Monday, October 21, 2013

Anambra 2013: My point of view


In the build up to the Anambra state gubernatorial election 2013, I have decided to say what's on my mind and say it from my point of view and I believe from that of a lot of Anambrarians. Let's start with Ifeanyi Ubah, oil big boy, billions to throw around, I hear he has touched lives with his campaign, brought in trailers that convey people free of charges to their destinations on different routes in the state, he went out of Anambra chartered buses and paid Anambrarians #5000 each to come home and register for voting, I can go on and on about what he's doing in the name of campaign but let me just make my point. Ifeanyi Ubah didn't become a billionaire today, where has he been with his billions all the while? What did he do in Nnewi with his billions? In investment, how many capital oil petrol stations are in Anambra state to start with? I heard "unverified " that he said recently that even if he doesn't win, he wants Anambrarians to know he has the money. That's just arrogance at its peak, the brother should have used his billions for philanthropy a long time ago, touch lives let's know he thinks of someone other than himself and something other than money, on paper he's not the messiah the people of Anambra are looking for right now, but I love what he said to Obi on leaving Ojukwu out of this, as if Obi hasn't embarrassed Ojukwus name enough already, I agree Ikemba would be rolling in his grave for what Obi has done with the mandate he was given.
     The PDP, has lost the election before it even started, their confusion and divide is not helping it's chances, Andy Ubah, Tony Nwoye and Ukachukwu have left us wondering, some suggest this is a game PDP is playing to secure votes from supporters of the 3 men, only time will really tell.
     Sadly, let me talk about APGA, :( they would have been better off with Soludo or even Ekwunife, but no, Peter Obi in his words, wants to break record again, by being the first Anambra Governor to successfully be succeeded by a candidate he ordained (this is a gentle way of telling us he's gonna be a godfather).  I keep wondering how many Governors there has been in the past, this guy keeps calling himself best governor of Anambra state, who did we compare him with? Let's talk about Peter Obi for a while now, what did he do as Governor? Roads; you can call them death traps, a typical peter obi road has an "upside down V shape" sometimes I wish he never constructed them, cos you get on a road with tar and it feels like a hurricane  on your shock absorber, we don't just have roads, we have Ngige roads (roads) and peter obi roads (ro**) because they don't qualify to be called roads, we in Anambra know, it's common to hear people say "uzo Ngige" and "Uzo peter obi", while Rochas is giving the people of imo free education, obi increased fees in ANSU by over 100% from what Ngige reduced it to while he was in office, I'll never forget the day I was listening to the radio after the increase and in that his unmistakable voice he said and I quote "education is not for everyone, some of you students use phones more expensive than that" and he went on and on. Now here's the thing, I use a phone as expensive as my school fees, but I don't pay for the phone every year, it's thanks to the phone I can read articles and news online, do research online and socialise, it's also thanks to the phone that I can tell him how arrogant and heartless he is, in a school of 5000 students for example, the rich kids can afford the fees without breaking a sweat, let's say they make for 70% of the population, so because of this the rest poor 30% can go kill themselves, when in the real sense they are the ones that need the education more, to give their families a better life, those are the grassroot that should be touched to alleviate poverty, he failed there in the name of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), refused to conduct LG elections for 8years, hired touts and gave them ID cards, like the type that harassed me in onitsha a few months ago for sticker in a bus I was driving, placed daily tax on hawkers, I mean HAWKERS, I walk pass eke Awka market and I wanna cry sometimes, like these people are not suffering enough, the government failed to give them free education that's their right for dividend of democracy, they took it upon themselves not to turn to crime but to do something that little as hawking commodities and this same government has gone after them to reduce their income as small as it is, he's a governor that breaks records, he's still the only governor in Nigeria to have constructed roads and patch those same roads all within a single tenure.
   Willie Obiano that doesn't know what he wants, everything about him shows he's a servant and follower and not a leader, from his career track record to his campaign manifesto, from texaco to fidelity, and with all that work experience he was never innovative enough to breakout on his own, Anambra doesn't need a book worm auditor to come and hide obis financial abominations, not someone that doesn't have a vision for the state he wants to govern, I was driving through ekwulobia the other day and I saw his billboard and it read "we'll adopt a 3 C's approach, Continue gov peters projects, Complete them and Commission them" my jaws dropped, I was so shocked I almost hit a bike man, and I'm like, this guy doesn't really have anything to offer, whispers started going round and he heard, then he changed it to 4 C's approach with the fourth C being to Commence his own projects, it's really a shame, and if this doesn't prove that Apga as a political party doesn't have anything to offer I wonder what does.
     Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige(Onwa), started with his Uba godfathers, and when he became Governor refused to let them use him like they agreed, of course you know the story of how he was kidnapped, then when he started working he gave "what's worth doing is what doing well" a whole new meaning, like I said earlier, till today we still enjoy the benefits of his administration especially in roads, some criticised and said he did the most work in his local government, but charity begins at home, and even though it's his local government, we still drive through, it affects us all directly or indirectly, Peter Obi is from agulu, go let him show you what he did for his people let alone for others, while most people see Ngiges godfatherism saga as desperation for power on his part, I see it as a concerned citizen who had gained exposure and wanted to serve and redeem his state and because of the corrupt system couldn't beat them at the time so joined them, but how you start never matters, it's how you finish that counts, a wise man once told me, he said, "what makes an action good or bad, is not the action itself but the motive behind that action" what you would call, doing the wrong things for good, well, the devil you know is most times better than the angel you don't.
     To summarise, Willie Obiano shouldn't even be contesting, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah will make a way better Governor than him, and experience counts, Ngige has the experience and the will, overall he looks the better man from all and I know where my vote is headed, please people, vote wisely, gone are the days when we vote for money, we have evolved past the irrational idea of zoning, and we know empty politicians when we see them, so don't sell your vote, it's ur ticket to a better future.
God bless you
God bless Anambra state, and
God bless Nigeria.
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