Nweke vs Nnamani: Where art thou gratitude? The political vibrancy of Enugu can easily be measured by the quality of debates that goes on in innocuous corners of the capital city.At every nook and cranny of the state, it is often a common feature to observe those keenly engaged in the sophisticated hobby of hypothesising political issues in the state and beyond. It is such an engaging pastime that one needs to be in Enugu to fully understand the ramifications, foolery or wickedness of varied political and social issues unfolding in the country, including activities of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist organisation. Some weeks back, yours sincerely was in the Coal City state and I visited the popular Edinburgh Round About. For decades, this spot had remained the rendezvous of journalists and other enlightened minds. It is the spot that various newspapers are distributed to vendors for the day’s business. It is, therefore, a haven for the ubiquitous ‘Free Readers Association’ and it is not distant to say it is also this place that popular political opinions in the state are moulded! On that fateful day, the topic of debate was the relationship among Mr. Frank Nweke, a former Minister of Information under President Olusegun Obasanjo, on the one hand, and Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu State, and former senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District, on the other. The progenitor of the debate was of the view that Mr. Nweke’s ambition to contest the forthcoming senatorial election for the Enugu East slot against his former boss was in bad taste. He said it is a measure of ingratitude akin to politicians from the South East that a man who was literally sprung from the backwaters would so easily turn his mentor and benefactor a victim of his newfound wealth and visibility. He recalled that Frank had never done any job in his life until 2001 when Chimaroke appointed him to exalted office of Chief of Staff to the Governor of Enugu State. As if that was not enough, Nnamani nominated and ensured that Mr. Nweke became a minister. He maintained that Nnamani has, in recent times, been traumatised by the perfidy and sundry activities of former political allies, who now work against him. He listed all the present political actors in the state, including the governor, Sullivan Chime, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Ayogu Eze, Gil Nnaji and almost all serving members of the National Assembly, including the new rave in town, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as products of former governor Nnamani’s political wisdom. The next respondent countered that it was a curious abridgement of history to ascribe to Nnamani the ascendancy of the current political actors as listed. He maintained that the credit should indeed go to Chief Jim Nwobodo, who made Nnamani governor in 1999. The third contributor alleged that even Nwobodo was equally unfair to the great Owelle of Onitsha, Nnamdi Azikiwe who equally made him governor of the old Anambra State in 1979, such that he was alleged not to have as much as attended Zik’s burial activities in 1996 when the great nationalist died. The only difference, according to him, was that Zik was more intellectually sophisticated than the current political actors and thus bore his own disappointments with Nwobodo with deep introspection and equanimity. The circle goes on! There can indeed, be no end to all these accusations and counter- accusations. But were I in Nweke’s shoes, I would pause and do some critical reflections. Does he have a right to aspire to represent his senatorial zone? Yes he does! The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) eloquently guarantees that. Is he qualified to so do? Yes he does; eminently so. In this age when the best is without conviction and the worst is filled with passionate intensity,. Nweke has indeed, proved his mettle. As minister for information under President Obasanjo, he was able to prove that the age of Methuselah had nothing to do with the wisdom of Solomon. As director general of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nweke was able to prove that economic issues were and should not be the exclusive preserve of the so-called economic experts. The hosting, last year, of the World Economic Summit in Abuja would go down in history as a sample of functional interface that are possible between the government and the private sector under some focused leadership. The question therefore, would be: is this the right time for Nweke to pursue this ambition? My answer would be no! It is not everything we have the right or power to do that we must do. As Achebe would say, those whose palm kernel had been cracked for them by the benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble. If we do everything we are capable of doing, then our society would not be any better than the community of animals. We should be able to draw a line always between opportunity and opportunism. Opportunism is the inordinate feasting on other people’s fate and challenges without regard to morals. For a man who made you all you are today, it is shameless opportunism to dance on his sick bed; whatever sickness he suffers from whether political, social or physiological. Our society should not be divorced of its essential humanity such that even pity would be a form of arrogance. There cannot be any doubt that Nnamani stepped on many toes while in office as governor. Yet there are many who still hold grudges against him because he over-promoted some people, who have now turned against him. Nweke somehow falls into this category when it is recalled that he only came down to Enugu to seek assistance to be employed by the former Standard Trust Bank as a clerk before Nnamani took him. It might be an overstatement to hold the view that Nnamani ‘made’ all the current political actors in the state. Yes, Ike Ekweremadu had been a local government chairman long before Nnamani emerged as governor, but the former governor made him Chief of Staff, Secretary to the State Government and senator. In fact, he would have become Senate president, if Nnamani’s plot worked. For Nweke, it took the audacity of an Nnamani to discover that although he was without a resume, he possessed some ability, and therefore, activated same. With this, where has Nnamani offended everybody that he has so easily been forsaken by all those who should care? Can there really be developed political culture where the enduring culture of loyalty is completely shorn of our politics? Yes, it could be argued that it smacks of inordinacy on the part of Nnamani to be still angling to go to Senate after his eight-year tenure as governor and further four-year tenure as a senator. But it takes some people to call him to order and there are no such people other than the Nwekes of this clime. It is not known they have done their best in this regard without success. Last year when Nnamani rejoined the PDP, one had expected his political acolytes, like Nweke, to rally round him nonetheless. It is painful to note that apart from Ekweremadu who offered a short-lived solidarity, others, like Nweke looked placidly and cynically by, as opposition to Nnamani’s reentry mounted. In 2007, when Nnamani traveled to America for long and could not be sworn in as other senators, some people wanted his seat declared vacant. There were indications that Nweke wanted to contest, if this was done. Nnamani later came back and was sworn-in several months after the 6th Senate had been inaugurated. Nweke is still in his early forties and I cannot imagine anything is yet beyond him. For him, it is still yet morning on creation day. Great opportunities yet abound for him to fully showcase his potentials. In Igboland, duty calls on those behind a big masquerade to call it to order when it begins to take faltering dance steps. They are never justified to just abandon the masquerade because, as the Swazi of Southern Africa would say: the shame of an Impi is usually borne by his own. Nweke and others like him, must do this before any other political step.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 08:42:09 +0000