I read the above article written by the Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Willie Obiano. My first reaction, even before reading it, was to question why it is only those working for Obiano or those that are paid are the only ones that sing his praises. On reading it, I discovered that the article is full of falsehoods. As with my tradition, I will reply him with truth, paragraph by paragraph. Here we go!
James Writes:
As I watched the Twin Towers of the new iconic Aroma Bridge sparkle to life; spraying its dazzling rays into the dusk skies, I knew that Awka would never be the same again. Yes; Awka has been touched by Midas. It is a beauty to behold. There is nothing in the experience of the residents with which they could compare the luminous towers jutting into the gathering night. I stood in the middle of the awestricken crowd, gazing in wonder. I recalled the shambolic look of the old Aroma Roundabout which was cleared to make way for the majestic flyover on which the twin Towers stood and nodded my head at the transformative power of leadership. It occurred to me just then that no one entrusted with power should leave his environment worse than he met it. In less than two years, Governor Willie Obiano has given Anambra its first home grown landmark!
My Reply:
It is short sightedness to consider a simple flyover the number one landmark in Awka. If the writer does not consider the first secretariat, the teaching hospital, the sighting of Central bank, Federal High court, among others as more sensible landmark, then something is wrong with his sense of judgement. What does he mean by ‘Twin towers?” is it the long iron mounted on the flyover with lights they said they used 37 Million to power in December that is called the twin towers? It this the reason they commissioned a yet-to-be-completed flyovers to make show of it in Christmas? Somebody should wake them from sleep and tell them that governance is not showmanship. It will be a monumental embarassment if after 4 years, all Obiano did in Awka will be reported as the construction of three fly overs.
James Writes:
Barely sixteen months ago, Aroma was a tacky roundabout that embodied the ragged dreams of a town’s slow slouch to modernity. But today, Governor Willie Obiano has turned it into a clear statement of intent that points a finger to the Anambra of his dream. As it were, Aroma has become a metaphor for all that Awka should have been in 24 years and a symbol of what Awka will be in the coming years. Not only that, Aroma is also perhaps, the clearest approximation of what it means to build a signature project; something close to ChukwumaSoludo’s idea in his monumental article that swayed the tide against President Jonathan’s second term bid. Aroma is Anambra’s new landmark; heaving with all the possibilities and weight of abundant talents.
My Reply:
There he goes again! Is flyover a monumental project? Is it better than all I have enumerated? Obi fought and got the federal Government’s permission to re construct Amansea to Amawbia round about. He set aside about 10 Billion naira for the job, only for Obiano to come and divert the money to flyover. It should be noted that the cost of reconstructing the road will be reimbursed, but that of the flyovers will not, since he did not seek, nor obtained permission. Is it not folly to construct 3 flyovers within one kilometer just for show?
Anambra people must be told that the project was varied from 5 Billion to 15 Billion. Anambra people must be told that the project is being executed with borrowed money. Have you asked yourselves why Obiano should borrow billions to construct flyovers? How would Anambra repay this money. People borrow to finance projects that will pay themselves back. Obiano is simply enslaving Anambra State. Anambra people should ask James Eze from Enugu State if his own State borrows to finance party and build roads.
James Writes:
Needless to say; 2015 has been a phenomenal year for Willie Obiano. Ironically, it is a year like no other for Nigeria. The massive dip in revenue and the huge spend on the last general elections left the nation bleeding on all pores. When the tide of the elections blew over, what Nigeria had left as an economy was nothing less than a cadaver.
My Reply:
Look at what somebody is writing about the only Governor whose predecessor left over 100 Billion Niara for, when you add monies set aside for various projects. Why would it not be a phenomenal year when Willie has spent all the money and has plunged the State into debt? In his confusion, he described what he inherited as “near cash”.
