Although the author of the letter claimed to be writing from Sabon Gari, in Kano, from his name I suspect he is an indigene of Enugu State. If my suspicion is correct, it therefore follows that the letter and the position canvassed therein were just the stereotype, typical of the thesis of a few elite in the state, who, no doubt, suffering from sour grape over their irrelevance in power equation in the state, have chosen not to see anything good about the Nnamani government. Tragically, the gullible ones among the ordinary indigenes of the state, who are ignorant of the ulterior motive of the opposition, do not believe this, without any reason other than what they hear.

The mail of that ardent reader of my column reminded me of an encounter I had with a friend of mine, an indigene of Enugu State, sometime last year. This friend lives in Lagos and though, politically conscious, he does not belong to any political party. When he heard that I was in Enugu when 13 ambassadors of the European Union visited the state to see what the government had done, he told me that the Nnamani government was not doing anything. He said that the governor was deceiving people, like me and the 13 envoys. I had told him that the European ambassadors saw ambitious projects going on in the state and he said that those were not government projects but those of the governor. I told him that work had reached advanced stage at the permanent site of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) and he told me that the structures were not those of the state’s university but those of the governor’s private school.

Since I enjoyed the joke, I told him that work was going on at the massive International Conference Centre, which has three auditoriums and a hotel, located in a large expanse of land. He told me that the hotel section of the International Conference Centre, facing Rangers Avenue, in Enugu, was the hostel of the governor’s private school, which, he claimed was the ESUT permanent site. I asked him how he thought that somebody would site a school’s hostel in Enugu, the state capital and build the school in a village far from the capital. He said I did not know how smart people could be. I told him that the ESUT Teaching Hospital was almost ready and he said that the project was the personal hospital of the governor, reminding me that the governor was a medical doctor. I told him that work was going on in estates being built by the Enugu State government, like Golf Estate, Loma Linda Housing Unit etc. He said those were the governor’s private estates. I asked him about the tunnel crossing project as well as other road projects going on in the state. He said that the projects would be abandoned. I asked him when last he travelled to the state and he said he needn’t go home to know what was going on.

If I did not see these projects, being executed by Governor Nnamani then, if I never met the governor and asked questions about the projects, I could have believed my friend. My friend’s story was presented convincingly. It was a story told by all members of the opposition, especially those from a section of Enugu State, to convince the gullible that the government in the state has no legacy, notwithstanding that there are things on the ground to show that the last seven years were not just for jamboree.

Since last week, when President Olusegun Obasanjo went to Enugu to commission the same projects my friend and members of the opposition in Enugu had called private property of the governor, I have been looking forward to seeing my friend and hearing his explanation and perhaps, another of his story. Whatever he would say, however, the fact remains that scores of completed projects were commissioned in Enugu by President Obasanjo on Thursday, June 22, 2006. These included the ESUT permanent site, with 164 buildings; tunnel crossing, with dual-carriage road; ESUT Teaching Hospital; Double-lane Chime Avenue; Double-lane Rangers Avenue; New Haven-Nza Street link road and bridge; state judiciary headquarters complex, housing the office of the state’s chief judge and 18 ultra-modern courtrooms. Work has also reached an advanced stage on the double-lane Ozalla-Obe/ESUT/Umueze/Agbani Law School road; International Conference Centre; 324 flats Loma Linda Housing Unit, among others, which the governor said would be ready by December 2006. In commissioning these projects, Obasanjo said he was satisfied with the performance of the governor, adding: "It is easy for human beings to say that nothing is being done, but at least ‘na koro koro eye I take see." He did not stop there. He added the clincher: "It does not matter what you say, Enugu is working."

Could anybody say that President Obasanjo was paid to make that comment? Those who know Obasanjo well will testify that he speaks his mind without minding whose ox is gored. If he was not satisfied with what he saw, he certainly would not have said that Enugu was working. He said what he had conviction of. It was an affirmation of what 13 European ambassadors said in September 2005, to underscore their impression about what they saw in Enugu.

I have wondered why members of the Enugu opposition are making a fool of themselves, claiming that physical things, which a government is doing, are make-believe. How can a man or woman, in his right senses, write to the president of his country, telling him that buildings, roads, bridges and other things, which have been constructed by a government and which he had been invited to commission were computer photographs? I sometime think that the opposition in the country is daft because of the way its members operate. Members of the opposition, in a bid to discredit those in government, always employ propaganda as well as exaggerate and embellish things to whip up sentiment. They try to make the state ungovernable for those in government.

In the whole South East, the so-called opposition, made up of "Abuja politicians" has figuratively held the states in the zone hostage with their propaganda. In Abia State, they fought Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. In Ebonyi State, they battled Dr. Sam Egwu. In Imo, Governor Achike Udenwa had a taste of their hell and is still facing the fire. In Anambra, they did not give former Governor Chris Ngige a breathing space until the Court of Appeal sealed his fate three months ago. In Enugu, they have employed everything to discred the governor. However, in all these instances, members of the opposition made noises for personal interests rather than that of the people. They want to be relevant. They want to call the shots. They want to be godfathers, whose words are law. They make people believe that they are fighting for them, while they are more interested in themselves. They are buccaneers, whose only interest is what they would get from the system and not what they would put into it.

I think people, especially non-politicians, should first find out the motive of members of the opposition before buying whatever stunt they want to sell. For one, I wonder how many of those who support the so-called selfish and opportunistic opposition, without knowing the reason for their actions, would want their governors to be sitting ducks or puppets answerable to a few people instead of being accountable to the generality of the state’s indigenes? I wonder, for example, how many of those supporting the Enugu opposition would want their governor incapacitated and kicked out from office by a few politicians, who want to play god, like former Oyo State governor, Rashidi Ladoja was? I wonder how many of them would want their governor to take instructions from a few people before making a decision.

I think that a nation should rather have strong characters, who would hold on for herself, as leaders than those who are not only lily-livered but also have power without knowing what to do with it. I think that a nation should rather have leaders, who have an idea of what they want and not those who rely on what others tell them. I think that a nation should rather have leaders, who are firm and stand by what they believe instead of one who oscillates and of unstable character. Many people cried about what godfathers did in Anambra when Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was governor and when Dr. Ngige was in the saddle, but they want the Nnamanis of this world to be subservient to a few selfish elite because they have been sold dummies.

From the Enugu example, it is obvious that the opposition can be mean and mischievous. They are more interested in character assassination and destruction than building. Many of the members of the opposition, in some states, hold federal appointments, but have not used their positions for the benefit of their people. Many of them have not attracted anything good to their states as mark of their commitment to better the people’s lives. Those who take what some members of the opposition say, hook, line and sinker, should use their tongues to count their teeth. They should obey the 13th commandment in politics: Don’t follow the opposition sheepishly when you do not know its motive.

From Daily Sun, Friday, June 30, 2006