GIVE FAITH A FIGHTING CHANCE……..And I died in Maiduguri……A MINORITY REPORT

GIVE FAITH A FIGHTING CHANCE……..And I died in Maiduguri……A MINORITY REPORT

“If we continue to teach our children about toleranceand intolerance instead of good and evil, we will end up with tolerance ofevil.” …Dennis Prager

For the past few months, I have received hundreds o fcalls from Nigeria and Europe asking about my opinions and antecedents of Hon Tony Nwoye, the Man who will be Governor of Anambra State. I however made myreservations as I was constrained by both time and space due to my Master’s thesis Project defense. I have been relieved the last 24 hours; I felt the time is now ripe for me to throw more lights on this subject matter

My name is IKEAGWUONWU CHINEDU ALEXANDER KLINSMANN and this is my Minority Report

When I got admission to Study Pharmacy at the University of Nigeria in the fall of 1999, like every student at that time, I was filled with the Nigerian dream, a dream deeply rooted in the ideals of our founding fathers, to uphold the labors of our heroes past and to leave Nigeria better than I met her. It is with such enthusiasm and hope for a brighter tomorrow that ushered me into the Prestigious Lion’s Den that was the University of Nigeria. Like most of us living at Ziks Flat Hostel between 1999 and 2000, playing football formed most of our extra curricula activities after school.Haven been a games prefect at my high school at Nnewi, I devoted most of my activities after school to playing football at the Ziks Flat Arena

I had never been a Politician and never directly been involved in Politics before 1999, so I was a novice as one can say in issues of Political matters. But a certain event in 1999 at Ziks flat changed the course of my life forever. Few years before we got admitted to UNN,there was a crisis and military students were drafted into UNN from across the country by the then Vice-Chancellor to help restore order at the lion’s den and typical of men in uniform,these guys refused to leave at the end of the day and instead formed a nucleus of bullies, stampeding fresh students, intimidating students from all manners and those who were courageous enough to talk were branded cultists and recommended for disciplinary measures and possible expulsion by the school management.It was in this kwashiokored status quo that we got admitted into the University of Nigeria. When the time for Students Union Election came, some students came out to contest for elective positions at the Ziks Flat hostel of the University of Nigeria,Nsukka Campus(I was not interested and I didn’t contest) ,by the insistence of the military students, UN-uniformed students were disqualified from contesting on no serious grounds. Nobody talked of course for the fear of the Military men. When I came back from Nnewi,I heard what happened, I felt bad and insisted that nobody should be disenfranchised without constitutional ground,I made bold my intention to speak with the Hostel supervisors. I took it up with the supervisors and the leader of the Military men at Ziks flat, at first,they were surprised that I was not afraid to bring up the matter and were angry when they were told that I was not even contesting election and how the hell  should I talk when those who were contesting chickened out.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ― Elie Wiesel

I was punished and kicked around but that experience was a turning point in my life towards Students leadership and Politics. When other students heard what happened, the news made me a local champion amongst some of my friends that heard the incident  and in the following few months, the students at the Ziks flats hostels revolted and chased the military men out of Ziks flat.

Following my experience and courage at Ziks Flat, I Was invited by the then EASTERN YOUTHS FORUM led by Dr Nnanna Onuoha to participate at the Ideology class of EYF.With my vibrancy at the ideology class;I was nominated to contest for the Dir of Sports of the Students Union. It should be noted that my background as a practicing Christian and the ideology of Love, Peace, respect for human rights, intellectual argument against injustice formed the greater part of my Political thinking of 2001 when I Contested for the Dir of Sports of the Students Union.Being so naive of what politics was, this ideology saw my downfall at the Manifesto day at the G.S Building of UNN.In other words, I was not even allowed to be voted for barely 24 hrs to the voting. My ideology saw me campaigning within all ethical standards in politics while my opponents haven seen they have lost out even before the first vote went underground and made some unethical calculations that midwifed my disqualification 24 hrs to the election. It was on this failure that I got nominated again by the Eastern Youths Forum to contest for the Dir of Sports of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), an event that was to change my life again

