Enugu’s chicken politics…

Posted by admin Enugu, Headlines, State News Sunday, February 9th, 2014

Happenings in Enugu State will never stop attracting the attention of most political observers from the South East zone and beyond because that is where democracy has most concrete dividends to flaunt, especially since these seven years of Sullivan Chime’s administration.

Even those of us who do not claim direct indigeneship of that state, find it difficult to stop appropriating the great and shining developments with which the present government there is proving that a government can deliver without advertising its activities from the rooftops. Every good thing can have its drawbacks, even on the short run. The major drawback of Chime’s press shyness is that detractors often have a field day, with their often jaundiced versions of events there, almost fully assured that they would not attract any responses from the reticent governor.

Two weeks ago, the Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi invited correspondents and bemoaned how he had been handed a very bad deal by his boss and his aides. His complaint was that he had received two letters in December drawing attention to the inappropriateness of a large poultry farm that he was operating at his official residence within the confines of the Enugu Government House. By his own admission, the letters written on behalf of the governor had drawn attention to the health hazards and offence which such a large poultry farm was causing to life and environment. Obviously, Onyebuchi did not take the letters seriously, and did nothing to either close the poultry nor did he take steps to ameliorate the situation that was complained about.

According to Onyebuchi, officials of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) and the Ministry of Environment swooped on the poultry, removed the 3,000 chickens and cleaned out the offending poultry farm. In his teary and arm-wringing lamentations, the deputy governor copiously blamed a certain woman who he claimed to be so powerful that confronting her would amount to standing before a moving vehicle. In that vein, Onyebuchi effectively handed that woman whom he claims is a deaconess in a church that he has a great respect for, over to God. In all that, the deputy governor never admitted that he did anything wrong by operating a poultry farm of that size in a place where people live and carry out their daily activities.

Fortuitously, during my last visit to Enugu, for the meeting of South Eastern Peoples Assembly (SEPA), last December, I was in company with journalists who were complaining very loudly of the stench that emanated from the poultry farm at the official quarters of the deputy governor. According to the journalists, it seemed as if the Number Two man was no longer living there as according to them, it would be impossible for anybody to live with such stench that was felt from as far as the gate to the government house. According to them, it is only a wall that separates the office of the governor from the poultry farm. When the story of the removal of the poultry farm broke last week, my mind flashed back to the account of the journalists on December 20^th, 2013.

Many observers would agree that the deputy governor, through acts of omission and commission, had allowed what would have been resolved as a very simple issue to be blown out of proportion, for obvious political reasons. Even if one did not wish to look beyond the surface, the issues that have been placed at the public domain, even by Mr. Onyebuchi himself, are enough to arrive at this view. The story of the incident in most papers showed that two letters signed by the Government House permanent secretary – not the chief of staff – had been sent to the deputy governor, asking him to close the commercial poultry farms. In fact, the second letter of December 27 reportedly gave a 14-day ultimatum for the removal of the farm, after which no further notice would be given.

It was obvious that the relationship between the governor and his deputy left much to be desired, otherwise the deputy governor would have easily walked over to his principal’s office or residence to discuss the issue and by so doing, avoid the situation whereby the Enugu municipal and the ministry of environment authorities had to go physically to truck away the 3000 birds and crates of eggs from the deputy governor’s lodge and clean out the poultry farm. Instead of seeking to amicably and quietly resolve a situation that would have hidden the fact that he is ignorant of the laws of the state which forbids the operation of a commercial poultry within the confines or proximity of human abode and activities, the deputy governor opted rather to advertise the market place that all was not right between him and governor, thus confirming the rumors making the rounds, alleging that he might have plotted against the governor during his medical sojourn abroad. Rather than allow commonsense to play, he unwittingly allowed stubbornness to dictate his actions, as can be distilled from a very caustic reply that he caused to be raised to the effect by the permanent secretary in his office, thus raising issues that manifested deep-seated neglect for due process and the rule of law.

Part of the deputy governor’s letter, reproduced below, speaks volumes:

“The structure for the said Poultry farm was inherited by His Excellency from his predecessors in office who also used same for the same purpose. His Excellency has operated the same poultry farm since 2008 with technical support from ENADEP and Commercial Agriculture Programme of the state Ministry of Agriculture.

“There is no record of a letter from you to His Excellency, bringing to his attention, complaint of any environmental or health hazard from the said poultry since 2008. This is because there is none. The poultry is operated within the best international practices. His Excellency’s members of staff are living in the Boy’s Quarter just metres away from the poultry and they have not complained of any inconvenience since 2008.

