Ejike Anyaduba
Dear electorate,
I would have loved to communicate to you verbally if I had
the choice. But I know how busy everybody is in this period of economic recesssion
hence this letter. It is my prayer that you find time to read it through,
believing that in the end you will be able to appreciate why Governor Willie
Obiano deserves your vote in the November 18 governorship election in the
state.
It is not so much for any outstanding physical attributes of his
which are lacking in the other candidates. No, not at all! It is also not
because he is possessed of any ingenuity that pales the other candidates’ in
comparison. Hardly the case! Like the rest he has no claim to any feat that
will make him excel in that office without your support.
However, unlike the others he is not a newcomer on the job.
He has acquired sufficient knowledge, enough, to afford him a clearer vision on
statecraft. Fair enough, he has not disappointed in the three and half years he
has borne the responsibilities of the office. If nothing else, he was able to
make the country-wide temporary economic decline almost a mirage in the state. More
than that, he has also brought security. This, you must agree with me, gives
him a competitive edge over the others.
This is not to say that others would perform any less if they
had the opportunity. But the times are grave and do not encourage any manner of
trial. The consequence, without much emphasis, would be a dice with death. Being
differently constituted and of varied political affiliation, it is difficult to
expect hundred percent support for the governor. However, his re-election offers
the state relative advantage. One, it presents the South and Central senatorial
districts quicker access to power. Two, it ensures seamless transition,
conserves funds and sustains rather than disrupt development. Three and perhaps
the greatest advantage is that it will deepen the existing security structure
and have it entrench in the state.
Often we take the security of life and property in the state
for granted. But you and I know that is a good deal of disservice judging from
where we were coming from. There is no denying the fact that security is the
greatest gift a state can give her citizens. To gamble away this gift out of
partinsanship is like cutting off one’s nose to spite the face. History will be
most unkind with such indiscretion. You probably have heard (perhaps a
deliberate effort to diminish the governor) that kidnap was no longer
fashionable as at the time Obiano emerged. As inane as the assertion the
peddlers have continued to live in denial of what has earned the state official
reputation of one of the safest states in Nigeria. But before you must
sacrifice this experience on the altar of partisanship and then run along with
the lie, note how devastating the crime has been in other states. Just last
week a Catholic priest was kidnapped and murdered in Orlu area of Imo state. This
is one out of many of such stories told everywhere. Even Lagos with her rising
profile as one of the foremost states in Nigeria is not spared the menace. To
underscore the weight of the crime, kidnap was made a capital offence in the
state. You will agree with me that all the achievements of the state in virtually
every sector of the economy would have come in vain had the Obiano government
played the security game by ear. Engaging the criminals early in the
administration through structured plan greatly conduced to the peace and
development in the state today.
You still recall the ravages of crime in the state. How costly
it was to everybody. How lack of proper planning in tackling the menace brought
about militarization of the state. Unarguably, the introduction of the unorthodox
security outfit, the Bakassi, brought
about proliferation of small arms in the state. The direct effect of which was the
inglorious abduction of the then governor and burning of our patrimonial
inheritance. Following from there were cases of mindless armed robberies and
kidnaps. In fact, some of the buildings along Zik Avenue, Awka, like D.C Erinne
in St. Paul University directly opposite G.T.C still bear imprints of bullets. Needless
to say that hostage-taking was almost endemic in the state until recently.
The experiences of the dark days, you must agree with me, are
still within living memory and unworthy of reliving. To guard against possible relapse
I thought it wise to let you into the confession of a Bakassi operative at a
church in Lagos. After reading through
the confession I presume you would see reason why our state should be protected
from relieving the odious experience. Read on!
Sometimes in 2003, at
one of the Pentecostal churches in Lagos, a plain looking young man, without
the usual aura of a new convert, sauntered to the podium to give a testimony.
Shorn of histrionics associated with such exercise he mounted the dais. Staid
and exuding no contrition befitting the confession he was to make he declared
his guilt and seemed purged of them.
For a congregation
accustomed to a pattern of declaiming testimonies, his approach was at odds
with set standard. Those already glued to the pews on account of previous
testimonies were surprised as he rambled on without mentioning that he was
delivered from any demonic spirit or even divorced from sexual grip of a
succubus. He probably has other worries to shrive himself before the high
priest for penance and possible absolution.
As he began, after a
short canticle, the congregation squirmed in their pews. The discomfort grew as
he gave details of his gory exploits in Anambra state. The man was a security
operative - a member of the defunct Bakassi boys - that held Anambra state in
their palm for close to four years. He told the congregation how he coordinated
the business of arresting and killing of suspected criminals and their
accomplices; the gory details of how each and every victim was dispatched. The
high point of his confession was the arrest and killing of the alleged kingpin
of the criminal ring. How the man was arrested after several failed attempts;
whisked away to Ochanja road intersection in Onitsha, and slaughtered in public
glare. By his account, the man’s arrest was subject to interplay of spiritual
forces that snapped in their favour. He was quick to add, however, that the
group’s invincibility derived from being sworn to about seven deities, and ably
led by a powerful, but physically challenged spiritualist.
The Bakassi, he said,
forbade killing a victim, especially one seen as spiritually strong anywhere
except at a road junction. The reason he gave was that the spirit of such
violently dispatched victim would exact vengeance if death was procured in a
house or on a straight road. But that no matter how vengeful a spirit, it gets
confused wending its way through a maze of an intersection to exact punishment.
There was palpable silence in the hall as everybody was in rapt attention. The
Bakassi, even under the pain of death he said, never violated this
instruction.
The confession mirrored
the decay in Anambra state at the dawn of this democracy. It is instructive to note that the amorphous
security group had before the Anambra experience achieved reasonable popularity
in the control of crime in Aba, Abia state.
NB
What this means is that we must be particular in endorsing a
candidate who is minded to keep the state ahead of others in security and
development. It is my prayer and hope that you would be bold enough to
acknowledge the truth, stand with security and vote for Obiano.
Regards!
Ejike Anyaduba
Abatete
