Reasons have been given for the action of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, in supporting the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Although Obiano is the National Leader of the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which also fielded a candidate for the February 23 presidential election, his body language gave him out as someone working underground for President Buhari’s re-election.

While the rumour of his secret alliance with APC lasted, Obiano had denied the romance, saying that his party had a presidential candidate in the person of retired Gen John Gbor.

However, a statement issued over the weekend in Awka by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), James Eze, finally confirmed that Obiano, indeed, supported Buhari during the election.

Eze, who described Obiano’s action as one laced with foresight, said the governor knew that it was impossible to beat Buhari in the last election.

He said: “That is foresight. He made it clear to his close friends and allies that the opposition did not stand a chance against the president.

“He discreetly advised against any excessively emotive opposition that would rub Ndigbo the wrong way for the umpteenth time. He argued that in a federation that has developed a thick skin for fairness, equity and justice, it is wiser to be subtle than confrontational. He warned that Ndigbo must not stumble twice over the same stone. But nobody understood him, for though most of them have been in politics long before him, foresight is a gift that is not available to everyone.

“And now that the chickens have come home to roost, it has become clear to Governor Obiano that foresight comes at a price. Foresight is a lonely path to tread. It breeds unexpected resentment and hate. Having foresight could turn you into a sudden object of anger and unwise attacks.

“But on the long run, it never leaves you without the enduring sheen of grace and glory. And that happens only when the people finally wake up to smell the coffee. Sadly, in the case of many farsighted leaders, this happens after they are out of office or after they are gone.”

Eze explained that foresight’ is a pregnancy; only time reveals saying that foresight is a most ignored attribute of leadership.

While noting that a leader without foresight is blind in one eye, the CPS observed that throughout history, great leaders have often complained about the likely injuries which a lack of foresight might bring.

He added: “Indeed, foresight is a crucial gift of a great leader. The founding fathers; the great Zik, Awo and Bello all demonstrated remarkable foresight which can be seen in the legacies they left behind. The landscape of the old Eastern Region bears the indelible marks of Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara.

“These men were farsighted leaders who could see beyond their noses. The decline in our society today is partly because we have fewer leaders who are gifted with foresight.”

Eze regretted that Obiano has been in the eye of the storm in recent times for showing impressive foresight even as he observed that some people would like to see him hanged for doing exactly what many historic leaders have done.

Continuing, the statement said: “Stand aside from the sea of misguided emotion and predict the future!

“Even as I write this, some of Obiano’s Igbo brothers cannot understand why he chose to tread the less emotive path in the last presidential election. It is easy to understand why this is so though. In a land that has suffered for so long from a biting scarcity of bold and perceptive leadership, it is not common to see a leader who has enough courage to point his people towards an unpopular direction. It is, in fact, hard to see a leader who has enough conviction to damn the consequences and swim against the current towards a hostile direction that he alone has seen as the only realistic choice left.

“And so, for those who still deride and mock Governor Obiano for his foresight in the last presidential election, those who willfully seek cheap opportunities to laugh at him, it might be worthwhile to always remember; that even the Scriptures warned us in First Corinthians chapter one verse twenty-seven, that sometimes, ‘God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise’.”

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