Commentary: Good Times For Anambra State Under Obiano

^{WRITTEN BY CHRIS IFEANACHO}
Though every election in Anambra State is hotly contested, political analysts say, with the latest development, the November 18, 2017,

gubernatorial election may well be a walkover for the ruling party in the state. Obiano was, from Day One, bound to win—what with every town union, every church, every traders’ association and even the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) endorsing him! But the margin of victory is likely to be much greater now, thanks to the Agbaso-led conspiracy which has ended up making the governor appear like a very tough nut to crack.
Obiano is a good example of what American political analysts would call a comeback kid. A comeback kid is today’s equivalent of what the ancient Greeks knew to refer to as Phoenix. Phoenix is the mythical bird which dies but rises from its ashes after every 500 years and gets even stronger. Two American presidents in recent years who are frequently referred to as comeback kids are Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Incidentally, the two leaders, like Obiano, excelled in economic management.
Clinton, for instance, brought down the unemployment rate from around 9% to 3% per annum. So, when Clinton was campaigning for reelection in 2000, his team played on the theme “these are good times for America”, which echoed a popular American music number in the 1980s. Obama’s economic achievements can be summarized this way: “The man who saved the American auto industry which was on the brink of bankruptcy and also ended the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929”. Despite their spectacular economic achievements, both presidents faced considerable obstacles in their reelection bids. Nevertheless, they made it in a big way.
On his part, Obiano has performed in a way which has brought pride to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), of which the governor is not just a member but also a Fellow and Patron. When he led an ICAN delegation last February to Government House Awka, the immediate past ICAN president, Titus Soetan, proudly announced that Anambra was one of the four most viable states in the country, beating most oil-producing states. Far from hearing of owing workers, which is the situation in 28 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, Anambra is the only state to have increased workers’ salaries in about five years. Employees of the state Water Corporation, who were owed about two billion naira over the years, have long been rehabilitated.
The six thousand teachers and civil servants hired on the eve of the present administration are among those who regularly receive enhanced salaries before every month end. The state never asked for bailouts like even big oil-producing states and has never received because there was no need for it.
Grievances by medical doctors which led to their being on strike for over one year in the previous administration have been addressed effectively. Employees of the state media who did not receive their gratuities and pensions over the decades have heaved a sigh of relief with a promise by the governor to settle the backlog of their entitlements.
 The Anambra State Teaching Hospital, which could not get accreditation for almost nine years from the Nigerian Medical and Dental Registration Council due to lack of adequate staff, equipment and facilities, is now even training medical consultants, thanks to Obiano! There is no need to mention Anambra’s exploits in education, agriculture, security, industrialization, mass housing development, infrastructure, among others. Unlike many other states, there has not been any financial scandal under Obiano. A state governor was reported to have used the state’s share of the Paris Club refund to build private businesses.  These are, indeed, good times for Anambra State.
Thank God that a grand plan to frustrate Obiano did not yield any dividend; it rather ended up in smoke. They have only succeeded in making Governor Obiano very invincible every inch of the way. They may however, still try another trick. But it will surely fail again and again.