by Elas Abone

This saying remains true with us here in Canada. No single day passes with-out us thinking about the goings-on, in our homeland; especially in our beloved Anam-bra State. We are seriously concerned about where the state is headed and your long-term welfare and wellbeing.

It is with great humility, as well as seri-ous concern that APC Canada and a coalition of supporting organizations take this opportunity to write to you on the forthcoming November 16, 2013 gu-bernatorial election. We are humbled be-cause of the unique opportunity this fo-rum has offered us to put our views and feelings across to you the good people of Anambra State. It has been said that “out of sight, is not out of mind”.

This saying remains true with us here in Canada. No single day passes with-out us thinking about the goings-on, in our homeland; especially in our beloved Anam-bra State. We are seriously concerned about where the state is headed and your long-term welfare and wellbeing. The rationale for our concerns derives from a dispassionate as-sessment of development deliverables of the most recent administration; as epitomized with the physical outlook of the state, espe-cially in Awka, the state capital.

Besides, you should always keep in mind that each and every Anambrarian anywhere in the world is always yearning for peace; order and good government in the homeland; and in particu-lar, safety in all the villages. Yet, despite the seriousness of the situation as we see it, big money continues to change hands unabated, in pursuit of power, positions and prestige. As a result, you are daily being bombarded with political self-serving rhetoric. It is because of this reason that we decide to write to you on the need for Transformational Leadership in Anambra State. As exempli.ed by the series of letters written by St. Paul in the bible, no attempt would be made to demonize any of the competing candidates. Instead, we will urge you, as the light of the nation, to ignore the hype.

You only need to compare and con-trast the skills, quali.cations and past experi-ences of those competing for your vote. The focus on the competencies of the competing candidates is based on one simple fact:Anambra State, the Light of the Nation, can do better! Our only option is to move for-ward; not bend backward or stay stagnant. To begin to articulate the reasons why we think the state can do better. We put across for your consideration in this letter, the attributes of a Transformational Leader.Recollect that the emergence of Trans-formational Leadership as an important approach to leadership began in 1978 with James McGregor Burns’ classic work: Lead-ership.

Essentially, Burns made the point that authentic transformational leadership is so-cialized; concerned with the collective good and deepest public interest. Consequently, so-cialized; transformational leaders transcend their own interest for the sake of others, and that of society. Hence, we urge you to think of:(A) which candidate is most likely to link the role of leadership to that of fellowship. And; (B) which candidate is most likely to tap the motives, goals and objectives of follow-ers, to the goals of the Leader; just as Mohan-das Gandhi did with the poor in India; Ryan White did with Aids Prevention Program in America, Terry Fox with Cancer Prevention Program in Canada; and above all; Nelson Mandela did with political empowerment in South Africa.

Transformational leadership called for in Anambra State cannot take place in a vacu-um.  Anambrarians should yearn for it. It has been said that collective dreams often come true. All that we need to do is to back up the dream for Transformational Leadership with loyalty, hard work and above all, faith in God.Putting the election manifestos side by side, and scheming behind the scenes, the central question that emerges is: who posi-tions himself as the Transformational Leader; and why? The answer is Dr. Chris Nwabueze  Ngige, the senator for Anambra  Central. A little bit on the senator’s background is in order; for those of us in the Diaspora and at home; who might be unaware. Senator Ngige was born on 8 August,1952. A medical doctor (MD) by profession, he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1979.

He joined the civil service immediately, serving at the National Assembly and the State House Clinics at different times. Retiring in 1998 as a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Health; he set his sight on politics. His mo-tivation is to secure a platform to assist his people beyond the calling of saving lives as a medical doctor. Keeping in mind what Ralph Waldo Emerson said:“Do not go where the path may lead; go in-stead where there is no path and leave a trail,” he quickly made his mark in politics. He was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). By 1999, he served as Assistant National Secretary and Zonal Secretary of PDP in the South East Zone.

In 2003, he was elected governor of Anambra State, broke ranks with the so-called PDP po-litical godfathers in the state, before the elec-tion tribunal nulli.ed the election, in favor of Gov. Peter Obi. At this juncture, the moment of truth, leadership skills come into question and why one is deemed a transformational leader is usually scrutinized. In a nutshell, seeing that no further appeals were possible beyond the pronouncement of the court; Sen-ator Ngige appealed to Anambrarians to ac-cept the judgment in good faith. With extra- ordinary grace, he called on all the people to Anambra State to give total support to his successor and political adversary. Recall that Ngige’s 33 months in of.ce were characterized by populist programs, especially road construction, compared to any of his predecessors.

A total of 72 roads (Federal and State) were constructed/recon-structed between May 2003 and March 2006.  These spanned the three senatorial zones and the local governments in the state.Additional veri.able achievements of his administration include re-engineering the .nances that enabled the state to pay staff, pensioners at 142% rise, the .rst state in the entire south east to do so. As he left the saddle of governance of the state in 2006, he left about N12.8 billion, this made up of strategic reserve of N7.5 billion for road con-struction, N15 billion for the development of new Anambra State University, another N1.3 billion for housing program me.

 

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