It should be recalled that all these time, I have never met Hon Tony Nwoye in my life. It so happens that the National Convention of NANS was holding at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus(UNEC),where Hon Tony Nwoye was the Speaker of the Students Union House of Representatives. And as we were destined to meet each other by stroke of fate, an event occurred within the Political big weights of UNN.The Constitution of NANS was read to all the contestants from UNN and the constitution stipulated that each school must present a Candidate to represent the school and it so happens that University of Nigeria had multiple candidates and I was the least of all the candidates.In an election where a former Students Union President,a former Senate President of UNN and other political heavyweights were contesting. The odds fell against poor me, who just lost election at the lowest level of the students Union, with no history, no antecedents and no charisma to step down by force for others. I felt bad and refused to step down,insisting that I must be given a fair hearing. The question I was being asked was WHO WILL YOU DISPLACE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND THE SENATOR? Poor me, I felt bad but stood my ground and the situation developed to an inferno with D rNnanna Onuoha insisting that there must be a referendum. It was in the midst of this confusion that I got a note that Tony Nwoye,the Speaker of the Students Union UNEC wants to see me ,that I should go immediately to see him behind the congress hall.

When I went outside, with an expectation to see a man with blazer suit or agbada, typical of the affluence that goes with men in his position at that time in the students movement, I was surprised to see a young man,very humble and cheerful, the kind of Humility I saw also in him years later,a humility unprecedented in Political movement in Nigeria. He introduced himself as Tony Okechukwu Nwoye and the first question he asked me was if I have eaten,I told him I was fine. He started by telling me that he has watched the happenings in our camp from a distance because he had an interest. I then asked what that interest might be. He said I was the reason for that interest because my interest was clashing against his own interest and has sent people to our camp to get information for him that will ensure that I fail at the election. To that I told him good luck.He then said he has not finished, he continued that he was impressed by my stand not to step down for anybody, that I have equal rights to contest that election as any other person inside the congress hall.That it will be to his interest if I do not contest as that will enable his own candidate win but his conscience will not spare him if I am stampeded out of the contest by force. While I was going back, he said that he wishes me the best in the UNN Congress but I should also bear in mind that he has a candidate in the person of DR Chunas Anachuna for the same position but whoever wins between us will have his full support and solidarity. He told me what to do at the referendum ,gave me his blessings and bade me good luck.Off to the charged UNN Congress hall I went, a referendum was called, we presented our manifestos and with the advice I got from Tony Nwoye,I floored all the heavy weights including former senate president and his contemporary SUG president, I sent them to the canvas and the lowly rated inexperienced Klinsmann won UNN Nomination and the Congress scattered (This event was detailed more in a report by Pharm Ikolysis and Pharm Donpaul in a Report addressed to Prof Ginigeme Mbanefo titled EYF AND THE REST…HOW THE WEST WAS WON)..The following day, the NANS Election was scuttled and declared inconclusive and off to the University of Maiduguri we sailed, WHERE I DIED…..

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable...Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

I arrived University of Maiduguri with so much energy,confidence,a confidence deeply rooted in the belief that good will always prevail over evil and with hope that with human ingenuity ,sincerity of purpose and a little honesty,there is no limit to what is achievable in Politics and Leadership.Unfortunately,I was wrong. So Pathetic was the case that within th epolitical space of Students unionism, Nepotism, jingoism, mediocrity and political bitterness had finally found its way from Abuja to a microcosm as Students Activism. The very group that has been ascribed as the leaders of tomorrow and by a twist of unfortunate incidents in the National Polity, the psychic of the Students leaders became militarized.Gbemism,sell out of struggles, patriotism,disunity, betrayal,accusations and suspicion was hovering around NANS by the time our PTF 1414 arrived Borno State for the NANS Convention .Considering the critical nature of the Maiduguri Convention and the unfortunate incidence at Enugu where Students from ESUT were accused of scuttling Enugu Convention and with an information of a reprisal attack against students from Zone B,the odds was against South Eastern Nigeria students from Zone B as a result of which many of our ranks and file who were contesting election suddenly developed cold feet  and stepped down. There was confusion in Enugu,Imo state,Anamabra and Ebonyi states as regards to the forth coming Maiduguri convention and the fate of the Igbo Nation. Tony nwoye although not even contesting any election but as a leader, took it upon himself to travel across some states convincing us to go to Maiduguri. It was with such renewed confidence that some of us decided to take a shot at the convention and in the words of Hon Dr Ikpegbu Ekele Fundamentalist before we left Nsukka.LET IT BE KNOWN THAT A CALL TO DUTY IS A CALL TO SACRIFICE AND IF WE FAIL TO RETURN HOME FROM MAIDUGURI,LET ONE OF OUR HANDS BE CUT OFF AND SENT HOME TO BE BURIED IN IGBOLAND AS THE HAND OF A GREAT MAN.

