Chris Anyanwu’s Bold Leap attracts bold responses

It’s been a while since a book drew such vehement protest as it is happening with Senator Chris Anyanwu’s memoir, Bold Leap. Chief Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Imo State, leads the charge. He alleges that

• Bold Leap contains many inaccuracies, particularly regarding the 2011 election in Imo State.

• The book is full of falsehood and inaccuracies. She did not conduct any empirical research, which is the bane of most Nigerian writers.

• Mrs Anyanwu wrote a lengthy apology to Head of State General Sani Abacha. Abacha jailed Anyanwu and some other journalists for alleged accessory to a coup plot against him.

• Ohakim promised to write a book detailing what he considers the accurate account of that election.

In return, Mrs Anyanwu challenged Ohakim to produce the letter, as he threatened to do so if she contradicted him. It is now one week, and Imo State, bibliophiles, and historians await the bombshell that Ohakim threatened to detonate in Chris Anyanwu’s apology letter to Abacha.

Key Takeaways from the Memoir

Forthright exploration. Bold Leap is a forthright exposition of Chris Anyanwu’s life. It explores the themes of resilience, empowerment, and women’s challenges in male-dominated fields.
Themes of Resilience and Empowerment: Anyanwu’s narrative emphasises resilience and empowerment, showcasing her relentless drive and dedication to societal duty. Her experiences inspire those seeking to understand the complexities of Nigerian society.

Professional attainments. Bold Leap narrates Chris Anyanwu’s exploits as a broadcast journalist, commissioner for information, and later media entrepreneur. She was an acclaimed correspondent for NTA covering OPEC and later introduced the popular NTA Newsline Sunday magazine programme.
Gender Discrimination: The book addresses women’s sociopolitical challenges and advocates for a society that values competence over traditional gender roles. Anyanwu’s reflections on her experiences aim to confront entrenched biases against women in leadership.

Call for Restructuring: During the book presentation, there was a renewed call for restructuring Nigeria’s political system. Stakeholders emphasised that current structures primarily benefit a small elite and urged a comprehensive overhaul to ensure inclusivity and better governance.

My problem with Chris Anyanwu’s book – Ohakim

Former senator Chris Anyanwu recently released her Bold Leap memoir. According to media reviews, she appeared harsh on a few state leaders, including yourself.

Ohakim: It is natural that if a fellow of that standing comes up with a memoir, others would be interested in knowing what she is talking about. I have managed to flip through some areas to educate myself on what she had to say about me and our state and country. So far, I am worried about some of the things she said about our country and some of her leaders. The book is full of falsehood and inaccuracies. She did not conduct any empirical research, which is the bane of most Nigerian writers.

Most books by Nigerians are controversial because the writers do not research what other authorities exist on the subject they want to treat. Anyanwu did not write as a journalist, which is supposed to be her primary calling. I have just read Femi Ojudu’s memoir, which represents what the work of a good journalist should be. For example, in her 2011 Imo governorship election narrative, she just pencilled down her personal opinion. In my forthcoming book, Nigerians can read the unbiased truth about Imo 2011, including statements by top military officers who Madam Anyanwu claimed she recruited to stop me from rigging. It is a very laughable claim.

Was she that connected?

This fellow rode on the back of the military throughout her career. The military boys railroaded her into becoming a commissioner during the military era and later becoming a senator. When she failed the primary election in her bid for a second term, she went back to seek the help of the same military, according to her. Madam Anyanwu is one of those Nigerians who could not have gone anywhere without the army’s patronage. Madam Anyanwu, in her book, failed to mention that she wrote a lengthy letter of apology to Abacha and the federal government and owned up to telling lies to sell her magazine. I challenge her to deny that, and I will publish a copy of that apology so Nigerians can see the type of person she is.

Some people may not agree with you, but as you say, in what other ways are her claims untrue?
Everybody does not have to agree with me, but those who know what I have just said are there. Nigerians should wait for my forthcoming book. She lampooned the Nigerian military for bad conduct, yet according to her, she used the same military to stop me from ‘rigging’ the election in 2011. In other words, according to her, she used the military to truncate democracy. Was that not a perfidious act against the country and its people? Is it the job of the military to intervene in elections? Has that not been the thing Nigerians have been complaining about? We can now see those behind the perennial use of the military to influence election processes and their outcomes, which has been the bane of our democracy. Christiana Anyanwu is one of them. There is a saying that he who rides on the back of the tiger ends up in its belly. Anyanwu’s case is quite illustrative of this saying. The aspect that baffles me most is her claim that a sitting president, Goodluck Jonathan, gave her the approval to engage the military in the 2011 Imo governorship election. Nigerians await how President Jonathan and his handlers will react to that claim.

You can now see why Jonathan failed to attend the book launch despite the media hype that he and President Obasanjo would be there. Why did Obasanjo, who allegedly wrote the foreword to the book, stay away? I am sure she obtained that endorsement from him before the final output. Obasanjo must have stayed away to avoid being associated with such a rag-tag book. And Jonathan must have been advised not to have anything to do with a book that defamed him by claiming that, as a commander-in-chief, he authorised using the military to rig an election. The claim that they used the military to stop me and my party is false. It was the other way around.

What happened in the Imo 2011 elections?

