Andy Uba: A Date with Destiny
Politics is a house built with bricks of assumptions; it is an easy house to build and anybody can build it. Its construction is subject to the law of the bricklayer; put one brick on top of the other and a house is built These assumptions however, rest on two fallacies: that politics is an art of the attainable and success in it takes no more than the knowledge of bricks and mortars.
Those who accept these assumptions as self-evident however, get frustrated when one plus one adds up inexplicably to four. Politics is not a monument, an Ogbunike cave chuckling at the ravages and passage of time. It is merely a series of experiments in responding to people’s social views, beliefs and expectations in how they feel at one time or the other, their individual and collective interests can and ought to be served.
It is this desire, the urge to serve and contribute to the socio-economic emancipation and political development of Ndi-Anambra in particular and Nigeria in general that drive the man, Uba. Like the scientist, Archimedes, he wants a firm spot to stand in order to move the world. Andy Uba’s profound ethical disposition, sound philosophical thereafter, contested and won the 2007 governorship election in Anambra State but was compelled to relinquish the position by a court order due to his enormous respect for the rule of law.
From the 7th Senate, Uba has remained a notable player in the nation’s political calculus. His contribution to the success of the 7th Senate was exceptional and worthy of note. He served as the Chairman Senate Committee on INEC (Independent Electoral Commission) charged with the responsibility of amending existing electoral laws to achieve a free and fair elections nationwide, where he and his committee worked tirelessly engaging INEC, civil organisations and other stakeholders to secure some comprehensive amendments to the 2010 electoral act which gave more stability to the administrative structure of INEC by making them more independent.
One fact his traducers cannot dispute is that Uba does not seek power to enrich himself. This probably underscores his appointment as the Senate Committee Chairman on Public Account by the present 8th Senate.
As a testimony to Uba’s political sagacity, Chief Perry Opara, the National Chairman of the National Unity Party in his support for Uba’s candidacy for the November 18 governorship election in the state said, “Uba will be a bridge builder between the South-East and the rest of Nigeria. He will bring peace and stability to Igboland and be a link to the federal government in attracting federal presence to the South-East zone and Anambra in particular”.
As a fallout to the recent APC primary in the state for the governorship election, various concerned APC groups are calling for the cancellation and rejection of the “Winner” as according to them, his emergence is suspicious and he is incapable of securing an electoral victory in the election given his known pedigree, being associated with ignoble roles in the past and also the fear of mortgaging the coffers of the state to his political godfather since at this material time, Anambrarians do not need a beggar or a godson whose eyes would be fixed on the collective till.
One thing that cannot be taken away from Uba is his dedication as a realist and a reformer who can bridge all gulf, level all mountains and put a lamp in every tunnel as exemplified by his selfless stewardship to his constituents and the nation at large, his most compelling trait is the passion he evinces and enkindles for his people as evidenced in his articulation of ideas and solution delivery templates. Uba has come to be seen as a modern-day phenomenon whose corpus requires a large canvass.