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The Anambra state saga is like the story of a little girl who was kidnapped by a strange woman. The little girl wept profusely as the woman seized her from her birth mother and made her getaway. She was taken to a small town far away where the woman started raising her. Initially, the little girl cried on a daily basis but as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, it became clear to her that the woman was very interested in her welfare. She pampered her like she had never known before and provided her with everything she needed. Soon, the memory of how she ended up with the woman, in the first place, began to recede and was replaced with a very favorable disposition towards the woman. Eventually, the little girl calmed down, settled in the town, made some friends and began to move on with her life.

A few years later, the girl was discovered in the town and was taken away by the police while her new "mother" was sent to jail. As preparations were being made to re-unite her with her birth mother, everyone expected her to be giddy with joy but she was not. Although she liked the idea of once again reuniting with her true mother and taking up her true identity, she was torn. The woman that was now headed for jail had given her a level of love she had never known and she was sad to see her go even though she was ready to welcome her real mother with open hands. The little girl saw her predicament as a lose - lose one. She hoped for a miracle that could bring both women into her life at the same time. That way, she would have the best of both worlds.

Anambra state citizens can be likened to the little girl. They were forced into the hands of Dr Ngige, a man they did not vote for. In the beginning, they cried foul and wished that the federal government would award the governorship position to the rightful winner, Mr. Obi. This did not happen because PDP was very busy manipulating the nation and consolidating power across its depth and breadth. The party, with the help of police authorities like the late Igeh and Balogun, engaged in all manners of electoral malpractices and fraud just to hold on to power. But as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the people of the state discovered that the man they did not vote for had by accident or serendipity become their savior. He made the payment of workers' and pensioners' salaries a priority. When that was regularized, he took steps to flush out the gangrenous decay of ghost worker syndrome that had been in the state for a long time. This freed up a lot of money for the state. Finally, he embarked on road projects that had been abandoned or neglected by previous administrations. All these endeared the diminutive man to the hearts of the citizens. What previous administrations said they could not do had been done by a man that did not even have the people's mandate. At this point though, just like the little girl in the above story, Anambra state citizens had started looking past how Ngige got to the governorship position. They instead concentrated on the good work he was doing for them. That informed the solidarity actions of the citizens when subsequent attempts were made again to oust him from power.

It must be said that even with all the good things Dr Ngige was doing, there was this longing, sometimes tacitly, by a section of the citizenry, for justice to be done. The group felt that he should still vacate office in the interest of equity and democracy. On his own part, Mr. Obi, the winner of the election, waited patiently while the turtle-motion tribunal deliberated on the case he filed against Ngige. Finally, 23 moths later, the tribunal delivered its verdict. It was the right verdict but come too late and with a lot of costs. It is tearing the people of Anambra state apart again as they pondered, like the little girl in the story above, what a change in administration midstream would portend for them.

People who are rooting for Ngige are afraid that even though they may have voted for Peter Obi in 2003, he is yet untested in the murky waters of Anambra state politics. They fear that he may capitulate under the powerful influence of the godfathers of the state and therefore send them back to status quo antebellum when salaries were owed and roads crumbled without attention. They essentially argue that a bird at hand was worth two or more in the bush.

While every well meaning person would want democracy to be enthroned, it should be easy to understand the mindset of the people who still want Ngige, especially those that are on ground zero in Anambra state. It is them that would feel the full impact of an abrupt change in government. This writer spoke to a teacher in Anambra state right after the verdict was rendered. She was near tears and said that they were praying for Dr Ngige to be left alone to "finish the good work he started" Such sentiments are not always expressed in favor of someone who usurped a position but the unique nature of this case has caused it just like it did in the case of the little girl.

Peter Obi undoubtedly won the 2003 elections. Some have argued that they voted for him not because he had any track record of performance, but because the party was headed by Ikemba Nnewi. If one toes that line of reasoning, then one could argue that Obi's victory was a mere affirmation, by the people of the state, of their love for the man that protected them when push came to shove in 1967 - the man called the Lion of Biafra or Ikejiejemba Nnewi. Why Obi won the election is however a non issue. He won fair and square but was denied his due by PDP political machinery with Uba at the helm. Even though this writer is one of those that feels like the girl in the story above, hoping that by some miracle, these two men can combine their assets and move the great state of Anambra forward, it is clear that it will not happen. It is therefore with a heavy heart that this writer is advising Dr Ngige to bow to the ruling and take the high road. Granted, he got to that position by a foul means but posterity will ever remember him for all he has done for the state. Whilst it is his constitutional right to appeal this case, an appeal would not lead him anywhere. Engaging in a protracted court battle will not only diminish his achievements, but will also subject the people of the state to unnecessary suffering. Ngige has so far served them well and if he leaves the stage now that the ovation is loudest, come 2007, if he vies again, he may well become a legitimate governor with a legitimate mandate to complete all he started, assuming that Mr. Obi falls short.

On the part of Peter Obi, no one should fault him for seeking to reclaim the mandate he clearly won. It is his due and inalienable right. However, he has an uphill battle. Governor Ngige has set the bar of performance, in Anambra state, very high. If Obi wants any modicum of respect or cooperation from the people, he must continue with all the developments so far started. He must continue to pay salaries to workers and pensioners alike. He must continue to build roads. He must hold meaningful local government elections and begin tackling the seeming intractable problem of urban decay and dirtiness in Anambra state especially in places like Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka and the rest. He must begin to tackle the issue of erosion which is threatening many towns in the state. The greatest problem he will face is the pack of wolves that seek to influence governance in Anambra state with money. He must reject their influence and hold fast to the key to the treasury.

