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By M.O. ENE

Congratulations to Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, Esq. and Barrister Ifeanyi Ossai for putting up a good fight to the finish line. If May 29 comes, we will have two new members of the Excellency club. Again, kudos! Tomorrow is here. We won: We are here. Alive. Life is the essence of earthly existence. Nothing else matters more.

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I also congratulate those who put themselves through the grind: Chijioke Edeoga, Frank Nweke, Uche Nnaji, and others. Only those who have gone through the pulverizing political processes know best the excruciating efforts and extreme emotions involved in electioneering. They are better imagined than experienced.

Enugu State is heading to the promised better tomorrow. Dr. Mbah has his work lined up like sitting ducks in a row. He needs capable hands committed to his core mission and vision. As a disruptive innovator, it cannot be business as usual. The revolution is real. Any government that benefits a few fails many. The consequences will be obvious with a social-media generation that is emboldened, empowered, and enlightened.

In his magnificent manifesto, Dr. Mbah captured my major concerns as a Coal City citizen and an Igbo nationalist. Still, the taste of ‘ọkpa’ cake is not in the mellowed banana-leave packaging but in eating the Waawa delicacy. For decades, I have preached that only the formation of a focused and organized opposition will push Enugu State to the next level. A government that lacks adequate assessments does not deliver the dividends of democracy, no matter the good intentions of its leader.

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God must have a good sense of humor: We now have PDP in legislative opposition! A divided government is not new. The declared hero of 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, served with a split government and delivered, albeit with ups and downs. The Labour Party legislative majority is a sure sign that the subsisting silence of the cemetery will end. Democracy dies in darkness. Silence is a tool of the incompetent; it builds estates of emptiness. There is a limit to the dirt we can sweep under the carpet before the stench overwhelms.

Needless to rehash the issues confronting our Governor-elect. He knows. We know. His mission and vision are documented. The disruptive innovations are primed and ready to deploy. Alas, two unexpected issues have added to his burden of bringing immediate palliative to Enugu State.

1. Peoples Democratic Party: The derriere of PDP is exposed. Here is a party with compensated chairmen and executives in 260 wards, 260 councilors (who played to the gallery during the primaries), 34 LGA chairs and deputies, 68 administrative area officials, 24 commissioners, several special advisers, and executive assistants—all as state staff, other major stakeholders, and a formidable campaign council of capable veterans and inspired initiates. Add the open support of APC faction, all ex-governors, and million-man marches.

What did we get? A struggle through the finish line with reported 160,895 votes! The Obidient Movement is not the primary reason. Ask Peter Obi. PDP requires rigid reorganization of its state structures–assuming such super state structures are still relevant! In addition to the crown of chief Lion in Enugu State, Mbah now wears the crown of Southeast zonal leader. He must remobilize and remodel the grassroots with true believers—not here-today and gone-tomorrow sycophants. PDP must reform along defined political principles that appeal to a new generation. He must confront community governments immediately to deliver discernible dividends of democracy.

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2. The Nkanu Dichotomy: Dr. Mbah promised to confront the archaic plague. It has reared its ugly head. Again! The time has come to address the blight. The solution is so simple I still wonder what is stopping the dead dog from being buried. Folks focus on the silly symptom of murmured marital taboo, instead of uprooting the core creed inherited from overprotective ancestors. A cuddled chat does not end early. We need a good understanding of the life we live, a good study of history and Igbo spirituality, and the will to leave a better polity for generations. Everything else is embellishment.

These are added critical challenges to the promises of Peter Mbah. He has his plate full. He needs our prayers and support, not unnecessary consternations. The clogs in the wheel, and they are many, must be removed for progress to roll. Else, the funk flourishes.

Nothing is impossible when humans challenge themselves. It is a new day. Tomorrow is here: “Chi echi efoo taata.” Let’s go take on the day.

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#moe, 3.27.23

@aladimma