By way of preamble, this essay is not an attempt by any stretch of my imagination to join issues with Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, because intellectually, I am not his mate nor have I the competence or qualifications to do that; more so when his fellow erudite professor and senior one at that, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi had written a master piece of a rejoinder, after dissecting, analysing and interrogating all the issues raised in the whole gamut of Soludo's treaties, dispassionately and objectively.
However, the epistle actually woke up the curiosity in me, and with active and inquiring mind background, I began to interrogate myself and examine why am I really Obi dient, especially when as a graduate and journalist of more than 35 years experience like many of us, were described, grouped or categorised as "Social Mobs" simply for supporting the candidature of Peter Obi of Labour Party, and no doubt vociferously expressing our preference and defending it.
To begin with, I have never met Peter Obi physically, but I saw him once at a distance in Amawbia, Awka South LGA, many years ago when he was Governor, at the funeral ceremony of the father of one of my friends. What I cannot recall now, was whether it was his first tenure or second tenure, or whether it was when he was on impeachment sabbatical leave, or again whether it was when Andy Uba was briefly holding brief for him as Governor, while he was busy at the Supreme Court fighting for the completion of his tenure.
What I can recall now was that his eight- year tenure was a chequered one, punctuated by many unpleasant storms and tempests he was able to whither. Despite that, unlike many mortals, he was never demoralised, distracted or lost his focus. He stood firm on that lonely road to provide good governance for his people. That road many of his contemporaries shunned and detoured when ever they came across it.
Peter Obi stood on that road throughout out his tenure as a firm believer in VINCENT McNAB's GOOD SHEPHERD theory, that all power is for service, like the Rock of Gibraltar, Olumo Rock and Aso Rock, he is headed in 2023, by HIS Grace.This is still not enough for me.
Then, Why am I Obi dient? I have a friend Austin Emeka Onyekwelu from Ezinifite in Aguata LGA, Anambra state, he is a Biochemistry graduate of University of Port Harcourt. We started work together in the old Anambra state Civil Service immediately we finished secondary school on the same day. Later, we took study leave without pay and went for higher education. After our graduation and NYSC scheme, we came back and were reabsorbed into the civil service again.
However, in 1991, when Enugu state was carved out of the old Anambra state, he moved down to Awka to continue his service while I remained in Enugu state Civil Service. To abridge the narrative, in 1999 when the present democratic journey began, Dr. Chiwoke Mbadinuju became the Governor of Anambra state, while Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani took over the reins of power in Enugu state. Unfortunately, both of them were apology in the art of good governance, but masters in using the instruments of terror and violence as a critical element of governance.
The situation in Enugu state was a little better than that of Anambra state under the watch of Mbadinuju. I used to crack jokes with my friend Emeka about the situation." Old boy how market? You said we be WAWA, oya compare and contrast, you see, too much wise makes man foolish that is what you people are suffering now" We laughed over the joke.
In 2003, Anambra people rose and showed the stuff they were made of by consigning Mbadinuju to the garbage hip of their political history, while our own Ivan the Terrible employed every means, physically, spiritual and diabolical to retain power for another four years.
Then came the era of Peter Obi, the bar of governance was raised in all ramifications, but there was one aspect of his administration's policy that led to this essay and which converted me into a die hard Obi dient even before the movement started.
In 2014, when it was time for Emeka and I to say good bye, after 35 years in service including the years we spent in the university. By then, my friend had already risen to the position of a Director in the Civil Service. Obi gave all the Directors who were retiring a brand new FORD FOCUS worth about four million then and ask them to pay only #500,000, even at that, most of them didn't pay a dime. Secondly, my friend collected a check of about five million, his gratuity the very month he disengaged and his monthly pension started immediately.
He used his gratuity to establish PALM KERNEL OIL EXTRACTING INDUSTRY, here in Enugu and employed seven jobless youths. A striving small scale enterprise, but seven years of Buharinomics had its toll on the company, and today it has joined the litanies of moribund small and medium scale enterprises scattered across Nigeria as a result of APC Voodoo economic policy.
What about yours sincerely? Yours sincerely is still waiting for his gratuity eight years after disengaging from service in Enugu state. What about pension? Yours sincerely would always go for Thanksgiving Mass if he was lucky to receive one month pension after four months. What an irony. That was how human capital development of Peter Obi touched ordinary lives.
Did I hear that he used Anambra revenue to invest in multinational company that worth next to nothing? Please come to Enugu state where successive PDP Governors and political leaders in the last 22 years, after destroying all state owned industries and business enterprises they met on the ground, they converted their assets and our patrimony into their private estates.
They used our revenue to establish private secondary school, private university, private radio stations private oil and gas companies, and bought properties across the globe.
Some of them also invested our revenue in debauchery and turned the state into PICANTO headquarters of Nigeria where little girls between the ages of 18- 25 insult their parents and elders because they gifted with brand new PICANTO cars and had access to the private telephone numbers of those in high places and can access them any second, while you with good proposal for good governance would wait for Godot before you access them.
What about the visionless ones that have turned themselves into land speculators, grabbing all available spaces in the state to develop private housing estates? And people are making mountain out of a little mole hill about Obi's investment. Anambra people should be eternally grateful that a man called Peter Obi crossed the path of the state as their Governor when it matters most.
In conclusion, though all men are made of one metal, yet they were not all cast in the same mold. Only few men can survive the slow ascension to the top with their values unimpaired. These values can become even more tarnished by the heady rarefied atmosphere on the mountain top. Peter Gregory Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, though not a saint or infallible like the Roman Pontiff, is one of the few men I have seen. He was never suffocated by the trappings or the paraphernalia of office. He came to power as Peter Obi and left as Peter Obi kpom
•Ebue Callistus(Secretary NUJ Enugu State 2003- 2006) can be reached via chiebomcebue@yahoo.com
