I Will Continue to Talk so History Treats Gov Obiano Kindly after Office – Harris Chuma

I would have let all these pass without uttering a word. But certain things need to be done for the sake of posterity. The past couple of days have been intense with regards to my position on certain policies of the government of Anambra State under the able leadership of Chief Willie Obiano, Akpokue Dike, a man I love and admire greatly, who happens to be my brother-in-law too.

For some days, my phones have been buzzing, with messages and calls from all channels. These messages have been coming from friends, colleagues and most of all, my beloved kinsmen in Ogbunike, Oyi LGA of Anambra State. Meetings have been convened and press releases have been issued over my media tirades.

But I wish to re-emphasize my position with a short narrative about a famous politician after my heart, Winston Churchill, the former and arguably, the most influential Prime Minister of the Great Britain till date. Although Churchill was notoriously confrontational and argumentative when driving his political ideology, history has been kind to him for being an honest politician who displayed particular loyalty to his family and close friends. In fact, renowned historian, Robert James, who archived so much in writings on Churchill, described him as ‘lacking any capacity for intrigue and was refreshingly innocent and straightforward’.

These traits can be employed in describing our Governor, for those who know him closely.
Winston Churchill has a popular quote: ‘Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things’.

When I decided to lend my support to Governor Willie Obiano, my primary motive was not just to see him emerge victorious in the election but also to see him emerge a formidable political icon from not just Anambra but the South East. That is why even after the elections of 2017 have been lost and won, I have continued to point out certain issues that need to be strengthened for the overall good of his image. And this is borne strictly out of love, but in our clime, where sycophancy has become an enterprise, it is not unlikely that some political jobbers would jump on this to discredit me in the eyes of the governor. Most times, when I lend my voice on certain issues, I do so by proffering solutions, in the hope that the Governor’s policies would be tailored along that path for his overall success.

I do so as a man on the ground, who interacts, listens and understands the grassroots, which is the foundation of every political legacy. It is because of the love I have for the governor that I ran a formidable media machinery, Independent Media Support Organization,IMSO, which galvanized the talents of some media practitioners across platforms to ensure an effective dissemination of the deliverables the Governor would bring to office if re-elected for a second term.
Conservatively, the effort gulped over N17m and its results are visible all over the internet. I could not have done that if I did not have the governor’s interest at heart.

I may have called for the completion of certain projects both in my home town Ogbunike and other areas in the state, the reality remains that I have been doing so, with the hope that when they get done, I can hit my chest anywhere to tell everyone that I made no mistake supporting the Governor.

In all those, I have never claimed to be speaking for the people of Ogbunike, my home town. I have always spoken as me, Ogbuefi/Ichie Dr. Amb. Comr. Chuma-Odili Harris Udoka, Ogene Igbo, which is why I consider it an embarrassment for my home town through the office of the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ogbunike Progress Union, OPU, and others to issue press releases to denounce me with claims that I was not speaking for them. Truth is that I never intended to speak for them.

My latest call for Local Government election to be conducted by the Governor was also done in good faith. Drawing attention to it stems from my belief that the Governor must act like a true democrat that he is by doing what his predecessor and many other governors in Nigeria are afraid of doing. It will be good to have the necessary levels of government in place in Anambra, and it will be best if Governor Obiano will go down in history with that credit. I am optimistic that the governor will complete his tenure in the state and occupy in Anambra, the envious position Winston Churchill occupies in the United Kingdom.

Ekenem

Ogbuefi Comr Chuma-Odili Harris Udoka, Ph.D
Ogene Igbo
Ijiji eji nma achughari 1 of Anambra