Written By Ikenna Ebubedike
As the count-down to Anambra 2017 continues, political activities in the state are upbeat. Many aspirants have joined the fray from known and unknown political parties,that the people are still learning to pronounce their names and memorize their Logos. Many of them are largely unknown, either in political circles or by compiled records of community services. This raises a potent problem of connectivity to the people, who aside long vehicular convoys and colourful speeches, have no tangible measures of assessing their aspirations.
Moreover, these hopeful aspirants seem to have confused their own priorities. One should think that at this time, they should be critically engaged in issue-driven meetings with the voters, hoping to market their parties, logos and programmes. This should be more important than squatting and squealing in the shameful but unfounded fears of Sen. Andy Uba, who is not even an umpire in the election but just another aspirant.
Researchers ought to be interested in the ANDY UBA PHOBIA which is prevalent in Anambra politics. Why would the political presence of one man often send cold chill down the spines of some politicians? How can a generation of aspirants be consumed in a plot, not to defeat the Senator at the poll but to stop him from contesting at all? Why is this phobia on the increase even as the Senator appears unperturbed by this obvious dementia and thoroughly amused by the panic?
Many believe that the phobia is symptomatic of the hollowness of the aspirants, who are spending campaign time and resources in conspiring to stop the Senator from contesting the election while he is busy going from village to village, marketing his party and programmes to the people. While they waste huge resources shopping for accusations that will fit him, he is busy erecting strong structures across the 326 wards in the state.
The spirit of fear rather than that of a sound mind is a premonition of an impending disaster. Then, how much of a sound mind is left in aspirants who waste critical hours of campaign plotting to stop Sen. Uba from participating in the November 18 election, even as the Senator appears unperturbed by the plots and remains steadfast on his campaign trail, convincing the voters of the necessity of his aspiration.
It is an agreed fact that, “cowards die many times before their death but the valiant never taste death but once”. On November 18, it is only the people that would decide who their next governor would be. The valiant should never be afraid of the right of the people to choose. It is only cowards and hollow people that will look for short-cuts to circumvent that right. The false accusation of certificate forgery against the Senator was a failed attempt to rob voters of a better and more articulated aspiration. The court dismissed the attempt because it was not supported by any shred of evidence but by treacherous malice.
Yet, it did not discourage the plotters who have moved on to another comedy, which involves costuming morons to demand the Senator’s recall from the Senate. According to the inspirational speaker, Helen Keller, “the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision”. The director, producers and actors of this new comedy obviously have ears and eyes, that are either malfunctioning or not functioning at all. Where would they procure voters that would sign the recall register of Sen. Andy Uba? Will it be from Anambra South Senatorial District or a grave-yard in some distant lands, because even the dead in Anambra South will refuse to be part of this poorly scripted movie.
In Anambra South in particular and Anambra State in general, it is a near-impossible task to incite voters against the Senator. He is generally seen as a friend, mentor and pick of the pack. The voters are aware of how much he has acquitted himself in the job they sent him to the Senate to do. A Senator cannot be recalled for non-performance when verifiable records prove that he is not docile in the National Assembly, but has the highest number of bills, or is there any other thing that the Senator should be doing other than making laws?.
This blackmail is not working and will never work. It is better for the plotters to abandon their futile scheme and give their aspirations some positive push. The Senator is too formidable for these kindergarten antics. He is widely considered by all political parties as a major force in the forthcoming election. What the endless plots against him have achieved is to confirm his towering and intimidating presence in Anambra Politics. Truly, running against him in any election in the state is always a difficult choice because of the fraternal bond existing between him and the real Anambra voters, and sustained over many years, by rigid faithfulness to the worthy cause of empowering people and catering for their needs.
The Senator’s near-cult profile in the state cannot be diminished by mere rascalism. Something More cogent and not cock and bull stories is required. There seems to be a general agreement among real voters, that the Senator, more than any other politician in the state, has done so much for so many. They all see election seasons as their opportunities to give back to him and continue a relationship which always puts them first. Therefore, other aspirants need to wake up, abandon their treacherous plots and begin to do positive things for Ndi Anambra, just like the Senator.
Even the other comedy, inciting delegates against the Senator has also been rejected by the people. Some aspirants including a prominent APC aspirant, apparently obsessed by the Andy Uba Phobia, have been lying to stakeholders, that the Senator colluded with other Senators to disenfranchise delegates in the amended electoral law. This colourless lie first reveals the vast extent of the Uba phobia and then the desperation to avoid meeting him at the poll.
This falsehood was dead on arrival as the truth of the matter is already in public domain. The amended electoral law did not diminish or abrogate delegate election or the rights of the delegates of each political party to nominate their flag-bearers. It only strengthened the electoral system by plugging necessary loopholes. The people are also aware that Sen. Andy Uba was not the sponsor of the bill and also aware of the passage of the bill by the House of Representatives too. Therefore, they know that the amended electoral law is not Andy Uba’s private bill or a private tool of the Senate and its members.
This is how low some politicians could stoop because of the fear of Andy Uba. But the truth is that, the Senator has a larger than life political clout and massive political structures that sprawl the entire state like the tentacles of an octopus. His opponents need to brace up with better ideas because the fear of the Senator in this election is not wisdom but mere foolishness and his opponents have not realized how much good will they are losing to this increasing foolishness.
Ikenna Ebubedike
Ukpor,
Nnewi, South L.G is a concerned constituent.
Published by sun newspaper today page 17.
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