Power and politics affect every aspects of human life in any society. This is why citizens must eschew political aparthy and choose not to sit on the fence during elections. When political actors are having their macabre dances, they do so with the knowledge that power dwells with the people in a democracy, even though the people hold that power in trust for God whom all powers belong to. Naturally, the people suffer, not God, when the people make poor political choices of who leads or governs them.
There are two pathways that Ebonyi State may likely take towards 2023 elections. First is the Machiavelian pathway to power which promotes the use of all means possible to get and retain power. This is characterised by witch-hunt, physical intimidations and abuses, vote buying and manipulation of electorates, misinformation and negative propaganda, election rigging, draconian laws to stiffle political activities and disenfranchise legible voters, imprisonment of oppositions, etc. All these should never have a place in a decent democracy. The second pathway is the evolutionary pathway which promotes the fittest leader to emerge by the freewill of the people through a freely and fairly contested electoral process. A leader who emerges from an evolutionary process occupy the position of power in a fashion that makes the leader accountable to the people. In the end, the people has a huge role in promoting either systems through participating or otherwise in the political processes and governance.
Historically, Ebonyi State was created by the decree of Gen. Sani Abacha after concerted efforts by the founding fathers including Ezeogo Akanu Ibiam, Chief Martin Elechi, Dr Agom Eze, Chief Eko O. Eko, to mention a few. At the inception of democracy in 1999, Sen. Sam Egwu became the Governor. He laid a solid foundation for educational development of Ebonyi State by establishing Ebonyi State University and offering free education as well as paying for WAEC and NECO fees. I benefitted from his payment for O’level fees in 2000 at Government Secondary School, Afikpo. Dr Egwu also established Overseas Scholarship based on merits. Some of the notable beneficiaries of Scholarships of Sam Egwu that are known to me include Prof Benard Odoh (Former SSG, Ebonyi State and current APGA Gubernatorial candidate); Dr Ibe Enwo( former Rector, Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic Unwana), Dr Maxwell Omabe ( Medical Expert based in Canada), and others lecturing in Ebonyi State University and other Universities not mentioned for want of space. The overall impacts of Sen. Sam Egwu’s educational policies culminated into high human capacity development which helped Ebonyi state indigenes to become more competitive nationally and internationally. The history of Ebonyi State cannot be written without accentuating Sen. Egwu’s imprints in educational development of the state.
Sen. Sam Egwu handed over to Chief Martin Elechi. Chief Elechi took a holistic development approach to connect the roads across Ebonyi with unity bridges and then reclaimed the lands at the Abakaliki metropolis from the military where the centenary city is currently situated. Chief Elechi sustained human capital development through strengthening the secondary school system and continuing with overseas Scholarships. Elechi’s Scholarship has helped the beneficiaries to explore opportunities nationally and internationally. For instance, I benefited from the scholarship by Chief Elechi and that training helped me get a Lecturer position at Alex Ekwueme Federal University from where I won PTDF scholarship to complete my PhD at the University of Manchester, UK. Dr Kenneth Omabe, another beneficiary of Chief Elechi’s Scholarship also got a job as a Lecturer and went on to do his PhD in Aix-Marceille, France. I know that many of the beneficiaries got higher opportunities because they had their Masters sponsored by the state government. The regime of Chief Martin Elechi was marked by a comprehensive approach to provide orderly development based on the millennium development goals (MDGs). Poor people in Ebonyi State must understand that they need to promote an egalitarian society so that the son of nobody can become somebody based on merits. This characterised the government of Sen Egwu and Chief Elechi.
Chief Elechi handed over to Governor David Umahi. Governor Umahi applied his notable engineering ingenuity to advance the infrastructural plan of Chief Martin Elechi. It appears that Governor Umahi focussed on landmark projects which has indeed uplifted the optics of Ebonyi State. Nonetheless, there was no efforts to continue human capacity development. However, government is a continuum and no one can do everything because of paucity of funds and limited time imposed by the democratic system we practice.
Now, Ebonyi State is at a critical point where Ebonyians need to hire the next Executive Governor. My expectation is that the next Governor should have personal capacity and competence to integrate the gains made by Sen. Egwu, Chief Elechi and Governor Umahi. This is about the interests of Ebonyi State and its people not about politicians and political parties. Also, historically, the founding fathers agreed that power should be rotating among the three Senatorial zones based on the Charter of equity.
