Valentine Obienyem
As Governor, Mr Peter Abel Obi actively reached out to and attracted significant support, projects and interventions to Anambra State from different organisations and institutions. I shall devote a separate write-up to the remarkable extent to which he did this.
Let us begin with the Central Bank of Nigeria. We thank Mr Charles Chukwuma Soludo for ensuring that Anambra was considered in 2004 for a Central Bank branch. However, as Governor, Obi became concerned about the delay in getting the branch operational. Soludo’s position was that the Central Bank would, as was its standard practice, build its own branch. Obi persuaded him to allow the bank to commence operations in a rented premises while arrangements for the permanent structure continued.
The first premises Obi secured for the Central Bank was rejected. Undeterred, he persuaded the Bank of Industry to relocate from the premises and make them available to the Central Bank on Zik’s Avenue. This was how the Central Bank commenced operations in Anambra in 2008, long before its permanent building was completed.
I recount this to illustrate how relentless Obi could be whenever he believed something was in the interest of the state. Starting operations in a rented premises, notwithstanding the layers of security considerations that such an arrangement presented, eventually became part of the argument for expediting the permanent structure. Soludo used that argument effectively. The result was that the permanent building was constructed with remarkable speed, almost as if work continued day and night. The two men, at that time, collaborated remarkably well.
This is precisely the kind of collaboration that lovers of Anambra long for. What happened subsequently is a different matter. Of course, nobody could tell this story better than Cain himself, while he killed Abel. We may attribute the later estrangement to jealousy, “anyaụfụ”, or a dark heart, but these would merely be surmises. Cain knows better.
As Governor, Obi also collaborated with Dr Kingsley Muoghalu, then Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, to attract the construction of two major hostels at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University – one for male students and the other for female students – with Central Bank sponsorship. These were not things that simply fell into Anambra’s lap. Obi actively sought them and worked with people who could help bring them to the state.
The same spirit was evident in the attraction of Interfact, the brewers of Hero to Anambra. Obi masterfully attracted Intafact to the state because he was already doing business with the company even before he became Governor, having been its Nigerian representative. He understood the company, cultivated the relationship and saw an opportunity to translate that relationship into an economic benefit for Anambra.
I recall these examples because they reveal something fundamental about Peter Obi: he did not merely administer what he found; he went out looking for what he could bring home. He cultivated relationships, persuaded institutions, mobilised individuals and converted opportunities into tangible benefits for the state. That capacity is difficult to measure merely by looking at government budgets or lists of projects.
And this brings me back to the Central Bank. Prof. Soludo has been the head of that institution. I would like to see what he attracted from an institution he headed to Anambra before he became Governor. This is not to diminish whatever he may have accomplished elsewhere, but to illustrate the distinction I am making: Obi, even without occupying a position in the Central Bank, was able to work through relationships and persuasion to bring tangible benefits from the institution to his state.
This is why, to me, Peter Obi is incomparable. His strength was not simply in occupying the office of Governor; it was in the unusual energy with which he pursued opportunities for Anambra. He was prepared to knock on doors, persuade people, find alternatives when one door closed and remain on an issue until something concrete emerged.
As Aristotle observed, the difference between the educated and the uneducated is as great as that between the living and the dead. I see something analogous in the difference between Obi and those who spend their energy merely traducing him. This is why we continue to hold him up as a man with the capacity to change the face of Nigeria. He deserves the support of all men of goodwill, while those of ill will may continue with their mischief.