Mr. Obi must be wise enough to realize that his victory at the tribunal is not a sign of love or affection from PDP machinery or Obasanjo. The party is merely trying to get rid of one of their own that they saw as errant. They are therefore willing to sacrifice that position albeit temporarily. Clearly, if Ngige had toed PDP line and did what Uba and the rest wanted him to do, Obi would have lost his case at the tribunal. In view of all these, he must hearken to the biblical admonition of, "know thyself" He must not forget how Obasanjo dangled the prospects of Chief Ojukwu going to the national conference and speaking for the Igbos before the nation. With that, he was able to secure the Chief's support for the national conference. When time came for the conference, Obasanjo looked elsewhere for representatives, gathering people who would dance to his tunes. He knew that Ikemba Nnewi would speak his mind. This display of deceit should always be in the back of Mr. Obi's mind if and when he begins to deal with the party that would do everything to cling to power.

Mr. Obi should realize that the people who enthroned and dethroned Ngige are still parading the state, mapping out the best strategy to wrest power from APGA. The party still has a stranglehold on the state legislature where they dominate. They may decide to frustrate him by ensuring that all his programs are still born unless he plays to their tune. Will Obi capitulate under pressure? Only time will tell. Some have argued that if he did not sing to the tune of the PDP machinery, they would find a reason to begin impeachment proceedings. This may sound far-fetched but one would not put anything past the party of greed and deceit.

This writer would not fail to express displeasure at the fact that events, including this latest one, have shown that Nigeria is not really a democracy but a benevolent dictatorship with Obasanjo at the helm. No one would convince this writer that the tribunal was devoid of presidential influence. Would they have ruled the same way had Ngige remained a loyal son of PDP? If the answer is yes, then I would be willing to take them to task here. I earlier mentioned that Peter Obi won because of the influence of Ikemba Nnewi. If that argument is true, then it follows that the people of the state did not only vote for APGA at the governorship level. They must also have voted for APGA at the state legislature level. Why is it therefore that the state legislature is still populated by PDP men and women? If the tribunal is forthright and devoid of presidential influence, they should also nullify the results of those elections and hand the legislature mandates to APGA members. In its ruling, the tribunal stated that there were widespread irregularities and that INEC used doctored sheets to tabulate the results. If they find INEC guilty of that in the gubernatorial elections, what says that it stopped with the gubernatorial elections only?

The issue for this writer about the Awka ruling is therefore not that the tribunal was wrong. Infact in all my commentaries since April 2003, I have always maintained that PDP did not win in Anambra state. The issue I have with the ruling is simple: Why did the tribunal spend two years to deliver a judgment that should have been delivered right after the election? The protracted nature of the case succeeded in making it a lose lose for the citizens. A quick resolution would have saved the people of the state the emotional roller coaster of reverting to a new administration mid stream.

Also, the tribunal stated that INEC engaged in malpractices and some people confessed to master-minding the rigging. Are those people in jail yet for offences that amount to treason? No. This writer's point is that while the tribunal ruling on Ngige is right and justified, it is selective justice, tele-guided from Aso Rock and aimed at punishing an errant party member. No one should be fooled into thinking that it is an attempt to clean up the stinking polity in Nigeria.

The same type of double standard that Obasanjo expresses when he talks about fighting corruption is what this writer sees here. He talks about fighting corruption to a stand still but when you point to him those that stole our money in billions, he says there is no evidence. In this case, he is protecting people that have confessed to the rigging and punishing only one of them. I will only believe in the sincerity of this case when I see election riggers going to jail as well as those who stole our money.

This verdict is a mixed blessing for the people of Anambra state. On the one hand, one is happy that the forces of darkness- election riggers- have been overcome. Those that went out to cast their votes on that day in 2003 elections, can now say that their efforts did not go in vain. Also, the rightful winner, Mr. Peter Obi, can now say that democracy is really at play. However, no one knows how Peter Obi will govern. If he caves under the pressure of the PDP godfathers, the state will be set backwards. Even if he decides to do the right thing, he would still need sometime to learn the ropes before moving forward the way the people want.

This should be a time of deep introspection for the people of Anambra state. While they should feel relieved that their votes eventually counted, they should now begin to look into the future and analyze what just happened and say never again would they allow greedy men without their interest to influence the outcome of elections in that state. Also, the other candidates that vied for the gubernatorial post in Anambra state - the Muoghalu's, the Uzodike's, all good people- should now set politics aside for a brief moment, get together with the new and outgoing governor. They should together plan a future for that state that would be unrivaled. They should lend their support to Mr. Obi; make suggestions on how to move the state forward both privately and publicly. In the end, we are talking about one people under God with a common destiny. The acrimony, the bitterness, the go-getting, the unneeded politics must now be consigned to the limbo of forgotten things in the interest of peace in a land that still glows in red from the sacrifice made by our brave fathers, our brothers, our cousins so that we may live today. May God help Anambra state.

HERE I STAND