By Dennis Agbo
ELDER Statesman and former Governor of old Anambra state, Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo has taken offence at the branding of Governors in South East states as being weak in discharge of their official duties.
Nwobodo said that as a former Governor who understands the intricacies in governorship, he takes exception to some Igbo leaders branding their state Chief executives as being incapable or weak.
In a statement he made available to Vanguard, on Friday, Nwobodo stated that there was a marked difference between weakness and wisdom, noting that somebody is gentle and meek does not make him weak.
He also stated that governance was quiet different from politics, but that a lot of people do not understand that the security and safety of lives and properties were part of the responsibilities of a governor or a president, which a responsible governor cannot act without knowing the true facts of what he is expected to act upon. “Just one wrong action of a governor that is based on rumour, falsehood and hearsay can set a state or country on fire.”
Nwobodo, who ostensibly was responding to media reports alleging that the South east Governors were weak, particularly on the killing of 21 Igbo youths in Emene-Enugu, said he was sad and pained when he heard about the killings and quickly made calls to ascertain what happened.
“I also know that the Governor (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi) rushed out to get the facts before reacting. Again, I am aware that the governor has not rested since then, and as governor he cannot get the true facts by making inflammatory statements in the press. We cannot be in our homes and know what actions or steps he is taking.
“No rational thinking person would expect him to rush to the scene of the incident with his own army or police to return fire for fire. That will put the whole place in danger because more lives would be lost, and who are those going to die, the same Igbo, our own people.”
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Nwobodo went on disclose that Governor Ugwuanyi has gone further to hold an enlarged or wide stakeholders meeting, with representative of all institutions, education, religious, former governors, youth organizations and all stakeholders, mainly because of the same issue of killings and security in general.
He also reminded that the south east governors, united and worked hard to ensure that Enugu airport was restored, which he witnessed the opening ceremony and saw a more improved version of what the airport used to be.
“They could not have achieved that without applying wisdom to their approach. I am happy with the unity and cooperation that I see among all south east governors. At a time in our country and indeed the whole world are facing multiple challenges, unprecedented in our lifetime, we must be careful what we say and the actions we take, especially we the elders.
“We should not incite or stampede our young governors into hasty and irrational actions that would jeopardize and endanger the lives of the same people they took oaths to protect,” Nwobodo advised.
