- Peter Obi was born on the 19th of July, 1961. He is therefore 54 today. It has become customary among Nigerians to use the period of one’s birthday to crown one with unmerited praises. We know that in our clime, once one can boast of a few wads of the naira notes, one can commission friends and well-wishers to take him to literary sanctity through adverts containing what, most times, are far from the man’s true character. We know that these people even prompt friends to write flowery praises which they use their own money to place as adverts. We also know that some executives force contractors to place adverts for them or their friends that are celebrating their birthdays. These are not ennobling in any way.
As Obi turns 54 today, you may not see many adverts on him, pontificating on unmerited higher spiritual values just as it was even when he was a governor. He normally would urge those that approached him to use such monies to support worthy courses in the society. That was his style and that remains his style unto this day.
In Nigeria of today, if there is one man that merits to be celebrated, that man is Mr. Peter Obi, essentially in terms of the values he has created. Indeed, it can be said of him that institutions he passed through in his on-going pilgrimage on earth became better because of the afflatus of his touch. Those close to him would have discovered that his consuming passion is how to contribute to the progress of civilisation.
Prompted by the same line of reasoning, a thinker was reported to have said in the past that he would rather discover a single demonstration in geometry than win the throne of Persia. The heroes of our times are not billionaires, but those who have made their wisdom to function actively in society. Obi has done exactly the same.
Sometimes when one tells the story about great men, as Obi, who made seminal contributions to civilization, it seems like fairy tales. Take for instance, the story of Archimedes in geometry. Archimedes lived many years before Christ. He made contributions to geometry, physics, strategies of war and many other branches of learning – just like Aristotle. It was Archimedes who discovered the principle of lever and pulley which gave rise to the saying ‘Da Mehi focurom, et terra movabo…’ (Give me a place to stand and I will pull the world). He equally discovered the principle of floatation. Today, many people use the word ‘Eureka’ without knowing that it came to us through one of those linguistic odysseys that characterize philology traceable to Archimedes.
Archimedes’ role in the Roman War against Syracuse remains a classic. Do you know that he wrote his own epitaph before he died, which was a cylinder circumscribing a sphere, as he considered his work regarding cylinders and spheres to be his best?
Archimedes was not alone in this class of uncommon men whose discoveries were named after them. We have Newton’s Law of Motion in Physics; Pythagoras Theorem in Mathematics; Boyle’s Law; Ohm’s Law and many more of such branded names. The trend continues, even in recent times and around us where the Philip Emeagwalis, the Chike Obis, the Achebes, the Soyinkas and some other notable names have established themselves as institutions.
But why this excursion into history when the subject is espousing Obi’s principles as he turns 54? We must note that in today’s Nigeria, Mr. Peter Obi has introduced a new governance module. Here is a politician who has decided to do things differently, always insisting that it smacks of insanity to keep doing the same thing the same way and expect a different result. While others in positions of authority use sirens to disturb the peace of neighbourhoods, Mr. Obi detested such act. He shunned the use of VIP lounges at our airports, preferring, instead, to queue up like other ordinary travellers.
Most importantly, Obi was a lone ranger in advocating what could be called the principle of allocating resources to the end users. Rather than concentrate on monitoring of projects, government at all levels are concerned more with transactions, serving as clearing houses for funds meant for end users. One of the consequences is that when an organization wants to assist an institution, the fund would pass through the government where it is cut into half under strange headings like administrative costs before reaching the end users. But to reduce all these bureaucracies, Obi championed the concept of funds meant for any intervention project going straight to the point of use.
He did this so wonderfully in Anambra State and the results are still there for all to see. What the schools, hospitals, towns and other institutions who were beneficiaries of this innovation have done with their funds was exemplary. Most times projects that would take government contractors forever to finish with countless variations were completed in record time.
We therefore call on government at all levels to understudy Mr. Obi’s principle of ‘Fund for end-users to end-users’. This spells the solution to profligacy in the execution of government projects in particular and governance in general.
