By Chimezie Ogenna Nwodo, Esq,
Ndị Igbo, in their remarkable existential endeavour, seem to have an adage fit for every circumstance and condition.
In the spate of affairs that heralded the build up to the 2023 general election, one of the many Igbo adages that easily strays to mind is that propagated by the great Chinua Achebe: “Those whose nuts were cracked by benevolent spirit should endeavour to be grateful”. One of the embodiments of this anticipated gratitude would be the presence of mind to obviate a situation where one would downplay the effort of those who are bequeathed with less dose of luck (or say, grace) than what he was apportioned.
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Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani’s appearance on the political stage of Enugu State was neither borne out of a prior robust political credential nor a proven track record in public service. It was the sheer luck of destiny which, I must agree, is a luxury many cannot afford, that propelled him to political limelight. Asides being the relative of the revered Honourable Justice Augustine Nnamani, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and later, Justice of the Supreme, little or nothing was known about him before he ventured into politics, except that he honed a medical practice in America. I dare say that his nuts were cracked by benevolent spirits. These benevolent spirits came in the human mould of Senator Jim Nwobodo and Igwe Edward Anike Nnaji (Odezulu III of Nike).
A little history will not hurt – to jog the short memory of a man who forgets so soon, thereby risking the disillusion of seeing himself as some god of sorts.
As much as I know, following the return to democracy, at the twilight of the our most recent junta regime, gripped by the general feeling of ambivalence, many were unsure, if indeed, the military could allow its machinations to be confined within the regiments of the barracks. In that skepticism, many known political actors of the second and third republics who were lucky to still breathe nature’s air, either operated behind the curtains or were completely aloof. One of such persons was His Excellency, the former Governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo.
Being the most prominent politician at the time, naturally, the burden of enthroning a new dispensation in Enugu State was thrust on Senator Jim Nwobodo and very few others. One of such very few others was Igwe Edward Anike Nnaji. I have it on good note that hitherto, Senator Jim Nwobodo was quite altruistic in his duty to fashion a new leadership in Enugu by projecting a certain Mr. Nduka Agu from Ezeagu until he got a nudge from the older Igwe Edward Anike Nnaji who in our Nkanu dialect said to him: “Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo why don’t you think we should retain this thing that has been placed in our palms? Shi a hakwaara anyị iphe a! Leave this thing for us!” – ultimately suggesting that since Senator Jim Nwobodo, an Nkanu man, had the uncommon, providential privilege of deciding who it could be, that it was better he brings it home – to Nkanu. And that, was the very origin of the mantra – Shi a haree ya! (Leave it for him), a rejig of Shi a hakwaara anyị ee (Leave it for us). It was on this note that Senator Jim Nwobodo started looking homewards and then found, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani.
Senator Jim Nwobodo, held Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani by hand, like a father would a son, and took him round Enugu State, meeting any politician, big or small, who mattered at the time, seeking their support for the young, barely known, American returnee. One of such persons was my own father – Hon. Augustine Nnaemeka Nwodo. I was young but I remember; the memory, still green in my mind. Of course, I was not privy to the conversations but I remember that Senator Jim Nwobodo made that trip to see my father twice. At each time, they arrived in Peugeot 504; Senator Nwobodo, dressed in his customary all white regalia and Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani dressed all in denim. Myself, a very curious child, hearing that the charismatic Jim Nwobodo was seated with my father in our sitting room; I wanted to have a close glimpse of the man who once held ndị Enugwu spellbound while they cheered. So, I would occasionally peep through the curtain leading into the sitting then run through the corridor and into the room, giggling. The outcome of the two meetings was a deadlock. My father could not support Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani since he himself was a member of the now defunct All Progressives Party (APP) and was running with APP’s flag to represent Nkanu West at the House of Assembly. The rest, they say, is history.
Personally, as a child, I admired Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. Many of my peers did too. At the time, in our infantile eyes, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani was loved – or so it seemed. Whenever and wherever he passed, the residents of Enugu went agog. And soon, his seemingly infectious charisma had caught nearly everyone that before our eyes, as he metamorphosed into a cult symbol, enjoying an unprecedented followership; so much so that even the campaigns lunched against him by Fr. Ejike Mbaka could not diminish the support he enjoyed. And the tempo is even heightened in our Nkanu homeland that at some point it was considered a cardinal sin to criticize Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani even for obvious misdeeds. Memorable jingles, some of which are still used today, were churned out in praise of him. There are so melodious that we met no difficulty memorizing them. We sang them. Many still sing them.
The recent sordid affair of the distinguished Senator on social media leaves a nauseating taste in the mouth and thus leaves much to be desired. Another Igbo adage comes to mind – a person who enjoys the admiration of the crowd ought not to play with ashes. Thus, one would wonder what happened. How exactly did water find its way into the stalk of the pumpkin? At what point did he decide to reduce himself to the point where he trades unsavory words with people young enough to be his own children or incessantly cast aspersions and pile diatribes on people to whom he should be eternally grateful? When did it become customary for a person in an elevated position descend so low to exchange words in the manner we did in Primary and Secondary School levels only for the purposes of jocular banters. And worse, in public space!
