I won’t leave readers guessing for too long to understand what this column is saying and what this article is all about. It’s election season in Arochukwu kingdom and campaigns are ongoing across all corners and community platforms. Given the intense publicity generated already by the forthcoming general elections into the exco of the Central Executive Working Committee (CEWC) of Nzuko Arochukwu Worldwide and the Amuvi Welfare Union (AWU), it’s no more news that elections are scheduled to hold this Easter in both organizations. What is novel and newsworthy however, is the associated politicking which has gone beyond the proportions ever seen in the kingdom in the recent past. In fact, many people are asking questions to be certain that we are talking about elections into community service offices, positions that are ordinarily held in trust, and which do not attract any form of financial remuneration. Questions abound given the circumstance we find ourselves in today, for example: why the scramble for offices in these two organizations, what is luring contestants who desperately want to seize power at all cost, why has the stakes risen so high that some folks are even thinking about court action, if only to realize their ambition, what could have made elders who are ordinarily supposed to stabilize situations join the fray, and are openly playing politics with the destiny of their communities, indeed, what has happened to the cherished values of decency, legacy, honesty, fairness, objectivity, etc.
Coincidentally, am very much involved in the two administrations, so part and parcel of their activities and the electoral processes. At Nzuko Arochukwu Worldwide exco, I am an ex-officio member and have chaired some innovative projects that stood out the current exco from its peers, at least, in the last 40 years. At Amuvi Welfare Union, am a member of its ground-breaking development arm, Amuvi Development Group (ADG), aside from chairing the body appointed by the union’s general assembly to organize election for new officers. Given my level of involvement with governance processes at both organizations, am sufficiently informed about their vision, mission and objectives and their programs are in sync with my thoughts about what could drive development and growth in Arochukwu. So, in my humble assessment, irrespective of all the politicking and campaigns, the metaphor for victory in both elections, all things being equal, shall revolve around what I chose to describe as ‘I willism and here it’ism’. The ideas behind these two philosophies are quite clear. Simply put, a person or group telling you ‘I will do something’ is making a futuristic pledge, a promise, something you must believe may or may not happen.
Now, you must weigh the probability of that promise becoming a reality and consider the antecedents and characteristics of the promise bearers. Just like in statistics, your level of confidence before taking a decision will depend so much on the result you get, the probability of what is promised materializing, and your level of faith in the thoroughness of the analysis process. Now, consider and compare this scenario with another person or group that says, ‘here it is’ as evidence of what it has done already as proof of further things it would do. In this case, you are seeing physical evidence of achievements delivered, you assess the capabilities of the promise bearers and judge, based on their antecedents. Again, relying on statistical probability, what level of confidence does your result provide you to come to a decision? In simple terms, I strongly believe that the forthcoming elections shall be determined by ‘performance’ as defined by the above two scenarios.
The two outgoing excos, in Nzuko Arochukwu and Amuvi Welfare Union, have demonstrated relevance based on performance and most people can reckon with numerous achievements which their tenures enabled. Thus, irrespective of what their opponents are saying, and what promises they are making to the electorate, the people (delegates) would primarily look at the achievements of those administrations and give them the benefit of the doubt, that having done so much, in all probability, they have what it takes to deliver more dividends by way of things that would usher in prosperity and growth in their respective communities. I consider everything wrong with campaigns that are based solely on rubbishing what a past administration has done. Without continuity, in the sense of building on what was done previously, processes won’t be institutionalized, and legacies would be difficult to crystalize. Yes, our community harbors abundant human capacities that have what it would take to transform the society, but that won’t happen if they are not properly focused. True, simply because development is a cumulative process and the current managers of Nzuko Arochukwu Worldwide and Amuvi Welfare Union have sufficiently demonstrated that in their programs. Indeed, the Mazi George Ezumah-led exco and Mazi Ikechukwu Okafor-led administration have shown clear tendencies about policies that would usher in growth and development in Arochukwu and Amuvi, respectively. Just a single instance shall suffice, their aspirations and projects targeted at the youths.
Nzuko Arochukwu consolidated its program for the youths by devoting Aro Day 2018 to the project with the theme: “Our Youths, Our Hopes and Our Development” which motivated and spurred many youths into entrepreneurial activities while Amuvi Welfare Union initiated a youth empowerment scheme that is currently skilling over 40 youngsters at various locations nationwide. Without mincing words, this is a critical component of what must happen for true development to occur amongst us because an untrained mind is basically sick and incapable of harnessing the non-material things for the betterment of mankind. Without proper planning and focus, it is possible to achieve growth without development whereby positive result is recorded in economic indices without corresponding improvement in the living standard of the people. Perhaps, this explains why some great nations of the world concentrate only on three things as their development strategies – health, education and infrastructures. The logic is clear, health is a prerequisite for someone to be educated and excellent infrastructure is a sin qanoon for viable industrial base.
The Arochukwu Development Fund (ADF) initiated by the current Nzuko Arochukwu exco, not to mention the AroDep 2030, amongst many others, could be likened to the Amuvi Development Group (ADG) and other strategic committees, .e.g., health, initiated by Amuvi Welfare Union that are aggressively addressing health, education and infrastructure challenges across their spheres of influence. Why was this course of action hitherto thought impossible? Going by this logic, we can easily locate impediment to development in many societies, including ours, within, first and foremost, inept leadership. This is my worry, and therefore the forthcoming election is very important, and delegates must seek out and vote only for those that have demonstrated both competence and performance in current or past endeavors. In fact, there is a big difference between ‘I will’ and ‘here it is’ going by the aforementioned metaphors. No doubt, each contestant and their supporters are motivated by the same love for community and even after the elections, we shall remain brothers in one great Arochukwu kingdom. Let’s therefore, eschew acts that give the impression as though we are fighting ‘enemy forces’ and harness the potentials amongst us for a greater kingdom. We can borrow from the experiences of other communities by aggregating and tapping from the resources of our people, many of whom have demonstrated that they have what it takes to bring laurels to the kingdom, including sons and daughters at various abodes, to strategically lift our people out of development quagmire. May God continue to sustain and bless Aro-Okeigbo. Happy Easter everyone.
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