The name is unfamiliar. Mentioning it at this level is a stride for him. He should be done with it. But who is he? He said he is one of the gubernatorial candidates in Abia State under APGA. According to him in one of his campaign stumps, he is the APGA candidate with a NAFDAC number. That is why he can campaign openly in public places; others, he said, campaign in bushes because they have no NAFDAC number. NAFDAC? But I know it’s for drugs.
So what’s the issue? It’s that INEC, not NAFDAC, recognizes Alex Otti as the authentic APGA candidate for Abia in the coming elections. Reagan, on his side, says he has been in the party all the while and, therefore, is right to represent it rather than Alex who just joined. It’s a case good for the listening. But how well and how old? APGA in Abia has been between life-support and death in about 12 years of its existence and Reagan has been around. NO IMPACT. It’s the entry of Alex Otti, to use the jargon of the Pentecostals, that ‘jerked the party back to life’. So is it how long or how well? Abians say, it’s how well. Irked by this, Ufomba switched preference to NAFDAC. Someone in the crowd asked, ‘What’s your NAFDAC number?’ No answer.
Then to the message. He said he owns a cement factory where he pays his workers on the 25th of every month. If elected, he would pay all salaries on the 28th of every month. Another asked, ‘Is it from the proceeds of the factory?’ No answer. A quiet, mild drama ensued. A bad guy within the crowd went about whispering ‘OKOMBO’, meaning FAKE. Before long, the silent whisper of ‘Okombo’ rent the air. People passed smiles round and waited for their take-away.
He touched on his family life that struck the wrong note too. He said he would have become a Reverend Father, but just close to his graduation, he met his love and all changed. Another said, ‘So you will abandon us when you see what you want.’ The grimly smile continued and the murmuring so loud that Ufomba asked, ‘Why are you making hu, hu, hu, shi, shi, shi when I’ve said I will pay your salaries in time, give you free education, tar your roads? What are you shiing?’ They clapped. One said, ‘From the cement factory?’
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Now back to the take-away: some cartons of gala that didn’t go round and, I gather, some cash. There was some gala-struggle but it wasn’t as vicious as the asking for the cash by youths. I can’t recall the fisticuff and pushing; the wrong man was held down to ‘bring the money’ whilst the man with it escaped. That man may not like politics again thence on. Some others got their fair share. One lady described it as a ‘good outing’. She made N600 but for the youths, it was broken limbs and swollen lips.
Something told him that all was not well. He asked, ‘Will you vote for me?’ No answer. Then followed a strange thing: ‘If you have collected money, eaten gala and won’t vote for me, Holy Ghost!’ No one replied with ‘fire!’ The crowd began to disperse; Ufomba’s money and gala were gone. ‘This time, no vote for any Okombo,’ they re-echoed.
Where does this leave us? Reading the temperament: the people want change but not with Ufomba. The reason, I don’t know. Sure is, you watch to see where the people are tending because it’s about them. If it’s not your leaning, retort, get closer to the right track and negotiate amicably. We can’t all be governors same time. Ufomba’s temerity would sure find use in the birthing structure and as a now vibrant party, add strength, granted he won’t start behaving like a second governor.
The other is, if indeed APGA is understood as the people’s platform, at the point of salt, ’I’ gives way to ‘we’. He’s yet to learn that. Of what use is it to drive your politics to the point of being taken for a tool in the hands of the opposition? That’s exactly what the people say and they go all the way to get their cut off him.
I’m told Ufomba is a nice man and I believe it. But this is not his time. He mustn’t be a governor to be relevant. Resorting to the adversarial court process will cost him trust and shrink all trappings of accommodation. This is his time to recant; going further is fruitless. This time, the people say it’s Alex Otti; that’s the trend, go with it.
Onyebuchi Onyegbule
