Thinking of the recent media attacks on Governor Willie
Obiano and his wife, the only morsel of wisdom that comes to mind is the
admonition by Winston Churchill that “You will never reach your destination if
you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” Famous for his inspiring
leadership of 20th Century Britain to resounding victory over Nazi Germany and
the Axis Power during the 2nd World War, Churchill has made quite a home in the
hearts of millions across the world with his remarkable rhetoric. And of the
futility of a leader responding to every calculated attempt to distract him,
Churchill should know. Nothing makes a great leader wiser than crises or
conflict and he rode the crest of the World War II to historical acclaim.
Quite frankly, the spate of attacks on Governor Obiano and
the current wave of defections by some important figures in the All Progressive
Grand Alliance (APGA) are clear pointers to the discomfort of some elements
with Obiano’s giant strides in Anambra State. The recent concentration of earth-moving
equipment to Aroma Junction in fulfillment of Obiano’s promise to change the
landscape of the long neglected Awka Capital Territory with a modern flyover
and a fancy tunnel seems to have confirmed the worst fears of some politicians
that the change in Anambra has gone beyond metaphor. Expectedly, their rhetoric
has changed. Suddenly, it is no longer that the indigenes of Awka are resistant
to change and have frustrated all efforts to give Anambra a befitting capital
but a funny story-line. Out of their fevered imagination leaps out
stories of how Obiano has commenced payment of mind-boggling sums of money in
settlement to Sir Victor Umeh, the National Chairman of APGA and how the
governor’s appointments have been skewed in favour of his own people. But these
charges are at best jejune and at worst asinine! They are products of an
afflicted imagination that have found an outlet in a discredited blog. Ndi
Anambra are far too sophisticated to be led by the noose. Already, they have
started asking the only important question which is whether Willie Obiano has
delivered on his promises in just 130 days. Okwu agwugo!
But sincerely, anyone who can read the political climate of
Anambra State can easily tell that the recent wave of defections in APGA is nothing
but a natural reaction by politicians who have lost the moral authority to work
on behalf of the people who put them in office. Scared at the obvious reality
that they have not earned their keep, these politicians have decided to make
hay while the sun shines. They knew that in the renascent Anambra of the Obiano
era, any public office holder who has not justified the people’s faith n him
has lost the moral claim to a renewed mandate. But they are not prepared to go
down without a fight, without splashing mud all over the place to sully others
up.
In proving that a people who are plagued by some persistent
human problems can push back and reclaim a veritable foothold; that a gravely
wronged society can finally seek redemption under a purposeful leadership,
Willie Obiano seems to have asked for too much from some people who are yet to
read the signs of the times. And for these people, all is fair in love and war!
And in the ensuing melee, nothing is too sacred to be left out from the boiling
cauldron, not even the Church.
How else can anyone explain the political undertone in the
peaceful protest staged by the Anglican Diocese on the Niger over a disputed
school block between it and Nkwelle Ezunaka, its host community? Chanting songs
of protest and hurling invectives, the protesters had pointed a finger in the
direction of the state government, claiming that the roof of their new building
at Oyolu-Oze Primary School was pulled down on the instruction of the agents of
the state. On close interrogation, some leaders of the church explained that
they were angry that the wife of their leader, Bishop Owen Nwokolo was not
allowed to address the governor when he visited the scene of the crisis to
announce the steps his administration had taken to address the dispute.
What has not escaped the curiosity of many discerning people
however is how the entire population of the Anglican Church in Onitsha could
stage a protest over an alleged slight on the wife of their bishop. There are
obvious gaps in this scenario which gives the protest away as an outright
machination of some out-of-favour politicians. This is made even more so by the
fact that on the same day that Mrs. Nwokolo was purportedly slighted by the
government, she was invited to the Governor’s Lodge along with her close aides
and the church’s legal counsel where she had a long and fruitful meeting with
the governor and his deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke who heads the special six-man
committee on the dispute. It must be noted that Dr. Okeke himself is a member of
the Anglican Church. It is unlikely that the leadership of the church is aware
of this meeting with Mrs Nwokolo. Otherwise, the staging of a protest to
announce its displeasure over the purported slight which is in itself, an
overkill would have been unnecessary. If not for the probable incitement of
some insidious politicians, it is highly unlikely that a whole church would go
on a protest to announce its anger over a purported slighting of the wife of
its bishop. But politics corrodes and in its corrosive best, nothing is too
sacred for it.
Sadly, barely four months on the saddle, Governor Obiano must
be finally getting acquainted with the full meaning of purposeful leadership.
He must be rubbing his chin and grinning to himself now that he has realized
that sometimes, when a leader does his job well, he courts the disaffection of
a segment of the people whose interest is better served by bad leadership. And
for this segment, it is unacceptable for any leader to rise beyond mediocrity;
beyond their limited vision of society.
But there is one more lesson for the high-performing governor
of Anambra State. Using the paradigm of the orchestra to illustrate the
nebulous relationship between a leader and his followers, Max Lucado,
American-born writer and preacher observed that “a man who wants to lead the
orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
In the final analysis, Governor Obiano will learn that to
achieve his vision for Ndi Anambra, he must turn his back on the expected
hysteria from a segment of the crowd and that if that does not work, he should
take it all in his stride as the price of purposeful leadership.
James Eze (eziokwubundu@gmail.com) writes from Ifite, Awka
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