James Writes:
Interestingly, 2015 had started for Obiano on a heavily optimistic note. In his New Year address, he had assured Ndi Anambra that their dreams would not crash with the dwindling oil prices. In a voice booming with confidence, Obiano had declared, “with our enormous human and material resources, we shall not surrender our ambitions to dwindling oil pricesin the international markets.” In a clear demonstration of his resolve to ensure that the expectations of his people were not cut short by the declining economy, he had followed his assurances up with the announcement of a 15 percent raise in salary for workers. While the applause trailing the salary increase was still ringing, he followed it up with Ozomezina, the hugely symbolic memorial for Igbos who died in the Biafran War. Ozoemezina, Never Again, was the first attempt by any government to bring closure to the war that claimed an estimated two million lives, by according the victims a dignifying burial. In a fitting eulogy to wrap up the memorial, Obiano had intoned; “Today, we honour them in words and deeds. We offer them a final resting place; a sanctuary where their memory will forever ruffle the leaves of time.”Ozoemezina resonated with the Igbo world in its entirety and drew a serious attention to Obiano’s emergence as a conscientious leader.
My Reply:
Is this not the same Obiano that travelled to USA in January when other Governors are setting pace for the year for their states? He just came back for Victor Umeh’s election. While other Governors are working on how to make their states better, he gave bribe of 1 Billion naira to leadership of APC to deny Senator Uche Ekwunife of ticket. Our dreams will not crash when the State has already borrowed heavily thus enslaving us all. Our dreams will not crash when, apart from the 3 flyovers, all the projects in the State are abandoned. 419 people, talking about 15 percent salary increase. Ask Anambra workers and they will tell you that the money was gradually deducted until they are back to what their salary used to be. Celebrating the reburial of dead soldiers as Ozoemena. While would Obiano re-bury those already buried by Ohaneze towards which all Igbo States contributed. All alone, he sat at Awka and re-buried all dead Igbo soldiers without even contacting Governors of other Igbo States. No wonder other Governors treat him as a leper.
James Writes:
His grand start to the year received a huge boost in March when the Federation Accounts Sub-Committee on International Public Sector Accounting System (IPSAS) ranked Anambra as the highest in Transparency in governance. This firmly established his open, accountable and transparent approach to governance. But it also gave him the assurance that he was on the right track; that his efforts to run a process-driven government were being noticed somewhere. It also lent him the courage to break out more decisively into unchartered territories. He imposed his full weight on APGA and ran a very impressive election that took even his admirers by surprise. He earned his name – Akpokuedike in gold when he staged a fearsome comeback after the PDP gang-up had manipulated victory off the deserved winners of the National Assembly Elections. Pained by what seemed an obvious rape of the people’s will, Obiano had declared in a state broadcast that “the dubious victory of the PDP in the National Assembly Elections of last Saturday shall not stand!” Consequently, he rose to his feet in the state assembly elections and swept the majority of the seats from the gloating PDP, leaving only crumbs to demonstrate that there should be grace to winning that leaves all parties happy.
My Reply:
The IPSAS ranking was achieved under Obi. The former Accountant General of the State also said so. Why try to claim everything Obi did? Obiano even commissioned the Nkpor-Amawbia old road completed by Obi and claimed he did over 20% of the job. Obiano removed plaques of projects completed and commissioned by Obi , re-wrote the plaques and re-commissioned the projects as his own.
Look at what James is writing about a man that even lost his own Constituency to the PDP!
James Writes:
Interestingly, while he showed grit and valour as a strong leader, Governor Obiano also revealed a soft and humane side to his person. He was the first to arrive the scene of the petrol tanker accident in Upper Iweka. He was moved to tears just as he was moved to tears on arriving at the Finotel Junction in Awka where a truck had crushed Okechukwu Odenigwe and half of his family as well as the scene of the carnage that claimed several lives in Umuchu. He was never wanting in instances that required firmness or the ones that called for compassion and genuine grief. Perhaps nothing demonstrates his connectedness to the people better than his wholesale donation of his salaries to the underprivileged in March, 2015. He did that long before President Buhari and his Vice had enough presence of mind to accept a slash in their salaries as a necessary sacrifice to reflect the slide in the nation’s economic fortunes. Obiano however outpaced his peers in compassionate leadership when he granted amnesty to 25 prisoners to mark Nigeria’s Independence and handed each ex-convict N1m cheque to help them regain a foothold in the society. It was a gesture that dripped with kindness and a deep understanding of the fact that sometimes some journeys do not end the way we plan them. It was also a gesture that showed him as having a good grasp of the software of governance; those little things that humanize leadership.
