By Reuben Onyishi
(Ugoachataberu)
Opposition politics is good when played with patriotic and progressive mindedness. The opposition points to that which the administration may not have had right. There is no absolute perfection with human beings. So, the opposition is expected to constructively point at the little foxes that may beset the government.
For us in Enugu State, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, by his nature and training as a lawyer, is a very meticulous person. Mbah, by his own experience, coming from an excellent private sector background with uncommon antecedents, has earned the trust and legitimacy of the people of Enugu State. He is a highly cerebral, creative, thoughtful, and wise person.And these have found clear expressions in his sterling performance in office as the Executive Governor of Enugu State within nine months. Mbah could simply be said to look very well before he leaps. This could be seen even in the crafting of his manifesto, which he gingerly implements with religious devotion. So, Enugu is exceptionally lucky its governor takes care to examine issues before committing to them. Mbah is given to efficient and effective management of both human and material resources with the aim to achieve economy and optimal output. So, he has made the job for a would-be constructive opposition easy.
So, why do the heathens rage and imagine vain things? Is it actually for want of what else to say or criticise that the brand of opposition in Enugu State would weave fiction, fantasy, make-believe, downright lies, and unseemly falshoods so brazenly? They churn out cheap propaganda so mischievously in algebraic quantum. They apparently behave as those in a mission to destroy that which they could not get and go about it with infantile gusto. Where then is the sense of sportsmanship required in the game of politics? If the aim is to serve the people, the opposition should realize it does a great service to the people should it engage in objective and constructive criticism of the government. But then, we all know what drives the opposition, such as we have in Enugu State. They are desperate, overambitious, vindictive, and childish in their scramble for power. They have neither altruistic nor patriotic disposition. It is all about selfish quest for power and unfettered access to the common till for self.
The latest fancy of the said Enugu opposition is the fiction that Governor Mbah attends to his visitors via Zoom. It actually beats imagination how these folks come up with such imaginative concoction of lies that they circulate on social media. Unfortunately, even as they lack in verisimilitude, semblance of truth, some persons with greater gullibility and innocence believe them to be true. How could anybody believe this false claim when Mbah attends to his visitors physically either in his office or at his conference room?
We have yet to have a day when the commissioners’ room was not filled to the brim as the stewards serve the governor’s visitors waiting to see him, while the ADC would run up and down the stairs processing and ushering the visitors in turn before the presence of the governor. Governor Mbah might be enamoured of the innovation technology offers, but as a listening governor who wants to feel the pulse of the people, the innovation Zoom may offer does not substitute the aesthetic immediacy of physical presence, the emotions and communication that flow through the paralanguages like countenance, eye contact, gesticultion and so on. Governor Mbah knows and appreciates this. A good leader knows the right tool to employ in governance, and Mbah is an embodiment of good leadership.
The fantasy of Zoom meeting is laced in pejorative terms to give the impression the governor brashly dismisses his visitors via Zoom. Far be it from a governor who enjoys the love of his people, having performed so wonderfully well within less than one year in office. For a leader who has excelled in the private sector as Mbah, relationship management is an effective tool in his hands. So, the imputation of arrogance, which is the intent of the spurious narrative, does not obtain, as Mbah is soft-spoken and humble, and so has no reason to treat his visitors with such arrogant brashness and disdain as mischiviously alleged.
Those who sank in this lie have got to exorcise it off them. Governor Mbah attends to his visitors and does not see anyone via Zoom. The people of Enugu State should discountenace this claim, which is the handiwork of mischievous elements hibernating at the dead end of a ruinous political misadventure, in the name of opposition politics.
