This year’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State has come and gone, but the singular good deed of Mrs Ngozi Onuegbusi lingers. And it is likely to linger for some time because of its unique nature. Mrs Onuegbusi did what was a rarity in our kind of clime: she proved that, contrary to the popular belief that everyone has a price, her vote was not for sale. A native of Ukwulu in Dunukofia Local Government of Anambra State, Onuegbusi rejected a N5,000 bribe she was offered to sell her conscience during the election, by voting for the party whose agent offered her the bribe. She roundly rejected the offer and opted, instead, to vote according to her conscience.
This is something to cheer, especially in a country that is ravaged by poverty and ignorance. Five thousand naira is a lot of money anywhere in rural Nigeria. As a matter of fact, that is what some state governments offer as stipend to their elder citizens monthly and it is highly appreciated. Even in the big towns and cities, people sell their conscience at election times for far less than N5,000. Indeed, many voters had been enticed with tokens tucked in loaves of bread. Some have had their minds made up for them at the polling booths for as little as five or 10 kilograms of rice, etc. The mindset of such voters is that election time is the only opportunity they have to get something from political aspirants; and that once they get elected, all they go there to do is to steal, with nary a consideration for the voters on whose back they rode to power.
So, for someone like Mrs Onuegbusi to have rejected N5,000 inducement to sway her from voting according to her conscience is something significant, even akin to performing a feat in our kind of permissive and corrupt environment. What makes her story the more fascinating is that she did not turn down the satanic offer because she did not need the money. Rather, she turned it down because it was not in tandem with the dictates of her conscience. She had said, while turning down the offer: “I am poor; I don’t have any money in my pocket, but I won’t take N5,000″.
This is indeed soul-lifting. And that explains the encomiums and financial gifts she had received after the rare display of her principled nature. Justice Chinwe Iyizoba, a retired judge of the Court of Appeal described the woman as a pride to womanhood. We would have taken her up for the feminist dimension in describing Mrs Onuegbusi but for where she (Iyizoba) is coming from. She is the founder of African Women Forum for Good Governance, an advocacy and women empowerment group dedicated to good governance and socio-economic development of Africa.
Read Also: Who will tell the president?
Even the traditional ruler of her community in Ukwulu, Igwe Peter Uyanwa, who had also honoured her described her as a pride to the town.
Likewise the beneficiary of Mrs Onuegbusi’s principled stance, Prof. Charles Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who won the election; Soludo confined her good deed to the state: ”…I summarise the action of the woman of Ukwulu, who rejected N5,000 to influence her voting, as a metaphor for the spirit of Anambra.” He added: “That is the spirit of Anambra and her action is the resilience of the Anambra spirit.”
We can understand why everyone wants to identify with her: we all love good things; what Mrs Onuegbusi did is akin to success, which has many fathers. Only failure is an orphan. We dare say, however, that in spite of the pervading lack of conscience in the land, we still have highly principled people like Mrs. Onuegbusi in all parts of the country.
This taken, perhaps Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State who gave her N1m for this exemplary conduct was the one who captured the situation succinctly. ”Madam Eunice knew that though money could buy her temporary relief, but (sic) Anambra would be a better place if she voted according to her conscience.” This is the point that most of those who sell their votes, often for a pot of porridge, forget. Having received bribe-for-votes, such voters have mortgaged their conscience and are no longer in a position to demand good governance, as of right.
Yet, this is what should be the desire or goal of every voter. Justice Iyizoba said this much and urged politicians to learn that the only way to make progress in politics is by providing voters good governance by providing the necessary social amenities, such as good roads, good schools, a conducive atmosphere for job creation, quality health care, among others, to make for comfortable living.
We join many other prominent individuals in saluting Mrs Onuegbusi for taking a principled stance where many would have faltered. We greet her for keeping her head where many others would have lost theirs. We commend her exemplary conduct not just to women in Anambra State but to all Nigerians, irrespective of gender, creed or political affiliation. It is through a strict adherence to such principle that our politicians can accept the fact that the only thing that can bring them into political office and sustain them is good governance. Ultimately, that is the only way to extract the dividend of democracy from them.
We hope Prof Soludo won’t disappoint such voters when he eventually assumes office.
Leave a Reply