by Afam Moneke

Ngige’s 33-month reign was dogged with struggles to free Anambra from the influence of the mob but that did not dampen his spirit to give the people the benefits of their mandate. Among all the candidates jostling to win the November 16, 2013 gubernatorial election, Ngige is the only one that combines experience with integrity.

During his recent tour of some local governments in Anambra State, the real value of Dr. Chris Ngige, the gubernatorial standard-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) became  manifest for even the blind to see. What was meant to be a campaign tour turned into a socio-political carnival.

The young, the old, the broken and the bruised, women and men of diverse callings trooped out to welcome the man they said was genuinely concerned about making Anambra State great. Several appellations were thrown at him. From the ‘Light that shines for all’, to ‘Bulldozer’, they spared no words kind to describe what they considered the superlative performance  of Ngige during his first term as governor of the state. Ngige was governor for 33 months between 2003 and 2006. But the one that caught my fancy was the nickname ‘Nehemiah’.

An improvised placard borne by a gaunt old woman put the message most eloquently. Ngi nwa bu Nehemiah, Biko bia dozie Anambra (You are Nehemiah, please come and rebuild Anambra). But was Ngige really the Nehemiah of Anambra? Or put differently, does Anambra need a Nehemiah? In the Bible narrative, Nehemiah was the Jewish cup-bearer for the Persian king. He was comfortable in the king’s palace but he never for once forgot the agony of his kindred, the Israelites. In his comfort, Nehemiah minded the distress of his people and took immediate steps to salvage the situation.

First, he sought the face and support of God, then he sought the permission of the king and went down to Jerusalem to rebuild a completely broken down city and emblem of God. In life, every good enterprise throws up its peculiar opposition. The case of Nehemiah was not different. He was opposed, chided and derided but he forged ahead, stirring the people and making them key into the vision of a beautiful and fortified Jerusalem with walls. At the end, he prevailed and was able to rebuild Jerusalem to the envy of surrounding nations and to the admiration of both the Jews and heaven.  Thus till this day, Nehemiah has come to symbolize the best model for the management of public affairs.Perhaps, it is on account of this that the people of Anambra have likened Ngige, a medical doctor, former civil servant and now a politician to Nehemiah. They see Anambra as a broken down state with no walls. Yet Anambra just like Jerusalem was destined to be great. Providence endowed the state with a rich platoon of highly gifted intellectuals, leaders, consummate business people and proven professionals. Yet, in the midst of such glut of talents and skill, Anambra has been overtaken by a cult of mobocracy, a form of government in which touts and thugs, rustlers and hustlers hold sway. Anambra had been under mob action, roiled by mediocrity and cronyism.

It took the spunk and courage of Ngige during his 33-month tenure to break the evil grip of these tyrants from the neck of Anambra. Ngige was commandeered to make monthly donations to the political demigods that have held Anambra captive for years. He refused, according to him ‘for the sake of the people’. Just like Nehemiah, Ngige refused to allow the comfort of his office to blind him from the suffering of the people. He set forth to rebuild Anambra. He broke down the walls of opposition not just from within his party at that time, the PDP, but from an amalgam of centrifugal forces unleashed by socio-political touts and army of goons in the state. At the end, Ngige triumphed. He earned the support and confidence of the people. He built the best roads of the highest quality in the history of the state. Till date, the roads he built over seven years ago are still used to benchmark quality of roads in the state. They are called ‘Ngige Roads’. He built quality schools and employed qualified teachers and for the first time, Anambrarians became willing again to engage knowledge within the confines of schools.

Ngige’s 33-month reign was dogged with struggles to free Anambra from the influence of the mob but that did not dampen his spirit to give the people the benefits of their mandate. Among all the candidates jostling to win the November 16, 2013 gubernatorial election, Ngige is the only one that combines experience with integrity. In a state where godfatherism has ruined the polity, Ngige is the only candidate that has no god-father and more importantly, he is the only candidate that has the capacity to stand up to any politician who as much as pretends to play the godfather to him. He did it against former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, against the Uba political dynasty and he says “I will do it again for the sake of my people even at the risk of my life”.No doubt, Anambra people are desirous to have Ngige back to rebuild the state once more. For sure, Anambra needs to be rebuilt. Its walls are broken in varied places: infrastructure, healthcare, economic development, education, housing, sports and agriculture. Only a Nehemiah who has walked these paths before can do it again. Ngige is that Nehemiah; a man with no political or criminal baggage.

In Anambra, we have become wiser this time. We will not vote for political party, we will vote for the individual based on their merit and history. The campaign that Ngige belongs to an anti-Igbo party (APC) holds no water because even the so-called Igbo party, APGA, is being run by a few men from Agulu, a town in Anaocha local government of Anambra State. Little wonder it is now being derided as the Agulu Peoples Grand Assembly (APGA).

 

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