Governor Umahi has completed the first round of rotation. The question is how the next phase of rotation should sequence considering that the awareness of democracy has increased since 1999. Would it be based on finding competent people from these zones or by orderly sequence (North, Central and South)? I think that using evolutionary approach, within the framework of Charter of equity, so that the most competent person to serve the interests of Ebonyi State will emerge, regardless of party affiliation is ideal.
Ebonyians should look beyond party affiliations because the political system in Nigeria is not yet established to the extent that political office holders can implement the clear manifesto of their party. For instance, Governor Umahi moved from PDP to APC but the infrastructures were conceived under PDP whereas some of them were completed under APC. Would you say that Governor Umahi’s performance was based on APC or PDP ideologies? Consequently, it was not about APC or PDP that caused Governor David Umahi to complete the infrastructures. In the same vein, the next Governor of Ebonyi State will not perform outstandingly because he is affiliated to PDP, APGA, LP, or APC. The performance of the next Governor of Ebonyi State will depend on his capacity, competence, character and visions for the state. Let me highlight that Ebonyi State will retrogress significantly if Ebonyians elect the wrong leader because everything rises and falls on leadership (John C. Maxwell). The reason is simple. Gov Umahi invested in infrastructures that need utilisation and maintenance. If the next leader lacks the ingenuity to incorporate those infrastructures into the strategic development plan of the state, it means that the infrastructures will waste, and those are resources of the state for the past 8 years.
After due considerations of the contestants, my best judgement is that Professor Benard Odoh of APGA party has the capacity to integrate the achievements of the previous Governors to pave the path for the next phase of development in Ebonyi State. Of course, Peter Obi of the Labour Party is the most competent for Nigerian Presidency and you should support and vote for him. My choices show that the investments of my parents, State and Federal government has empowered me to make informed choices based on rationalised public interests. To you, do not support any party in 2023. Support and vote for individuals. Democracy is about choices and you are allowed to pick and choose as a voter.
Let me give you a scenario to support my preference for Prof Odoh. Ebonyi State now has a cluster of Higher Education institutions. There are fairly connected infrastructures and the Airport being constructed by the state. Ebonyi State has no major revenue such as sharing from oil & gas revenue like the Niger Delta states. The next phase of sustainable internally generated revenue could be from high utilisation of tangible and intangible assets in Ebonyi state through industrialisation and commercialisation of innovations. Ebonyi State must start thinking of how to be economically sustainable, independent of Fedral government allocations, because fiscal federalism will likely take effect sooner than later.
Now, imagine for a moment that Ebonyi State decides to be the Innovations capital of Nigeria by creating a “Silicon valley” in Ebonyi State. The infrastructures and educational developments in Ebonyi State will be brought to bear because Ebonyians can provide services to companies across the globe from Ebonyi State, with the airport acting as exit port for physical goods. Technology companies can employ Ebonyians, create wealth and pay state taxes/levies to the state. The new Startup Act 2022 makes this vision of Technology hubs plausible. Meanwhile, it takes a leader who has the capacity to think big and outside the box to create such a Tech City or hubs in Ebonyi and that is what someone like Prof Odoh can deliver to Ebonyi State. Please listen to the campaign ideas and thinking patterns of the contestants. There is no other candidate at this time that equals Professor Odoh in terms of the kind of a Governor that Ebonyi State needs from 2023 in order to remain on the path of sustainable development.
Believe it or not, I am contented with what I am today and I have no personal interests. I do not expect any further supports from the state because it has empowered me for life; yet, I now feel deeply indebted to contribute to the state. What I was given was education and what I am giving back in this article is education. By enlightening and educating Ebonyians to take informed choices about who should govern them, I must have justified the state’s investment in me. It is left for Ebonyians to be very clever in full by voting for Prof Odoh who will likely serve their interests as the people’s candidate. Share my arguments with every Ebonyian whether you agree or not. Let us have a civil and open conversations about our collective future. Below is my email.
I hope you can see 2023 election as a crucial moment of civic duty to pick your PVC and vote for Prof Odoh of APGA party so that the state can continue on the trajectory of sustainable development. Do not forget to vote for Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) for President.
Ovuwokwa g’oham n’onu (It has finished as it is in my mouth).
God bless you. God bless Ebonyi State. God bless Nigeria.
Dr Chukwuma Destiny Ogbonnaya
chukwuma.ogbonnaya2@gmail.com
