he lose this primaries eh na die straight because to him, he would be useless living.

osinbajo has visited all states in nigeria ,tinubu ,osinbajo and amaechi are the serious contenders

abobote:
Forget, Atiku have never lost PDP before, except ringing.
The way he dish out dollars, no aspirant has ever match it

He lost against jonathan

redPUSSY:
Nobody is interested weather Deji is playing mind game or not.. Take the msg and leave the msngr..


So many of us have be pleading to SW to support Eastern Presidency like it was done in the SW in 1999 where the two Major political Parties zoned their presidency to SW, what did we get in return ?.. Insults upon insults like "You can't deposit in zenith bank and withdrew in fidelity" or "," You can't plant yam and harvest cocoyam" and so many ridiculous comments from you people...

Forget whoever Deji is supporting or whatever mumu botton he's pressing.. This has been our stand so shall it remain

"Eastern Presidency or power will forever remain in the north"

Obasanjo wasn't yoruba candidate in 1999, so igbo didn't support yoruba in 1999.

Moblux:
I don't know how the police thinks. So the suspects are declared wanted abi?

1. Whatever happens to their biodata with the school

2. These are guys who have enrolled their NIN and linked their data to their telecos/network providers.

We are not daunces. Until Shariah law is expunged from the constitution, we are on a journey in a circle.

I hope suggesting that Shariah law should be expunged from a secular state constitution is not blasphemous.

Not all of them are students, don't just jump into conclusion

merit455:
Deborah's murder reminds me of my service year in Yobe state as a youth corper.

I can't forget that experience in a hurry and I keep asking myself why these Muslims can so misinterprete issues to suit what they are planning to do.

We had a certain female Corp member from Delta state, she likes painting her lips like � and putting on trousers. Unknown to her she became the subject of a serious hatred and an apparent plan to kill her was in the pipe line.

You know these people have a way of coordinating their murderous acts, it's a chain that includes the high and low in their society.

So corper Blessing was teaching one day in class and a particular student was busy distracting others, she tried to caution the boy and get him to concentrate but boy keep disturbing the rest of the class, Unknown to her, that was the trap. The said boy was writing in his note book and kept tiring them out, so when she went to the boy's desk, she picked up the pieces of paper and threw them away. The boy stood up and left the classroom.

Boom! Not upto 30mins, another teacher came to Blessing and asked her why she would desecrate the coran, she was so surprised to hear that and decided to ask the teacher where she got that kind of news. To cut the story short, the teacher asked Blessing to leave the school premises immediately else she would be kill.

Blessing quickly left the school to her lodge where she told other corp members what had transpired in school. As she was still speaking, a large crowd of Muslims youth were charging and chanting towards the corpers lodge with sticks and knives, they corpers quickly ran towards the gate to lock it , at that point it became a back and push in the gate as the knew that if the youth gained entrance into the place, they maybe more casualties. This happened in Potiskum.

At that point, calls where coming into to the zonal office for help, I was one of the corper rep in the zone assisting the ZI and LI, the ZI, a Yoruba man quickly called the police, there was no action, he called the army, nothing happened, we started praying for God to intervene, we were asked to go see the Emir, we did, but you could sense the whole town was waiting to hear that Blessing had been killed before action would be taken.

What shocked me most was that our LI, a Muslim was so furious, saying she deserves to die for desecrating the Quran, but thankfully our ZI called a Army topnotch in the south east who had to call the yobe command. ( I don't know the process but it was so fast), military personnels came in two vans to take us to the location of the corpers, you won't believe the crowd, youth wielding sticks, knives and a tray but when they saw the military they started running, all the corpers members were evacuated, the two vans couldn't take everyone, so most of the soldiers has to walk beside the vans for us to get out of that place to the zonal office.

We started wandering how writing quranic citations in a piece of paper or a notebook made the paper or notebook a quran.

As the madness was going on in the town, I was given one of the worst task of my life as the ZI mandated me to snick Blessing out of the town.

While concern people where coming to find out what happened, I took Blessing through the backyard, and then out of the gate, picked okada towards Damaturu with Blessing looking completely different (her lips cleaned and dressed like a northern girl with her head covered) and crying profusely. We succeeded in sending her to Damaturu and that was her last day in Potiskum as she completed the remaining part of her service year at the state headquarters.

This religious misinterpretation must stop forthwith. Deborah death is one of too many cases of religious extremists and fanatics taking the lives of innocent people.

what year did this happen?

Osasking:
Really?? This man need to be properly scrutinize before vying for any position. I know his end product trying to run away from our so call EFCC and ICPC that has already be compromised. In a sane country this man need to be in jail for siphoning the state resources. He does not deserve any immunity

he is still one of the best performing governors in nigeria.

maleek2009:
There's immunity unless if it's a matter of capital offence.


That's why you will see most of our corrupt politicians want hold important political position that can give them immunity

senators don't have immunity,don't say what you don't know.

To rinse the cup.

Jagaban borgu

Badonasty:
Fayose really like this guy sha

and he didn't support at the governorship primary

ppogba:
Rohr himself is far from being a genius.
With the time.he had we the team he should have been able to put at least a trophy on the table. Not throwing away a four goal lead against serria leone.

how many competition did he participated in? Just 2. You are part of the ones that talk without basis

Economy: it was during OBJ's era that civil servants can dream of building thier own houses due to increase in salary,bank capitalization resulted to increase in employment in the banking sector.

NHIS is another positive of his administration, new pension scheme brought about the creation of different PFAs resulting into more employment.
EFCC was feared during his time,I can remember Wabara/osuji saga, fabian osuji had to go,same also Wabara.
External reserve and due process office.i think he laid the foundation for the development,there was hope that the country can move forward, he had his own negatives but it's still the best since 99.

Are the 2 schools offering you same course?. Both have thier different advantages.

I'll give it to peter obi, during Fashola's tenure, there was high level of borrowing despite the IGR of lagos, overinflation of contracts,waste etc..

The headline is misleading, he retired as a senior lecturer.

If 328 million is used for supervision,how much will the real construction cost? Waste of resources

striker07:
THE NATION
FEC okays $328.87m for railway consultancy services
•Council approves N115.4b to dualise Katsina road

By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja on February 3, 2022
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved $328.87 million contracts for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects in the country.

It also approved N115.4 billion for the dualisation of the proposed Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam highway in Katsina State from single carriageway to a dual carriageway.

Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and his Works and Housing counterpart, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), as well as the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor and her Health counterpart, Dr. Olorunimbe Mamora, announced these after the week’s virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Amaechi said he presented two memoranda on the consultancy services and the concessioning of the Onitsha River Port.

“…The first one has to do with the contract for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects. We have about three railway projects, and their construction has not started. They include the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and the Abuja-Warri lines.

“For the consultancy services, the following contractors were approved with $183.7 million: GIX Engineers Infrastructure Excellence/Yaroso and Partnership Limited, Core Consulting Engineering Plc. That’s for Abuja to Warri.

“For the consultancy services for supervision of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway, with branch lines to Bonny Deep Seaport and Port Harcourt Industrial Park and then to Owerri, we have Kyari Consults SDMBHD/Jamood Global Services Limited at $97.5 million. The first one is $38.4 million.

Read Also: FEC okays N64.687b contracts for Works, FCT ministries
“The last one is for consultancy services for the supervision of Kano-Katsina-Jibia-Maradi rail line to TEAM (Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nigeria Limited) for $47,670,000 million. All of them are for a period of 36 months. That’s the first.

“The second one is that the Cabinet approved a agreement for the Ministry of Transportation to concession the Onitsha River Port to a company called Inversal Elysium Consortium. They are to manage the river port for 30 years,” he said.

Asked why the Federal Government abandoned the agreements with China on the construction of railway across the country, Amaechi said: “Actually, that is why there is a delay. We were waiting on the Chinese to give us the loans we applied for. Till today, they’ve not replied. They kept delaying us. Will the delay extend our tenure? The answer is no.

“We’ve gone to Standard Chartered Bank. While they’ve done financial closure, they’ve approved some level of funding. We are also pursuing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line with Standard Chartered Bank. The Lagos-Kano, part of it will come from Standard Chartered Bank, and part of it will come from some commercial banks in China,” he said.

Fashola said Council approved a contract for the dualisation of the Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam Road at the cost of N115.4 billion.

The minister explained that the project, which covers 131.4 kilometres, is expected to be completed within a period of 48 months.

