ColumnsDon OkoloNigeriaOpinionA Raging Anambra Gubernatorial Race Finally Unravels A Quintessential Statesman —The Real McCoy

Avatar PilotnewsFebruary 14, 2021

“Sir Damian Chibuzo Okolo possesses the moral and ethical bearings of a monk,”

―Don Okolo

Esteemed Bureaucrats, especially the elected ones, are hard to find. If a nation were lucky…as in this case, any State in this haggard nation, she would, every once in a while, haul in the quintessential Statesman, whose pottery was sculpted out of porcelain. In other words, the man or woman, who is on the straight and arrow…the one, who would take the Moral and Ethical Boulevard…that high road in governance no one in the past fifty-something years had taken, would win a hard-fought battle for a chance to show his mettle. No one has dared to navigate this lonely, desolate thoroughfare; no one has gambled his sanity to wallow on this straight course, where debauchery and larceny do not exist.

In truth, because there is nothing there for them…more so because they are afraid of being constricted by the laws of Nature that govern that straight-to-Heaven-Avenue. It is quite a dream…a lofty, truly high-hanging hope kind of wish to hang one’s life on; that a proverbial messiah would rise, and declare to us, the morning after the election; “I am he…and my name is DAMIAN CHIBUZO OKOLO. Today, I am stating, without equivocation, that your days of economic and social hardships are over. I have not come to you riding on a white horse. But I have a horde of white horses towing morality, ethics, and empathy in significant stacks. Most other Governors that have sat on this chair have failed you. I won’t. My first six months as Governor would grant you amazing clues and changes in the way your State Government should work. What I am saying to you is this; that the long lost, sprightly humanity quotient would be restored. The carting away of your money stops with me. And know this; new laws would be written to guide this train to stay on its track…laws that would prosecute the criminal, even after he has left office.”

Today, I am stating, without equivocation, that your days of economic and social hardships are over.

In the minds of many, it would take a miracle to accomplish a feat as difficult as it would be if one were asked to slay a male lion with his bare hands. Wasn’t that what God asked of Noah? Noah couldn’t find a handful of good people to compel God to, well, ease off some, from destroying the twin cities of depravity and decadence: Sodom and Gomorrah. Enter, Barrister, Sir Damian Chibuzor Okolo, the Noah of the Lower Niger. He would remain your veritable servant. Period. The changes he would bring about are as real as you are standing and living as an Igbo man or woman. These aren’t the commonplace promises past Governors have fed you to buy your trust and vote. Sir Damian Chibuzo Okolo possesses the moral and ethical bearings of a monk. Maybe, I am stretching it. Isn’t that what the people of Anambra, the country as a whole, are bemoaning? No one could say with measurable certainty, that anyone, when given the nod, and have in the palm of their hands, the fabrics of power to change the lives of ordinary citizens, would do as he had promised during the days he was campaigning for the office. There is no art to read one’s mind on his face. (William Shakespeare translated) It is the same thing as one would walk into a bank for a loan…big or small. The Banker can only depend on the story your collateral tells him. I would be the first to tell you that you and I are lost in this ten-thousand square mile desert spread…and that we need someone with the Northern Star, road map chops to lead us to a watering hole.

That man is Barrister Damian Chibuzo Okolo. He is a Real Estate Connoisseur…ok, giant killer. And if it is one with the mind to untangle legalese that you desire, he is one of the best lawyers the nation can offer you. But it is not his legal mind that I am writing this tune for. It is not his ability to sell a piece of property that this gorgeous, rhythmic etilogu tune is harping on. What I am screaming like a banshee for, is the totality of the man; the complete, mild-mannered being…the one that wears no false personalities about him. The bane of our existence…the reason the State of Anambra is nowhere near the mountaintop, is that the people of Anambra has allowed vicious lies, and practical, in-your-face kind of malfeasance by politicians, to fester in her ranks. Sir Damian Chibuzo Okolo, is not a politician; he will stick to the laws of proper money management…the accountability of every Naira that belongs to the State will be his new mantra. That, I can guarantee you.

The old, out-of-date modules would be replaced, if Barrister Damian Chibuzo Okolo were sitting in the Governor’s chair.

But wait ooo! Are the people of Anambra not deserving of that cool plate of goodies this man would serve you if you elected him…if you made him your Governor? Are you safe going about your businesses in the State? Are State employees and Teachers getting their dues? Are our schools up and running? These schools; are they in ruins? How about the general infrastructure statewide? I could go on. The misfortunes of the State could be rewritten. An avantgarde, innovative idea is what is at stake. The old, out-of-date modules would be replaced, if Barrister Damian Chibuzo Okolo were sitting in the Governor’s chair.

Let me break all this down for you: The State of Anambra has a chance to toss out the shackles…the fetters holding us down. We don’t have to live this way anymore. This platter before us is sizzling with bite-size victuals…and the portions are bountiful, and they are from Sir Damian Chibuzo Okolo’s stable. You, the people of Anambra, should hold his feet to the fire…literally; he would have no choice but to keep the promises he made. Which brings me to this other reason why these Governors would leave the office gazillionaires; they believe that they are invincible, and that the laws of the land couldn’t touch them. They leave us in the murk to fight for the crumbs. You and I are stuck; we are quick to sing the same sixty-one-year-old ditty…that horrible jingle that churns the stomach…’If you can’t beat them, join them,’ cacophony. That noise must go. It deserves to be buried deep in the trough where other despicable, idiotic, famous last words are interred.

Again, enter the Real Estate mogul, Barrister Damian Chibuzo Okolo, with a shovel to dig the graves for corrupt practices. His team would be there to lend a hand. The monthly Federal security funds to States would be rebranded…a portion of it rerouted to ameliorate certain economic and social ills clamoring for attention. Mr. Okolo has a dog in this fight; he would undo the leash, and let the dog sniff out remnants of sleaze still hanging around in the corridors, and in the crannies the human eyes couldn’t call out. Elect him, and you would begin to see the end of skulduggery. (corruption) Elect him, and the shenanigans (tricks) of State would disappear. This could be as joyous as the newlyweds; they had walked, slept in the vale of celibacy, waiting till they have tied the knot to break, well, the knot…consummate their relationship, that is. That would be the day the State would breathe freely; Anambra State would have found the one to slay the lion with his bare hands; Anambra State would hop into the wagon, clear-minded, no longer hopelessly hoping, thoughtfully awake from the snares of the most horrendous nightmare, because the wheels of the State are no longer under the control of incapable, extremely corrupt hands. The forty-one-year-old bad dream, dust-laden, would completely be eviscerated…and the State, under this new breed of a manager would sail effortlessly to that idyllic playground.

ELECT SIR DAMIAN CHIBUZO OKOLO, NOW!

♦ Don Okolo, Professor and filmmaker, is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News. He is the author of many books.

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