The Undeserving Media War Against Gov Obiano

It is understandable that whenever an election is around the corner, there would be mudslinging, unwarranted attacks and lies, just to curry favour and to smear the image of opponents.
 

This is playing out today in Anambra state by opponents of Governor Willie Obiano.
 

However, seeking power by all means is not a virtue but a sign of depravity and moral bankruptcy. This is the least that is expected of those who must fight to gain any manner of victory, be it political or otherwise.

But Governor Obiano is not perturbed because he knows that it is the people who would vote when the time comes. He has remained in touch with the people, listening to them and ensuring that their wishes and aspirations are met.

Politicians should know that politics must not entail spewing lies against political opponents, neither should it degenerate into invoking fire and brimstone against fellow citizens who share contrary views with theirs.

Ndi Anambra are wise and discerning. There are many of them who know the truth and cannot therefore, be hoodwinked into following empty loud-mouthed political contractors.

Some of these emergency social media activists live in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities and so are completely unaware of the sterling performance of Governor Obiano in Anambra state.

They should come home, because nobody drove them from their homes, and they ought to remember that they cannot write the story of Anambra State from distant lands.

The Governor has refused to be distracted by the political charlatans and jobbers who see nothing good in a Governor that has brought much finesse and humanity to governance, just because they are bent on pulling him down.

For instance, in recent times, the social media, especially, has been awash with stories portraying Governor Obiano as a failure. But, if we must not be deceived, we have to revisit the meaning of failure. Now, if a man who, in less than one year in office, cleaned up the State of crime is a failure, then one must prefer to be a failure.

In the not too distant past, Anambra was a no- go- area, a forbidden land of sort and a place which people dreaded to visit. But Governor Obiano wiped the state clean, chased out kidnappers and armed robbers, cleaned up Upper Iweka and restored the confidence of Anambra people in their home state. 

Having tackled the issue of crime, today there are people from the Netherlands, India, Australia and other parts of the world working in the state without any incident.

If a man who started an Agricultural Revolution that has placed Anambra on the agricultural map of Africa is a failure, then, what is failure? Recently, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Kebbi state Governor and chairman of Agricultural Committee, Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu were in Anambra to witness the impressive and uncommon collaboration between the State Government and Coscharis Farms that was facilitated by the Obiano administration.

If a man who built six bridges simultaneously in two years while the country’s economy was sliding into a recession is a failure, then that must be a good failure. In two years, Obiano built Arroma, Kwata, Amawbia, Ebenebe, Aguleri-Otu and Iyiora bridges in Anam. These bridges are there for all to see.

This so called ‘failure’ of a man, increased the salaries of workers by 15% at a time when other state governments were borrowing to pay salaries. Only recently he abolished several levies and taxes as a way of cushioning the effects of the recession in the country.

The Obiano administration has also set an impressive record in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) with a remarkable increase from the N500m monthly that it inherited to 1.3 billion naira per month.

It has opened up the state for rapid industrialization, embarked on massive rehabilitation bad roads and constructing new ones as well as strategic interventions in the education, agriculture and health sectors.

In fact, if a governor that has engaged in massive agriculture and industrialization is seen as a failure, then this so-called failure must mean something else.

It must mean a governor that failed to satisfy the cravings of a few cabal, a governor that has failed to be intimidated to do the wrong things and mortgage the future of Anambra people and a Governor that has stood up to ask questions, where necessary, for the benefit of the people.

And when his Jewish opponents picked up stones against our master and savior, Jesus Christ, he asked them: "I have showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning me?" 

In the same vein: For which of these good and great works of Governor Willie Obiano is he now a failure?