At the recent Achebe Colloquium, a distinguished panel made up of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Gov. Peter Obi discussed the upcoming election in Anambra state. Following the discussions, I asked Gov. Obi a question in which I stated openly that the governor had disappointed me. Thereafter, I noticed the governor walking around like a chicken beaten by the rain. The smile on his face had vanished. His bones moved as if they had become brittle. I also had people, who had no idea where the rain began to beat us, come up to me to argue in defense of the governor. Decency, therefore, requires that I explain why Gov. Obi is a disappointment. I used to believe in Peter Obi. I committed it to writing, too. I have met Peter Obi several times and have listened to him in public and in private. For a long time, I believed the words that came out of his mouth. I was convinced that he was a different kind of politician. While most of our political actors often argue that the end justifies the means, Peter Obi always insists that, “when the premise of an argument is wrong, the conclusion is also wrong.” While Nigerian politicians believe in a ‘do-or-die’ approach to politics, Peter Obi repeatedly states a new premise. “The society we abuse today,” he says, “will take its revenge on our children.” Little did I know that it was all talk. Yawa! When he got his mandate back, after the Supreme Court sent Andy Uba packing, I watched to see how Peter Obi would handle himself. At first, there was a feeling of relief that the renegades were off the purse of the state. Like many observers, I relaxed. And months and months after, there were signs that Anambra state was not emerging as the hub of distinction we had hoped for. The state was not leading the renaissance we had been promised. To be fair, after Gov. Ngige’s transformation from a member of a gang of bandits to a reformed citizen and his success in using his stolen mandate to improve the lives of the people of Anambra state, the expectations were high. Peter Obi bought into that by projecting himself as a different kind of governor. He was supposed to be the wise one, the deliberate one, and the one who would shift the paradigm. Three years after, it was apparent that Gov. Peter Obi dropped the ball where it mattered most. His first and greatest failure is his inability to build a political party behind him. Under Peter Obi, APGA diminished. A party that was supposed to spread its tentacles into the five eastern states lost its grip on Anambra state.
