2021 Governorship Election: League of Anambra Professionals weeps over political, security situations in the state

The League of Anambra Professionals (“LAP”) is deeply anxious that Anambra State which has been in the lead of Nigerian states in most encouraging indexes has now arrested national, and indeed worldwide, attention for the bad reasons with the remarkable scale of bloodletting and the commonplace of violence in the State.

This bewildering scenario has at once understandably provoked fear and anger in different people. However, these emotions, as understandable as they are in the circumstances, are unaffordable luxuries.

As much as Anambra State now seems lost to anarchy and its attendant consequences, we must strive to reclaim the state for it to assume its otherwise usual leading position.

Whilst we are averse to trading blames here, it is trite knowledge that the current problem arose in the first place as a result of abysmal failure of leadership in the first place at all levels for several years.

We therefore call on both the federal and state governments to take as the article of faith that it is, their primary duty of security of lives and properties within the Anambra State geographical space.

We acknowledge and reiterate our earlier denunciation of the mindless systematic killing of policemen and other law enforcement officers and destruction of their stations in Anambra State, with the result that they are now absent from our towns and villages.

Against this backdrop, the deployment of the military to restore order and sanity is understandable.This endorsement of deployment of the military however should never be interpreted as a carte blanche for wanton disregard of the civil liberties of the innocent ordinary people of Anambra State.

We hereby call on the military authorities and the Anambra State Governor to take extra steps to ensure that the usual excesses of some soldiers in tasks such as the one at hand in our state are reduced to the barest minimum. Let it be known that our observers are on ground and we shall not hesitate to activate the necessary local or/and international accountability measures for any egregious misconduct by any soldier or group of soldiers.

In a similar vein no stone should be left unturned in discovering the precise identities of the murderers wreaking havoc under the guise of ‘unknown gunmen’. The law enforcement agencies should redouble their efforts towards the apprehension and prosecution according to law of these so called unknown gunmen.

It is noteworthy at this point that earlier in the year the Anambra State Government indulged in an orgy of self-congratulation for the CCTV cameras it supposedly installed on major streets in the state for purposes of quick tracking down of criminals.

And it is curious that these crime detection cameras have not enabled the discovery and apprehension of even one of the unknown gunmen.

There are obvious limits to the efficacy of force and recourse to strict legalism in the present circumstances.

The beleaguered populace is caught between the violent contest for control between state agencies and non-state actors, therefore concrete efforts should be made towards winning the people’s hearts and minds given the present pervasive toxic milieu.

It is against this backdrop that we commend the reported initiative by the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor in convening a meeting of retired senior military officers from the South East zone towards resolving the violent impasse. The undoubted utility of this measure would be furthered if, as much as is practicable, the senior military officers and commanders for the present operations in Anambra State and indeed the entire South-East zone be drawn from those who can speak the local language; and who would use that language-through the electronic media-in regularly speaking to people, especially excitable youths misguided into acts of violence and other criminalities or supporting same.

The Anambra State Governor who is necessarily privy to the relevant information not available to most others has affirmed the allegation made by many that most of those responsible for the mayhem in Anambra State are “invaders” from neighbouring states. Regardless, we must be honest to ourselves and cannot absolve from blame some ‘in-state’ collaborators, and certainly some sympathizers given viral videos of persons cheering arsonists who were burning police stations in different locations in the state.

Therefore, the State Governor is enjoined to galvanize leaders of the various communities in the state to safeguard their communities including ensuring the safety of government infrastructures and officers located in those communities.

The Governor should also consider obtaining authorization/licence from the Presidency for the various towns’ vigilantes to use higher caliber automatic guns to help in effectively countering the ‘unknown gunmen’. The backdrop of the increased violent agitations undoubtedly include, if not revolving on, the continued incarceration of the IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.

