Anambra On My Mind

Anambra On My Mind

There is fire everywhere in Nigeria and it is burning and raging out of control. This fire, partially fueled by our federal, state, and local governments, is amplified through the echo chambers of social media by miscreants who will rather we destroy the entire nation than live to see another day. Nigerian elite and elected officials have basically decided to hide behind the tall grass and ignore what is currently ravaging the country and have opted play deaf to the cries of the average Joe citizen. Hunger, diseases, death, and despair and hopelessness is ravaging the entire nation end to end. We cannot even begin to speak about our elected representative at the state and federal houses and Senate, they have basically reclined to their Abuja mansions, paid with public funds while the nation burns. In fact, they no longer exist in the consciousness of the average Nigerian citizen, hence the lack of mention of any of these individuals in the media.

Today, despite being concerned for what is going on in the nation overall, my mind is specifically focused on what is happening in Anambra. For the most part, Anambra state have had little disruptions in the lives of its citizens. It appears that the state had escaped the carnage that is devastating other parts of the country until recently. There now appears to be killings and banditry everywhere in the state with everyone blaming the other as the culprit and perpetrators of these carnage. How Anambra state suddenly found itself engulfed in this experience and chaos is subject of many postulates – personally, I will not advance any reasons for the chaos but will allow you to draw your own conclusions one way or the other regarding how and why total mayhem is suddenly the new normal in Anambra state. A state that has enjoyed relative peace and tranquility despite what pertains throughout the rest of the country.

As you are all aware, on November 6, 2021, Anambra residents will go to the polls to elect a new Governor for the state. This election has been marred with a lot of trouble from the get! For starters, the primary elections conducted by all political 12 to 14 political parties vying for that top post have experienced on type of malady or the other. Since conducting those primaries, there is not a true consensus regarding who is the real flag bearer for any of the major political parties of APGA, APC and PDP. Aspirants under these party umbrellas have been filling lawsuits after lawsuits alleging one form of rigging or the other. These internal fights have led to some of these political parties having to split into different factions. For APC, the story was particularly jarring and devastating in that, there was no primary election conducted anywhere in the state by INEC. Dr. Chris Ngige said it himself! To be candid, I believe, based on my firsthand observation, that there was absolutely no APC primary election conducted in Anambra state, yet one of the aspirants was selected to be the flag for the party.

First and foremost, why was Governor Abiodun of Ogun State selected to oversee the APC primary election in Anambra State? and this is despite Dr. Chris Ngige being the head of the party in the state? Does this mean that Anambra does not have any qualified individuals in APC to appropriately shepherd the conduct of the primaries for the party that we have to bring some one from another state to do this for us? Nevertheless, the non-election primary was conducted, lawsuits were filed and up till today, nothing has happened to either affirm or dispel the facts that there was no primary election in Anambra state APC. Now you tell me; if the party leaders have such limitless powers and the ability to install anyone they want into any leadership position, why in the world are we wasting our time and resources conducting elections? Are we that naïve and stupid enough to think that these parties and whomever they finally install to govern Anambra state will conduct themselves in a manner that will better the lives of the masses? No way that will happen! They will simply continue to pillage the country resources, in this case, Anambra state with impunity knowing fully well that the masses are too weak and distracted by other activities to care if someone is stealing from them. They know too well that the Igbos are nothing but a braggadocios bunch who will scream at anything but lack the resolve to do something. We are nothing but the proverbial hen whose chick has just been plucked by the kite. My people, talk is cheap and if you think I am wrong, tell me to the contrary.

Soludo And His 1,000 Millionaires

So, the candidate for APGA in an interview with the Guardian newspaper projected that he would create 1,000 millionaires in Anambra state annually. I could not believe that someone with his level of education and exposure would utter such pronouncements. Based on the 2020 census, Anambra has approximately 12 million citizens in the state and his claim to fame is that he will create 1,000 millionaires each year? Well, let us assume for one moment that he succeeds, that will mean Anambra will have an additional 4,000 millionaires added to the ranks of Obi Cubana in the next four years. My question…what happens to the rest of the populations? Is he insinuating that the 4,000 millionaires he will create in four years will create jobs for the nearly 12 million citizens of Anambra? Or that they will become mallams and dish out money and food to the rest of the Anambra citizens? This goes to the core of our challenges. We have this warped belief that anyone with a doctorate degree or has held a visible or high position is automatically qualified to govern. Wrong! The truth of the matter is that if Soludo the aspirant could create one million jobs annually, he would have contributed a whole lot more naira to the Anambra economy than would the 4,000 millionaires. Based on my last count, these millionaires would eat only three time a day just like everyone else, while the four million would consume 12 million meals each day. You do the math. But our leaders understand our mindset hence the reason they will make such pronouncements. The average Nigerian and Anabrarian is only concerned about being on of the millionaires without checking the odds. Our greed would not allow us to do the basic calculation prior to joining the fray with chanting his name – and that my people are the reasons we will forever be subjugated to a servant role.

