Friday
June 12, 2009 |
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Governor Peter Obi of Anambra is in
serious danger of becoming a tragic political figure. According to
widely circulated reports, police officers two weeks ago caught men
close to the governor with a large cache of cash. As I write, there’s
some uncertainty about the sum, but most accounts say N250 million.
Apparently, the cash couriers were stopped as they drove to Obi’s
business headquarters in Apapa. Since then, Obi’s office has tried to
explain away the scandal. The governor’s aides have, to put it bluntly,
done a poor job of it.
They suggested that the cash belonged to a contractor who’s done
business with the state government. They have also contended that the
cash was far less than newspapers reported. Then, in a needless and
unconvincing attempt to muster moral bravado, Obi telegraphed a public
letter to the Inspector General of Police demanding a thorough
investigation.
Even at the most charitable, one must state that Obi’s explanations, so
far, about the source, ownership and purpose of the cash have been
nothing short of inconsistent and unimpressive. If anything, the tenor
of the Government House’s statements suggests the scrambling incoherence
of a man caught doing something indefensible.
In the ten years since Nigeria embarked on this strange phase many
pundits call “nascent democracy,” no politician has garnered as much
goodwill as Mr. Obi.
Many of us applauded the tenacity with which the man mounted a legal
effort to retrieve the mandate the voters of Anambra gave him in 2003,
but which was hijacked by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and its
candidate, Chris Ngige, a medical doctor. As an unwavering believer in
the principle of credible elections, I took pride in Obi’s decision not
to abandon pursuit of an office he’d won.
Once he claimed the office, Obi faced twin nemeses: a state legislature
dominated by PDP members, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a man
whose middle name should be mischief. The former president made no
secret of his desire to hand the governorship of Anambra to his ward,
Emmanuel Nnamdi (Andy) Uba. Encouraged by Aso Rock, the state
legislators impeached Obi in a process that was transparently
fraudulent. Again, many Nigerians rooted for him and celebrated when the
judiciary restored him to office.
Obi’s come-back achieved dramatic culmination when he persuaded the
Supreme Court to find that he had yet to serve out his four-year term as
governor, and to oust the impostor, Mr. Uba. His victory triggered a
paroxysm of jubilation not only in Anambra but also throughout Nigeria
and abroad.
In fact, Obi’s triumph came to symbolize a promising dawn for the
judiciary as well as the potential for democratic flowering in a country
that continually hovers on the edge of despair.
A man with Obi’s political biography should have governed with a sense
of history. He might have surrounded himself with the best talent in
every area to enable him to succeed.
Instead, Obi appeared to have misread his political fortune as evidence
of his genius. By many accounts, he became impervious to advice, however
sound. He began to relish the company of court jesters who fed his ego.
He began to court a man with the unsavory antecedents of Chuma Nzeribe,
a member of the House of Representatives who’s hardly associated with
admirable causes. Instead of delegating duties, he began to function as
if he and he alone enjoyed a monopoly of wisdom in the state.
Even before this cash scandal, Obi had disappointed many who expected
him to help transform his political party into an institution possessed
of gravitas, instead of the ragtag it’s become. Under his watch, doctors
went on strike for several months because the governor waved them off
instead of engaging them in respectful negotiation. His verbal run-ins
with his deputy, Mrs. Virgy Etiaba, as well as Ngige left the impression
of a man whose personal limitations have confounded his public office.
It’d be hard to forgive Obi if it turns out that he’s been fiddling with
public funds. Anambra needs all the money it can get for the great
challenge of development. Awka, the state capital, is in a shameful
state, an eyesore. The state’s infrastructure is dismal and requires a
lot of cash to fix.
Obi liked to say he was a man of means long before he sought the office
of governor. I heard him tell a gathering that if he stole one kobo of
Anambra funds, he’d invite God to unleash wrath on him as well as his
children.
I hope – for the sake of the long-suffering people of Anambra – that it
was not a hypocrite who uttered that sentiment.
