Before now, Anambra State was widely known in
Nigeria and beyond as a turbulent state. The
emergence of Mr. Peter Obi through a court
judgment almost did not change anything as those
who were benefiting from the crisis in the state
continued to instigate it until Obi asserted himself.
Between 1999 and 2007, it was a case of one day,
one trouble in Anambra State. The crises in the
state which were orchestrated by the foisting of
godsons on the people by known godfathers even
spanned tenures with the duo of Dr Chinwoke
Mbadinuju and Dr Chris Ngige as the main actors,
both of which had different godfathers to contend
with.
Under Dr Chris Ngige, Anambra upped its ante with
an even more rudderless godfather emerging in the
scene and calling the shots with impunity, not
minding the existence of an elected governor. The
refusal of the former to fulfill an agreement in which
the latter was supposed to be receiving monthly
remuneration from the state coffers led to a fracas
that put Anambra in the news for the bad reason for
a long time and led to the destruction of government
properties and eventual kidnap of the governor
himself; an incidence that was happening for the
first time in the history of the nation.
It was typical then for one to wake up in the
morning and rush to the newsstand with the hope
that matters concerning Anambra State would be
staring one in the face there. Of course, this led to
many well meaning individuals, corporate
organizations and donor agencies leaving Anambra
in droves. It did not only end in Anambra but spilled
to other states like Enugu where prominent
Anambra sons are known to be resident.
This scenario continued to the swearing in of Mr
Peter Obi through the victory he achieved in the
Appeal court sitting in Enugu in 2006. Though baton
changed hands, those who see the state a personal
estate from where they should continually reap from
never gave up on her. They instigated the
impeachment of the new governor and continued
with the culture of impunity which they were already
accustomed with. It was not until 2007 when Obi
returned after he was again removed to pave way
for the emergence of Dr Andy Uba that sanity
started coming back to the state.
To start, Obi dismantled the Bakassi boys and other
militant groups that were used by previous
administration as official security. This however did
not come easy as many were already feeding fat on
the insecurity in the state. The militant groups
themselves were already beginning to see a lot of
legality in what they were doing because of the
support they got from previous administration.
As at the time of the disbandment of this groups,
Anambra State residents had become so used to
seeing death bodies littering the streets of Onitsha,
so much so that life had already been reduced to
the ebb that a tout can leave his seat in a beer
parlour, gun down a victim and return to his drink,
while helpless residents watched and even
cheered.
This to Peter Obi is a height of lawlessness, but
stopping the already established norm would take a
lot of tenacity. To kick start his plans, Obi first set
out to empower security agencies in the state. To
date, Obi is noted as one of the few state governors
in the country that has been consistently
empowering the security agencies to fight crime.
His decision to use conventional security operatives
to fight crime rather than his predecessors’ crude
means of engaging and arming lawless civilians has
also paid off greatly. Security agencies such; the
police, military, National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency(NDLEA), Civil Defense and others have
received working tools including; security vehicles,
security gadgets, also financial disbursement and
the provision of facilities around their bases.
Obi has also beyond the
empowerment of security
agencies also believed
that indigenes who know
the terrain in their
various communities
stand a better chance of
policing the state,
besides working in
harmony with the police,
whose primary duty is it
to provide security in the
state. This may have
informed the decision of
the governor to spend
handsomely on security
every end of the year.
This disbursement which
he usually combines with
palliative works on roads
and other infrastructure
meant to beef up the
looks in the communities
before the yuletide sets
in; when indigenes of the
state from all over the
world begin to return
home are usually
entrusted in the care of
the traditional ruler of
each of the 177
communities.
This gesture has done
well to strengthen
security in the communities around Anambra State.
The coordinator of Anambra Vigilante, Dr Kenneth
Okonkwo disclosed to our correspondent once that
his office takes the extra steps of ensuring
thorough screening for those who are recruited into
the outfit in all the 177 communities of the state.
“Here we do not tolerate behaviours that are not
security wise. We train and retrain our personnel,
and that is why you see our performances which
have so far been very helpful to the police in helping
them in many rural areas to fish out hoodlums,
whom we always hand over to them in their
absence.”
