Anambra Central 2023: Another opportunity for us to rethink our strategy

 

By Reginald Ejike I Monday, April 25, 2022

 

ONITSHA, Anambra – On May 28, 2022, in line with the APGA Electoral  Time Table for the 2023 Primary Elections, the APGA Ward Delegates across the Anambra State will decide those who would fly the party’s Tickets to run for the three Senatorial  Positions in the National Assembly.

In the build-up to this, the Anambra Central Senatorial zone, as usual, has become the catalyst that will prove the seriousness of political parties. The belief is predicated on the premise that, once a party gets the Senatorial zone, then, Anambra is taken. That’s how important it is.

As a people, we have seen that the mistakes of 2019 did colossal damage to us. The mistake is manifested in the inability of our Lawmakers to stand up and speak for the people when it mattered the most.

As we square up for the party Primary, our Party Delegates must watch out for the best credentials in all the elective positions and such credentials should be anchored on courage, selflessness, fearlessness, experience, legislative acuity and above all, the VOICE!

By “VOICE”, I mean the character, personality, identity and the disposition of the very individual in question.

This is because the Nigerian political Environment pays so much attention to the tune of the “Voice”.

I have argued that in as much as one has the inalienable right to “TALK”, the people also have the inalienable right to choose what they would listen to and that is why we must never repeat the mistakes of 2019 and I believe that such correction must start with our great party APGA.

In addition to the aforementioned, are our sacrifices for the growth and development of APGA. A family that rewards loyalty, is peaceful. APGA as a political Family must use the 2023 General Elections to reward steadfastness so as to entrench peace and reduce acrimony and therefore I urge that part of the parameters that inform the Delegates’ Decisions should be one’s sacrifices and contributions to the party.

I am not leaving us without an option. The option we have now is to send Distinguished Sen. Victor Umeh, OFR, to the Senate.  If we succeed in doing this as a people, then, we have positioned not just Anambra Central on the right pedestal, but the entire Igbo race.

Now that we have gotten an Igbo leader in the person of Prof. Charles Soludo as the Governor of Anambra State, it is time to give him fearless, courageous, intelligent and purposeful Lawmakers to balance up the strategic political equation for ndi Igbo.

If we get this correctly, then, I can tell you for free that, “NEVER AGAIN” shall any tribe in Nigeria cry of marginalisation.  It may appear impossible but, I have seen these individuals do impossible things in Leadership.  Antecedents count and we must never joke with it!

Umeh over the years has demonstrated unmatchable dexterity in addressing the burning issues of inequity, injustice, partisanship and partiality that have manifested in the way we do things in Nigeria.

Clear evidence was his sterling performance at the 2014 National Conference organized by then Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, his 17 months unmatched performance at the Senate with Record-breaking Bills and Motions that raised the hope of the common man in Nigeria.

His Award winning Motion on the Illegal Confinement of Underaged Children in the same Prisons with Adult Inmates was voted the Best Motion in the entire National Assembly in 2018.

The impact of one of his Contributions, is the balanced EFCC Board that we now have. He fought it to a standstill and years after, the Federal Government constituted an even Board  that satisfied the Federal Character Principle.

In just 17 Months in the Senate, Umeh attracted Constituency Projects worth N1.34b scattered all over Anambra Central Senatorial District.

In addition, in 2018, he awarded University/Tertiary Scholarships to 76 brilliant but less privileged Students from Anambra Central, ten per Local Government Area whom he continued to sponsor despite his not returning to the Senate in 2019. Today, 25 of the students have graduated in flying colours!

These are in addition to the hundreds of youths in various Institutions of Higher Learning and Secondary Schools with his Scholarships through his Victor Umeh Education Foundation ( VUMEF )

This time around, we must never make the mistake of electing people whose only “mission” is just to fulfil a political “ambition” in this election.