By
Ifeanyi Afuba
On his 62nd birthday anniversary on August
8, 2017, Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano is seven months away to the end
of a four year mandate to steer the affairs of the state. How has Obiano fared and what does his
handling of this complex assignment yell
us of his philosophy of life? The popular view is captured in the cumulative assessment
of Anambra’s fortunes by John Nnia Nwodo, President – General of Ohaneze Ndi
Igbo in the declaration counteracting IPOB’s campaign for
boycott of the
November 18 2017 Anambra governorship poll. ‘Today Anambra has the lowest
poverty index in Nigeria. Today Anambra has the highest growth rate of
manufacturing outfits in Nigeria. Today Anambra has the highest growth of
import substitute endeavours in rice and vegetable production in Nigeria. Today
Anambra is the state with the lowest loan exposure in Nigeria with the capacity
to meet its monthly obligation to workers timeously. Today Anambra and Lagos
are the only states involved in the building of new cities planned to meet the
standard of any modern city in the world.’ No issues here. But a less known
dimension of the Obiano story is the patient cultivation of a pan Igbo agenda.
A closer look at the pattern of Obiano’s momentum
however indicates the presence of a native worldview; the dream of regional cooperation
and the openness to sharing the Anambra experience on this community platform. It is
common knowledge that the progressive advance Anambra has made under the watch
of Governor Willie Obiano rests on a multiplier foundation of state security. The
integration instinct instructed that better outcome lay in the network approach
and Obiano would not fail to explore the composite view. Anambra State was not an island unto itself
and her wellbeing was tied up with the fortunes of neighbouring states. The
result was that on August 22, 2015, Anambra hosted the first ever southeast –
Delta states security summit in furtherance of regional stability and cohesion.
There is a
subtle statement in the fact that the state’s agro export scheme was launched
with a local plant, onugbu. The export of bitter leaf to Europe in 2015 signposted
the dawn of an economic civilisation at once indigenous and universal. Hauling
onugbu abroad rather than say, rice, potato, groundnut or any other global crop
represented a cultural message that the Igbo nationality at home or in the
Diaspora would easily connect to. And shortly after, Governor Obiano announced
a project for reviving husbandry of efi igbo, the local cow species that some
of us saw last in the village in our childhood days. Armed with a package of
incentives, the state Ministry of Agriculture is currently searching for cattle
rearers and interested persons who will key into the plan to restore a heritage
as well as boost meat production.
A keen sense of the Igbo mission led to the ozoemezina
memorial held in honour of the Igbo victims of the 1966 pogrom and subsequent
civil war. Observed on the significant date of January 12 in 2015, the rite of
passage was an Obiano initiative for pacification of a brutal past and coming
to terms with its memory. Delivering his
speech richly punctuated with compliments of umu nnem, [brothers and sisters],
Chief Willie Obiano said: ‘We are bold enough to accept the cruel verdict of
fate and bury our dead with fanfare. Our culture upholds the centrality of
‘burial’ as a crucial epilogue in the narrative of life…My administration is
committed to lifting up the standards of our shared experience. We shall
continue our bold efforts to ensure that we are not only united in times of
adversity and grief but in times of victory and peace. With this ceremony, I
urge you to mourn no more but rather celebrate the bravery of these great
spirits who lost their lives yesterday that we may find peace today.’
We find a fraternal spirit of oneness in the inclusion
of two Senior Special Assistants of Enugu State origin in the government of
Willie Obiano from inception to date. There is likelihood of a tendency to
brush this off as mere symbolism. But in a milieu where the government of a
south – eastern state would not apologise for laying off pensionable workers
from other south – east states in its employment on pure ground of
discrimination, Anambra’s display of accommodation serve as important unifying
gesture. The same goes for the monthly welfare package extended to the old
generation former Rangers club players by the Obiano administration. In the
same vein, the regime sponsored a musical fiesta featuring pop stars of the
post – civil war decade at Awka in April 2017. The concert served the multi
purpose of honouring the artistes, soothing the hunger of nostalgia, fostering
fellowship beyond state boundaries and drawing the youth away from crime
through inspiration to realise themselves.
This sense of Igbo civilisation was obviously what
motivated the Anambra chief executive to inspect a police guard of honour
adorned in chieftaincy regalia sometime in late 2014. Perhaps it is important
to remember that the Akpokuedike of Aguleri is a traditional, not honourary red
cap chief. Obiano is another country boy; a native immersed in his roots; a
Kunta Kinte for whom westernization cannot erase the allure of his heritage. In
the count down to the election that brought him to power, a columnist had
described Obiano as ‘a man given to ceremoniousness.’ What the writer was trying to say rather
vaguely was that here was a fellow for whom expression of the Igbo culture
comes naturally to him.
There is of course the APGA question. With a south –
east connection, APGA is on a mission to widen and deepen the democratic space;
be a voice for the marginalised, broker the realisation of alternative models
of social reconstruction. Obiano has kept faith with the APGA legacy, leading
the party to extend its frontiers and gaining more electoral ground.
Nevertheless, he is realistic enough to realise that the south – east’s
political destiny should be collectively explored. Consequently, at the 2016
World Igbo Congress in USA, Obiano invited: ‘We must come together and draw up
a political plan that we shall all agree to invest in and pursue with the
resolve of martyrs.’
Here then is a toast to a life of service, cultural
identity and generational mission. It is our prayer that God will bless William
Maduaburochukwu Obiano to do more in the years ahead.