The
political tug of war going on between former governor Peter Obi and his
successor, Chief Willie Obiano, the governor of Anambra State has
continued to astound many observers.
Coming
against the backdrop of the former governor’s assurances of
non-interference when he handed over power in March last year, the
raging face-off between the two brothers remains a curiosity to people
who had hoped that
finally,
Anambra had shrugged off the usual ego clashes between her leading
citizens. That this needless ego clash has continued to fester against
wise counsels and endless interventions by their mutual friends speaks
to the deeper psychological inadequacies that characterize the lives of
public servants in Nigeria.
In this
case though, Mr. Obi seems to be the guilty party. After wrestling
power from the strong men whose sole purpose of seeking political power
was for personal enrichment and setting a record as the first governor
to successfully hand over power to his anointed candidate, expectations
were understandably high on Peter Obi.
Many
people had hoped that Obi would ascend to a higher grace; that he knew
too well the cost of war to offer his successor peace. Many people had
wished that Obi’s unassuming nature and loud simplicity would dictate
his attitude to life after service. Alas, they were all wrong. It soon
became clear that Obi was only willing to relinquish the office but not
the power. The former governor has continued to act as though he is the
alternate governor of Anambra State; stage-managing public functions for
himself across the state where he is either flagging off a project or
commissioning a new one with fanfare and robust media coverage.
Obi’s
recent visit to St Augustine’s Primary and Secondary School, Nkpor is
one instance that stands out as not only unwise but needlessly
provocative.
As was
reported by Valentine Obienyem, his media aide who is infernally drawn
to intrigues, Mr. Obi has visited at least one school a month since he
left office. Obienyem, irredeemably obsequious and always eager to go
beyond his master’s brief, garnished his narrative with misguided
allusions to “costly wines and Epicurean indulgences.” But the point
here really is not about costly wines and lifestyles but about Mr. Obi’s
new found love for philanthropy, which has prompted the rhetorical
question – Is Saul also among the prophets? Seriously, is Obi, a man
famous for his tight-fist also, among the emergency philanthropists?
Okay.
For the sake of argument, let’s agree that this particular Saul is now
counted among the prophets; would it be asking for too much to suggest
that this strange philanthropy be done in a silent, if not less
offensive way? How about simply making a quite donation? Would Obi’s
peculiar philanthropy amount to less if it is not turned into a state
function? If he performs it in a way that makes it look a little less
than an outright eye-ball contest with the man he handed over power to?
Beside
the notion that Obi is hell bent on an avoidable head-on collision with
his successor is also the sad narrative of the infuriating cold-shoulder
he has given the man that he fought to install in office. Keen
observers believe that the cold war between the duo began immediately
after handover, when Obiano began to show unexpected confidence in his
own ability. Obi had hoped that the ex-banker would be overwhelmed by
the new challenge sooner than later and scurry back to him for
guidance.
When it
didn’t happen, he decided to recoil from him, shunning all invitations
to public functions in the state and avoiding open association with
Obiano. But what got people talking was that when Obiano began to garner
rave reviews from his sterling performance, Obi stood aloof and never
for once said what people had hoped he would say to re-enforce the
general perception of the man he had campaigned so intensely for. Obi’s
silence and deliberate absence from state functions to which he was
always duly invited left gaps in the new Anambra story for the public to
fill with rumours and malicious speculations. If only Obi had deigned
to say one pleasant thing about his successor, if only he had said a
simple “I told you so.”
If
Obi’s aloofness smacked of thinly veiled witch-hunt, his dogged campaign
to drum home the fact that he handed over the sum of N75bn to his
successor was simply curious. It is indeed curious that for one whole
year, Obi and his battery of aides have turned this singular topic into a
tragic refrain. The curiosity deepens when it is realized that at no
point has Obiano raised questions about this “great” inheritance. And
from the look of things, the state does not seem in imminent danger of
bankruptcy. Salaries are not owed and other financial obligations have
not gone bad. So, why is Obi suddenly anxious to shove this great legacy
of his down our throats? Hello!
Be that
as it may, whatever Obi has up his sleeve will show itself one day.
Whatever that may be, one however hopes that unleashing his media aides
to launch dirty calumny campaigns against Obiano as has been the case in
the past six months is not a part of it. Nor the planting of moles in
Obiano’s cabinet and living quarters to snitch on him and his wife. That
is a low down dirty scheme that should not come from a venerated
Knight. Truth be told, Val Obienyem’s “young” English and Stanley
Chira’s (Mazi Odera) hilarious grunts on social media all in an effort
to attack Obiano who they erroneously see as Obi’s enemy, come across as
one more reason why Peter Obi may never be finally counted among the
greats.
Already,
questions are being asked about what Obi truly wants. Another term in
office as governor? Already, there is a disquieting murmur that Obi who
had a turbulent time in his eight years as governor is stricken with a
strange malady that makes him fancy himself as the best thing to ever
happen to Anambra State, preening and grandstanding in a hollow show of
faux statesmanship.
The
fear is that this illness has reached an advanced stage where Obi now
sees himself as the alternate governor of Anambra State, holding state
functions with pompand pageantry. Fortunately, this is a bizarre
psychological condition which has yet to show itself in any other
ex-governor in Nigeria except Peter Obi.
Obiora Aghadinuno (aghadinuno@gmail.com) writes from Nsugbe
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