BEYOND THE KNOWNThe Ekweremmadu Phenomenon

BEYOND THE KNOWN

The Ekweremmadu Phenomenon.

As the road to government houses gathers momentum, the clouds becoming thicker and the drumbeat getting louder, the Nigerian political climate has become once more heated as various calibre of men and women dance to the tune of the music of the electoral process. All kinds of people, the good, the bad and the ugly rearing their heads with their strategies to grab the mantle of leadership in various political office cadre. 

The time has come again when every politician becomes Godly, donates to churches and mosques, reach out to the poor and the less privileged and pretends to be down to earth. Therefore, the electorates should be on their guard to stand their ground and discern correctly who is real beyond blind ambition and primitive sentiments of party politics for the late reggae legend Bob Marley said that ‘you can fool some people sometimes but you cannot fool all the people all the time’. At this challenging moment in the history of Nigeria, the primacy of leadership qualities, stellar antecedents, commitment and competence should take pre-eminence in the leadership recruitment process.

We need a civilized, nurtured and cultured public servant; a politician with a difference, that has demonstrated sterling qualities and proficiency based on his conviction and passion for good governance. A man who does not fit into the categories and species identified in “Tout Theory of Politics” as espoused by Nigerian modern political thinker, Prof Jonah Onuoha but rather belong to the class added by Nnamchi (2022) in his critique of the theory. In his recent theory, Onuoha (2020), opined that every Nigerian politician is a “TOUT” with a common characteristic of Fearlessness, Ruthlessness and Shamelessness. He further categorized those Touts thus:

 Tout-Tout : the most crude, rude, and desperate groups of people who are ready to fight for the good reason, bad reason and no reason at all.  To expressly qualify into this cadre, one must be notorious for his or her exploits in banditry, savagery and extreme wickedness. These people are mostly the dregs of the society.

Corporate Tout: these are mostly exposed and educated men and women in the society with their unique and seemingly gentle outlook but manifests all the attributes of ‘Tout-Tout’ (Shameless, Ruthless and Fearless). They are the ones who recruits the Tout- touts as their foot soldiers.

Chief Tout: this category are the most important species for they are the moneybags, or rather financial giants with access to political and economic power. THE CHIEF TOUT OFTEN HIJACKS THE POLITICAL MACHINERY IN A STATE WITH A VIEW TO PLANTING A PUPPET OR STOOGE WHO WOULD DO THEIR BIDDING.

Arguably, these categories of species of individuals or groups to a large extent captures the class of people in the Nigerian political space. However, in my critique of this theory, I submitted that there is a class of politicians who were not included in the categories outlined by Onuoha (2020) ostensibly due to the fact that they are few in number. This class has the attribute of courage, selflessness and meekness.  In public office these people are always outstanding though most people misunderstand them for not joining the bandwagon instead they stand on what they believe in (Nnamchi 2022). CONSEQUENTLY, ELECTORATES SHOULD ADVERTENTLY WATCH OUT FOR THESE CATEGORIES OF PEOPLE WHILE MAKING THEIR CHOICES IN A BID TO GET IT RIGHT.

Obviously, Nigerian democratic practice has come of age, times are changing with the realities of globalization especially its purported perils on developing economies like Nigeria. Today, the country is grappling with a lot of challenges of hunger, unemployment, youth restiveness, erosion of our cultural heritage and social identity and other enormous human security problems that have been allegedly attributed to the leadership question in Nigeria. With these problems therefore, it becomes imperative for a wholistic approach to be imbibed in choice of leaders in various cadre of leadership positions in Nigeria with a view to arrest the drastic dwindle of the state into a pariah nation due to impunity. 

Given this critical moment at hand, especially in Enugu State which has lost her glory as the capital of the Eastern region, we need a man who knows the job and the man who beats the qualities amongst all the aspirants so far given his track records without bias is no other than Ike Ekweremmadu. The man who has seen it all, a bundle of experience and exposure. Infact, Enugu state is lucky at this critical moment to have Ike unlike what happened in the Bible, when God through His prophet sought for a man to stand in the gap to make up the hedge to avert the destruction of the land but none was found (Ezk 22:30).

Undoubtedly, Prof. Senator Ike Ekweremmadu is one of the few currently in the governorship race in Enugu State that has refused to join the bandwagon approach to politics which has validated my critique of the ‘Tout Theory of Politics’. Amongst those few, his qualities are unrivalled.  He is a man his political sagacity and inclusiveness has given him identity of ‘enye ndi ebea, enye ndi ebea’ which literally explains David Easton’s definition of politics as ‘Authoritative allocation of values’. Ike is indeed one of those who has been in the Nigerian political system with an undaunted track record as a cultivated citizen, man of character and competence. 

 It is instructive for keen observers and participants to note that Ike Ekweremmadu’s involvement has raised the bar, changed the notion of seamless anointing, opened the political space for equal expression. Ike’s involvement has not only given political value and relevance to the party faithfuls and electorates but has also given credence to adherence to the rules amongst other factors.

Given these scenarios, I admonish Enugu State residents and all other political actors and stake holders especially those who crave for good governance to utilize this divine opportunity that God has presented oncemore. It is a choice of destiny, a choice to end godfatherism; anointing of an unprepared stooge to merchandise the public good, it is a choice to save our future generation. As at today, Prof. Senator Ike Ekweremmadu is the only person that has rolled out his blueprint for the state in a document he titled; “Pathway to a new Enugu State” and presented to the media as well as the general public. This demonstrates his commitment and preparedness. Interestingly, every other gubernatorial aspirant especially on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) numbering about nineteen has not deemed it fit to tell the people of Enugu State what informed their aspiration.

My people, the choice before Enugu State dwellers is beyond chauvinism, it is a choice to correct an anomaly identified in the holy book of Ecclesiastes 10:5-6 which identified “an evil under the sun caused by the ruler, where mediocres are set in high places while the competent ones are relegated. An injustice that has set slaves on horses and princes walking the streets like slaves”. The task before us is to choose wisely to correct this injustice and put the entire Enugu State on the path of recovery as the capital of Eastern region. Good governance like water has no enemy for it flows to the good as well as the bad people of the society.

At this critical moment, I passionately implore the intelligentsia to rise and get actively involved. Let’s think outside the box, think competence and capacity, the opportunity to get it right has called again. The onus lies on all and sundry to get involved and say no to imposition no matter whose ox is gored.  Summarily, still drawing inference from the encyclopedia of all; the Bible; where God gave His people condition for restoration through Moses, He said and I quote;…. “I am now giving you the choice between life and death, God’s blessing and curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make, therefore,he further advised that you choose life so that both you and thy children may live”. (Deutronomy 30:19). For me and my people, we have chosen the man of the moment, the Joseph of our time Prof Senator Ike Ekweremmadu.  Dike Ana Agbara Izu; Egwu na atu Igbo ne Egu. The pioneer of Enugu State of our dream!

Nnamchi, Cyril Obinna Ph.D

cyrilobinna247@gmail.com

Writes from Enugu, Nigeria