By Onyekachi C Ugwu
Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is a man with great sagacity, profound emotional intelligence, and administrative ingenuity that put him ahead of his contemporaries in politics.
Of a humble background and imbued with humility, he personifies the fuller lessons inherent in the teaching of Christ that admonishes the persecuted to “turn the other cheek”.
An embodiment of accommodation and tolerance, he is not known to respond to or be ruffled by the plethora of diatribes, invectives, innuendos, vitriolic, and aspersions on his person and government by uninformed talebearers and fifth columnists working to derail his administration and make light the transformation going on in the state.
He is obviously schooled in the fact that the more successful or dynamic you are as a politician, the more criticisms you are likely to face from those in envy of your height or others who feel they should be in your position. This judgment sticks true in this very case. From a botched attempt at becoming the local Government Chairman of Udenu, he rose to become the member representing Igbo Eze North /Udenu in the national assembly for three uninterrupted terms. Without public declaration of interest in the number one position of the State, he scooped the PDP ticket and went on to become the governor with a two term mandate in his kitty.
Recall that the 2019 election was a complete referendum and a proof of not only his towering popularity and acceptance but an affirmation of his quality leadership. No governor in Enugu or Nigeria now and in history except him had achieved 95.4% of the total votes cast. What a man!
It bears stating for an incontrovertible fact, that some of those who were in politics before him, but never had such unprecedented ascent to power and privileges will likely feel a tinge of envy and jealousy. There are no two ways about that. Andrew Bierce calls politics “selfish interest masquerading as strife of principles. The man whose interest appears jeopardised begins to run wild with thoughts on how to pull down the one on top and once again foist himself on power.
This captures the pervading mood of all those ones who contested but lost party nominations in PDP and who of course have cashed in on the Peter Obi phenomenon, jumped into labour party and are attacking the Governor. But curiously, these were the same politicians who have over the years rallied round the Governor and showering him all manners of plaudits. It is therefore not out of place to situate such politicians and their minions as belonging to the community of desperate desperadoes without conscience or principles acting on grievances that tabernacle in their imaginations. They do not have the good of the people but that of feeding their greed at heart. They have no integrity.
This is exactly the spectacle we see in Enugu State.
One other thing playing out is the congenital conservativism of a few citizens of the state. Their motive is clear. Leave out the status quo, especially that which confers on them the benefits of maintaining stranglehold on power and win freedom from their plotting and virulent criticisms. Yes, had Governor Ugwuanyi as the leader of PDP bent double to allow them win party primaries, is it possible that they would left and describe PDP in such inelegant terms as they now do? What a people!
It is therefore trite to say that anyone who esteems and deviates from the tradition or convention has generally faced criticisms and opposition from a small section of the society. Ugwuanyi is not a patron of status quo. Pulling the strings of the Thomas Khun idea of “paradigm shift” as embedded in the work “Structure of Scientific Revolution” Ugwuanyi mainstreamed a radical departure from the usual, thus engendering rapid transformation of rural areas, change in the structure and annihilation of godfatherism in the state, brought hitherto abandoned political actors into reckoning and broadened the horizon of youth inclusion in governance. These are not normal and have left those who make gains from the old order jittery and fidgety. They see themselves loosing out of the power equation and so have recruited their bell boys for a smear campaign.
Though criticised and bashed, Ugwuanyi knows what is on the apple cart. He knows that in the end, all energies expended by his traducers will be wasted. But it is a fact that even the “stone the builders rejected later became the head corner stone”. This idea merges and aligns with the history of the ‘One-day Cricket’ game which initially faced severe criticisms, even condemnation, but has today emerged as one of the most popular and sought-after games and created a niche for itself.
We know that the best way to answer to armchair critics is by proving ones mettle. This is exactly where Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s strength of character is tucked in with maximum comfort. He has continued to leave his traducers pinning away in more pains and full of empty airs through his sterling and unprecedented achievements, regardless of the challenges of covid 19 and its associated economic downturn .