I met Tony and a few of the Youth leaders from my constituency South-Eastern Nigeria from the moment we started our campaign in Maiduguri and he was the only person amongst all that stood with us till the end in truth,sincerity and honesty, even when he was not supposed to as he had no obligations to support us and was not contesting but he took it upon himself to be knocking at every doors, building and restructuring a broken alliance to ensure an Igbo man goes home from Maiduguri with at least a ticket from the National Executive Council. As the odds started falling against us from different angles, I still remembered Hon Tony Nwoye shouting from the back of the Convention Hall that IT IS ONLY AT THE POINT WHERE WE ARE HARDEST HIT THAT WE SHALL NEVER GIVEN UP. But we started falling, Hon Tony Uche Ezekwelu was the first to fall, Hon Nathan Oguike followed,ESUT with all their machinery was bundled out,UNIZIK Fell,IMSU fell,UNEC fell,FUTO followed suit and yet we decided to STAND and FIGHT. In the ensuing confusion and having slim hope of Victory for myself and the entire South East,I was nominated to the Convention Floor for an Election that I was dead on arrival.I lost confidence in myself but who wouldn’t?, with such a madness and in a Convention that has defied decorum, charged and ready to explode. A Convention that has personally supervised the fall of institutions like FUTO, ESUT and UNEC,I will need a miracle to survive such a Convention.

At the heat of that moment .Then I was called up the second time in less than twenty seconds and my feet has never moved to respond to an election that took me almost two days journey to attend, it was then that I heard the voice...KLINSMANN,PLEASE GIVE FAITH A FIGHTING CHANCE, when I looked back,I saw Tony Nwoye dragging himself from behind and pushing us from UNN to climb the Convention floor, such a display of bravely from Tony Nwoye made us to begin to push forward and as should be anticipated, some of my students were beaten up and thrown out of the window,Pharm Ugwuanyi Ikolysis lost a tooth in the process, Pharm Uchegbusi Donpaul  has a scare in his right hand till today.From a distance I still heared Tonys voice echoing through my ears condemning the brutality of the scenario and when it was my turn to share the faith of Pharm Donpaul  and Pharm Ikolysis,I was not only thrown out of the window, I was receiving blows on my faces from every corners before I blacked out. I woke up moments later inside our school vehicle on the highway heading East to Nsukka

When I opened my eyes, I took a decision I was done with Politics. When we arrived UNN, I made effort to see Hon Tony Nwoye to register my displeasure at the way Politics is being played at the national level and to thank him for everything and wish him farewell. When I finished with my baggage of grievances, he looked at me suspiciously for some minute sand then asked me a one million dollar question that I am yet to answer today.His question was IF YOU DECIDE NOW TO BACK OUT,DO YOU THINK THOSE GUYS THAT THROW YOU OUT WILL ALSO BACK OUT FROM POLITICS.IF YOU BACK OUT AND FINALLY FOUND OUT THAT THEY DIDN’T BACK OUT AND THEY HAPPENED TO BECOME GOVERNORS,MINISTERS OR POSSIBLY CHAIRMEN OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARASTATALS,WHAT KIND OF LAWS DO YOU THINK THEY WILL BE MAKING AND WHAT MADE YOU THINK THOSE LAWS WILL NOT AFFECT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN NEGATIVELY?