The rest of the aspirants are not faring any better. All you hear are these lofty ideas and ideals that are based on nothing. None of the current aspirants are talking about how to repair the roads, bring clean drinking water to the homes of the average Anambra citizen, manage and control erosion, which is decimating the entire state this rainy season, create an environment that will nurture creativity, while harnessing the state’s intellectual capital. No, all they are concerned with are buzzwords that they know will attract the average greedy Igbo man or woman to vote for them. You can parse my post as much as you want, but the truth of the matter is that the strength of the Igbos has become our weakness. Simply put “an overdone strength is a weakness.” Our individualism, autonomy, competitiveness, ambition, and tenacity have turned into selfishness, dictatorship and tyranny, opportunism, and lethargy. Instead of promoting those Igbo virtues that set us apart from the rest, and represents our competitive advantage, we have opted instead for those virtues that not only represent the worst of us but brings out the worst in us. That must stop! This phenomenon is the reason our leaders are treating us the way they do. They have come to deduce that the mere mention of creating millionaires will appeal our greedy and selfish selves, that telling us how they will build this Dubai in Anambra in four years will appeal to our opportunistic instincts and that making Anambra a haven will appeal to our tyrannical side since we believe we the Igbos are the only smart people in the world.

Whereas the rest of the political parties vying for governorship in Anambra are busy strutting their stuff on social and print media, APC is wallowing in darkness. Most recently, the party had to scrap it campaign launching and blamed in on the incessant killing currently going on in the state. Dr. Ngige, the head of APC in Anambra had de-associated himself from the campaign and there are speculations, I repeat speculations that the President does not support the campaign either, hence the reason the Vice President was not made available for the cancelled campaign flag-off. So, I would be curious to see how and when this stalled APC campaign will start given that the election is only about four weeks away. It would be a miracle if they win this election as has been rumored in different circles. Most people believe that APC have perfected a game plan to take over leadership of Anambra state.

Killings, Kidnapping and Armed Confrontations

As has become the norm, there are these spates of killings recently occurring in Anambra with various factions blaming the other for these atrocities. Some have speculated that these killings are the responsibility of IPOB members who are either trying to enforce the sit-at-home order or attempting to make sure they scare Anambra citizens into not coming out to vote on November 6, 2021. IPOB on the other hand is blaming politicians and some rogue individuals who are using the opportunity to eliminate and/or scare their opponents. Others in the state are blaming the federal government and DSS who would rather create chaos in Anambra that will allow the federal government and Muslims to declare a state of emergency and take over leadership of the state all part of Islamization of the nation. Suffice to say that the utterances of the Attorney General, Malami did not help the situation. Regardless of which doctrine you subscribe, the truth remains that if Anambra citizens do not come out and vote on November 6, 2021, then whatever the outcome and malady that would befall the state becomes our sole responsibility. If by staying home a few people who are bold enough to come out, elect the wrong candidate, the blame is on us. If by not voting the federal government declares a state of emergency and takes over governance in Anambra due to leadership vacuum, blame it on us for our complicity. The fact remains that the consequences of our absence will be suffered by us. As was rightly written in one of the newspapers, if the northerners could conduct election despite the Boko Haram menace, Anambra citizens should be able to do the same regardless. Remember, we are the smartest, and our lives and livelihood depend on it. So, be brave, go out there and perform your civic duties!

Sit-At-Home/No Election

This matter of sit-at-home and no elections in Anambra was started by IPOB. Yes, it is true they have recently backed away from these pronouncements, however, it is not lost to anyone that the Igbos continue to carry on with these destructive directives. I have said it over and over, Igbos are the Nigerian middle class and make up that group that ensures distribution of goods and services in Nigeria. Need I mention that we are the richest tribe individually and collectively when compared to other Nigerian tribes. Why we will opt to stab ourselves in the foot with these sit-at-home orders defiles the imagination. As was pointed out on social media, just Anambra alone loses approximately 12 million man-hours every hour of everyday we sit at home. If we monetize these loses at the rate of $7 per man hour, that equals approximately $84 million for every hour that the average person sits at home. $84 million for every hour! You do the rest of the mathematics and tell me if this sit-at-him order is worth the collective loses incurred by Anambra residents and economy? Also, please ask yourself how these sit-at-home exercises would compel the federal government or anyone for that matter, to give into our demands? Such is the folly of our actions – we need to think before we speak. Because we have access to some the loudest echo chambers, does not mean we have to use them to sow discontent, spread propaganda and weaponize every action by our purported enemies. For now, we all should appeal for calm and cooler heads.

Anambra On My Mind

In conclusion, and as a citizen of Anambra, I am much for collectively making the right choice and decision when it comes to the November election. Please. we must stop this Monday sit-at-home because we are only people hurt by the exercise. Additionally, my appeal to all my fellow Anambra citizens, both at home and in Diaspora is to please participate in the upcoming election in any way you could. Do not be distracted or perturbed by the promises and clamors for this Biafra ideal. “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush,” let us focus on this “bird” in hand called Anambra state. Only when we secure Anambra can we find a springboard for actualizing our much larger mission and longer vision of an independent Biafra. For now, Anambra is all that we have. A word is enough for the wise!