Democracy Day: Willie Obiano's Speech

 …Hope in the middle of Despair

A DEMOCRACY DAY MESSAGE TO NDI ANAMBRA BY HIS EXCELLENCY, CHIEF WILLIE OBIANO ON MAY 29, 2014

Fifteen years ago when democracy took roots in our shores,

Nigeria was a wasteland of dead and dying dreams. Like the Biblical Israelites, we had wandered in the wilderness of dictatorship for many years with only occasional glimpses of democracy. Our youths fled Nigeria in droves to known and unknown places across the globe in pursuit of a better future.

Unemployment raged like a harmattan wind and all over the country, there was fear and uncertainty.

But all that changed on May 29, 1999. That was the day the seed of the present democratic tree whose fruits we have enjoyed in the last 15 years, was sown.  That was also the day the seed of our tree of liberty was planted. 

Ndi Anambra, as we commemorate that day today, we stand under the soothing protective shadow of that tree. We raise our heads together as one beyond the present dark clouds that gather in the horizon of our collective freedom and affirm our faith in a united and free Nigeria. 

Ndi Anambra and fellow Nigerians, in the last five years we have watched in utter horror as the dark designs of the merchants of terror eat away at the very foundations of our liberty. We are astonished at their wanton violation of the age-old respect for the sanctity of human life as well as their brazen disregard of all civilized conventions of armed conflict that emphasize the protection of women and children at all times and in all situations. With every new act of terror, it becomes clearer to us that a season of anomie has set upon us and we need faith in each other to see the next day. Every new bomb that explodes in the streets is a huge test to our democracy and the freedom it brings.

But let me assure Ndi Anambra that we shall survive this hurricane! Fellow Nigerians, we shall win this war! When we look around and see how the rest of humanity has reacted to every bomb that has exploded in Nigeria, we are assured of our eventual triumph over these turbulent times.

When we stand still and listen to the chant of school children across the world imploring these terrorists in the Sambisa Forest to Bring Back our Girls, we find courage in the kinship of the human community.

When we pause and ponder over the great efforts and commitment of the federal government to this struggle, when we hear the soothing assurances of the United States of America, the UK, France, China and all of Nigeria’s friends and allies, we become more certain that eventually, the light of liberty shall fall on this present darkness.

We are reminded that we are not alone; and that a threat to human freedom somewhere is a threat to human dignity everywhere. We are assured that one day; HOPE will rise once again from the present DESPAIR!

Our belief is reinforced by the fact that almost every known climate of oppression in human history has eventually given way to the bright sunlight of freedom. I remember Apartheid, I remember Iraq under Saddam Hussein, I remember Libya under Ghadaffi and a many other cases of man’s inhumanity to his kind that seemed like they would never pass away at some point. Boko Haram and its sponsors and promoters shall eventually pass away and Nigeria shall be free again!

Coming back home, my beloved Anambra cuts the picture of a peculiar case study. Our experience is not unlike the general anomie that has beset the country in recent times. For several unbroken years, Ndi Anambra were victims of organized crime. Daredevil Criminal gangs prowled our streets and communities, robbing us blind and holding their fellow human beings in captivity in exchange for ransom. For years, my people lived in fear – not fear of the unknown or the fear of strangers but the fear of our own brothers and sisters who for the love of hot cash and instant gratification have decided to point their guns backwards. While the climate of fear they unleashed on us prevailed, our freedom died. It died hard!

Ndi Anambra, our situation is different today. When you look heavenwards, you will see that the sky over Anambra is blue. The people who once denied Ndi Anambra a peaceful sleep are either on the run or in captivity. Those who denied us freedom are presently having a taste of their own medicine because as Abraham Lincoln once said “those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God, cannot long retain it.”

We have launched a long term offensive against their command and control centers, against their warehouses and hideouts and against the obscene proceeds of their business of blood. We are rooting out drug dealers from their secret cells and cutting off their supply lines, and we are making life miserable for armed robbers, car snatchers, human traffickers and gang-leaders in Onitsha and Nnewi that extort money from innocent people. 

We have recorded huge victories against the forces that ate away the margins of our freedom.  In all of this, we are making a loud statement; that crime does not give anyone a long term benefit! At the same time, we are also working at replacing the guns in the hands of our youths with offer letters for jobs and seed monies for small scale business. We have commenced a data capturing exercise that will provide us a rich statistics on our youths with a view to matching their skills to job openings. I urge the idle youths among us to turn around today and head to their local government headquarters and participate in this registration exercise.

Ndi b’anyi, let me re-assure you today that there is hope for Anambra State! My team and I are resolved to ensure that you get the full benefits of democracy and justify the confidence you reposed in me when you cast your votes for APGA in November last year.

After chasing away kidnappers and armed robbers from our midst to create a conducive environment for progress, we have begun to implement my Economic Blueprint for Anambra State. We have opened up access roads to the agricultural belt and launched an agricultural revolution with the provision of seedlings and mechanized farming equipment.

We have flagged off the construction of a bridge across Omambala River to the oil field of Anambra State. We are lining up incentives that will attract more investments to our emerging Oil and Gas sector. We have concluded plans to remodel our markets and transform Onitsha into a leading industrial center. We have perfected plans to build a tourist hotel near the famous Ogbunike cave and to develop the cave into a major tourist attraction and relaxation spot.

Ndi Anambra we have also inaugurated a Board for the development of Awka into a modern city that will be the envy of all progressive people. We have set up an investment promotions and development board to harness the entrepreneurial drive of our people. We have held fruitful deliberations with our numerous industrialists and extracted vital commitments from them to invest in the state. We have launched Operation Keep Anambra Clean as well as Operation Zero Potholes to reclaim our environment from immediate decline. We have also obtained a licence to build a cargo airport in Nsugbe to meet the growing needs of our business communities.

Ndi Anambra, my administration has done so many other things that time would not permit me to tell you at this moment but I have no doubt that in the coming days, the picture will become clearer to everyone.

Ndi b’anyi, this democracy has given us so much that we now have a historical responsibility to preserve it for our children and their own children after them. I implore you to report any suspicious movement in your community and neighbourhood to the police. In doing this, let us be reminded that according to Wendell Phillips, famous American abolitionist, “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

At this juncture, I wish to commend President Goodluck Jonathan for attracting the sympathy and support of Nigeria’s many friends to the current efforts to bring back our girls. Once again, I appeal to Ndi Anambra to remain steadfast in our prayers for the peaceful reuniting of the Chibok girls to their parents and loved ones.

We are in a delicate situation that makes an extra-ordinary demand on our patience and faith. Let us avoid all actions and utterances that will unwittingly hand victory or a sense of fulfilment over to terrorists.

God bless Anambra State

God bless Nigeria

Chief Willie Obiano

Executive Governor