“Flavour went to Enugu apparently because the governor paid no attention to him” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
A few days ago, one of Nigeria’s, nay, Africa’s finest and biggest musicians, Chinedu Okoli, more popularly known as Flavour, buried his late father, Elder Benjamin Onyemaechi Okoli. Flavour is from Umunze in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State. But shockingly, while the interment of Elder Benjamin Okoli was held at Umunze, the celebration of life was moved to Enugu. Flavour quietly came into Anambra to bury his father on the 5th of June, and thereafter went to Enugu to celebrate his father’s long and eventful life. So, all the dignitaries and entertainment bigwigs that attended the funeral went to Enugu. Flavour took what would have been Anambra’s shine to Enugu. What would an intentional chief marketer have done?
First, to think Governor Soludo could miss this opportunity to exploit Flavour’s soft power extensively is scandalous at many levels. One, the security state in Aguata and Orumba is of immense concern. Many villages in Aguata and Orumba are still sparsely occupied, while many others live in fear of gunmen irregular visitation, and oppression. These security concerns are out in the public domain and de-market the state’s efforts to secure lives and properties under this administration. Orumba South in particular has sundry cases of numerous security breaches being a boundary town. However, the government had always claimed that it is now on top of the security situation in the state and people are now free to move about and carry on with their legitimate activities. This burial gave the governor a rare opportunity to show that indeed Anambra is free from all criminal invasion and occupation. But he missed that opportunity. What really happened was that Flavour just came in and after committing the remains of his father to the ground in Umunze, he ran to Enugu for the burial. Imagine if the governor had taken full advantage of the burial and had played host to Africa’s biggest musicians, friends, and allies of Flavour who would come into the state for the burial. Imagine the amount of goodwill he would have gained. This is a lost opportunity for the governor to make his case. It’s also a lost opportunity for so many business and economic advantages that naturally follow such convergence of high-flying entertainers.
Now, there is another angle to this. Yes, there are security concerns. However, an assurance from the governor as the Chief Security Officer of the State would have sufficed and would have boosted the confidence of people attending the burial in Anambra State. So, well, Flavour went to Enugu. It’s not as if he went to Abuja or Lagos because of security issues in the Southeast. No, he went to Enugu to continue the burial ceremonies. So, why didn’t he do it in Awka if he went to Enugu? Okay, yes, Flavour was raised in Enugu, which is like home to him. Now, that is the exact problem. It would appear that in the case in point, Governor Soludo does not know what to do with what he has if such excuses can suffice for a chief marketing officer. Enugu has a natural advantage over Anambra for many reasons, but a strategic marketer goes into the market and takes his own market share irrespective of the advantages others may have over him. Flavour went to Enugu apparently because the governor paid no attention to him and no serious marketer would not do anything within his powers to court a worthy Anambra State ambassador like Flavour.
The fact is that Governor Soludo has gained a reputation as someone who is set in his own ways, or one who deals with certain kinds of people, or who conducts himself in a particular way. These are within his personal liberty as a person. But as a leader, and one who refers to himself as the chief marketer of the state, is it correct by any possible assessment that such an opportunity offered by the burial of Flavour’s father would have gone by with the state unable to convert it to its own advantage? Another part of this is that the governor might have created an impression with his confessed commitment to the State Burial Law. People like Flavour may just need some kind of interface, as they are unwilling to run into trouble. The reality, however, is that what the governor may feel has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Flavour has stupendous influence power, and relevance which the state needs to convert. Any governor especially in Western Nigeria would do anything humanly possible to make Flavour continue the burial ceremonies in his state rather than take it elsewhere. The mileage such affiliations give can hardly be ignored by the world. But Anambra under Soludo feels differently.
Even if Flavour had decided to do the funeral ceremonies in Enugu after the interment in Anambra State, the governor would have still influenced him to do it in Anambra in the state’s interest. These things are important and put the state forward. Worst case, the funeral festivities would have been conducted in Anambra and Enugu.
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