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By Moses Idika
No aspect of governance is working in Nigeria today under the guidance and leadership of career politicians. The legacy of their stranglehold on power for over six decades makes grim reading. Hunger and the looming spectre of starvation stalks the country; patches of light by the few who can afford to power their generators mirror the collapse of the national grid; banditry, kidnappings and systemic corruption are some of the enduring and defining legacies of these old career politicians. Nigerians are probably going through the worst experience in their lives.
These abysmal failures and the dire consequences that stare us in the face on daily basis will soon become too unbearable if we fail to change course. The good news however is that there are growing calls for competent Nigerians to aspire to govern the country in various capacities. In the words of Kingsley Moghalu, the ex-deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “The future of Nigeria rests in technocratic interventions. We need thinking people who will take Nigeria from the politics of stomach infrastructure to politics of mental infrastructure.”
It is in the light of the urgent need for citizens to take back the country from these self-serving and visionless political leaders that we find the current bid of Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii (Anyichuks), a consummate corporate titan and the Ebonyi State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), refreshing and an opportunity for the good people of the state to invest in their present and future by voting into office a political leader who will work for the people from the moment that he assumes office.
Across the state, one can feel the infectious optimism and hope elicited by Odii’s bid to govern the state. His emergence signposts the quest of the people of the state for the restoration of transparency, openness, accountability, dignity and integrity in governance lacking in the over 20 years that career politicians governed and plundered the state. Given the fact that Ebonyi State has been badly run by a coterie of mindless and self-serving leaders whose sense of entitlement inspire them to continue to treat the people with scorn and disdain and the fact that the decadent order that they embody is unsustainable, the state is in dire need for a new direction.
The last eight years of governance in the state amply showcased a leadership deficit in integrity, honour and transparency. The grandiose blurred vision of a maximum dictator at the helm of affairs as governor saw the proliferation of several white elephant projects with little or no impact on the lives of the people. While these ill-conceived projects massaged the ego of the governor as it was intended, the profligacy that it spewed has plunged Ebonyi State into a debt conundrum running into hundreds of billions. The huge debt burden will take generations to resolve. Rising crime, brutal intimidation, suppression, harassment and assassination of political opponents by the notorious Ebubeagu militia fully funded with the resources of the state have made Ebonyi State one of the most dangerous places to live in Nigeria. Today, the state is the poverty capital of the South East.
As a result of the abysmal performance record and trajectory of career politicians who have misgoverned the state since it was created in 1996, it would be a profound mistake for another career politician to mount the saddle of leadership after eight ruinous years of David Umahi and his cohorts. The promise of the Odii ticket, its general acceptance and the optimism it continues to generate is understandable and the contrasts could not be starker. Dr. Odii is going into the governorship election from the private sector where he has excelled as a hugely successful corporate giant in his own right. He is imbued with a strong winning mentality which enabled him transform his vast business empire into a behemoth respected both in Nigeria and abroad. The successes that he enjoys today sitting atop many successful companies were not awarded to him; it is a product of his vision, unyielding spirit and determination to succeed. He will therefore come into office with the mindset to implement essential elements of good corporate governance. These include leadership, accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibility.
The decaying structures put in place by career politicians in the state are corrupt and self-serving; they constitute an existential threat to the wellbeing of the people and must therefore be dismantled. The governorship candidates of many of the parties are part of the circulating political elite in the state who have benefitted so much from this evil and corrupt system. It is therefore untenable to expect them to dismantle a system of privilege that has been so good to them.
As a matter of fact, Hon. Ogbonna Nwifuru, Umahi’s protégé and the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), is the candidate of the status quo; a vote for him is a vote for Umahi’s third term in office. Odii is the only candidate who has the capacity and commitment to dismantle this obnoxious system and replace it with a brand-new system that will work for the people. Unlike his major opponents, he is not beholden to any political godfather and will not be encumbered by visible and invisible forces in working and delivering good governance and dividends of democracy to the people.
After so many years of bad governance and hardship, a new dawn beckons in Ebonyi State; the great possibilities in the horizon will lead to unprecedented wealth creation, opportunities, mass employment and renewal. These and many more laudable programmes are what Ifeanyichukwuma Odii is bringing to the table. A brand new Ebonyi State is indeed possible.
•Idika, a journalist, contributed this piece from Abakaliki
