By Francis Ede
It was Socrates who once said that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” as reported by Plato in his Apology. And our own immutable Chinua Achebe in his Anthills of the Savannah, published in 1988, did contend that “has any of the herd of 2,000 pigs that Jesus reportedly exorcised the demons from, spared a single moment to argue among themselves, perhaps some of them would have lived instead of drowning in the Sea of Galilee.”
But suffice it to say here that 2023 was not the first time the opposition girded their loins against the incumbent government in Enugu State, but by far the most impact was made in 2023 in terms of winning elections.
However, 2003 was by far the most dangerous, and it took a heavy toll on participants, particularly on the opposition side, and Hon. Chijioke Edeoga was at the forefront of that struggle.
As it were, by early 2000 or thereabouts, as many as 16 of the 24 members of the Enugu State House of Assembly had signed impeachment papers against the incumbent Governor of Enugu State then, His Excellency Chimaroke Nnamani, and all the members of the National Assembly from the state—House of Reps and Senate inclusive—were in support of that daring move, except Sen. Fidelis Okoro, representing Enugu North Senatorial Zone at the time.
Almost the entire hierarchy of the Catholic Church and its teeming members were in support, with the fiery Fr. Ejike Mbaka—whose Adoration Ground at GTC was later attacked—leading that crusade of sorts to remove then-Governor Chimaroke Nnamani while his tenure was still in its infancy.
I remember very clearly, Sir, that you were coordinating the efforts of members of the National Assembly from Enugu State at that time to give vent to that mass action to unseat Chimaroke Nnamani for his high-handedness and other sundry allegations against him.
And for the first time in a long while, all the Nwodos and Jim Nwobodo were in one accord in that noble but dangerous enterprise that ultimately failed woefully.
Then came the election of delegates at the PDP State Congress. While the government party structure was organizing their own separate Congress at Hotel Presidential, Enugu, under Governor Chimaroke Nnamani’s supervision, we, the opposition, had our venue at Filbon Hotel at Upper Chime Avenue, New Heaven, Enugu.
On your way to our venue, you were not only abducted but put into the boot of a 504 Salon Car—as huge as your frame is—and taken to an unknown destination.
I was the one who made a formal complaint at New Heaven Police Station. And in fairness to Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, when he heard it—or pretended to have heard it—he ordered that you be released.
He also came to your residence at Onoh Quarters, GRA, that night to apologize to you. Even the Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, made a press release from London, where he traveled on official duties, and BBC carried it as breaking news.
Your friend, the late Chijiama Ogbu, was their reporter in Nigeria at that time.
At the turn of the 2003 election proper, and aligning himself with then-President Obasanjo on all state and party matters, all the 16 members of the Enugu State House of Assembly were sacked; all the members of the National Assembly, House of Reps and Senate inclusive, were sacked—except Sen. Fidelis Okoro of Enugu North Senatorial Zone, who refused to lift a finger against Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani from the onset.
That was how the likes of Barr. Ike Ekweremadu went to the Senate, and even Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as he then was, got himself a ticket to the House of Reps and remained there for three terms.
A long time before that was the Local Government Election in Enugu State that preceded the 1999 general election, which ended in a stalemate in Isi-Uzo LGA between Hon. Chijioke Edeoga of Alliance For Democrats (AD) and Hon. Osita Ogene of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the result was declared inconclusive by INEC, the electoral authority that conducted Local Government Elections nationwide at the time.
Notably, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga was pronounced by the returning officer, a certain Mr. Ogbonna from Obollo-Eke, to have won that first ballot by gaining the highest number of votes cast, but he did not make the required spread in the 11 Wards of Isi-Uzo LGA.
Significantly too, he entered AD within two weeks of the said election; his name had been removed from the INEC list of PDP candidates by former Governor Jim Nwobodo, using his closeness to Chief Solomon Lar, the then National Chairman of PDP.
It was on the morning of the scheduled rerun election, when all the forces had been assembled for action and counteraction, that Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, who led the PDP election task force to Isi-Uzo, persuaded Hon. Chijioke Edeoga to withdraw from the election, come back to PDP, and take the House of Representatives ticket. And the rest is now history, as the saying goes.
So, when some people come here purporting to teach us the terms and conditions of playing opposition politics in Enugu State and Nigeria as a whole, I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. But sometimes, I laughed so hard that I shed tears.
Those who are aghast that Hon. Chijioke Edeoga left the Labour Party for PDP, and have continuously mouthed the mantra of “betrayal” and “Obi wave” as being responsible for the mercurial success of Labour Party in the 2023 election in Enugu State, should willingly and gracefully take up the mantle of leadership amongst themselves.
Let one person in their fold—even from their rank in the Senate—take up the challenge, or more appropriately, the task of riding the next Obi wave to win the 2027 Governorship Election in the State against His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah, since Peter Obi, the magician they know and applaud, is still in the race for the 2027 Presidential Election in Nigeria.
Why begrudge and demonize Hon. Chijioke Edeoga for exercising his fundamental right of freedom of association?
And why crucify him for taking a political decision that is entirely his to take?
Is there no anointed head left among the remnants of the Labour Party, Enugu State, or more appropriately, the Obidient Movement, Enugu State, who can swiftly take the Governorship ticket of whatever party Mr. Peter Obi might finally anchor his aspiration upon, since Labour Party is no longer an assured platform to challenge Governor Peter Mbah in the race to the Lion Building by 2027?
Must it always be Hon. Chijioke Edeoga at the barricade?
Truth is, all those making all manner of propaganda against Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, while denying his role in helping them win the various elective offices they secured through the Labour Party platform in Enugu State, will soon recant.
Has Hon. Chijioke Edeoga not been shouting it like a prophet of old: “Come into the Lord’s house, it is going to rain”?
And what a heavy downpour it is, by the look of things to come.
Truth again is that they will soon realize the paralysis that comes from discarding too quickly the ladder one has used to climb to the top.
And like a shadow that laughs in the dark, it will become manifest that they have been riding for a fall. For being at the top is one thing; the ability and grace to stay at the top is another.
