Ifeanyi Madubuko
In Shehu Shagari’s second republic dispensation, NPP, the Nigerian People’s Party won in old Imo State. The ebullient governor then, Barr. Sam Mbakwe went an extra mile of weeping to get Federal attention and bore the sobriquet of the weeping governor till he died. The leading NPN at the center, came second in Imo. Chief Collins Obi, the guber candidate was a celebrity and got very liberal attention from the federal, but we cannot say that for Anyim Nyerere today in Abia.
As a conscious APC member in Abia State, I have been bothered about the ill fortunes of the party in not being able to claim what belongs to them as a party at the center. Based on the above, I took keen interest on what Sam Egburuonu, a good columnist from Abia North wrote of Kalu’s migration to APC on his column on The Nation on Sunday 27, 2016.
References were made to speeches delivered on Kalu’s reception at APC in Abuja and the sycophantic one by Kalu Idika Kalu, a former minister and a should-have-been statesman, but has shamelessly become an acolyte of Kalu seen on recent developments. Both showered encomiums on Kalu but somebody must have been sold a dummy as it appears.
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, while receiving Kalu, said too much: “I am delighted to welcome you. Everybody worked zealously to join you because when the going gets tough, as it is today, in this nation, we will look for the kind of people with the attributes, resilience, courage and following who can contribute positively, from experience, to getting this nation out of the economic meltdown we inherited.
You fell into that definition. Secondly, the presence of the party must be maximal in all the zones of the country. Given the attachment of the South-East before now, it is also necessary to go for leaders that have deliverable, who can contribute positively and leaders people can listen to.
You are not only going to help us in the South-East but also in the South-South, to turn this party around so that there will be balanced APC in every nook and cranny of this country.
Your coming is very significant and I thank God that it is not late. You have lots of work to do to consolidate our party.”
Kalu’s acceptance speech was concurrent as he boasted of 4000 new members and federal legislators who are in tow. In picture panted, he is the smart guy to pull the chestnut out of fire but time will tell: “Let me thank my brothers in the NWC of this party for their efforts. Three of them have hosted me to dinner for more than 20 times while they were trying to dissuade me from going back to the PDP because they know that I am very close to Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.” That is typical OUK- He runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds. Was he even a PDP member?
Kalu continued, “In eating those dinners the last of which was five days ago, to seal the deal, they were on my neck for a long time that I must come to the APC. Today is a happy day and I want APC to be all-inclusive, regardless of our tribe, religion or special status. I want to thank the National Chairman for this opportunity to personally welcoming us. I am coming in and God will help me to bring value to the party.
Between Sunday, November 13, 2016 when I registered at Igbere and now, there are 4,000 members, new members already registered with the APC in Abia. Without making it open, there are two members of the House of Representatives who are there right now to join the APC. So, it is work that we must carry to a logical conclusion.
Our upright war is that the South East will be delivered to the APC. God will help us to do this. The most important thing is the ability to consult, discuss and move forward. Nobody is an embodiment of knowledge. You were here the day my mother and brothers came here and all my friends are here in this party. I am not saying that my friends are not in the other parties. But, it is time to take stock and it is important to go along family line to be able to rebrand Nigeria very well. I am back to join where my family is.
If I had joined at the early times when they were forming government, it would have appeared as if I want to be part of that process. This is the right time to join. This is the right time to do politics and so, I believe I am joining at the right time, to be able to do raw politics with them.”
In Egburonu’s report, there was one dissenting voice, Chief Fredrick Ukoma, a retired civil servant: Nobody will deny the fact that Kalu is a big fish for APC; but we must not forget that he also has many powerful political enemies, coupled with baggages that none of us can deny.”
In an in-depth analysis, the APC chairman spoke like one who dropped from the moon and many questions are begging for answers. Who does not know the present prowess of Kalu in the politics of the day? It is on record that Kalu like the fox has employed every antic to become a senator but failed in each case. Does that show strength as the chairman postulated?
If Oyegun knows his onions, should he so loudly with widespread arms welcome a man with multiple fraud cases being prosecuted by EFCC, making OUK a hero before our children that we are working so hard to redeem?
Where lies the ‘Change Begins With Me Campaign?’ Can such a man be relevant in restructuring the economic meltdown as Oyegun claimed?
Is he not sending the wrong signals to the international and economic communities by elevating such a jail bound fellow? Or did Kalu negotiate his freedom before joining?
Could he be speaking for himself or Buhari who has zero tolerance for official fraud and has gone an extra mile to hound judges and justices, the hitherto untouchables?
Before the 2015 general elections, there were hypes of a thousand groups hailing and endorsing OUK as the best candidate for senate in his publications, what happened eventually? Remember that this same man presented forged papers to the PDP headquarters in Wadata House, claiming to be registered in Igbere but the papers were rejected resoundingly and he fell back on PPA, his safety net and yet failed, so what new ideas and strategies is Kalu bringing to APC if not hypes and empty claims which are his greatest attributes. Or have they forgotten so soon his trail of failures in projects like Nzuko Ndi Igbo, Igbo presidency which he championed and failed, FIFA presidency and the bungled presidential quest under PPA?
To tell ourselves the truth, Chief Oyegun has unwittingly ended up complicating the problems of APC in Abia. Kalu cannot serve under anybody so are other members like BB Apugo who have polarized the party. More so, there are bound to be caustic intricacies with the new entrants like Chris Adighije, Nwaogu, Ukasanya, Dr Eze Chikanayo who had face-offs with Kalu in previous encounters in PDP. There are bound to be more encampments based on these personalities who are no pushovers in party politics. I stand to be corrected.