Besides changing the psyche of the people of the state and the re-conditioning them to once again think and act for the interest of the state, we consider his return of schools to their original owners as his most important achievement.
Today, everybody commends Obi with their mouths bursting with pride because all he did are clear for even the blind to see. There is no genuine Nigerian that is not full of kind words for him for approaching governance from the point of view of service to the people and the community.
It is only those who lived in Anambra during the period of chaos that will understand and appreciate the former governor, Mr. Peter Obi. In those days, Anambra carried on as if she was being controlled by Bedlam. Let Bishop Hilary Okeke who is in a position to judge those days speak:
“Indeed, before Mr. Peter Obi became the governor, Anambra State looked like a state abandoned by God. Many people in Anambra State really believed that Anambra State was abandoned. Political turmoil and turbulence generated by godfatherism halted development in the state.
The little money that would come to Anambra State was used to settle the godfathers. An attempt to shake off the tentacles of the godfathers resulted in wanton and reckless destruction of government houses and property. Schools at all levels suffered abysmal neglect; public hospitals suffered the same neglect; life was listless as people in Anambra State were bereft of a sense of direction and responsibility. One could liken the state of affairs then in Anambra State to the situation in Israel at the time of the Judges. In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25). Lawlessness was the order of the day; gross indiscipline, general insecurity and lack of respect for human dignity and life, lack of development in most public sectors and loss of confidence in government.”
Indeed, Obi became governor when Anambra was faced by all manner of problems. His coming into power was equally turbulent. However in his characteristic doggedness, each challenge he conquered brought out his essence to the people. He was the first person to unseat a sitting governor through the courts; he was the first to come back from impeachment and to go for tenure interpretation.
Besides, Obi did so much for Anambra State which made him not only the darling of the state, but a darling among Nigerians. Again, let Bishop Okeke say it as it is: “We commend Mr. Peter Obi for his perceived determination to serve the people of Anambra State through his development strategy of Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS); for his courageous return to their legitimate Church proprietors (Anglican and Catholic) of schools forcibly seized by the government of East Central State under Chief Ukpabi Asika, that destroyed education in our area; his determination to revamp education and health care by partnering with the churches to reconstruct dilapidated schools, providing buses, computers, generators, laboratory equipment, funds for sports and other needs of the schools system to both public schools and mission schools; his investment in healthcare delivery by uplifting hospitals, maternities and health centres, and schools of nursing, midwifery and medical laboratory to provide suitable personnel in our health institutions.
Anambra State enjoys one of the best networks of roads. Retired persons, the poor and marginalized of Anambra State are receiving government attention. Every aspect of life in Anambra State has benefited from the administration of Mr. Peter Obi, CON! Indeed, Anambra State under his administration is no longer an abandoned State!”
If you study successful economies of the world you will see behind them both long and short-term planning. You will hear of projections to the year 2020 and all that. A wise man prepares for winter in summer’s time of plenty, but it is foolishness to encourage Epicurean indulgence, the lower animal’s philosophy of: “Let us eat today for tomorrow we shall die.” This was the reason Obi, even when others crippled their states and sold the investments of the state for peanuts to their cronies, left over N75 Billion for his successor in cash and investments.
Today, Obi is a reference point in playing decent politics, belief in the rule of law and adherence to principles. These are edifying credentials of a true reformist. I expect Obi to suffer because as Machiavelli said, it is difficult to introduce a new order because the person doing so (Obi) will have opposition from those that benefited from the old order and lukewarm defenders in those that are not sure of its success.
In spite of paid critics and lukewarm defenders, Obi marched on and rescued Anambra State. The man is not a saint, but certainly a man with high moral standards. In the world of wealth, he may be among the first 100 Nigerians and yet he is unobtrusive about it. Obi has a happy family and can be called the man without cant.
If we can tremble before the work of nature, why should we not tremble before a man that exemplifies virtue as far as Nigerian politics is concerned? Indeed at 54, he deserves a Homer to tell his story.
-Valentine Obienyem and Alex Ejesieme contributed this piece from Awka.
