WRITTEN BY MAZI SAM OHUABUNWA
Very often in Nigeria, things do not obey any rules or logic. And there is no where this is more evident than in politics.

Elsewhere in the World, it may be easy to predict electoral results, but not so easy in Nigeria. This is because the most popular candidate may never win, the richest candidate who spends most may never win and sometimes the candidate chosen by the majority of the people may never win.
The just concluded gubernatorial election in Anambra State that returned Governor Willie Obiano for a second term disproved many things while proving few others. First, Willie won in all the 21 local government areas of the State with very significant margins. This is an unusual development. To see a contestant win the highest votes in all councils and essentially in all communities is historic. Tribal, ethnic and other parochial considerations are critical factors in Nigeria’s electoral history. The Voters in Anambra have proven that we can rise above these petty considerations and vote for a candidate. This is an important lesson for Nigeria.
The second lesson is that performance counts. No matter what anybody may say to the contrary, working Willie worked. In Anambra, only the blind would have failed to see Willie’s prodigious accomplishments. No doubt, the most critical and reliable way to predict what a man can do in future is to look at what he had done in the past. The people of Anambra saw the much Obiano had done and concluded that he could do better, if given another opportunity. So, all those politicians in Nigeria who are looking for another term come 2019, must work harder now to show results.
Thirdly is that Willie connected to the grassroots. He was at every community event and he danced. His love for the culture of Ndi Anambra was palpable. He capped his community consciousness with the 181 community choose your project initiative. That is taking governance and its dividends to the grass root. This innovation truly endeared Obiano to all the communities culminating in his electoral victory in all the LGAs.
So all those politicians who remain aloof and hold their communities in disdain need to learn a lesson or two from Willie. You can hardly go wrong if you remain with the people.
Fourthly, campaign for serious political office must not be something for the short run. A few months to an election, you begin to set up structures and then begin to run from pillar to post, criss-crossing the constituency with music and dance, hiring crowd. Willie Obiano began the campaign for his second term from his first day in office. The results showed, hence he was able to dust all those who came into the race only a few months ago.
Fifth, Obiano cut plenty of deals. Evidence was the unusual support and commitment of very key political figures in Anambra State. People like Ezeife, Ifeanyi Uba, Ukachukwu, Soludo and others campaigned much more than they did when they themselves ran for office. The deals surely worked.
Sixth, it had been the hall mark of Nigerian politics that no one loses an election clean and square. They were always cheated and rigged out. That is why post election litigation in Nigeria is an industry that creates legal and judicial billionaires. But here, within 24 hours of the declaration of the final results of the election, all the candidates called to congratulate Obiano. They certainly did not do so out of fear of the possible break down of law and order as Jonathan did in 2015. They did so because INEC conducted a free and fair election. The contestants saw that they lost, neat and clear. The powers in Abuja allowed the best candidate to win. So the lesson is that Nigerian elections can end at the ballot rather than in the Supreme Court, if the powers that be allow the people to freely make their choices.

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