Most recently, in gnawing realization that the grace that once saved him from political extinction may no longer be activated, the spent force of a former Governor has conveniently chosen another subject for his needless ad hominem – the immediate past Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; the man who graciously raised him, like phoenix, from the ashes. How sad! How forgetful and ungrateful can the crushed star, former Governor Nnamani, get? I am of the very humble view that if we must enjoy a near unblemished future, we must, as a matter of urgency, interrogate the past with sincere objectivity and unwavering courage.
When, exactly, did the scale fall off the eyes of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani to make him come to the rather belated realization that Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – a man he allegedly sponsored his appearance unto the floor of the House of Representative, ultimately fostering the path to his becoming Govenor – is “bumbling unsure jelly like mass of protoplasm”? Is the joke not on him for foisting “a wobbling fatso” on the good people of Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency who will eventually represent them for 12 years, knowing he would deliver ‘zilch’? Was Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani blinded to the seeming inadequacies of Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi when he, as recently as January, 2022 glowingly described Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as “consensus leader”, “Mr. Project”, “Man of Peace”, “Ezigbo mmadu” (a good person), “a man of greater grace”, “a man of empathy”, “a man of sympathy”, “a leader”, “a destiny helper”, “a game changer”, “a transformer”, “a man of uncanny wisdom”, etc. I am inclined to wonder, when project-commissioning by the Presidency became the matrix for good governance? Since when did prancing from one media house to another became the yardstick for quality representation? Did the good works of his predecessor, Sullivan Chime, pale for not appearing regularly in the media or by not being commissioned by the Presidency? Assuming that Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is indebted to Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, can it not be argued that saving the latter from the vagaries of political purgatory has defrayed that debt?
In Enugu State, many of the inimical activities of the unknown-gun-men are concentrated in Enugu East Senatorial District, represented, until recently, by Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani at the Senate. What effort did Dr. Nnamani make to curb the security jeopardy? The attacks on other politicians and the eventual gruesome murder of Oyibo Chukwu only elicited a perfunctory statement from a Senator who represented the district where Oyibo Chukwu hailed from and unfortunately died in. Yet, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani found it convenient to pillory Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for not going public with his effort at staving the menace of the unknown-gun-men. Are the younger ones whom Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani would gladly play in the sand with making a point with the issues they are stressing? Absolutely! I grew up in Enugu. We woke to the grimy news of assassinations during the tenure of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. His corruption charges, for which he was let off the hook by the leeway made possible by plea bargaining, are also public knowledge. And, the recent assassination of Oyibo Chukwu brings back the memories of the old days. Much as those atrocious deeds are not conclusively linked to the former Governor, , but it is an undeniable fact that countless life-threatening and life-damaging atrocities were rife while he was the Chief Security Officer of the State – a time Nigerian enjoyed relative peace, unlike the days we live in. That cannot be wished away.
Those who are close to him often recount the tales of his days of doom in political oblivion and how he had instructed that his final remains be interred in the United States of America rather than in the soils of his fathers. As a matter of fact, it was this his instruction that informed the interment of the final remains of his own mother in the United States of America. But then, this was before the saving grace of Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuani drew him into the light of political salvation leading him to place Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi second to God in his life before the teeming supporters who gathered at the Government House in Enugu when Governor Ugwuanyi hosted him after he was brought back from his political exile.
It is said that things or people become gods because people make them to be or appear so. And as they are made, they can be unmade. It is for this reason that the Igbos point a god that has outlived its usefulness to the tree it was made from before proceeding to banish such god. This is exactly the case of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani’s misconceived grouse against Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi stems from his unanimous rejection by his own people who detest his inordinate quest to perpetuate himself in power while delivering abysmally poor leadership which only thrives on engendering damaging division. Imagine that Senator Jim Nwobodo had decided to perpetuate himself and decided to run for the Governor of Enugu State in 1999, possibly citing the fact he was Governor, only for old Anambra State, in which case he would be right, the chances are that whatever political ambition Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani and many others had would be cocooned in limbo. If Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani would be sincere his expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his eventual defeat at the last polls should be credited to him not to any other person and certainly not Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who did not counsel him to openly and recalcitrantly support the Presidential candidate of another political party. Well, it is only natural for a drowning man to clutch at any straw his frantic fingers can reach.
Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, even in the recent past, has been a beneficiary encomium – merited or otherwise. As such, many viewed him, rightly or wrongly, as one of the shining lights that would escort us on our journey to the Nigerian dream. But seeing him now, with his uncouth and unguarded utterances in a public domain, shutting people up, especially the youth, from asking legitimate questions and demanding honest answers, heaping vituperations in place of gratitude, one would be inclined to ask, “Is the light flickering?”
Chimezie Ogenna Nwodo, Esq, a private legal practitioner, writes from Abuja.
