The first question that I asked myself after reading Chief Regan Ufomba’s Open Letter to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State was ‘why an Open Letter?’ Then it occurred to me that in Nigeria’s recent political history, an Open Letter is nothing but a tool of incitement and witch-hunt that only a rabid opponent deploys to pitch the people against their leader. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo used it to a devastating effect against former President Goodluck Jonathan in the last political dispensation and it changed the nation’s political landscape for good. So, let no one be fooled by Chief Ufomba’s clever commentaries in his letter. The former APGA gubernatorial aspirant in Abia is out to draw blood. But we shall take his advice with a pinch of salt, because Ndi Anambra are wise and know what to do with a poisoned chalice no matter how elegantly couched.
If Regan Ufomba truly, sincerely wanted to mediate between the two brothers, would he opt for an open letter that is nothing less than a heavy rebuke of Governor Obiano and an attempt to put him up as an ingrate? A clear hint that Ufomba is set on an ignoble mission is the fact that he openly admitted that his poisonous letter was his first attempt to reach out to Governor Obiano. This shows that he never really meant to work for peace. If he sincerely wanted to make peace, he would have made at least a single attempt to reach the governor and ask him for his own account of the issues at stake. Sadly, because Ufomba’s thinly veiled objective is witch-hunt and political bullying, he opted to post his incendiary piece online and gloat over the mischief of it all.
Truth be told; I read Regan Ufomba’s Open Letter with a heavy heart. I felt deeply disturbed to realise that the man I had held with utmost respect for a long time is not who I thought he was; that on close scrutiny, Chief Ufomba may not be different from the class of leaders that Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu referred to as “Food is Ready” politicians. Why do I say so? Well…this conclusion was forced upon me by Ufomba’s utter lack of depth in his open letter, his penchant for expediency and of course his deification of primitive god-fatherism as could be seen in the third paragraph of his poorly stitched letter – “you became governor at great cost and sacrifice to Peter and several others, including yours truly.”
Anyone who reads closely enough would hear the echo of Chief Joe-Martins Uzodike and his tactless campaign for the refund of a staggering N7bn campaign debt; a careless move that might set up his principal for a close scrutiny. Anyone who reads closely enough too would detect a silent appeal for the return to the dark days of god-fatherism when Anambra went up in smoke. A bleak period in history when an incumbent governor could not sneeze freely because he must cower before the money bag who spent a fortune to foist him in office. Ufomba wants to see a totally cowed and humiliated Governor Obiano, genuflecting before everyone and begging to breathe while doling out funds from the treasury of Anambra State in shameful gratitude to those “who made him governor.” This is the image of the kind of governor that Regan Ufomba wishes for Anambra State. But Ndi Anambra are wise! They have been in that valley before and are not eager to return there any moment soon. And no amount of poisonous open letters can compel that!
Nevertheless, what makes Chief Ufomba’s letter truly deserving of a response is that many people who may have read it may erroneously assume that he is an impartial observer who is giving a harmless advice. No. Ufomba is neither impartial nor objective. Regan Ufomba actually belongs to a deluded group that is currently in consort with some PDP elements in Anambra State to discredit a high performing government and make a futile attempt at regime change. To that extent, Ufomba’s funny letter is just another hate-message like the ones we often read from Joe Martins Uzodike and the shadowy character, Stanley Chira who receive millions of naira in consultancy fees every day to embarrass Governor Obiano with malicious stories in the media. So, it is a waste of time listening to him because he has a predetermined interest in the conflict and cannot sincerely be bothered about its resolution.
Shorn of all ornaments, Chief Ufomba’s Open Letter is a poorly disguised effort to change the narrative of the disagreement between Governor Obiano and his predecessor into an outright incitement against the governor in furtherance of the dark designs of a disgruntled group. Most people in the know are also aware that Chief Ufomba harbours a seething grief over the loss of APGA gubernatorial ticket to Dr. Alex Otti in Abia State in the last elections. And he blames Obiano for this loss. So, how can such a character be genuinely concerned about restoring peace between Obiano and his brother?
Anyone who truly wishes to know the truth can easily sift through his failed efforts at pretence in his Open Letter to see the tell-tale signs. Ufomba made spurious efforts to pin all the blames for the dispute on Governor Obiano even when the body of evidence in the public domain points to the contrary. It leaves many people wondering whether he was in Nigeria on August 3 this year when Governor Obiano tendered an unreserved public apology to former governor Obi at the funeral mass of Fr. Tagbo in Onitsha. Since he admitted to following the dispute, is Regan Ufomba not aware that former governor Obi’s response to the apology was a mumbled comment saying that as a Christian he was bound to forgive his enemies; a “clever” way of saying really nothing? Is Ufomba not aware that Obiano followed his apology up by appointing a three-man team of former CKC old boys to help reach out to the former governor and his team and workout clear modalities for peace but sadly, the overture was rebuffed?
Also, didn’t Ufomba read that on two different occasions in two different years, Governor Obiano had directed his Media Team not to attack former governor Obi or even respond to the usual vitriol and insensate lies that his media team freely dishes out daily against the incumbent governor? Did he also not read how at the Stakeholders Evening that attracted Anambra’s best and brightest to the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia in August last year, Governor Obiano had asked the audience to stand up and give an ovation to former governor Peter Obi for leaving him a good foundation? Where else in contemporary political history has an incumbent governor done such a thing for anyone who is politically opposed to them? And finally, did Ufomba also not read that while receiving a high powered delegation from Agulu (Obi’s hometown) recently, Obiano had for the umpteenth time applauded former governor Obi for his great achievements before his kinsmen and went on to re-emphasize his gratitude to Obi for his immense contributions to his becoming the governor of Anambra State? Does Ufomba suffer from selective perception? Why does he curiously declare that he hears the sound made by only one side in a conflict? Would there still be a dispute if the other party were silent as the lamb that Ufomba makes Obi’s media team to be?
In conclusion, it is appalling that Ufomba choose to end his diatribe on a rather presumptuous note, opting to play God and disregard the fact that true democratic power lies with the people and not with scheming, egoistic politicians. Any proud onye Anambra would naturally feel insulted that Ufomba who could not muster the support of his own electoral ward in Abia State in the last guber elections would come to Anambra to threaten our governor cheekily that “If this advise is not heeded, and urgently too, you might realise albeit too late, that it is better to have 10% of something than 100% of nothing; and that no one has ever and successfully clapped with one hand.” This rhetoric is not only provocative but downright objectionable. We advise Ufomba’s handlers to remind him that there are minimum standards of etiquette that the governor of a state deserves. And His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano deserves that as the Governor of Anambra State.
James Eze
Senior Special Assistant on Media