We therefore call on the Attorney-General of the Federation to ensure the expeditious and open trial of Mr. Kanu for justice to not only be done but also seen to be done. We also acknowledge that the matter goes beyond strict legalism. As unacceptable as Mr. Kanu’s cause may be to many and distasteful as his methods are to even more people, it is self-evident that he has a large followership. More so, at the core of his group’s agitation is self-determination which is a fundamental right of peoples enshrined under the United Nations Charter. Therefore, we hereby appeal to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his handlers to go further to seriously consider the option of a political resolution, rather than a strictly legal one.

The objective would see the prompt release of Mr. Kanu upon consultations with some respected traditional rulers and faith leaders and on terms to be agreed; the political leaders in the South-East having been shorn of most, if not all, of their credibility and legitimacy.

Let us hasten to make the point that such course of action is not a sign of weakness at all but rather of strength on the Federal Government’s part.

And we must not forget that IPOB had not adopted the rhetoric of armed struggle until the Federal Government’s unnecessarily brutal crackdown on its members and ill-advised proscription of the group; tagging it a terrorist organization but overlooking groups properly categorized as such by the international community.

There is no doubt that the major ingredient of the present soup of acrimony and violence is the forthcoming Anambra State gubernatorial election; the tension which usually attends major elections being heightened by the order of IPOB against conducting the election.

We have thus seen the destruction of INEC and political party assets, including their billboards and cars; the violent disruption of political party campaigns with the result that most of the political campaign activities have been shifted to Lagos and Asaba in neighbouring Delta State. This is totally unacceptable. We hereby reiterate our long standing and unwavering advocacy for the conduct of free and fair election with large voter participation to birth a truly representative and accountable governorship in the state.

Let us make clear that we are not opposed in principle to elections boycott if it is to meaningfully facilitate the strategic objective of a well restructured Nigerian federation.

However, our point is that if there must be an election boycott then it should not start with Anambra State gubernatorial election but should rather be such that simultaneously involve majority (or close to majority) of the states, and especially concerning federal offices. The nihilistic no-election stance should await 2023, and Anambra State indigenes and residents are called upon not to allow any person or authority to use their state as a guinea pig for any ill conceived gambit.

All registered voters in Anambra State are hereby encouraged to come out and vote for the candidate of their choice, whilst we call on the Federal and State governments to ensure their security and maintain overall peace before, during and after the election.

The present forum is also an opportunity to praise INEC for its avowed readiness to deploy for the election electronic transmission of votes which has proven to facilitate the much needed electoral integrity. We made the point in our widely reported denunciation of the Anambra State Senators who went AWOL during the Senate Electoral Act amendment proceedings, and which point is reiterated here, that the present anomie and devastating frustration in the South-East zone (including Anambra State) is largely occasioned by a political leadership irresponsibly beholden to their personal interests and the whims of outside persons and groups. A telling example is with regards to the murderous Fulani herdsmen who had been unanimously agreed (including well meaning Fulanis like the Katsina State Governor) to be a menace all over the country. Whilst the South-West governors decisively seized the occasion by the scruff of the neck and set up their regional security network on the back of banning open grazing, their South-East counterparts (especially the Anambra State Governor) dithered and obsessed with pandering to the wishes of some Abuja based principalities and powers.

It was against this shameful backdrop that IPOB claimed to have formed its Eastern Security Network (ESN) to purportedly safeguard Igboland from the Fulani herdsmen menace. But, as we have seen, the intervention may not have allowed for unintended consequences and is looking more like the medication being worse than the ailment.

In such a case, if the doctor does not pause the treatment then the patient owes it himself to refuse that medication.

It is in the foregoing light that the gubernatorial election offers Anambra State a historic opportunity to chart a new course and provide a lodestar for other states and indeed the entire country; an opportunity to enthrone a popular, accountable and progressive leadership. Anambra State and Ndi Anambra shall overcome.

Chijioke Okoli, SAN
Orji Nnewi
President, The League of Anambra Professionals