“Finally, it is the advice of His Excellency that you do not allow the love of power to dominate the power of love.”

One cannot but wonder why the deputy governor would require a letter to inform him about the hazards that poultry has been confirmed to pose to the environment and human health, and even if he was not aware that there is an existing law in Enugu State against the act, it would have been a surprise that he had not heard of the global efforts to stem the tide of the health challenges posed by human contact with poultry, especially since the devastating incidence of the H5N1 virus, otherwise known as the Bird (Avian) Flu virus . Investigations indicate that the law is in place and is being actively implemented in the state, as a source in the Enugu Municipal authority indicated that even a relative of the governor was refused a permit to operate a poultry farm near her residential home at the remote ‘Thinking Corner’ area of the capital city.

As was reported, the deputy governor had not been residing at that official quarters for sometime, as he was said to be residing at his personal house in town, since his official quarters were undergoing renovation. It must have, therefore, been convenient for the official quarters under repair to be converted fully into a poultry farm, as its menace had no way of affecting Mr. Onyebuchi and members of his family. It must have equally been convenient for him to declare in his reply to the governor’s people that the poultry farm of that size constituted no health or environmental hazards. It must mean that Enugu people and their environment are made of a different, sterner texture – which is doubtful.

One remembers very vividly when I wanted to construct a medium sized poultry at my compound in Abuja, more as a hobby than as a commercial involvement. A professor of Ophthalmology who visited my home in company with a relative raised a big alarm, warning of huge dangers such an enterprise could pose to me and my household, especially when there are young people around. He also spoke of eye, pulmonary and breathing problems that could ensure from the activity. He further submitted that none has the right to cause such an inconvenience to one’s neighbours, even if one did not care about his own family.

Having immediately hearkened to the voice of reason and professionalism the advice was borne out, when a few months later, the Malam Nasir el-Rufai administration in FCT outlawed the operation of enclosed poultry at residential areas in the city, and I am sure the law has not been changed up till now.

It is obvious that the uproar of the Enugu state deputy governor might be over a poultry farm but it was definitely more than that. The poor 3,000 birds were used as puns on the chessboard of the opposition politicians who are stridently positioned against the doctrine of the PDP for 2015, which is that the agreement by the party stakeholders in the state that those who have held representative posts for up to two terms should make way for other citizens of the state. This has created a lot of disquiet among a few, powerful politicians in the state who felt affected adversely by the new Chime doctrine, which most others have hailed as just and healthy. The ensuing gang-up of some politicians has reportedly led to strident attempts to employ strategies and subterfuge to overheat the polity and in that process, hope to destabilize the Chime government and the status quo in the party.

At the receiving end of these onslaughts and smear campaigns have been the key loyalists of the governor, like the chief of staff, whose tenacity of purpose, loyalty and hard work have made her one of the key people to reckon with in the scheme of affairs of the state. Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, a focused woman in the man’s world of politics has proved that she is no fluke; other chiefs of staff in some other states have not shown themselves as flukes either. Governors Fashola of Lagos and Theodore Orji of Abia states had all been governors of their states after serving as chiefs of staff. And Nwobodo’s firm grip of the affairs of the state has not been any less firmer.

It has been hard for some people in Enugu to comprehend that Mrs. Nwobodo is no less capable, even as they accuse her of being capable of all manners of executive acts, like the insinuation of the deputy governor that she was responsible for removing his ill-fated poultry farm from its illegal location.

The allegation that she might be nursing a senatorial ambition seems to have set fire to the trousers of many male politicians in the state, even when she has never made any such ambition public. Those conversant with the current politics in the state, claim that Onyebuchi’s refusal to speak with his principal in face of the warnings to demolish his poultry was part of that anti-Chime politics which almost always joins his chief of staff as an ‘accomplice’. Incidentally, Mrs. Nwobodo, by marriage belongs to the Nkanu part of the state as Onyebuchi and her alleged senatorial ambition in the same zone might not be music to the ears of the deputy governor as well as other opponents of the governor, as former governor Nnamani and his acolytes. It is even being alleged that Onyebuchi might have become an active member of that camp. His claim of ‘maltreatment’ over the poultry issue might be the tonic he needs to go public with his opposition against the governor. But why do they all need to drag an innocent, hard working woman into all that palaver?

On a lighter tone, no matter how they want to play the politics of Enugu State, most of us who love animals and care about their rights is that, politicians should keep the chickens out of it.

-Sunwp_posts

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Posted by admin on Feb 9 2014. Filed under Enugu, Headlines, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry