•Governor Willie Obiano.
By Egbuna Nnake
Only people who performed well in their first outing are re-elected for a second term in office. Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, has not done well, thus far (and this is his fourth year). Therefore, he should not be re-elected because of the following reasons:
Lack of integrity
The governor is not a good leader. A good leader, among other things, is a person of integrity. Integrity is about honesty, transparency, altruism and broad-mindedness. Willie lacks all these. First and foremost, he claims he hails from Aguleri, instead of Igbariam where he actually comes from. If in doubt, ask Igwe Kelly Nzekwe, Igwe Okalakwu of Igbariam, who will readily show you Obiano’s homestead at Igbariam. Second, Obiano is clannish, through and through. About 90 per cent of the people he appointed into office are Aguleri citizens. The only major project which he has executed is the bridge linking two parts of Aguleri: Aguleri-Uno and Aguleri-Otu. He has tarred all the roads in Aguleri, as well as roads leading to Aguleri from all parts of Omabala area. He makes bold to dichotomise Anambra State, referring to people from Anambra Central and Anambra South as Ndi Igbo Agbaenu, while his Anambra North people are only the ones who deserve appointments, promotions and employment in the state and Federal Government agencies. According to him, past governors of Anambra State who hail from Maja – Chief Umeh and Pro Chukwuma Soludo’s part of the state – marginalised Omabala people during their time. Obiano says he is the one to reverse this trend, and he actually does this.
A cursory look at his government shows that not only are his brothers – Cy Obiano, Evaristus Obiano, their wives, in-laws and his sister, Queen, given appointments (despite of their inadequacies) – his cousins: Marcel Manafa, Joe Manafa, Rev Fr Manafa, etc, are also in charge. Why did Obiano build a so-called University Teaching Hospital at Aguleri? Can you have a university teaching hospital when the university (Tansian University) does not have a college of medicine? If he is truly committed to boosting health-care delivery, why did he abandon an existing General Hospital, Umueri and, instead, hurriedly built and lavishly furnished another hospital in Aguleri? Umueri Hospital is an eyesore and is overgrown by weeds. The school of Nursing, which was to be established there had been stalled by the all-powerful Governor Obiano. This is not surprising because it was he, as an executive director in a bank, that funded the destruction of Umueri during the infamous Aguleri/Umueri war of 1999. It was in appreciation of his role that Igwe Christopher Idigo of Aguleri conferred on him the chieftaincy title, Akpokuedike Aguleri (which in Igbo means “the powerful one who destroys the enemy once he is beckoned upon”).
Gross Incompetence
Willie Obiano does not deserve a second term because he is grossly incompetent, incoherent, non-systematic, dull and cannot communicate. No leader anywhere in the world has ever combined all these inadequacies. Have you watched him address an audience? He cannot talk for more than three minutes; he pauses unnecessarily like someone who loses his thoughts and searches for requisite words. To make matters worse, he wallows unrepentantly in alcohol every day. As a result, instead of going to his office in Government House to work, he dozes off at the Lodge, and is woken up to attend to a few duties. Governance is serious business. It is not run like that. The Peter Obis, Babatunde Fasholas and Nyesom Wikes of this world understand what governance entails. Compare and contrast.
Advice
Anambrarians should push away this third-rate governor. The home of renowned nationalists, academicians and professionals such as the Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwus, Nnamdi Azikiwes, Chike Obis, Chuba Okadigbos, Emeka Anyaokus, Mbazulike Amaechis, Alex Ekwuemes, etc, deserves a much more serious governor than one who appoints his fellow laggards into office; one who has agulerised Anambra State; one who sells the traditional stools to the highest bidders, thereby turning Anambra communities into war zones. See what is happening in Awka-Etiti, Ogidi, Awka and Umueri.
When will Obiano stop cheating and deceiving people? From where will he get the money to build such a grandiose airport in Umueri, that neither Abuja nor Lagos boasts of? Who will patronise a five-star hotel in Umueri? What will make the so-called Chinese company to embark on such a project in Umueri, instead of doing this in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, or any other metropolitan city? Has Anambra been accredited as an oil-producing state? Is Orient Petroleum producing oil now? Why has the Umueri Airport Road, which was flagged off several years ago, not been constructed? What does this say about the so-called Umueri Airport City Project? Is this not just an attempt to deceive Umueri to vote for him come November?
Anambarians, shine your eyes!
•Egbuna Nnake writes from Awka, Anambra State