He told me he has sacrificed more than most of us just for this very reason that he wants a Nigeria in which people should have equal rights and opportunities, a country where competence will be celebrated instead of mediocrity and a country that will rise beyond Bigotry. He finally concluded by reminding me of this maxim that WHEN THE INTELLECTUAL IN A SYSTEM CHOOSES THE PATH OF POLITICAL PASSIVITY,THE SPACE BECOMES OPEN FOR MEDIOCRES  TO BECOME PHILOSOPHERS. He made me understand that if all I wanted in politics was all about me and myself only, then I have failed,that Politics is never about me but for those left out and left behind in every society and for those that feel invisible to their leaders and policy makers,that we have a responsibility through our individual actions to offer hope and usher integrity in the political space in Nigeria. That when we only struggle,campaign and live only for ourselves, then we must have lived in vain but when we struggle, live and fight for others then we live forever in their hearts.Then I realized I have been selfish through my political inclinations thinking about myself while neglecting my responsibilities as a leader. I died a Political death in Maiduguri and God through Hon tony Nwoyes  speech gave me a second chance to  pursue public interest with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion, to call for responsibility and to be selfless in my service to humanity especially to the people I represent

I have been with Hon Tony nwoye throughout the trying periods,in this quest to make Nigeria better than we found it.It was not easy and a lot of sacrifices were made along the road but in humility and clearance of purpose,Tony has overcame all these odds through these years. I stood and saw a humble man I met as the speaker of the SUG House of Representatives rose to become NANS President, PDP Chairman of Anambra State, Board member of Several Federal Government Parastatals, Advisory membership of International bodies, Federal House of Representatives etc and now Anambra State Governorship Aspirant. I saw a man rose from humble beginnings, passed through multiple leadership positions,gave his all to ensure a better deal for the people he represents

From the first day I met and walked with Hon Tony Nwoye from 2000 till today, he has never changed in humility, wisdom and desire to enthrone positive changes whenever necessary.

As the state Governorship election is fast approaching,encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a call to conscience.Anambra State need leaders once again. We all know about the crisis emanating from Anambra state on a daily basis. We know about Insecurity, we know that our kids are dropping out of school, we know that people are being stampeded from voicing out their constitutional rightful opinions on a daily basis, we have seen how our schools have been outsourced to institutions that over charge and under perform as government refused to take responsibility for its funding, we have seen fees sky rocketing and the less privileged being denied various legitimate rights and Anambra state government paying no attention to them, it is unfortunate that the good people of Anambra state are being forced to pass through these unfortunate ordeals, it is everything our founding fathers were afraid of and everything our constitution was designed to prevent. The welfare of each of us is dependent upon the welfare of all of us.

AN INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE

The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.ANAMBRA NEED LEADERS ONCE AGAIN. Let us make choices that our children will be proud of. Are we in this election for the personal gains we expect or are we in this election for a collective good?Are we in this election because of the Cars, Bags of Rice, Motor cycles, Brown envelops and goodies being currently dispensed by money bags in Anambra State?Are you in this election on political, cultural and religious affiliations, in case we have not noticed,Anambra state has been so deceived in the past based on these affiliations, will you be deceived once again?. Are you in this election because of the billions, Hilux Buses, Black jeeps and other affluence being displayed on the streets of Anambra State? Those candidates of your choices,on what reasonable, ethical and intellectual grounds are you supporting them?Are you selling your conscience for a pot of porridge? Have you asked the source of the billions being brandished around, have you been given detailed information of the humble beginnings and antecedents of those you are voting for,What leadership positions have they held in the past that qualifies them for a position as sensitive as the Governorship of Anambra state?.

ANAMBRA NEED LEADERS ONCE AGAIN

Hon Tony Nwoye started his political career fighting for youths and students neglected and rendered invisible by Government. Through humility, sacrifices and hard work, he passed through various leadership positions,acquired experience in leadership and over the years built responsibility, competence and integrity. Hon Tony Nwoye is the Biblical Joshua that will take us all to the Promised Land in Anambra state

 Let us give Faith a Fighting Chance…THIS IS MY MINORITY REPORT

Hon Pharm IKEAGWUONWU CHINEDU ALEXANDER KLINSMANN
B.Pharm (Nig). MPH(Sweden). MPSN. MFIP
OHAMADIKE UMUDIOKA DUNUKOFIA