Though insecurity has become a part of Nigeria,
Anambra has clearly isolated itself from the pariah
status that usually was the norm. Governor Peter
will gladly tell anyone who cared to listen that in the
last two years, there have been no incidences of
bank robberies in Anambra State. Though there
have been pockets of kidnap cases in the state, it
cannot be compared with what happened in the
state in the past, and is only a semblance of what is
happening in other secured states in the country.
Governor Peter Obi’s calm and gentle mien has
helped a great deal to put the state back on the path
of sanity. Unlike the past, or as could be seen in
other states in the federation. Obi is known for his
friendliness, and his security details are not as
intimidating as one would expect that of a state
governor to be. Obi is one governor who is known
to always travel round the state without siren and a
sizeable number of vehicles in his convoy. It has
become almost normal in Anambra State to expect
that the governor will walk into a function anytime.
This is because the usual notion that once the
governor is close, the atmosphere as engineered by
his advance party would be enough to announce his
presence before his arrival. In the case of Obi, he
simply walks into a function, and before the
masters of ceremonies acknowledge his presence,
he has already made himself comfortable in a seat.
It is very widely known that in the atmosphere of
insecurity, growth is hardly possible in any
economy. Today, the prevailing peace in Anambra
has made it possible for the governor to start
afresh to lay a solid foundation for the growth of the
state’s economy.
As a result of this peaceful atmosphere, Obi has
achieved the interconnection of Anambra State with
motorable roads, setting a sound footing for both the
education and health sectors of the state, provision
of social infrastructure and others in the state.
Though Obi sees beyond these as the legacy he
would be leaving behind for his people in the state,
his greatest legacy would be the restoration of
peace in the state and the laying of a solid
foundation for the state’s economy. It could not be
for a better reason that the Silverbird Media Group
has nominated Governor Peter Obi for the award of
the Silverbird Man of the Year award. As he bows
out on 17th March, 2014, Chief Willie Obiano his
successor would be expected to rely on the
conduciveness of the atmosphere as created by Obi
to continue to advance the state’s economy.
Nigeria and beyond as a turbulent state. The
emergence of Mr. Peter Obi through a court
judgment almost did not change anything as those
who were benefiting from the crisis in the state
continued to instigate it until Obi asserted himself.
Between 1999 and 2007, it was a case of one day,
one trouble in Anambra State. The crises in the
state which were orchestrated by the foisting of
godsons on the people by known godfathers even
spanned tenures with the duo of Dr Chinwoke
Mbadinuju and Dr Chris Ngige as the main actors,
both of which had different godfathers to contend
with.
Under Dr Chris Ngige, Anambra upped its ante with
an even more rudderless godfather emerging in the
scene and calling the shots with impunity, not
minding the existence of an elected governor. The
refusal of the former to fulfill an agreement in which
the latter was supposed to be receiving monthly
remuneration from the state coffers led to a fracas
that put Anambra in the news for the bad reason for
a long time and led to the destruction of government
properties and eventual kidnap of the governor
himself; an incidence that was happening for the
first time in the history of the nation.
It was typical then for one to wake up in the
morning and rush to the newsstand with the hope
that matters concerning Anambra State would be
staring one in the face there. Of course, this led to
many well meaning individuals, corporate
organizations and donor agencies leaving Anambra
in droves. It did not only end in Anambra but spilled
to other states like Enugu where prominent
Anambra sons are known to be resident.
This scenario continued to the swearing in of Mr
Peter Obi through the victory he achieved in the
Appeal court sitting in Enugu in 2006. Though baton
changed hands, those who see the state a personal
estate from where they should continually reap from
never gave up on her. They instigated the
impeachment of the new governor and continued
with the culture of impunity which they were already
accustomed with. It was not until 2007 when Obi
returned after he was again removed to pave way
for the emergence of Dr Andy Uba that sanity
started coming back to the state.
To start, Obi dismantled the Bakassi boys and other
militant groups that were used by previous
administration as official security. This however did
not come easy as many were already feeding fat on
the insecurity in the state. The militant groups
themselves were already beginning to see a lot of
legality in what they were doing because of the
support they got from previous administration.
