STANDING UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT

Emeka Nwajiuba has what it takes to lead Nigeria, writes Ibrahim Ahmed

The signs have always been there that he is a veritable highflier. For Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the 54-year-old lawyer and politician from Imo State, the journey to true fame began with the dawn of the Fourth Republic in 1999 when he was elected member of the House of Representatives as the voice of the good people of Okigwe North federal constituency. From that moment onwards he became popularly known in his wide circle of friends, supporters and well-wishers as “Honourable.”

But it was also obvious that the honorific, apt as it is, does not fully capture the essence of the man. Nwajiuba is an urbane gentleman of class and distinction driven by a compelling inclination for service toward the common good. He is a dyed-in-the-wool honest individual, the type commonly referred to as an open book. In him, what you see is what you get. Such men don’t come any better. At any given time, the testimonies of family, friends and associates as to the cogency of Nwajiuba’s character have been an affirmation of his enduring integrity and unflagging sense of purpose.

That belief in standing up for what is right and living by the highest of values is what Nwajiuba recently demonstrated when, without being propelled by any extraneous factor other than his commitment to strong moral and ethical principles, he resigned his position as the minister of state in the ministry of education. This was even before President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered all political appointees and public servants aspiring to offices in the 2023 election to resign their appointments.

The erstwhile minister of state is gunning for the presidency on the platform of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC).  His spontaneous resignation, which was widely applauded across the length and breadth of the country, is seen as an unprecedented action in the annals of the country’s political development. Of course Nwajiuba is every cell a Nigerian, and not many of his compatriots believed that an act as ennobling as officially tendering a resignation of appointment on principles without being prompted by anyone, can be consummated by any Nigerian, much less one holding a high public office.

But here was a gentleman named Nwajiuba bucking the trend and confounding the entire citizenry. The fact is the resignation means nothing to him than just being true to type in line with his innate character. A couple of days later, the president ordered those holding positions like Nwajiuba’s and are angling to contest in the next election to resign their positions. And one by one, this category of persons started throwing in the towel. But instead of being commended for heeding the president’s call, they were ignored and it was Nwajiuba that was being hailed in public as the one whose action spurred the president into giving the resignation order.

The full import of his resignation would resonate when the supreme court upholds the validity of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 which states that no political appointees at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of any candidates for the election. What this means is that since such an individual is not allowed by the provision of this section to be a delegate or be voted for in the party’s primaries, he or she cannot be candidate for an election.

The only way such individual would be a candidate is if he or she resigns before the primaries. And that exactly is what Nwajiuba, of all political appointees, has openly done. This means that should the legality of that section of the electoral law be upheld by the country’s highest court, political appointees who are yet to resign would be in violation of the law and Nwajiuba would be the only aspirant of the party – at least among the political appointees that can eliminate the risk of getting the Zamfara treatment.      

Nothing says Nwajiuba does not deserve all the high praises he is getting now. He has come a long way and paid his dues in politics to the point that aspiring to the highest office in the land will be a fitting denouement, a crowning glory to his political career. In 1999 when he was first elected to the lower parliament on the platform of All People’s Party (APP), he was sound enough to be appointed as chairman committee on land, housing and works. On three different occasions, on the platforms of APP in 2003, 2007 and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011 he contested for governorship of Imo State, but the rigged system could not make him succeed.

Not one given to sitting on setbacks, Nwajiuba soon found his range again. Elders of CPC and contemporaries, knowing his worth, picked him as secretary of the constitution drafting committee which produced the constitution of the merger committee that saw to the birth of APC in 2013. He was the coordinator if the political pressure group that bought the 2019 APC presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for President Buhari. Nwajiuba is a veritable ally of President Buhari, but somehow, he did not contest that year’s election on the APC platform. Instead, he contested on the platform of Accord Party (AP) and won election for the second time into the House of Reps to represent Okigwe North.

On the strength of his robust relationship with President Buhari, Nwajiuba was nominated as one of the ministers to be screened by the senate. Just then, he left AP and returned to APC. And since then, he has proven to be an adept, thoroughgoing actor on the theatre of governance. As minister of state in the education ministry, Nwajiuba had carried out his duties with the single-minded devotion of an unrepentant patriot. He had shown his most ardent loyalty to the principal and the country that gave him the opportunity to serve, and this he had done most conscientiously and heartwarmingly without blemish.

As a critical stakeholder in the education sector, Nwajiuba has contributed enormously to ensure that the lingering strike by university teachers under the aegis of Academic Staff of Universities (ASUU) is called off as soon as possible. Not only because he is a junior minister of education but because his children are also affected by the strike. Two of his children are at home as a result of the strike, so he is as much disturbed as parents or guardians whose children or wards are sitting idly at home instead of being in school. Yet, he has such tremendous faith in the country’s university education that none of his children is schooling or schooled overseas. Two of his children who are graduates attended universities in Nigeria.

Also through his efforts, school enrolment among children shot up appreciably with the number out-of-school children which was put at 13 million now said to have reduced by about four million to nine million at the time of his exit from office.

Now, by throwing his hat into the ring to contest the presidency, one thing is clear: Nwajiuba has made up his mind to take off from where President Buhari leaves off. He is an articulate and a focused young man who has what it takes to lead Nigeria. He does not belong to the monied class, but he has the experience that no amount of wealth can buy.

As the clamour for the presidency to be zoned to the south east continues to gain momentum, and with a horde of prominent Igbo politicians already staking their claims to this much coveted position, this is an opportune time to begin to look in the direction of the person who can do the job, the unpretentious smart kid from Ehime Mbano, in Imo State, with a doctorate degree in law and substantial capacity to make concrete difference in the lives of the Nigerian people. Among the lot, Nwajiuba is the only one holding the promise of a much secure, truly united and more prosperous Nigeria. And that’s why he truly matters as the country steadily inches toward 2023.       

Ahmed writes from Abuja