By EBUE CALLISTUS

Power is the driving force that brings together people of different philosophies and varying interests in a constantly evolving battle for the control of the reins of governance. In the great and grueling quest for power, it is easy for them to forget that power belongs not to those who possess it at the moment but to nation and its people.

Little wonder the Igbo political leaders elected to serve the people does not feel like servants, but masters of their employers. The lucre of their office and the dazzling height of the mountain top they occupy completely separate and estrange them from the yearnings and aspirations of their citizens at the valley of the mountain.

Before the Presidential Primaries of various political parties, Igbo political leaders and elites have one common denominator. “Emi Lokan” for Southeast to produce the next president of Nigeria in February presidential election. Justice, equity, fairness and inclusiveness was their campaign mantra at various parties' fora, especially the two major political parties – APC and PDP. They made beautiful, powerful, passionate and emotional laden presentations to support their demand.

Within that period also, the 17 governors from southern Nigeria came out on three different occasions with what we now believed to be a hypocritical declaration, through the benefit of hindsight, that it was southern Nigeria Emi Lekan to produce the next president of Nigeria after eight years of Mohammadu Buhari's administration a northerner. The Southeast leaders keyed into it but wanted the “Emi Lokan” to be micro zoned to Southeast.

However, during the Presidential Primaries, greed, selfishness and self centredness became the credo of Southeast Delegates. The sound of Southeast “Emi Lokan” became a distant voice in faraway horizon, the only thing that matters to them was the type of currency that exchanged hands, consequently, all the southeast aspirants in the two major political parties lost woefully and shamefully.

In the case of aspirant Peter Gregory Obi, all the Igbo Delegates, having compromised their consciences already, conspired to disgrace him at the PDP presidential primary, but like the proverbial cow that has no tail, God came to his rescue and drove away the flies and fleas and led him to Labour Party where he became their standard bearer.

Initially, they laughed, wrote him off as a big joke, an upstart who has no structure. Some even accused him as a pretender, angling to be the running mate to Atiku Abubakar. But to their greatest chagrin, he proved all of them wrong; the book makers, diviners, star gazers, crystal ball watchers, etc, by moving from the cradle, the threshold of the Presidential political lather to become one of the front runners.

Amazing? Unimaginable and unprecedented transformation, for the rejected stone about to be the corner stone in the February 25th election, became a serious threat to their individual Emi Lokans. No it can't happen, he must be stopped at all cost. Envy and mercantile disposition took the better part of them and they threw caution to the wind.

They behaved like the harlot woman in first Kings Chapter two, whose child died but decided to switch her dead child with the living child of her house mate. When King Solomon applied his famous wisdom by asking his servant to divide the living child. The woman filled with envy and bitterness, told Solomon: “It shall neither be mine or hers, kill the baby.” You know the rest of the story. Crab mentality at its peak.

As the February 25 D day is fast approaching, the Igbo political leaders have come out of their cocoon in full force to scuttle PO chances. Not that we expected all of them to support PO, far from that, but inconsistencies and duplicities in their actions is the problem. Their attitude is analogous to one who is so hungry, came to a restaurant at rush hour and queued up, ordered a plate of rice, when the dish was about to be served, he said no, I don't like the bowel, give it to the next customer, I will come back later. Michael Montaigne captured this attitude very well in his essay thus: “Since we cannot attain to greatness, let revenge ourselves by railing at it.”

One by one, they started identifying themselves as court jesters in the circuit court of Atiku Abubakar, the great Unifier, who has already started the process of unifying the country by asking the northerners not to vote for Yoruba or Igbo candidates; and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Emi Lokan himself. Who wanted to become the president for self aggrandisement, self adulation, my lifetime ambition, not about Nigeria and Nigerians. It is called Narcissistic Personality Disorder – megalomania. That is the best thing that happened to Nigeria, according to the gospel of Chimaroke Nnamani, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Peter Mba, etc.

We have three categories of the so called Igbo elites and political leaders, namely: those who have contracted the Emi Lekan virus, they see any other Igbo man trying to occupy the position they allotted to themselves as an interloper and affront to them. The second category are those who are victims of the virus called envy/jealousy, while the last category are those infected with pecuniary/mercantile disorder.

Nevertheless, there is an amorphous group of Ndigbo who do not give a hoot about Nigeria President of Igbo extraction or any other ethnic extraction for that matter as long as they do their businesses and continue to make their money legitimately or otherwise uninhibited. It should be noted that these categories are not mutually exclusive but inclusive. Some of them belong to all the three categories.

Under the first category, those who think that they are the best thing that happened to Ndigbo, therefore it will be an aberration for any other Igbo man to occupy the position before them. They include Emperor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Omniscient Charles Soludo of Anambra State, Comedian Orji Uzoh Kalu, Linguist Roachers Okorocha, the man who did not even vote for himself at their party primary. Others are Emeka Ihedioha, Ike Ekwerenmadu just to mention but a few. When we see them afar surrounded by the paraphernalia of the office they occupy, we think they are so sophisticated, but bereft of such camouflage, we see the nakedness of their naivety and myopia.

Can you imagine a man of Umahi calibre, believing that by betraying and sacrificing everything that made him what he is, and crossing over to the APC, the presidency of Nigeria would just be handed over to him; or our Omniscient Professor Charles Soludo deluding himself that all he needed to do to be President of Nigeria after eight years of the UNIFIER was to destroy the chances of his brother Peter Obi. My people is it not laughable? The wise men from the east in action. What a pity.

For those suffering from Mercantile/Pecuniary Disorder, we have Dan Ulasi, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, Chimaroke Nnamani, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Orji Uzoh Kalu, Okezie Ikpeazu, Arthur Eze, Ositadima Chidoka, and the list goes on and on trying to compete with Tower of Babel. All those mentioned under the first and second category were also infected with the virus called envy and jealousy.

The case of Okwesilieze Nwodo and Osita Okechukwu baffles me. Their motives are nebulous; should I group them as persons with mercantile personality syndrome, or persons with fierce loyalty to their principals over their beliefs and passionate campaign for a Nigeria President of Southeast extraction?

Whatever may be their motives, they should have borrowed a leaf from Babachair Lawal and Aminu Dogara who were strong supporters of Tinubu, but had to abandoned him and APC their party because of his choice of a Moslem as his running mate, which they considered inimical to their interest and belief. That was demonstration of principle and belief over every other considerations. Ndigbo should take note of that.

Finally, may I use this medium and opportunity to call on the electorates in Southeast in particular to come out without any fear of intimidation and vote for Labour Party candidate PETER OBI, without prejudice to any arguments they are making against him, Peter Gregory Obi is not only the shortest route, but the only route of realising our age long collective aspirations to produce Nigeria President of Southeast extraction in our life time. If we missed it in Peter Obi, it will take another generation before anybody from Southeast get close to Ask Rock as PO, that is if Nigeria still remains as a single entity by then.

But king Solomon in his judgement against the harlot woman, told his servant: “Give the living child to the first woman, she is its mother.” A word is enough for the wise. February 25th here we come.

•Ebue Callistus, Secretary NUJ Enugu State Council (2003-2006), can be reached via chiebomcebe@yahoo.com

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