Baring any last minute change in date, the Anambra State governorship election will be decided in the next 48 hours. That will bring to an end the long-drawn battle that has pitted brothers against themselves for some time now. All the candidates, without exception, have made some good effort to outshine each other. They have spent time. They have also spent money and applied themselves in the manner they deemed profitable for the big win. Like the ever-confident Nigerian politician, they have kept their trunks ready and their personal belongings for possible change of address. However, the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano still holds the ace. More than others, he had touched base with all the 181 communities in the state and spent time with all the 326 wards.
The tour of the 21 local government areas since the campaigns was a reaffirmation of his bond with the people of the state. It can be pointed with some justice that he has cast his bread upon the waters, as Reverend Jesse Jackson would say and should have it returned to him “toasted and buttered on both sides.”
Accepted that governorship elections in the state have never been a cakewalk – occasioning surprises when inclined – Obiano’s victory is relatively assured. The reason for this is simple. He has achieved what other governors before him could not attempt in their first term in office and with less resources. More than that, his candidacy holds the greatest attraction to the entire seven local governments of the Anambra South Senatorial District. The appeal is unlikely to be traded away for the position of deputy governorship granted the zone for the next eight years. The entire Anambra South will not only vote for him, but has been working assiduously to have him snatch a surfeit of votes in the remaining south and central zones.
Basically what a candidate requires to win is to poll a single majority of the votes cast as well as a win in the 2/3 of the 21 local government areas. Obiano stands a better chance to achieve this, as entire south – eager to assume office in the shortest possible time – will give him a block vote. Winning more than seven local governments in both his north zone and that of his deputy’s central zone won’t pose much of a problem. Besides, his administration has touched positively on the lives of Ndi Anambra in a way only the Ngige administration can compare. Its achievements in security have placed Anambra on a pedestal where no state can stake a better claim. There is no reason the election won’t be decided based on achievements. The least that can happen is for the election to be won on empty promises secured, especially on campaign stumps or by bandying catchy campaign slogans. The Anambra electorate is sophisticated enough to draw the line. There may be attempt to strain the limit of constitutional authority, but such will be duly resisted. It won’t be an election for one pleasant candidate who, without any important qualification for the office, would very much like to be governor. It is an election to be won by a candidate with a track record of performance, which Governor Obiano embodies. In many ways the election will be between promise and performance. It’s also akin to the recent Mayweather and McGregor fight: full of fury, drama and grandstanding. In the end, experience and performance in Mayweather prevailed.
The governor adroitly navigated the state through the recession maze without losing her in its labyrinth. It is not a test for a new kid on block to experiment with. Today anguish is the lot of many states but Anambra. What magic the governor did to insulate the state from recession cannot be gambled away for the sake of fake change. His competitors know that his performance record stands him in good stead for victory while a single term of four years offers him the break.
What everybody, including a rabid critic of the Obiano government, will not deny is that with security an enabling environment that brought rapid transformation of the state was created. Because of the many achievements of his government many find it difficult to believe it has not completed one term..
From quality education through enhanced healthcare services, agricultural revolution, integrated infrastructure, improved social service and job creation etc. it has remained a positive narrative. Quite often Ndi Anambra forget that their state is part of an ailing economy because salaries and emoluments, pensions and gratuities as well as other responsibilities are discharged promptly. At any rate, the speed of development, especially in the intangible sector of the economy does not reflect the prevailing economic situation in the country. That perhaps explained why, in his speech earlier (during the third anniversary of the government) Professor Chukwuma Soludo had wondered aloud why the horde of aspirants was eager to mend what was not really broken. He not only urged for support to the government but also debunked the argument that the state needed to be under the control of the party at the centre in order to make progress. Ndi Anambra have not seen such benefits in their Imo neighbours.
The APGA government in the state in the last 11 years has shown responsive leadership such that it will be hard to toy with the idea of change. The time does not support such a gamble for obvious reasons. It will be a disastrous excursion into the unknown, which the state can ill-afford. The achievement of the government speaks directly to the ordinary person in the street whose brother or sister returns home with their pay cheque on or before 25th of every month. It communicates love to a family whose routine programme is not disrupted by arrears of pension. It binds a community whose restless youths have either been employed or engaged in the many skill acquisition programmes in the state. It enthralls residents of the state who are witnesses to the order and beautiful transformation going on everywhere. It motivates the petty trader who now has access to cheap loan provided by Anambra State Small Business Agency (ASBA). It makes no sense interrupting the chain just to satisfy the desires of a new candidate or political godfather. It does not seem Ndi Anambra will be willing to see the initial achievements made naught in the name of change. Besides, past activities of some of these contenders in the state can easily be remembered by discerning Ndi Anambra.
It is not often a state gets lucky with a responsive government. No community in the state – in the last three and half years of the administration – can claim not to have benefitted from a fairly even development effort of the government. For example, the N20 million community-choose-your-project initiative, which is doubled on completion, has brought development – as desired by the 181 communities – closer to them. That effort is unique unto itself and the first of its kind since Anambra State was created. Previous governments (without diminishing their contributions) did not even up in siting development projects in the state and nothing suggests that another government will be minded to carry the lofty programme through. The period in our economy does not encourage abandoning projects and it will be acting a fool to our own interest to support disrupting the impressive run of APGA in the state.
• Onyima, a former Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, wrote in from Umuoji.