My Reply:
He could not have been the first to arrive accident scenes that usually attract passers-by. Were he at the scenes? In any case, it is childishness to recount visit to accident scenes as a commendable act by a Governor. One day, you will commend him for going to toilet at 4 am, when others are still sleeping. Na waoh!
Donating a salry that is not up to one million, when he collects 1 Billion security votes every day. Empowering criminals when there are many people seeking empowerment. Showmanship as always! Little things that humanise governance for a man that squandered the money saved for all of us by his predecessor.
James Writes:
Obiano’s skills in certain aspects of the intricacies of statecraft were seriously tested by the nocturnal transfer of 47 dreaded inmates of Boko Haram to Ekwulobia Prisons in the last week of June this year. The presence of these agents of instantaneous death in Igbo land and a few kilometres away from Adazi Nnukwu where 12 of their victims were freshly buried had all the ingredients that would make an inferno. But Obiano deftly deployed unusual craft and tact in handling the matter; working mostly behind the scene and making guarded statements until the storm blew away. It was a harrowing period when a less astute leader would have buckled under the weight of emotional pressure from his people who saw the transfer of the murderers of their kit and kin to their domain as the very height of provocation.
My Reply:
Obiano was simply sleeping when those people were dumped in Anambra State. Thanks to Senator Uche Ekwunife, who worked with other Anambra Senators to see they were transferred. What is James trying to claim?
James Writes:
Obiano also turned his back on being ordinary when he took his most rabid adversaries by surprise and urged an audience made up of the most distinguished citizens of the state to give a standing ovation to his predecessor, former governor Peter Obi. He did this at the Interactive Forum and at a time when the ego war between the two great sons of the state was at its bitterest stage. It was a time when a less restrained personage would never have thought of anything like that, sweating as he was under a barrage of virulent attacks on his person and his family, ostensibly orchestrated by the man he had set out to lionize.
My Reply:
Val re-posted this paragraph. You acting film on Obi, you produced documentary on him. You called Obi a fool who is crafty in his town and among his people. You did all manner of akaje to him. This does not make meaning.
James Writes:
Beyond the symbolism of little acts, 2015 has also been phenomenal to Obiano in the area of concrete achievements. He tightened the noose on security with a hugely successful Regional Security Summit and launched 25 American style patrol cars for the police. For the first time in the history of the state and its neighbours, this Christmas season, a police helicopter hovered over Anambra skies, ferreting out crucial intelligence for the patrol team on the ground. This strategy made for a comprehensive coverage of the state. Obiano also responded swiftly to emergencies, sealing up huge craters created by erosion on federal highways in the state and partially opening his monumental flyovers in Awka to ease traffic congestion in strategic locations in the Yuletide season.
Expectedly, his efforts were fully noticed. Not only was he repeatedly singled out for special praises at the Federal Executive Council meetings by former President Jonathan and current President Buhari, Obiano has also been showered with awards. In addition to being named the Governor of the Year by The Sun Publishing Limited, The Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) also named him the Best Primary Education Friendly Governor of the Year, 2015. Before that, the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria had also honoured him with the outstanding title of Duke.
My Reply:
Di his security wizardry also cover other Igbo States, because other States are even more secured than Anambra State. Police Helicopter? What of the drones he started with?
Obiano is a fraud as well as those working with him. Throughout Christmas, I listened to ABS and Obiano was the beginning and ending of ABS news. Knowing that he has not constructed a single road, ABS will always say “Anambra State enjoys the best network of roads curtsey of APGA government, which Obiano is a member. Which way Anambra State?
Written by James Eze
eziokwubundu@gmail.com
