Senator Anyim Pius Anyim needs no introduction. He is a democrat by badge and banner. He wears his democratic epaulet boldly without pretence. A proud Igbo man, from Ebonyi, he’s without a doubt one of the most nationalistic political figures in Nigeria. Early in life, with neither a godfather nor a political dynasty, fate thrust him to the Senate. He was the proverbial cow without a tail; only relying on God alone to drive away unwanted flies. At the Senate, Providence shone, casting a coalition of favour upon him. And against the run of play, against the permutations of pundits, Anyim became the President of the Senate. Ever since, the lines have continued to fall in pleasant places for the once starry-eyed lawyer.
He would later become the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a position he said, diminished him because he could not take decisions of his own volition and implement such decisions. Now, Anyim has stepped out once again. He wants to run for the Presidency under his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. There is a sense of urgency in his voice. You could touch the palpable confidence that he emits as he reels out his intendment and presents his case. An infectious halo of self-confidence pervades the ambience when you listen to him pitch his case.
Anyim has a strong case; a good cause. The odds are stacked in his favour. Sentiments (verging on social justice, equity and fairness) and capacity drive Nigerian politics. Both factors thrust Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to the Presidency in 1999. A retired Army General and ex-Head of State who just got out of jail and needed nothing but rest. Sentiment to assuage the pain of the South West and pacify them over the annulment of June 12, 1993 election won by their son, MKO Abiola who later died in controversial circumstance in the custody of the Nigerian military government. Obasanjo was not even popular among his people, yet he won the Presidential election because the groundswell of sentiment outweighed whatever baggage his lack of popularity among his people placed on his shoulder. The powers that be had decided to make him President, and it was so. In the case of Obasanjo, it was both sentiment and capacity. Obasanjo, in spite of his impulsiveness marinated with vindictiveness, has capacity and he showed it on the job.
His successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, also profited from sentiment. The north must have its turn. So, his party overlooked Dr. Peter Odili, who had campaigned effectively round the country, meeting and convincing various focus groups. At the end, Yar’Adua, not Odili, got his party’s ticket, then the Presidency. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Yar’Adua’s deputy, providentially succeeded his deceased boss. The man who “had no shoes” also rode on the wings of sentiment to win his first presidential election because “it was the turn of the South-south” and the raging militants in the creeks of the Niger Delta must be calmed.
And when Jonathan lost election in 2015, it was down to sentiment. Power must return to the north. President Muhammadu Buhari, despite his cultic followership among the northern proletariat, profited from the sentiment of “it is the turn of the north”, to the extent that some northern governors within the PDP worked in his favour.
Now, at the eclipse of the Buhari government, the pendulum swings in favour of the south. And if south, what part? The natural and justifiable answer is the South-east. Since the return of democracy in 1999, the South-east remains the only zone in the south that is yet to taste the Presidency. And it’s not for dearth of capacity and competence. The south-east is a complex mix of scholarship, competence, innovativeness, chutzpah, resourcefulness and derring-do. It is where merchandise mixes seamlessly with productivity, where technological ingenuity cohabits with administrative elan. It’s the birthplace of Republicanism; the home of a people who combine the gumption of the Jews, the hard work values of the Asians and the innovative adventurism of the western world. It’s Nigeria’s equivalent of Singapore, a nation built out of the ruins of war.
The southeast, all by itself, has pushed through the veil and rubble of a 30-month civil war induced by injustice, to become Nigeria’s driver of commerce and industry; the hub of knowledge-based economy. Products from the manufacturing districts of Aba and Nnewi – from footwear to clothing and automobile parts – have found their way to Europe, Middle East and rest of Africa where they compete favorably with their counterparts from advanced economies. The southeast, therefore, is never in short supply of competent 21st century leaders who have the will, the knowledge and capacity to rebuild the nation and set it on the path of creativity and productivity. It has men and women who can turn the nation from a consumption economy to production economy.
Out of the zone, has stepped forward a man endowed with both competence and capacity. Anyim is primed for the job. Yes, he is. Like Obasanjo, who combined sentiment and capacity to get the plum job, sentiment and capacity are on Anyim’s side. Sentiment of being an Igbo man whose zone deserves the crown, and capacity which has defined his public service odyssey starting from his national service days when he emerged the Best Corps Member in Sokoto State where he served his fatherland to the Refugee Commission where he headed the Legal Unit and then to the Senate where he left the bold imprints of a fearless defender of democracy, an incurable advocate of the classical principles of separation of power and a true nationalist who empirically managed the socio-political cum ethno-religious diversity of the nation.
His experience as Senate President and SGF lend him to the top job. It’s no coincidence that just about the time he threw the hat into the ring, he was decorated with the highly coveted Zik Prize for Political Leadership. Anyim flaunts Zik-centric ideology of a Nigeria where justice, equity and fairness should form the bricks for national cohesion. In May, 2002 as President of the Senate, he rallied a cast of Nigerians from across all divides to Enugu for a fund-raiser to immortalize the great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe through the establishment of Zik Leadership Institute. A good 17 years after, he’s being honoured in memory of the man he openly idolizes his ideals of a just and equitable Nigeria.
Nigeria is at a crossroads; broken economically, shattered politically and dangerously divided along ethno-religious fault lines. The country needs a fix urgently. Nigeria needs a nationalist as a leader; a pragmatist who can inspire hope in all, one whom both the majority and the array of minorities would have confidence in. Anyim is that man. He comes from the zone whose time is now. And he’s endowed with all the attributes of a 21st century leader: scholarship, intellect, integrity, inventiveness, and courage to envision and execute. Plus, he carries no corruption baggage: no charge in any court of law both at home and offshore, yet, he remains one of the most investigated public officers in Nigeria. The cap simply fits and the man has come face to face with the moment.