By Che Oyinatumba
June 14th, 2008
The journey begun with a distressed call from Mrs. Awulika Obienyem. I have
known her from my hay days in Abuja and she has been a faithful friend. The call
was simple, my father-in-law is dead and we have to bury him fast, for he is
advanced in age. I was dumb founded that the Igbo man can plant his deceased
relation in record time. To confirm this sad story, I got a call from Val
Obienyem, SA on media to Governor Peter Obi of Amambra State .Having known Val
for over six years (We met in LASU) and a fraternal friendship blossomed over
the years, I cancelled all my engagements to make sure that I attended the final
burial rights of his father Ozo Benaventure aged 78. Apart from Val being a
reliable friend in the university, my first child was conceived in his house at
Lugbe Abuja.
Having put my relationship with Val in perspective, let me regal you with the
journey to his father’s burial that ended up in an unforgettable encounter with
the democratic phenomenon of Nigeria ’s democratic experience. I took off from
Abuja my economic exiled base to Biafra (South East Nigeria) and anchored in
Owerri. The conversation in the bus was centered around the maginalisation of
the Igbo's in Nigeria , despite the no victor no vanquished declaration by the
Gowon administration at the end of the 30 months civil war. As an after thought
the passengers zoomed in on the non performance of the South-East governors.
While these arguments raged, all the passengers were in agreement that the
Anambra State governor is in a class of his own and a trail blazer in the
enforcement of rule of law and the firm believe in the rule of law. It should be
remembered that Governor Peter Obi ran through the judiciary gauntlet to reclaim
his mandate stolen by Chris Ngige of the PDP, after the former had spent 3 years
in office. Ever since Peter Obi regained his mandate, he has stuck to the rule
of law and due process, with little regards to whose ox is gored.
The on going stale mate with the PDP dominated state House of Assembly is
nothing but the governor’s stubbornness that the interest of the Anambra people
must prevail against party and selfish interest. Akin to this is the current
outburst by his deputy, Dame Etiaba, who is carried away by her brief period as
governor to dare the mighty rock.
With great skepticism about reports from bush telegrams and Nigerian arm chair
investigation journalists, I proceeded to Agulu via Ideato North.
To my greatest shock, the road from Urualla to Nkwo-agulu is as smooth as the
Abuja-Keffi road. Even when I passed my alma Mata St. John Chrysostom Seminary
Osina, pride swelled up in me. Akaokwa to Ekwulobia was a pleasure to travel on
and once in a long time, I was proud to be an Igbo man. But my pride knew no
bound when I got to Obe gulu, the venue of Val’s village. There was light and
one could feel the fresh air exhuming from the green trees and virgin
vegetations. I was minding my beer and paid no attention when the Governor’s
presence was announced by the master of ceremony. But when Peter Obi appeared,
with little fanfare, my pride did a somersault and I longed to be a governor in
the shoes of Peter Obi.
Peter Obi came with the most skeletal security out-fit I have seen in modern
times. Coming from Abuja , where a common minister intimidates road users, it
was a cultural shock for me to see a governor at close range and his security
details were not overzealous, wearing Abacha-like goggles and scaring
electorates. To crown it all, Peter Obi ate in public glare. No special venue
was arranged for him to eat. This simplicity touched me that I could not but
help think, how better Nigeria will be if all governors will borrow a leaf from
Peter Obi. You may also wish to know that the convoy used by Peter Obi had less
than three cars; there was no dispatch rider or a lorry load of Mobile
Policemen. The governor mixed well with the people and was accessible to all who
wanted to chip a word into his ever listening ear. With a wide smile and gentle
voice the governor nodded to the praise singers and cheerfully made himself
available to all and sundry.
Toeing the foot step of Oga, the commissioners that graced the occasion where
inconspicuous and moved around like “ordinary” citizens, which made the people
to see in them a true representative of the people. As I write this, I am still
dumb founded by this humility of governor Peter Obi.
In order to find out if this was a fluke or his true nature, I engaged Val in a
tête-à-tête. But Val’s eulogy, was too good to be true and I dismissed it as a
servant trying to justify his pay check and went further a field to find out an
independent and unbiased report. The people agreed with Val’s submission on the
governor, that many of his opponent think him weak because of his unusual
humility, the governor is indeed the rock of integrity and uncompromising
believer in due process. The other 4 South East governors should borrow a leaf
from the tree of humility of governor Peter Obi.
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