Anambra On My Mind Final
On Saturday November 6, 2021, Anambra citizens in their thousands risked it all braving the odds came out in mass to vote for who will direct the affairs of the state for the next four years. In my last write up about the Anambra elections, I pointed out that we as citizens of Anambra have no choice but to defy these odds and expectations. We must stand firm against any treats issued by either the federal government or touts wishing to take advantage of security lapses in the state to prevent us from exercising our civic duties. My position was simple, we must vote in this election or lose control of our state. I took the time to articulate some potential consequences should we fail to make this election a reality – that we will in essence be playing into the hands of our detractors and giving the wrong people the opportunity to continue to abuse us as a people.
My bold assertions aside, I was still concerned leading up to the election that the die is already cast. I was worried that the federal government and their lieutenants may still find a way to scuttle and derail this this election all in an effort satisfy their bragging rights and postulates that APC will take over the entire Southeast region. These concerns were particularly heightened by the worsening security climate facing the state at the time, something that is alien to the people of Anambra. Moreover, the ill-conceived one-week stay-at-home order issued by IPOB just prior to the election day did nothing to assuage my fears that the federal government may just use it as the perfect excuse to declare a state of emergency and literally handing over the reins to their party. Based on past actions, I was concerned that whether IPOB eventually rescind this stay-at-home order, most Anambra citizens would remain at home for fear of being abused or killed by the unknown gunmen and there is no denying that touts took advantage of IPOB’s earlier pronouncements to terrorize and abuse Anambra citizens. I took absolutely no solace with the presence of the police and military and given the adversarial relationship between the Buhari administration and the Igbos, you could understand why most Anambra citizens would look with disdain to the increased federal presence in the state.
Leading up to the election, propagandists have taken to social media to magnify and post inaccuracies regarding the actions and activities of these security personnel. In fact, I got a call from a friend who informed me that my hometown Ihiala was being bombarded, as we spoke, by the military for no reason and an apparent false allegation. Such are the stories that are being echoed on social media all directed at creating confusion to derail this election and for what purpose only God knows. We had to deal with news of gubernatorial candidates being chased out of campaign grounds for one reason or another and by the so-called unknown gunmen and thugs bent on making sure Anambra state continues and remains in the throes of chaos. Who are these faceless persons or group sowing this seed of fear, chaos, and confusion in the state is something we must look into for future activities and election? Despite all my fears, I was highly optimistic that the Anambra that I know, the home of some of the smartest and proud people in the world, the true “light of Nigeria” will rise to the occasion and show the world that we shall overcome. And overcome we did because, here I am, the day after the election writing about how my people, the true warriors at home, set aside their fears, their detractors, the military, and police presence and conducted their civic duty without fear or favor. Today, the citizens of Anambra have lived up to their reputation as a people with independent minds and hearts, as a people who will never allow anyone to come into their midst and dictate to them regarding their own affairs. I have always been proud to be from Anambra and that pride is now supersized following this election.
As the light of the nation, we have proved our mettle. Was this election perfect, of course not! Because we heard about incidences of INEC inept employees showing up late at the polling stations. My Nigerian contacts were sending me minute by minute updates, messages and photos of empty polling stations and others polling stations where people had assembled and are waiting for election officials to show up. We had reports of election machines not working properly and, in some cases, unable to certify voters to enable them to vote and exercise their civic responsibilities, however and despite all these odds, Anambra citizens remained resilient and conducted a peaceful election in the face of several odds. These bold individuals put behind themselves party shenanigans that dominated the primaries and came out to showcase their will. Anambra will never be conquered - not by any individual wishing to create chaos to gain competitive advantage, not by any political party wishing to gain access to the Anambra state coffers, not by any groups wishing to sow seeds of discontent to advance their own personal agendas.
From all indicators, it appears that Professor Soludo and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party will easily coast to a win in this election. This means that when it comes to Anambra politics, APGA is the party to beat. However, and I must warn all Anambra citizens not to go to sleep on just this one success story. We all watched in amazement what happened in Imo state and how a party that was third in ranking ended up becoming the party that today sits in the state house. We cannot be naïve to think that the same phenom may not repeat itself in Anambra state. As we rejoice at sending this clear message of do not “mess” with Anambra, we must continue to be vigilant and watch the activities of some of these political parties. I do not believe our haters and people who believe our state belongs to them are done yet. So, we must all be ready for what the government at the center will bring to bear following this woeful loss. It is my hope that just like we were able to maintain our mandate from some of these greedy elements, we stand ready to defend that mandate when it is challenged by anyone. Again, Imo state should serve as testament at the level some people would go to attain leadership and power or to gain access to our wealth. We cannot take anything for granted. We have won the first round, now let us see what those individuals salivating at the opportunity to add Anambra to their list have in store for us.
Based on the latest information coming out of Anambra, it seems like INEC will defer declaring a winner until they conduct elections in Ihiala. This is the same outfit that is charged with conducting elections throughout the country, and they seem to be ill-prepared and not ready for this election. My people make no mistake about what just happened or is happening regarding not conducting elections in Ihiala. This is the same INEC who will tell you that they stand ready to conduct credible elections throughout the entire Nigeria but do not have enough materials and/or personnel to conduct elections in Anambra. This is fishy to say the least.
From Naira & Kobo blog site, big congratulations to all Anambra citizens for a job well done. You have shown the entire Nigeria and indeed the world what you are made of and how resilient and determined Anambra citizens could be when pushed against the wall. I am hopeful that our detractors will now understand and take their ill motives and corruption someplace else. While all of us should be giddy and happy regarding the outcome of this election, make no mistake there is still a lot of work ahead. Soludo who I am projecting to win this election promised a lot of things to the people of Anambra. We should all be prepared to hold him and his administration accountable for those promises. He has through his antecedents at the Central bank shown that he has what it takes to run an effective central bank, the question now, is he ready to take on the social challenges of Anambra state and move the state to the next level? Soludo must understand that running the central bank is dramatically different from running a community of people with diverse opinions such as Anambra state. He must recognize that it is not going to be a cake walk. So, it is one down and Ihiala ward elections to go. APGA must be careful and make sure they watch every INEC move. The last chapter to this Anambra elections has not been written yet. Congratulations Anambra!
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