By Ugorji O. Ugorji
In the Anambra State gubernatorial election scheduled for Saturday, November 6, 2021, no incumbent will be running for re-election. Governor Willie Obiano has done his bit and is getting ready to walk into the sunset of his governorship. He has endorsed a candidate in the name of the formidable Professor Charles Soludo, but I am profoundly doubtful that he (Soludo) would benefit much from that fact.
This was why the debate organized and hosted by Arise TV on Monday, November 1, 2021, was as important as it was interesting. The organizers were right in concluding that the three nominees they had on the stage – Andy Uba of the APC, Charles Soludo of APGA, and Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP – were the most likely to win, but I would have added Ifeanyi Ubah of the YPP in that mix. He (Ifeanyi Ubah) is the only other candidate not on stage that has a chance of surprising all of us on Election Day. I watched all three or so hours of the debate. And a real debate it turned out to be (to the credit of the moderators), instead of a joint appearance that I feared it would be.
The Igbo admire very smart people and very successful people. We had both characteristics on stage at that debate, albeit to varying degrees. But the Igbo generally speaking is weary of behemoths. In other words, when it comes to leadership of an election or selection type, the Igbo is suspicious of the very rich and the very intellectual type.
No one on that stage was going to match the intellectual heft of Soludo. Just about everyone knew that going in, including the other candidates. The good professor did not disappoint at that level. However, he presented himself as a condescending, almost petty intellectual behemoth. He was not interested at all in playing down his advantages. A “know-it-all” was what came across, which all very smart people face as a charge, fairly or unfairly. But the contest is for governorship, not for a professorship or Vice Chancellorship of an elite university.
Andy Uba on the other hand, came with the behemoth of the ruling party at the center, APC – a party that can smell another state in Igbodom turning APC, with Onwa Oyoko (Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State) leading the party’s national push for victory in Anambra State. Seemingly cognizant of this fact, I think Senator Uba came to the debate with a strategy to appear vulnerable and approachable. His answers were straight to the point and short. His demeanor and countenance were that of a man willing to learn and willing to accept ideas from others in the state. In other words, viewers walked away with an image of a man who came in with low debating expectations, performed above expectations, and disarmed the notion of a behemoth party behind him. He knew, better than the other two, that where the tiger must signify is on Election Day and at the post-election legal battles that are sure to come.
At the end of the day, Andy Uba accomplished just about all he set out to do – stood on the same stage with candidates (Soludo and Ezigbo) who brought seemingly superior resumes, but who do not quite understand the electorate. By executing the strategy of vulnerability, Andy Uba set the stage for his victory on Election Day.
...Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji is an award-winning writer and publisher. He writes from Owerri. NNL.