BY
ETHELBERT OKERE
A fellow recently told me that he read an article in the internet in which the author was attacking me for eulogising one of our very best, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, in an earlier article I did on the occasion of his 70th birthday anniversary last September. According to this fellow, the synopsis of the article was that the writer believes that Igbo politicians of that age bracket have lost relevance and should be phased out. Of course, by every measure, Chief Arthur Nzeribe, about whom I write today, is not only in the same age bracket with Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu but both are also of the same calibre, politically, socially and what have you. To be sure, not a few people hold the same view as the internet writer in question but yours sincerely is decidedly one of those who hold a contrary view; and I am ready to stand entirely alone on this matter if that becomes necessary.
Rather than give up, I will continue to try to convert all those on the other side of the divide to my (our) own side. And here, the main reason is that those who hold that view (that the older generation of Igbo politicians have lost relevance and should be phased out) do so because they (the cynics) believe that the more elderly folks are standing on their way to political stardom. That is, of course, very unreasonable apart from that it clearly delineates anybody holding such a view as lazy; and certainly, stardom is not for lazy people even in the Nigeria context where it is so cheap. After all, we have among us younger elements that have risen to political eminence not withstanding the presence of the older politicians.
In the case of Senator Nzeribe, the subject of this article, he even stood for election against a fellow thrice younger than him and was ‘defeated’ by that fellow. The irony actually is that those younger elements, who see the older ones as an obstacle, also discover that almost always, they lack the courage to ignore the so-called old men in pursuit of their own career. The moment any young fellow begins to nurse a political ambition, whether elective or appointive, the first thing that would occur to him or her, rightly or wrongly, is to approach the older politicians for endorsement. And once they get there, they would discover that it is members of their own peer group (not the older elements) that constitute their nemesis.
They soon discover that it is peer group jealousy that is their main headache. The younger politicians also soon discover that, unlike the older ones, members of their peer group are not ready to give them any benefit of doubt. Rather, the political office holder would quickly discover that his or her worst critics are members of his or her own peer group. It is they (members of his or her peer group) that bandy all sorts of lies about the public officer; in tandem with the pull him down syndrome. And soon, they start running back to the older ones for succour, for wise counsel.
Not being one myself, I am aware that some younger politicians would see my view as “naïve”, coming from a non politician. They would tell me that because I am not in “the field”, I wouldn’t “understand”. Still, I am aware that politician or not, (I do not even want to be seen as one) it is a well known fact that any community where there are no elders remains doomed. There is no society where elderly and experienced once are seen as irrelevant. As I said earlier, it is only the lazy one that sees the elderly as an obstacle. I have since formed a personal habit of praying for longevity for our more elderly politicians especially on the occasion of their birthday anniversaries; the main reason being that I strongly believe that there is still very much needed. And in the instant case, I am joining other well meaning Nigerians to wish Chief, Senator Francis Arthur Nzeribe many more years of fruitful existence on earth.
The truth is that it is we non-politicians that are better placed to score the elderly and younger groups of politicians. And here, one incontrovertible fact remains that the younger elements are too busy that they hardly have time to seat down and reflect. Being younger and, therefore, full of energy, they are always in the “battled field”, slogging it out with their equally young rivals. They are always plotting strategies, which often boarder on the use of physical and materials prowess to out wit their opponents. It is rare to see young politicians, especially in my part of the country, employ intellectual propositions and prognosis as a way of getting across. And when they do, it is with so much obtuseness and abysmal lack of grasp of the issues at stake.
We even have a recent example involving Senator Nzeribe himself. Sometime in the month August, 2012, Senator Nzeribe published an article titled “The Rudderless Government In Imo State”. That article was one of the finest, in terms of the boldness, incisiveness and analytical presentation; I have ever come across on the goings-on in our dear Imo state since May 2011.
In just half a page of a newspaper, Nzeribe, a 74 year old grand father, was able to put across his views and position so succinctly that it, the article, became the main topic of discussion among well meaning and knowledgeable Imo citizens for several weeks. But interestingly, when the media handlers of Governor Rochas Okorocha, whose administration the senator had very harsh words for, found time to do a rejoinder (after over three weeks) they ended up with ten (10) full newspapers pages!.
From my inquiries, the average age of Governor Okorocha’s media handlers is about 40. Is it not sheer absurdity that what a 74-year old man could dismiss in an article of half a page, some 40-year old folks took ten newspaper pages to reply. And given the sheer volume and verbosity of the latter’s article, it goes without saying that only very few people must have taken the trouble to read it; which means that the Okorocha people ended up wasting their time and resources in doing a rejoinder to the Ogbuagu.
This is just one example. It is the type of thing that happens daily in sundry spheres of public life: where so-called younger people display abysmal lack of articulation. I have said nothing here to suggest that the more elderly politicians are to be preferred to the younger one. Far from it. I, myself, am of the generation well below that of Nzeribe but I am not reluctant, at all, to say that the older politicians have a lot of good attributes that are lacking in the younger ones. And to make matters worse, the circumstances are such that the younger elements find it difficult to cultivate such positive attributes.
Take the issue of relating with members of the public or political followers. It is one area the younger politicians must go for tutorials from Arthur Nzeribe in particular. I have said it several times before that I find in Senator Nzeribe attributes which make me to always say: “I wish I were like Arthur Nzeribe”. His comportment is legendry. As far as I am concern, Senator Nzeribe is one of the most humble fellows I have ever come across. He would not mind arriving at an occasion and staying all through un-recognise. But can you try that with a ward councillor? For where? He wouldn’t waste your time waiting to see him once it is on appointment. In fact, it is on record that no body waits for more than ten minutes to see Arthur Nzeribe even without a prior appointment.
I once told a fellow who listened with total disbelief that you could literarily kill a human being and bury the corpse with Senator Nzeribe in just ten minutes. Its sounds hyperbolic but I use it to illustrate the fact that, unlike the more elderly ones, the younger elements would keep their political followers waiting for a whole day for a matter that wouldn’t last for more than ten minutes. They will give appointments to anybody who wishes to and end up hiding from the same people. Agreed, there could be the problem of pressure from so many people needing attention but then, this type of problem has always been there. How did Nzeribe and others of his calibre handle it?
Senator Nzeribe’s legendry knack for keeping to time on everything he is involved in is certainly not an attribute he developed yesterday. It is something he developed as a younger man and I see nothing that makes the younger polictians of today busier than a fellow like Arthur Nzeribe was in his younger days.
It is, for example, not a secret that while at the senate, Arthur Nzeribe had the record of being the most punctual to plenary sessions and, indeed, other events that required his presence. This is to say nothing of the fact that he was one of the most visible senators in the national assembly and that he approached issues with a lot of candour and originality that made his long tenure in the senate a very remarkable one worthy of emulation. As a matter of fact, it is tempting to wonder if the shoes Nzeribe will be leaving behind are not too big for those after him to step into. But the Senator emeritus has nothing to worry about. The fellow there now, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has shown that he can foot the bill. And this is wishing Senator, Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe, Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Demanze, many more years of fruitful earthly sojourn.
