Ndi Igbo have a maxim that it is only a foolish lad or a rascal that would throw a stone into a busy market because he does not know whether he was going to hit his mother or someone related to him.
At Nnewi South, during the August 16 Anambra South senatorial bye-election, the APC governorship candidate, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, and his agents rudely confronted Anambra State’s Deputy Governor, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, and stopped him from proceeding on official duty.
That same day, the Deputy Governor was held hostage while the state’s Commissioner for Environment, Dr Felix Odimegwu, was also assaulted in his hometown of Osumenyi. Both unprovoked attacks, caught on camera and circulated online, highlighted the alarming descent into thuggery ahead of the November 8 polls.
Reports indicate that neither Dr. Ibezim nor Dr. Odimegwu retaliated, even when provoked by paid thugs allegedly acting on Ukachukwu’s orders. The allegations of vote-buying and intimidation that underpinned these clashes merely expose a disturbing trend of unnecessary violence in Anambra’s political space.
Earlier this week, a video emerged showing the Commissioner for Youth Development, Patrick Agha Mba, being manhandled at the gate of Onitsha Medical Centre by men alleged to be agents of YPP candidate Sir Paul Chukwuma. Though unconfirmed, the footage of the Commissioner being dragged over an unverified claim of blocking access to the hospital raises grave concerns.
The bigger question is: why are Soludo’s deputy and his commissioners being repeatedly targeted? Is this a deliberate attempt to provoke retaliation, and in so doing, create a false narrative of insecurity under the present administration or to turn the election into a primitive battle of jungle rules?
What stands out, however, is the restraint shown by the Deputy Governor and the Commissioners. Imagine if Agha Mba had rallied his vast youth following in Onitsha, or if Odimegwu had mobilised his Osumenyi base, the state could have erupted in violence. Their calm restraint saved Anambra from bloodshed.
Comrade Agha Mba, being an influential Anambra youth leader from Onitsha, embodies the ‘One Youth, Two Skills Solution’. He has long championed youth rights as an activist and been a former ASATU (Anambra State Association of Town Unions) youth leader and a once popular Onitsha North local government chairman. There is no doubt that if he alerted his base, there could be sympathisers who would reason that his assault at the Onitsha Medical Centre represents not just a personal attack but a dangerous affront to them and Anambra youths too.
It is not likely that everyone would react with cool heads like Ibezim, Odimegwu and Agha Mba.
It is, therefore, urgent for political parties to call their guber candidates and agents to order. Provocative politics cannot help Anambra; violence only imperils our democracy. Nobody holds a monopoly on violence, and if those assaulted decide to respond in kind, the streets could descend into chaos.
As the November 8 gubernatorial election approaches, Ndi Anambra must reject politicians who deploy thugs and thrive on intimidation. Our state is far too great to be reduced to a battleground for gang leaders masquerading as leaders.
By: Chuka Nnabuife
• Nnabuife is Managing Director, Anambra State Civic and Social Reformation Office (ANCISRO), Awka.