Well, this is not the forum to say what happened. Except that from what I have gathered, Madam Anyanwu might have printed just a few hundred copies to serve as souvenirs since she knew nobody would buy her book; I would have asked you to go and obtain a copy and read. Then, I suggest you compare other fully documented accounts of that election. You will be dismayed. As a so-called intellectual, you would expect Madam Anyanwu to be truthful in telling the story of what happened for now and for prosperity. But she failed woefully. For example, you would notice that she refused to explain why INEC declared the election inconclusive on April 26, 2011, and scheduled a supplementary election for May 6, 2011. That was the first time Nigerians were hearing about supplementary polls.

Anybody who wanted to be sincere about the 2011 Imo governorship election cannot fail to explain why INEC declared the first balloting inconclusive and what happened on May 6 when the deed was done. But she refused to do that to conceal certain things. So, her book is of no use for posterity. It is a cock and bull story. As I said, you wait for my book on what happened backed with empirical evidence, including now declassified security reports.

I wrote with respect and compassion for others and due regard for the laws of the land -Chris Anyanwu.

Mrs Anyanwu immediately replied to Ohakim’s claims, challenging him to bring the purported apology letter to Abacha. The 73-year-old author of Bold Leap declared her abiding respect for the office of Governor.
“One thing to emphasise is that BOLD LEAP is my autobiography, meaning l wrote about myself, not LMO State, Imo Government or Governor Ikedi Ohakim. It is about my whole life and traverses many places outside Nigeria. Imo State and its toxic politics of the time were merely small chapters to what is a long story. BOLD LEAP is not an Imo story. No. It is not at all.

“Governor Ohakim had not read the book when he spoke. He spoke in rambling generalities, not on specifics; he went into the book review to borrow the reviewer’s observation on production. But with all the hot air he blew, he avoided talking of my accounts of some of the unforgettable things he did as Governor. He spoke like a man who took one look at himself in the mirror and went berserk. No, he should relax and read the full book. Then reflect. Things have got to change in LMO.”

She said, “And finally, that bizarre story about a letter to Abacha (may his soul rest in peace). How does a man of Governor Ikedi’s age and standing in society sit down and conjure up an asinine, egregious lie about someone writing an apology to Abacha and the federal government? Is it intelligent to tell tales so hare-brained they can make a dog laugh?

“No one could write Abacha or his government, which became Nigeria’s greatest secret. How did it happen that a document that could have provided the propaganda-hungry administration its greatest campaign weapon globally got locked up, and no one else mentioned it or wrote about it in the numerous books written on that era in these 30 years? Except Ohakim!! Where was this letter written? When was it written, and by whom and to whom was it given? And how did it happen that only Lkedi Ohakim had access to it?

And by the way, where was Ikedi Ohakim 30 years ago, in the DAYS OF TERROR, when people were fighting, dying, escaping and suffering for Democracy? Was he helping the oppressors? There had to have been a relationship with the administration for them to have handed him this ‘dud’. Ohakim must explain what he did for a living then and what qualified him to keep Abacha’s secrets. When we glimpse his opaque professional past, we will appreciate why it is not beyond the realms of possibility for him to weave and fabricate this great lie.”

Anyanwu said she does not know anybody who wrote Abacha.

“And now, I dare Governor Ikedi Ohakim to produce the letter in his possession in court before forensic experts before the eyes of the world,” she continued. “He should remember it was a global story, not just local, and there were some who knew better. Coming out and telling this joke will make him an international clown. But Let him produce the letter he got from Gen. Abacha and the government. Federal Government is a continuum. It should verify the letter in Ohakim’s hand and explain how it manifested and who produced it. Now, the letter writer will be tested for forgery. Let us understand that the games people play in childhood may not carry them through old age.

“This time, His Excellency will not go on unchallenged. He has claimed to have a letter. He has threatened to publish it. I dare him to bring that letter physically (not publish). Bring it to be tested for forgery. Governor Ohakim has the right to reply to any publication about him, but he must know that he is to do so within the ambit of the law.”

On the importance of the Office of the Governor.

“When a former governor speaks, people listen, and a certain level of decorum, decency, factuality, or truthfulness is expected of him. Hearing an Excellency depart from that standard to engage in street brawls and beer parlour talk is entirely aberrative. If he does, he invites insult.

“I do not know how to respond to Governor Ikedi Ohakim’s latest public spat without running the risk of being found guilty of disrespecting the office he once held. However, with due respect, I must engage with him on this matter because, as a former governor, people automatically assume that what he says is factual, truthful, and reliable. But where it is clear that he deliberately set out to deceive and manipulate the public with egregious lies, the facts must be publicly put before an idea from an old habit of lying and making up stories gets taken for truth.

“First, let me say that that trash-talking, recklessly libellous individual frothing in the mouth that spoke in that interview could not have been Ex-governor Ohakim. There must have been a mistake. Did he say all those things? I hope not. I am compelled to make this statement to address a claim he reportedly made about me recently in the interview he granted journalists,” she said.

Mrs Anyanwu stood by the integrity of her book.

“In that interview, he complained about my autobiography, BOLD LEAP, recently presented to Nigerian readers. Bold Leap is a book of the times: elegantly crafted, brutally scrutinised and edited by some of the country’s most gifted writers and editors. One may argue about perspective, but Bold Leap is unassailable on factuality and historical correctness. So, if Governor Ohakim argues a substantial factual error, I would say, “Bring it on”. If it’s a matter of perspective, I would say: “It’s your perspective or mine”. There’s no one way of seeing the universe, no correct way of writing about me. It is as I deemed fit. The story is mine. I have written it with respect and compassion for others and due regard for the laws of the land.