Those who say that the leadership in Nigeria is bereft of intellectualism would certainly have another notion at present going by the caliber of people in this current political dispensation. No doubt, for the first time in the political history of the country, there are many people in government, who are intellectually inclined. For sure, at the local government, state and federal levels, there are many people, who have, since 1999, displayed high intellect in public discourses. Such people served and are still serving as governors, ministers, commissioners and advisers.

However, one person in government, who has been consistent in what could pass for the promotion of intellectualism and alternative viewpoint, is Enugu State governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, who could easily pass for "Governor Lecturer." Despite his tight schedule as governor, this medical doctor-turned politician has delivered more than 34 incisive and thought-provoking lectures across the country since assuming office in 1999. Interestingly, these lectures are not only deep in information but also analytical. Indeed, students of Political Science and some of us, who are interested in the political evolution of nations, find Nnamani’s lectures to be scholarship treasures.

To be sure, since January 2001, one has always looked forward to a lecture by Governor Nnamani. These lectures have enriched one’s library, without one spending a kobo. You can therefore, imagine one’s disappointment when the governor suddenly stepped off the lecture circuit some between 2003 and 2005. This had led to many conjectures and conclusions. Some people had said that the governor was ordered by President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop the lectures as the intellectual project, which took Nnamani round the country, allegedly made him more popular than the number one citizen of the country. Others believed that Nnamani wanted to devote more time to his task of attending to the needs of the people who elected him into office and to deliver "dividends of democracy" as he called it.

It appears that the second position, that is concentrating effort in some ambitious projects he had started, may have caused Nnamani to put public lectures in the cooler. This is so because within the period of lull, as it were, some of these projects were completed. These projects included the permanent site of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), state’s judicial headquarters complex, Ebeano Tunnel crossing; ESUT Teaching Hospital; Golf Estate; Loma Linda Housing Units; International Conference Centre; road projects, Augustine Nnamani Law School auditorium, among many others.

Recently, Nnamani invited President Obasanjo to commission the majority of these projects. In one fell swoop, the president commissioned the permanent site of ESUT, Ebeano Tunnel crossing, ESUT Teaching Hospital, Augustine Nnamani Law School auditorium, judicial headquarters complex, dual-carriage ways as well as single-lane link roads in Enugu, the state capital, among other projects. The president also inspected the extent of work at the site of International Conference Centre, Loma Linda Housing Units and other projects, which are scheduled to be completed by December of thereabout.

With these projects completed, in fulfillment of his part of the Social Contract, it appears that Nnamani wants to also satisfy the intellectual community before leaving the Enugu State Government House in May 2007. On the last day of August, being Thursday, August 31, Governor Nnamani stepped back on the lecture circuit in grand style. He was a guest lecturer at the median Westerner Newspapers Limited annual lecture series, in Ibadan. Speaking on "Regionalism… and Challenges of National Integration," Nnamani argued, more or less, that for federalism to cause progress the central government should be superior to regional one. Said he: "I hold the view that indeed, for the Nigerian federalism to achieve the result expected of it, the efforts at the centre will have to stand far superior to those at the regions since we know that the regions, in themselves, are equally conglomerates where distinctive, of course, narrower interests, equally compete," adding: "Just as it obtains elsewhere, federalism reigns and reins on the rest which may be regions or states where minorities, where cultures and where quasi-cultures and clans/sub-clans will continue to rise, especially on the feelings of overtaken, though rigorous and outspoken, elite."

Nnamani however, praised the founding fathers of the country for the efforts they made in developing regions. "This was where Azikiwe stood as a celebrated pioneer. Ahmadu Bello, Obefemi Awolowo, Amuni Kano and others also made their initial forays, with individual successes for their different regions," adding, however: "But this is where the person and stature of a national personage, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, first as a military ruler and later as a committed democrat, stand in this analysis."

Inasmuch as one may differ with Nnamani in some instances, in his views in his lectures, one cannot but respect his knack for taking positions on issues, without minding whose ox is gored. It would be noted that it takes confidence for somebody to jump into the arena, as lawyers would say, knowing that criticisms could come.

With Nnamani’s come back in Ibadan, last week, one would say, "welcome back, His Excellency, to the intellectual tuff. Like the Chinese say, let a thousand flowers bloom and a thousand ideas flourish. At a time like this, when the political arena seems to be at a standstill, as the citizenry await the emergence of the presidential candidates of political parties, for next year’s general elections, intellectual exercises, as embarked by the Nnamanis of this world, would keep the arena busy. However, the governor should be ready for the attacks that may follow because in a country where politics is not issue-based, those who do not like the gut or progress of others would attack personality.

One thing is sure, however. With the like of Nnamani walking gingerly in the world of the academics, delivering lectures and taking stands on issues, nobody would say, after this political dispensation, that modern day politicians are intellectually bankrupt. Nnamani, with his lectures, has raised the mark. Cynics would say that lectures would not put food on the table. Of course, it will. Ideas propounded in lectures can change many things. With the development of the human mind, actions that would change the living conditions and standard of the people are taken. This is why lectures, by Nnamani or anybody, can never be a waste.