If anybody was in doubt of the reasons why Engr. Dave Umahi, Ebonyi State Governor, should not rise beyond his present position, doubt no more. The Governor has just provided a solid reason.
It is not that I have heard it directly from him, but it is common knowledge that Umahi is seriously coveting the office of the President or that of the Vice President come 2023. Indeed, in 2015 when the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, picked former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, Umahi threw tantrums no end.
I once listened to money-man, Chief Arthur Eze, lobby President Muhammadu Buhari to look no further than the Ebonyi State Governor for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction – if, and when the time comes.
Buhari had gone to Abakiliki. I forget, now, what he went there for. But Arthur Eze was present. And so was Umahi.
As you know, Umahi is a Buharist, even though he is a PDP governor. He never hides that.
Once, he said he would vote for President Buhari even though his party had a Presidential candidate. At another time, he said he would sack any Ebonyi official who criticised Buhari. He was once quoted as asking his aides and supporters to stay on in PDP while he stays in the APC as their representative.
For good measure, he told them he was beyond reproach. Nobody would dare discipline him for anti-party activities, he boasted. And, a couple of months ago, while addressing wives of Governors who had converged in his state for a meeting, he had told Betsy Obaseki, the lovely Edo State Governor’s wife that: “Your husband would win his election for a second term. Nobody can defeat him.”
For the records, Umahi’s PDP will contest in the same election for same office.
But I digress.
So, Arthur Eze, called up to speak at the occasion, told Buhari that Umahi would be a good, credible successor after him. A smiling Umahi lapped it all up.
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State
But here is my candid opinion.
If there is any Igbo man whose temperament and recklessness do not recommend for the dignified office of a President, it is Umahi.
The Igbo must neither recommend, nor support him to aspire to that office. This Governor is a basket case when he speaks.
I have nothing personal against him. But if, and when the time comes, the Igbo should look out for a level-headed leader who would think before he speaks. They should look out for a leader who is not arrogant, who neither talks down, nor looks down on people. They should look for a leader who neither behaves like an emperor, a tin god, or a dictator.
Not an Umahi. His impunity and arrogance rise to high heavens.
In fairness to Umahi, he has, so far, done well as Ebonyi Governor. He has encouraged agriculture, especially, in the area of rice production. Ebonyi rice ranks among the best in the country. I don’t know much about what he did in the area of yam production, but I proudly ask for Abakiliki yams from my yam customer. But where Umahi has, definitely, excelled most is in the provision of physical infrastructure, especially, roads.
Aside from Anambra State where Peter Obi excelled in the construction of roads, no other governor in the South east compares to Umahi in that area.
Gradually, Umahi has bequeathed Ebonyi with quality roads. Umahi has, also, excelled in the area of education, granting scholarships to hundreds of Ebonyians in relevant areas of study. And, thanks to him, Abakiliki, which, as the state capital, looked worse than a local government headquarters, has had a complete turn-around. It looks “bam”.
But this performance does not recommend him to any higher office. Umahi is like a fowl, which would, after gathering things together with its legs, scatters them again with same legs.
Nothing disqualifies Umahi from seeking the occupancy of any other office, after his governorship, than the unprecedented level he reduced himself to, last week, before Nigerians. In one fell swoop, Umahi showed himself as power-drunk, arrogant, dictatorial, autocratic, intolerant and more.
You must have read, or heard the story, but, for the purpose of this write-up, a brief re-cap.
The Sun Newspaper Correspondent in Ebonyi, Chijoke Agwu, had written a story on the number of Lassa-fever induced deaths in the State. It was not a fabrication. Agwu got the number of victims from the website of the NCDC. But the story stung Governor Umahi to high heavens. So, he ordered the arrest of the Journalist.
A couple of days later, one LGA Chairman, emboldened by Umahi’s impunity , also, ordered the arrest of The Vanguard Correspondent, Peter Okutu, for writing on the alleged invasion of a Community by soldiers. After much outrage and pressure, the two journalists were released.
So we clap? Hardly.
For, what Umahi did next would have made Adolf Hitler green with envy.
The Governor arranged a Radio and Television state-wide broadcast where he did the unimaginable.
He announced the ban, for life, of the two journalists, from Government House, and from all government-owned facilities in the state. That was not enough. He threatened their lives by saying he could not guarantee their safety in the state. Then, he incited the people against them. Ebonyians, he told them, are not happy with them. He would not be there to protect the Reporters, from Ebonyians, he added ominously. And for good measure, he chipped in:
“You have the pen, but we have the koboko”.
Then, Governor Umahi went real low. He said he would withhold, for two months, the petty allowance he gives to Journalists because the NUJ leadership did not condemn the two journalists.
Aaah, so Umahi gives them allowance? Big deal. And, thanks for the information, Mr Governor.
Rightly, condemnations, criticisms, and outrage greeted Umahi’s unbecoming broadcast like claps of thunder. For, those statements came from a governor, not from a motor park tout who was cheated of his paltry commission after loading a bus from Abakiliki to Lagos.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, the Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, Lawyers, IPOB, Ebonyians in the Diaspora, CSOs, and more, were outraged. They spoke with one voice. Umahi has crossed the borderline they chorused. Who gave him the authority to ban anybody from public buildings and facilities?, they asked.
Banned for life? Really? Umahi thinks he will be Governor for life. What he means really is: He would control whichever governor comes along after him. True?
Power is intoxicating.
But, to the point.
Can you imagine an Umahi as Nigeria’s President? Democracy will be gone. There will be no freedom of speech. Journalists will be in bondage. Nobody can criticise any of his actions. The country will become one big prison yard. People will live in palpable fear.
Every of his word will be law, cast in iron and stone. Nobody can challenge him. He would hire today, and fire tomorrow, just as he does with his Commissioners and other aides. He would throw away the Constitution of the Federal Republic, and personally write his own.
Umahi’s attitude is one of the reasons not a few Nigerians are afraid of State Police. Governors, with his type of temperament, would abuse it. Just look at how Umahi ordered the State Commissioner of Police to arrest Agwu. Sadly, the Commissioner did, without asking him questions, without advising him to the contrary.
I can guess why the CP obeyed. If he had advised him, and done the contrary, Umahi would have stopped any support to the Police Command.
The Sun has petitioned the IGP, expressing outrage, and asking the IGP to protect its Correspondent, and to let Umahi know he would be held responsible if anything untoward happens to its Correspondent, or any other of its staff members in his state.
The Paper, also, expressed disappointment in the CP for arresting its Correspondent.
Good a thing The Sun did. The NUJ and the NGE should for Umahi’s line, and blacklist him. He is an enemy of the Media and freedom of speech.
I don’t know if Governor Umahi listens to his Commissioner for Information and/or his Media team. A number of aides are mortally afraid to talk to their Principals. Otherwise, they would have told Governor Umahi that for both stories, all his government needed was a simple Right of Reply to set the records straight. Perhaps, a simple one on one discussion with the Reporters. Or, at worst, go to Court and seek legal redress.
By the time he withdrew his order, and got his Media aide to deny he made the statements he publicly made, the damage had long been done.
What Umahi did is condemnable. He crossed the red line. And self-destructed. It will haunt him for a long time.
