While the waiting lasted, it seemed the day would never come. Yet, when it came, it was almost an anti-climax.
Many had predicted and feared Armageddon, partly because of the ill-advised Operation Python Dance carried out to pacify the entire Southeast region and quell agitation by youths from the area for equity and justice and the subsequent threat by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) warning eligible voters to stay away from the polling booths or face dire consequences.
But when the election was eventually held, it turned out to be one of the most peaceful in this political era. No thuggery! No violence! And not even one reported case of death. The outcome of the exercise with regard to ugly incidents which are usually the hallmark of electoral contest in the country was quite unbelievable and unprecedented.
What many thought was a tinderbox about to explode given the history of elections in Anambra State since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, turned out, perhaps, one of the most peaceful and transparent elections in the country to the extent that nobody is threatening, at least not yet, to challenge the outcome in court.
For an electoral umpire that is known for “inconclusive polls,” the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proved that given a conducive environment, it can conduct free and fair poll.
This is despite the fact that the election produced an unprecedented number of candidates – 37 in all.
The result itself was a major milestone. The incumbent, Chief Willie Obiano, won in all the 21 local governments in the state, beating most of the other candidates even in their wards. No politician, not even those supported to the hilt by the late Igbo leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, when he was alive could pull off such feat. It was an emphatic victory. The people made a forceful, unequivocal and loud statement with their votes.
The implication is that Obiano won re-election with even a bigger mandate than his first term. It is left for him to reciprocate the people’s goodwill with good governance. Anything short of that will be unmitigated betrayal.
There were rumours that the governor may follow in the footsteps of his colleague in Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, who won the governorship in 2011 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but betrayed the people’s mandate by joining the APC or even his immediate predecessor, Peter Obi, who, having served out his two terms won on the platform of the same party, abandoned the party and joined the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It is good that the governor personally dispelled the rumour when he publicly avowed last week after a “thank you visit” to President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock Villa that he would never leave APGA now or in the future because that will amount to a betrayal of the party because the electorate vote not only candidates but the political parties on whose platforms they contest elections.
That is why Obiano’s victory places a huge burden not only on him as an individual but also on APGA. A sterling performance from him will also be credited to the party that produced him. This places a tremendous responsibility on him and his political party, the APGA.
The victory is a vote of confidence in the governor and his performance in the first term. He must therefore up the performance ante to show appreciation to the people because to borrow a maxim, to whom much is given, much is expected.
Obiano must also avoid the temptation of triumphalism. The victory, as grand and audacious as it is should not be an opportunity to look down on the other contestants. Rather, he should be magnanimous in victory because the ultimate goal is the good of the people of Anambra.
There is, strictly speaking, no victor, no vanquished. The only winners are the Anambra people whose democratic credentials have been burnished by the outcome of the poll.
Therefore, the 36 other contestants must join hands with the governor in building Anambra and making it a model state in Nigeria. Partisan politics should be over for now. This is the time to deliver the much talked about “democracy dividends” to the people.
That is the least the people deserve. Democracy must begin to deliver on its promises through the people who have been mandated to make authoritative allocation of collective values on behalf of the generality of the people.
The security outfits in the country must be saluted for a job well done by ensuring the safety of lives and property.
Yet, something must be said of the seeming over-militarisation of the democratic space in Nigeria.
The Niche thinks it speaks ill of us and the health of our democracy that in an era when, even in some African countries, elections are conducted seamlessly with voters dropping off their children in school, then going to the polling booths to cast their ballot, and going back to work, a state as economically important as Anambra, the gateway to many other South East and South South states, had to be shut down, literally, for two days – Friday and Saturday – just to hold a standalone election.
The less our elections are militarized, the better for our democracy, which is still fledgling even after 18 years.
But generally, what happened in Anambra on November 18 should serve as a template for the INEC as it prepares to conduct elections in some states in the country next year and more importantly, as the Commission gets set for the 2019 general election in Nigeria.