It took a lot of courage to embark on the journey to Enugu. Truth is: one didn’t know what to expect. Will this man want to see journalists who, a few days earlier, splashed banner headlines, based on a report to the Senate, by Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), proclaiming him, almost, guilty for offences which have neither been charged before any court in the land, nor pronounced guilty by anybody.

Nobody would have blamed him if he had turned down any interview requests. After all, his government by simply flaunting in the media what it had achieved in the past seven years, since the EFCC presentation on the state, part of its investigations in states, has taken its case before the public court.

Without asking any questions, the flaunting of the government’s monumental achievements, with a meager allocation from the Federal purse, and a near dismal internally generated revenue base, the people of the state seem to be asking: “If our governor looted all that money, and is worth what the EFCC claims he is worth, how did he manage to make us this proud by providing world class infrastructure in the state?”

Apprehensive as the journalists were, they were consoled, a little, by the fact that the governor is exposed, is American-trained, cerebral and would not antagonize the press. They reasoned right. For, indeed, they were in for a shock.

As they asked the driver who brought them to head for the governor’s office, the presence of some security people outside the office of the press unit, which incidentally accommodates the office of the Commissioner for Information, Ogazimorah Igbonekwu, caught their attention. Indeed, the commissioner’s office is the one he had been occupying as first, the Chief Press Secretary, then the media adviser, and later, Commissioner for Information. The gradual rise and transformation of one of them, thanks to the magnanimity of the governor, still endears him to a number of journalists.

So, we asked our driver to stop, make a U-turn and head for that building. We were right. The governor was there.

When we were ushered before him about 30 minutes later, we were all but amused. There, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, governor, Enugu State, sat, ordinarily, not like a governor, but like a staff. He did not even sit on the commissioner’s chair. He sat, with his media team, no security man around, throwing banters. Wearing a sky-blue brocade, made into a long kaftan, with a black leather slippers, his hair was as usual clean shaven. He had added a little weight than when we saw him last. Seizing the very relaxed situation, we teased him, “You have added some weight. What is the secret?”

He let out an infectious laugh and asked: “Should I be talking to you? You look good yourself, but yes, I have added some weight but I’m working on it. It is just that I have been holding meetings most evenings, so I eat late, and I have not had much time for squash.”

Yet the governor looked real good. If one didn’t know the battle he is fighting, a battle he had been fighting, and winning, since 1999, you would have thought that he was having the best of time. He relocated, for a couple of hours, to his commissioner’s office in order to have some privacy, to avoid too many visitors, to plan ahead.

Surprisingly, he is taking the battle and all the fuss in his stride. He does not have a foul language to use on Ribadu or the EFCC or even Senator Fidelis Okoro whose motion in the senate sparked off the “uproar.”

“We cannot take all the accolades and not take criticisms. Let’s be fair. Criticisms, make you more mature. You learn.”

When he started fielding questions with us, we didn’t want to ask him any questions on the EFCC report. We thought there would be some ‘no-go areas’. But he wouldn’t
have it. “I am sure that’s why you came. You’ll be disappointed if I don’t answer all your questions. If you don’t asked questions on the EFCC, your long journey down here would not have been worth it.” So, we asked: How did you feel the day Ribadu presented his report to the senate? He does not pause even for a second. “Nothing. I was relaxed. I was probably expecting it. I have been a victim of the most vicious attack since I took office in 1999. I have fought battles. I take risks. I am, indeed, a risk taker. I am trained to take risks. My field of specialization in medicine is high risk pregnancy. I get by. But like my mama would say: This too shall pass.”

He waits, willing you to ask some more, but his answer disarms you. You probably thought he would pour invectives on everybody. But he disappoints. And is genuinely not bitter. So, you take another angle. Does he feel hurt, even angry, that seven years after, he is presented as a treasury looter? He bursts into an infectious laughter that had him almost doubling over. “No, no. Why should I? The EFCC has not found me guilty of anything. They say it was an indictment. But was it really? What did they say? I inflated contracts? They agreed they saw projects which were at least 70 per cent completed. They were magnanimous enough to say that they were here for only three days and inspected the projects with their own valuers. A flying visit. So, how does one arrive at such a conclusion? They say I own these investments but I say no. They mention the names of relations, and I say, they are citizens of this country, this state, and are free to invest. I am happy they invested here, not elsewhere. They were free to invest anywhere else. They say it is government’s money, and I counter, not true, not a kobo of government money. They talk about a car outlet. I agree. We are all human beings. The government bought cars from them but it went through a tender. The question is: was it a crime? My answer is no. Does it constitute an ethical dilemma? The answer is yes. Will I do it again? The answer is no? Will I advise anybody to do it? The answer is no?”

Asked how he could have looted billions of naira, as alleged by the EFCC, he says his performances are there to answer that question. He points at the many solid infrastructures he has provided in the state and says they are his answer and legacy which can neither be wished away nor wiped away.

He points out that the assessment of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the PDP National Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Alli, European Union Ambassadors, the Benchmark of Performance of States Against International Best Practices on the State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (SEEDS), and other Nigerians which rated Enugu high and enthuses: “They cannot all be wrong. Indeed, the Benchmark of Performance rated Enugu number one! The assessment was by the National Planning Commission, and supported by the World Bank, European Commission Delegation to Nigeria, British Department for International development, DFID, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International development (USAID).

His achievements in the area of infrastructural development, pitted against the EFCC report almost puts a lie to the report. So, you point it out. But Nnamani waxes philosophical about his travails. He says he is an Enugu Boy. Tough, happy to have made his contributions to the development of Enugu, would live in Enugu and remain in Enugu. He alludes to the Biblical Mount Zion. It is stable, rugged and does not move.

You ask why he is not contesting for the presidency in spite of what everybody thought. He answers with a story. “This day, I was watching the Vatsa coup, and I saw a lot of people watching. I was carried away. I find out I like watching events.”

Listening to him, you are carried away by his presentation, his polish, his carriage. He is at home with any subject. He could use 10 words to describe one object. The words just “pour” out, effortlessly. In admiration, you commend him and tell him he is brilliant. He knows. And is not modest about it. An infectious smile. A burst of laughter. He tells you: “Yes, I know. I am gifted. I could go on and on. If you know the number of words fighting to come out at the same time, you’ll be amazed.” True.

When he was asked to assess President Obasanjo, he did that in several words, several ways, delving into history. We were almost clapping. So, you try to deflate him by telling him that those who know his family confirm his elder sister, Chinero, is more brilliant and more gifted than him. He quickly agrees and adds, “She carries her brilliance and endowments well. She is calm and collected. I am not.”

Then he looks at his staff and bursts into another round of infectious laughter. “They know. Ask them. They know I am too hot, that I am erratic, they have had a taste of me. But I am learning. Ask them, I am learning.”

Then, he looks around, laughs heartily, and calls out to one of his staff. “Dan, isn’t it true? How many times have I sacked you? Several times. I will say Dan, I don’t want to see you again, don’t come near Government House again. Don’t let me see you. When he leaves, I will pick the phone and call Ogazimora and say, please, call Dan before he commits suicide oh!. Ask him to please come to work tomorrow. These are brilliant guys I like working with.”

You wonder at this man. A combination of so many things. Quick to defend himself, quick to admit his fault, at home with the sciences as he is with the arts, brilliant, gifted cerebral and with a huge bag of humour.

Here then is the Enugu boy, Chimaroke Nnamani, in his words and well, at his best.

The Source, Vol. 20. No. 2 October 16, 2006.