2008 was the first time I had a gun pointed to my head at
close range. And that was in Awka. I had stepped out of Olde English Hotel
where I had checked in after attending the opening of the Nigeria Stock
Exchange in Onitsha. I was walking down the road to buy a recharge card when a
cyclist suddenly pulled up beside me. As I turned to know why, his co-rider
jumped down and pointed a gun to my temple. "Lie down," he barked. I
obeyed. He moved with lightning speed, stripped me of everything I had. Seconds
later, I watched him jump back onto the bike with my new Sonny Ericsson phone
gleaming in his hands.
Two days ago, I was heading down town to Kwata Bridge,
Awka at dusk. The decorative lights on the bridge sparkled with dazzling rays
in the horizon to fend off the gathering darkness. I suddenly spotted my good
friend, Mark Okoye in the distance, strolling leisurely down the road.
Mark is
the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budgeting. His personal assistant,
Nonso Ndumuanya was walking beside him. As I drove closer, Mark's face suddenly
lit up with a smile and Nonso's hands went up and down in animated
gesticulations. They were having the time of their lives, walking. I envied the
two.
Minutes later, I called Mark to ask where they were
going. He told me that he usually walked about one and a half kilometres
downtown to rejuvenate himself after work, taking in the sights and sucking in
the fresh air that the city offers in abundance. His voice brimmed with ecstasy
as he told me about his little habitual walks. As his excited voice washed all
over me on the phone, my mind went back to the robbery incident in 2008.
In my
mind’s eye, I could see the nozzle of the gun pointing to my head and the voice
of the gunman barking “Lie down!” I shook my head ruefully as the moment struck
home. To think that now in Awka, a commissioner can walk around leisurely in
the twilight without looking furtively over his shoulders…that just about
anybody can savour the spectacle of the gleaming roads and the shimmering
lights at sundown and that thousands of open air bars and hangouts have
sprouted across Anambra in the past three years. And that in the growing
atmosphere of freedom that Governor Willie Obiano has ushered into the state,
the night no longer hides with a knife! (Apologies to Nduka Otiono)
In almost three and a half years, I have yet to hear
sporadic gunshots in the late night. I have yet to see pedestrians burst into
sudden flights on busy roads. And I have yet to hear of bank robberies. There
has not been one successful kidnap operation either. That is not to say that
there is absolutely no crime in Anambra State. That would be an exaggeration.
There is no human society that is devoid of crime. However, what Governor
Obiano has achieved is a situation where crime is now seen as a rare occurrence…an
outright aberration. Not as the norm. As was once the case!
And because Obiano has been quite successful in this
regard, the Nigerian Navy was widely reported a few days ago to have visited
Anambra to assess the clock-work security arrangement in place and take a few
lessons away.
Because Obiano has done his work well, the American
Ambassador, W. Stuart Symington could pay a state visit to Anambra and
leisurely drive around Awka at dusk. Because Anambra is now a safe place, major
economic powers across the world have started looking at Awka as the next axis
of hope. Britain, China, the US and Germany have all sent their envoys to Awka
in the past six months. These people come to confirm what they have read and
their comments during the visits carry a great deal of hope.
The United Nations
Country Representative, Edward Kallon has even gone a step further to describe
Governor Obiano as visionary. And he is right. It takes nothing short of a
strategic vision to move a state like Anambra 360 degrees from social deficit
to social surplus.
In my reckoning though, no one else perhaps has been able
to fully understand or brilliantly capture the almost phenomenal change in the
security situation in Anambra State as Labaran Maku, the former Information
Minister. Speaking of Obiano’s security success story at the Zik Prize
ceremonies in Lagos last year, Maku observed that anyone who does not
understand Anambra’s past security nightmare would never appreciate the
atmosphere of freedom in the state today.
He further remarked that if one were
able to remember that Anambra had widely been written off as a place where no
meaningful activity could take place because of its crime problems, then one
would fully appreciate the tremendous change that has occurred. According to
him, Obiano had once again proven that the security of any state is in the
hands of the governor. Finally, Maku advised all the governors of the Northern
states to visit Anambra for tutorials on how to tackle insecurity. The recent
visit of the Nigerian Navy shows that Maku’s advice may not have gone unheeded
after all.
So, as the clock ticks away and the aspirants file out
for the November 18 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the electorate
know that they don’t have a difficult choice to make. Some of the aspirants
that have been prancing around the length and breadth of the state were
severally fingered as the shadowy figures behind the dark clouds that once
overshadowed everyone’s peace mind in the state. And when you ask the people to
choose between light and darkness, they will naturally choose light. Not only
because Anambra prides itself as the Light of the nation but because under
Willie Obiano, Anambra has become the beacon on a hilltop, announcing the
restoration of the glory of South East Nigeria.
Tags
Society