“The instructive thing is that the financing will be done by the Tax Credit Scheme of Bua International Limited. And they will use Messrs PW Construction Nigeria Limited, a company in which they have acquired some interest, to undertake the construction,” he said.

Ikeazor said Council approved an Energy Transition Plan for the country.

“This memo was presented as a plan for Nigeria to achieve net zero carbon emission. This will clearly set out the pathway for Nigeria in achieving this,” she said.

The minister said FEC also approved a second memo to aid the Waste Battery Management Policy for Nigeria.

Mamora said Council approved the award of contract for consultancy services on the building of the corporate headquarters of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja.

“The need has become inevitable to expand what is on the ground to improve the operational efficiency of that agency.

https://thenationonlineng.net/fec-okays-328-87m-for-railway-consultancy-services/amp/

THE NATION
FEC okays $328.87m for railway consultancy services
•Council approves N115.4b to dualise Katsina road

By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja on February 3, 2022
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved $328.87 million contracts for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects in the country.

It also approved N115.4 billion for the dualisation of the proposed Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam highway in Katsina State from single carriageway to a dual carriageway.

Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and his Works and Housing counterpart, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), as well as the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor and her Health counterpart, Dr. Olorunimbe Mamora, announced these after the week’s virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Amaechi said he presented two memoranda on the consultancy services and the concessioning of the Onitsha River Port.

“…The first one has to do with the contract for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects. We have about three railway projects, and their construction has not started. They include the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and the Abuja-Warri lines.

“For the consultancy services, the following contractors were approved with $183.7 million: GIX Engineers Infrastructure Excellence/Yaroso and Partnership Limited, Core Consulting Engineering Plc. That’s for Abuja to Warri.

“For the consultancy services for supervision of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway, with branch lines to Bonny Deep Seaport and Port Harcourt Industrial Park and then to Owerri, we have Kyari Consults SDMBHD/Jamood Global Services Limited at $97.5 million. The first one is $38.4 million.

Read Also: FEC okays N64.687b contracts for Works, FCT ministries
“The last one is for consultancy services for the supervision of Kano-Katsina-Jibia-Maradi rail line to TEAM (Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nigeria Limited) for $47,670,000 million. All of them are for a period of 36 months. That’s the first.

“The second one is that the Cabinet approved a agreement for the Ministry of Transportation to concession the Onitsha River Port to a company called Inversal Elysium Consortium. They are to manage the river port for 30 years,” he said.

Asked why the Federal Government abandoned the agreements with China on the construction of railway across the country, Amaechi said: “Actually, that is why there is a delay. We were waiting on the Chinese to give us the loans we applied for. Till today, they’ve not replied. They kept delaying us. Will the delay extend our tenure? The answer is no.

“We’ve gone to Standard Chartered Bank. While they’ve done financial closure, they’ve approved some level of funding. We are also pursuing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line with Standard Chartered Bank. The Lagos-Kano, part of it will come from Standard Chartered Bank, and part of it will come from some commercial banks in China,” he said.

Fashola said Council approved a contract for the dualisation of the Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam Road at the cost of N115.4 billion.

The minister explained that the project, which covers 131.4 kilometres, is expected to be completed within a period of 48 months.

“The instructive thing is that the financing will be done by the Tax Credit Scheme of Bua International Limited. And they will use Messrs PW Construction Nigeria Limited, a company in which they have acquired some interest, to undertake the construction,” he said.

Ikeazor said Council approved an Energy Transition Plan for the country.

“This memo was presented as a plan for Nigeria to achieve net zero carbon emission. This will clearly set out the pathway for Nigeria in achieving this,” she said.

The minister said FEC also approved a second memo to aid the Waste Battery Management Policy for Nigeria.

Mamora said Council approved the award of contract for consultancy services on the building of the corporate headquarters of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja.

“The need has become inevitable to expand what is on the ground to improve the operational efficiency of that agency.

https://thenationonlineng.net/fec-okays-328-87m-for-railway-consultancy-services/amp/

Ti oluwa nile was produced by Tunde Kelani

gentleguy1975:
I remember him in Toluwanile,by Babawande

richmanrichard:
when rohr was sacked, clueless ppl that knew nothing abt futbol was celebrating.rohr qualified us effortlessly .now una go turn prayer warriors again

only few nigerians can analyse football

How was he able to survive it

taretoofine:
yeaa
Then I knew our hospitals were all scraps
No antivenom