By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi
Looking at the number of politicians in Nigeria that play politics with neither ideology nor principle, it will not be characterized as hasty if one concludes that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist, had Nigerians, particularly politicians in mind, when he, many years ago, remarked that seven things which have to do with social and political conditions would destroy a man.
Gandhi, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign against the colonial master in India, named these seven sins to, include; Wealth Without Work, Pleasure Without Conscience, Knowledge Without Character, Commerce (Business), Without Morality (Ethics), Science Without Humanity, Religion Without Sacrifice, and Politics Without Principle.
Indeed, this piece need not search far to know that a great number of Nigerians are, in their social, economic, religious, moral and political endeavours, guilty of these sins.
While this state of affairs remains unpalatable as well as condemnable, there are, however, some hopeful signs that not all politicians in Nigeria are without principle.
Going by the recent news report that Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, a member of the People Democratic (PDP), lately threw his weight behind the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the forthcoming elections, barely 48 hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo released a six-page letter endorsing the former Anambra State governor, one will to a large extent believe that Ortom is among the very Nigerians that presently play politics, not for private gain but the purpose of the greater good for the greater number, politics laced in principle.
Governor Ortom, according to the report, strongly recommended Peter Obi to Nigerians as the man who has the capacity to effectively tackle the economic, security and other challenges facing the country, noting that Obi possesses the qualities of a leader who will be a true President of this country by guaranteeing justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians.
Essentially, apart from being reputed for possessing nation-building prowess and laced with a burning desire to see Nigeria transform into a nation where equity, justice and peace shall reign supreme, Ortom, by the latest declaration, has demonstrated that his sense of nationhood, public good, national cohesion and development is stronger than ethnic, religious and political consideration.
In addition to the above, there are other traceable indices and critical, creative leadership feats and ingenuity that vividly qualify Ortom as outstandingly famous in the present circumstance.
First, he is one of five aggrieved governors of the PDP known as the G5 or Integrity Group. Others are Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
The governors have refrained from campaigning for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, amid opposition to the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, coming from the same region as the standard bearer. Ortom in the opinion of this piece, is a believer in fairness, equity and justice.
Also remarkable is the fact that the Benue state Governor did not hide under the cloak of ‘party supremacy or anti-party activity in his presidential endorsement of Peter Obi.
Another area of interest that is worth commenting on is the news that the Governor threw his weight behind Obi of the Labour Party without minding whether such action would affect his (Ortom) senatorial ambition on the platform of the PDP.
Again, before the latest support to Mr Obi, Governor Ortom has scored so many firsts in the time past as a result of his well-foresighted leadership strategies.
Take, as an illustration, he spearheaded the anti-open grazing campaign. In the wake of the farmers/herders crisis across the country, many were against Governor Ortom’s position on the matter, as it were.
Like a prophet and a lone voice in the wilderness, he cried persistently that the need for solutions to insecurity has become more urgent at the present because the problem is far more serious now than it was a few years ago.
At a different time and place, he called on the Federal Government to address the deteriorating insecurity in the country, which manifests in killings, kidnappings, arson and other acts of banditry and terrorism.
Worsening the situation was the fact that his calls came at a time when someone outspoken, with a different set of ideas, values, or organizing techniques, was viewed as ‘the enemy within’. And the constructive debate is perceived as unnecessary, messy and divisive, and differing political ideas and strategies are perceived as destructive to the nation’s interest.
For Nigerians with critical minds, Governor Ortom’s ban on open grazing in his state is important because open grazing is the first line of conflict between herders and farmers. The friction caused untold hardship as farms worth millions were destroyed, and farmers were killed for resisting herders’ influx into their farmlands; consequently, many farmers were forced to flee from their farms, farm yields dimmed, and food inflation was gaining ground across the country.
Today, there is progress across the board. At the National Assembly, both the upper and lower chambers have finally seen reason and presently align with his position on insecurity in the country.
Ortom’s demonstration of objectivity, truth and patriotism in Peter Obi’s endorsement glaringly confirms that Leadership holds the key to unlocking the transformation question in Nigeria. Only a sincere and selfless leader and a politically and economically restructured polity brought about by national consensus can unleash the social and economic forces that can ensure the total transformation of the country and propel her to true greatness.
Without a doubt, the country, as Ortom recently argued, is on the verge of collapse, owing to leadership failure and its attendant consequences of poverty, heightened insecurity with banditry, kidnappings and other acts of terrorism threatening the very foundations of the nation.
Ortom may not be alone in the present circumstance as well-foresighted Nigerians have before now argued that the President that Nigeria needs at this challenging time in the country’s history should be one who understands the urgent need to unite the people and speedily initiate policies and actions to redirect the ship of the nation on the path of growth and development.
In line with the above belief, this piece, as usual, calls on Nigerians to use their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) to jettison the present socio-economic system that has bred corruption, inefficiency, primitive capital accumulation and socially excluded the vast majority of our people.
Just as the only way this can be done is to work to build a new social and political order that can mobilize the people around common interests, with visionary leadership to drive this venture. Only then can we truly begin to resolve some of the socio-economic contradictions afflicting the nation.
Finally, as noted in my earlier intervention, there are, in fact, two striking attributes worth mentioning that stand Ortom out; first and very fundamental, he is a national leader that is well respected by all.
Secondly, Ortom is among the few public office holders in the country that have played politics using global rules and dictates. He is, in the opinion of this piece, a clear thinker and belongs to the class of those that can cull everything down into the right points irrespective of political divides.
Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He can be reached via [email protected]/08032725374