As at the time of the disbandment of this groups,
Anambra State residents had become so used to
seeing death bodies littering the streets of Onitsha,
so much so that life had already been reduced to
the ebb that a tout can leave his seat in a beer
parlour, gun down a victim and return to his drink,
while helpless residents watched and even
cheered.
This to Peter Obi is a height of lawlessness, but
stopping the already established norm would take a
lot of tenacity. To kick start his plans, Obi first set
out to empower security agencies in the state. To
date, Obi is noted as one of the few state governors
in the country that has been consistently
empowering the security agencies to fight crime.
His decision to use conventional security operatives
to fight crime rather than his predecessors’ crude
means of engaging and arming lawless civilians has
also paid off greatly. Security agencies such; the
police, military, National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency(NDLEA), Civil Defense and others have
received working tools including; security vehicles,
security gadgets, also financial disbursement and
the provision of facilities around their bases.
Obi has also beyond the
empowerment of security
agencies also believed
that indigenes who know
the terrain in their
various communities
stand a better chance of
policing the state,
besides working in
harmony with the police,
whose primary duty is it
to provide security in the
state. This may have
informed the decision of
the governor to spend
handsomely on security
every end of the year.
This disbursement which
he usually combines with
palliative works on roads
and other infrastructure
meant to beef up the
looks in the communities
before the yuletide sets
in; when indigenes of the
state from all over the
world begin to return
home are usually
entrusted in the care of
the traditional ruler of
each of the 177
communities.
This gesture has done
well to strengthen
security in the communities around Anambra State.
The coordinator of Anambra Vigilante, Dr Kenneth
Okonkwo disclosed to our correspondent once that
his office takes the extra steps of ensuring
thorough screening for those who are recruited into
the outfit in all the 177 communities of the state.
“Here we do not tolerate behaviours that are not
security wise. We train and retrain our personnel,
and that is why you see our performances which
have so far been very helpful to the police in helping
them in many rural areas to fish out hoodlums,
whom we always hand over to them in their
absence.”
Though insecurity has become a part of Nigeria,
Anambra has clearly isolated itself from the pariah
status that usually was the norm. Governor Peter
will gladly tell anyone who cared to listen that in the
last two years, there have been no incidences of
bank robberies in Anambra State. Though there
have been pockets of kidnap cases in the state, it
cannot be compared with what happened in the
state in the past, and is only a semblance of what is
happening in other secured states in the country.
Governor Peter Obi’s calm and gentle mien has
helped a great deal to put the state back on the path
of sanity. Unlike the past, or as could be seen in
other states in the federation. Obi is known for his
friendliness, and his security details are not as
intimidating as one would expect that of a state
governor to be. Obi is one governor who is known
to always travel round the state without siren and a
sizeable number of vehicles in his convoy. It has
become almost normal in Anambra State to expect
that the governor will walk into a function anytime.
This is because the usual notion that once the
governor is close, the atmosphere as engineered by
his advance party would be enough to announce his
presence before his arrival. In the case of Obi, he
simply walks into a function, and before the
masters of ceremonies acknowledge his presence,
he has already made himself comfortable in a seat.
It is very widely known that in the atmosphere of
insecurity, growth is hardly possible in any
economy. Today, the prevailing peace in Anambra
has made it possible for the governor to start
afresh to lay a solid foundation for the growth of the
state’s economy.
As a result of this peaceful atmosphere, Obi has
achieved the interconnection of Anambra State with
motorable roads, setting a sound footing for both the
education and health sectors of the state, provision
of social infrastructure and others in the state.
Though Obi sees beyond these as the legacy he
would be leaving behind for his people in the state,
his greatest legacy would be the restoration of
peace in the state and the laying of a solid
foundation for the state’s economy. It could not be
for a better reason that the Silverbird Media Group
has nominated Governor Peter Obi for the award of
the Silverbird Man of the Year award. As he bows
out on 17th March, 2014, Chief Willie Obiano his
successor would be expected to rely on the
conduciveness of the atmosphere as created by Obi
to continue to advance the state’s economy.
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