By Godwin Adindu
We all are witnesses to this fact: Our teachers, right from kindergarten, advise us to be ambitious. They consistently hand out that counsel as a mantra of life, with less talk on the flip side of ambition – the inordinate ambition. We grow to set goals, to dream, to aspire and to work earnestly towards the realisation of ambition. Our teachers offer little or no education on the nature of ambition, as they do with the nature of truth. We are left to the vagaries of our minds and the compelling pressures of vogue in our pursuit of ambition.
But, there is the flipside of ambition. The persuasion to achieve could be a very terrible thing, a very dangerous inner drive and outer resentment. Ambition not guided by law, norm, justice and divine creed is a potential missile of mass destruction and the purveyor of such drive is a horrible danger for mankind. There is no doubt that Uche Ogah heeded his teachers’ counsel. He is a very ambitious man. His pedigree in business presents a man, who set out very early to ride on high dreams. Yet, the truth remains immortal: Ambition is a two-edged sword. There is the positive and the negative, all fixed into one generic name.
Uche Ogah was playing with the flip side of ambition when he attempted to become governor on that fateful Thursday. From Abuja High Court drama, wherein Justice Okon Abang ruled against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, with the caveat – ‘with immediate effect” – to the INEC’s haste in handing a certificate of return and the expectation to swear in Ogah, what came to play is a macabre dance, which will stand as a historical sarcasm on power play in Nigeria. In the high-wire power play, he becomes the burden bearer of a conscience so seared that ambition, for him, becomes an end itself and not a means to an end.
The flip side of ambition is selfish, anti-social and antithetical to human progress. It is a dangerous hallucination of the mind, which alters the normal cognitive reasoning and places self above the world. It naturally contravenes social order, social justice and even conflicts with the cosmic order of cause and effect.
In the failed attempt to unseat Ikpeazu, what was afoot was the flip side of ambition. Uche Ogah and his cohorts wanted to hold back the hand of the clock. They wanted to drag Abia backward. They wanted to cut short a youthful energy that found expression in 65 road construction works in one year. They wanted to cast a spell over a new dawn of hope characterised by the dynamism, which Governor Okezie represents in governance and which is vindicated by an excellent scorecard of one-year stride. Nigeria would have helplessly watched, as Ogah traversed the dangerous landmine of the flip side of ambition with reckless courage and drag.
Effective leadership and the Anambra dream
By Prince Oliver Okpala
The recent award of Zik’s Leadership Prize for Good Governance to Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, is another testimony to his superlative performance in government. Interestingly, the governor had, hitherto, been a beneficiary of such awards and honours from various institutions, organisations and bodies. These recognitions reflect so much in the way he has made the difference in the arduous task of governance and leadership.
Before his election, Governor Obiano had stood out and distinguished himself as a frontline banker, a world-class management and financial expert and a distinguished economist. His intimidating pedigree in financial management and banking was a ready asset to be applied in tackling the plethora of economic and management issues in Anambra State. Hitherto, Anambra had never had it so good in leadership and patriotism in government. Most of the past leaders in the state lacked vision, focus and commitment. Some of them were neck-deep in vainglory and unnecessary ego trips, which did virtually nothing to move the state forward. White elephants dotted the state. Some of the leaders were only interested in playing politics of survival. In effect, real governance took a back seat. Obiano came with a vision, a mission and the wisdom to transform Anambra State, to effect service delivery, to reflect the economy, to move the state forward in every sense of the word and to create dividends of democracy.
It is no longer news that in Nigeria, most states are literary failed states. Some of them cannot meet the needs of the people. They cannot pay salaries or fulfill other obligations constitutionally imposed upon them. Notwithstanding the fact that revenue coming to the state has nose-dived considerably, Gov. Obiano has maximised the use of available resources. His husbandry of scarce resources is particularly excellent. It can safely be said that Governor Obiano was the man who saw tomorrow. With the eagle eyes of an economic expert, he foresaw the impending drop in the price of crude oil and the danger it would portend for the whole economy in Nigeria. He, therefore, prepared for tomorrow. He had a ready plan on how to cushion the harsh effect of dwindling revenue.
Today, the result is there for all to see. While his counterparts are unable to pay workers’ salaries, Obiano is increasing salaries in Anambra State and embarking on gigantic projects, which impact on the lives of the people.
The thrust of the Obiano administration is founded on the four pillars of development, including agriculture, industrialisation, trade and commerce, and oil and gas. These pillars are supported by 12 enablers, which give vent to the pillars or else the pillars would crumble like a pack of cards. These enablers include critical aspects of governance, such as security, education, healthcare, power generation, finance, social and civil infrastructure, water, sanitation, environment, hospitality and tourism, transportation, water and sanitation and of course, youth and sports.
It is not an overstatement to say that the identification of these critical ingredients or bullets of governance by Governor Obiano is highly cerebral and his in-depth conversion of these ideals to reality is the reason the governor is being honoured, celebrated and recognised within and outside Nigeria.
Drawing from his wealth of experience in banking and auditing, Chief Obiano desired to completely industrialise Anambra State. In this wise, he created an enabling environment for Nigerians and foreigners to come to the state to site industries, create jobs and by extension, create wealth. The governments’ blueprint for creation of jobs in Anambra State is superb. In agriculture, industry, trade and commerce, real estate and hospitality and the like, direct and indirect jobs being created. The job-creation plan also applies to other sectors of the economy. On the whole, 42, 500 direct jobs and 2, 000 indirect jobs are in the pipeline. About 500 youths have been trained in various skills and crafts at the technology incubation centre in Nnewi. In the agricultural training centre, Mgbakwu, hundreds of youths have received training. It will be impossible to capture all that Governor Obiano has done in Anambra State in this short space. However, it must be said that the governor’s achievements speak for themselves and they are there for everybody to see. As the lawyers would put it, it is res ipsa loquitur.
No wonder, the governor has been getting series of awards. Gov. Obiano is, no doubt, a divine gift to the people of Anambra, who had thirsted and hungered for good and charismatic leadership for long. In a short period of two years, he has surpassed all expectations.
Surely, there is a silver lining in the cloud in Anambra State under Governor Obiano. All hands should, therefore, be on deck and all and sundry should give their unalloyed support to his wonderful performance so that he can transform Anambra and make it the dream state it has always yearned to be.
Furthermore, as 2017 beckons in Anambra State, there is no vacancy. All the pretender contenders to the office of governor and their principals should save their breath. Anambrarians are rooting for Obiano because of what he has done and will continue to do. You do not change a wining team.
To Obiano, I say, congratulations on this award. More power to your elbows. Obiano is the man of the moment.
• Okpala, a political analyst, wrote in from Awka.