This governor, a suspended Catholic priest, relapsed into unprovoked rebellion about a fortnight ago when Obi sought to visit Benue State. As a notable philanthropist, Obi has, over the years, been traversing the length and breath of Nigeria on a charity mission. He donates handsomely to schools, hospitals and distressed communities and individuals. Available records show that this former governor of Anambra State spends over a billion Naira annually on charity work. His philanthropic gesture knows no tribe, tongue, region or religion. Every spectrum or persuasion of Nigeria is his locale. Like most states of the Federation, Benue State has benefited from Obi’s philanthropy in the past.
This time, Obi scheduled to be in Benue again in continuation of his charity mission. He had planned to visit some Internally Displaced Persons camps in the state. But the move was, strangely, thwarted by Governor Alia. Reports had it that Obi tried to reach Alia on phone over the planned visit. But the suspended priest rebuffed all the overtures. Instead, he got his security aides to warn Obi not to visit Benue, emphasizing that his security would not be guaranteed. As if that gratuitous insult to a high-flying personality like Obi was not enough, the governor got another aide of his to join issues with Obi for expressing disappointment over the treatment meted out to him. According to Alia and his boys, Obi’s philanthropic outreach was nothing short of political charity. Then, we ask: how political can a charitable cause be? Put differently, how much political content can charity have? We will need Governor Alia and his clan of mischief-makers to educate us on this. But whatever may be the explanation, it is difficult to fathom the aggression and unfriendliness that Alia exhibited. What was at issue? Why did the governor display so much disdain for Peter Obi? Before we probe further into Alia’s fitful overreach, let us note, first and foremost, that the governor’s refusal to speak to Obi directly was an insult of the highest order. Governor Alia, as we all know, does not in any way measure up to Peter Obi. The governor, before Obi, is no more than a kindergartner who must pay obeisance to his superior. But rather than respect a man that is superior to him in every material particular, the governor chose to unleash nonstarters on an international personality.
So, what could Governor Alia’s grouse with Peter Obi be? I have not been able to find one especially since both men do not operate on the same wavelength. But what could be deduced from the statements issued by the governor’s office was that he, the governor, has keyed into President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and would not therefore be interested in gestures such as Obi’s.
Can this be a good ground for Governor Alia to unleash that raw bile on Peter Obi? Certainly not. The bitterness that the governor exhibited was just too choking to fit into the allusions from his office.
But even if Governor Alia is an apostle of a certain Renewed Hope agenda, how does that preclude his state of Benue from benefiting from the kind gestures of a large-hearted Nigerian? A man who willingly and voluntarily spends a huge chunk of his wealth on good causes cannot be dismissed as engaging in political charity. How political can Obi’s charity work be? Someone should remind Governor Alia that Peter Obi’s charity work began long before he began to nurse presidential ambition. Obi is one Nigerian politician who does not play politics with the welfare and livelihood of the people. That is why a major plank of his political campaign revolves around lifting people out of poverty. People matter most in the minds of an altruistic politician. Obi is one. But Alia and his parochial clan want to pigeonhole the former governor wrongly.
But then, where is the Renewed Hope agenda that Governor Alia was talking about? Is there any evidence of it anywhere in the country, including Benue State? I cannot find one. The people of Benue under Governor Alia are suffering . There is no iota of hope for them under the Alia or Tinubu order. Yet, someone is talking about Renewed Hope. You cannot renew what never existed.
By the way, where is the Renewed Hope in a situation where the indigenous peoples of Benue State are being massacred on a daily basis by rampaging terrorists? Neither Alia nor Tinubu has been able to save the people of the state from imminent extermination. Yet, a governor who has lost grip of the security in his state is pontificating about a dubious agenda. As a matter of fact, I pity Governor Alia for his inability to be himself. He has, by words and actions, reduced himself to an irredeemable sycophant who thinks that the only way to stay relevant in politics is to show blind loyalty to a failing order. But it is not too late for the governor to get out of this folly. He should grow up. As a former cleric, one would have expected that the governor would approach issues with circumspection. The expectation as well is that he should not be a slave of phantoms. But this governor has failed on these scores. Instead, he is showing signs of primitivism. He is gradually giving himself away as a man of undeveloped heart who follows neither the heart nor the brain.
To demonstrate further that this governor is lacking in good judgment, he has, as the chief security officer, failed to respond appropriately to the unceasing massacre going on in his state. All that he has been able to say was that the murderous herdsmen decimating his state are not Nigerians. So what if they are not Nigerians? Does their origin or colour matter? What does is to deal decisively with the growing menace. Regrettably, the governor has done nothing after the lame observation. All he could tell the beleaguered people of Benue State was that they should remain peaceful and law-abiding. How can a people remain peaceful in the face of genocide?
How can a people be law-abiding in a disordered setting where life is brutish and short? Governor Alia can do without pontifications that lead to nowhere. Above all, he should take recourse to the fine tenets of priesthood even if he is no longer attracted to that vocation. If he does, he will realize that pettiness is not a virtue, but a damning vice that impoverishes the soul.
Credit:The Sun