19/08/2026
THE DEARTH OF OPPOSITION IN ANAMBRA STATE POLITICS: The Implication for APGA and the Dangers of Complacency
Democracy everywhere in the world thrives because it offers citizens alternatives to choosing their leaders during election cycles.
For me, opposition is essential.
It ensures that an incumbent leadership is mindful of its precarious position. Opposition can be quite helpful. It is a necessity that aids a ruling party to reinvent itself, strive to perform and outshine critics, and, above all, face the job of governance squarely.
Absence of opposition does not signify mass approval.
It simply means that the spirit of “if you cannot beat them, you join them” is fully activated.
What actually plays out is that a leader will have more sycophants and praise-singers; hustlers for daily bread and urgent ₦2,000 around him.
APGA MUST LOOK INWARD
Our dearly beloved party must do a thorough introspection.
While the spirit of NKE A BU NKE ANYI is a philosophy that promotes Igbo consciousness in the context of Nigerian politics, we must not rest on our oars when we have not delivered the benefits of good governance to NDI ANAMBRA.
It is okay that we judge our party as successful, but these judgments sometimes should be detached from our own partisanship.
What opposition will help us achieve is the ability to see things from other perspectives.
I do not think we have been very successful as a political party, especially when we look at our performance at the grassroots.
GOVERNANCE MUST BE FELT AT THE GRASSROOTS
As difficult as leadership and governance is, it does not take rocket science to do simple things and get results.
A sound leader does everyday things without unnecessary fanfare.
How have we fared at the local level across sectors — education, health and human capital development?
Are the local governments complementing the developmental efforts of the state government in these regards?
I must wholeheartedly commend the visible success in curbing insecurity. The government has made the right calls, plugged the right holes, and the peace we now enjoy in Anambra is unimaginable.
We have the right atmosphere and environment to take governance to the next level in Anambra.
No state in Nigeria enjoys the “political peace” that Anambra enjoys. The ruling party at the state level is 98% in control of political activities, despite the “progressives are working together” principle.
However, we must be wary of complacency, which is the bane of great achievers.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT MUST BE “ON GROUND”
The state governor has 21 local government chairmen who are loyal to him.
He must take them to task on delivering on their constitutionally assigned mandates.
The local government is designed in such a way as to enable every local community to feel the impact of government. Through the local government system, every citizen can be part of government.
However, what we have seen is a situation where local government chairmen have become “too busy” and almost inaccessible, or accessible on demand!
While we understand that their duties demand constant engagement with the state leadership, these shouldn't derail their primary responsibilities, such as attending to primary healthcare, ensuring primary education works in their domains, taking care of local roads, etc.
For instance, a few days to the commissioning of the statue of Chinua Achebe at the Ugwunwasike roundabout in Ogidi, Idemili North Council Headquarters, in July 2026, there was a frantic effort to evacuate gutters and other drainages.
Sadly, most of the debris from this exercise remained “monuments” at the spots where they were heaped since then.
Some have been swept right back into the drainages by flood waters.
Despite the erosion and flood challenges facing the state, we are not proactive enough as a government at all levels.
Whenever rain falls, citizens will empty their refuse right inside the gutters, thereby blocking the drainage systems and exacerbating the crisis.
We have the Ministry of Environment at the state level and local authorities in charge at the local level. The demand is heavy.
Knowing the tendency of our people and their lack of education and responsibility concerning the care of the environment, we should be able to devise means to better the situation.
SMALL PROBLEMS CAN BECOME BIG PROBLEMS
There is one dangerous open manhole somewhere around People's Club Bus Stop on the Old Road in Nkpor.
I cringe each time I see vehicles try to avoid it.
I usually wonder if it is part of the road design.
It wouldn't cost more than a few hundred thousand naira to cover it up, and the Department of Works at the local government can handle such assignments.
As a matter of fact, most of our local problems are interventionist in nature, and they cost so little to address on the interim.
Unfortunately, we have a mountain of unsolved problems because most councillors and local government chairmen are not on ground.
A local government councillor should work from home, not in hotels in and outside the state. He should live among his people so he can easily articulate problems that also affect him at council sittings.
Local government chairmen should spend more time in their domain than outside of it.
They should be surrounded by people who are willing to bring local problems to them for prompt attention.
It shouldn't take ages to get the attention of a council chairman over fixing a damaged section of a community road or addressing sanitation issues in a local market.
Local government administration shouldn't be about revenue drive alone.
As important as this is, it shouldn't be at the detriment of their actual administrative duties.
THE DANGER OF HAVING NO OPPOSITION
Finally, we see the effect of the dearth of opposition as the local government election approaches in the state.
Where there is opposition, incumbents double down on their efforts to deliver good governance so they can at least see what to campaign with.
Contenders work round the clock to convince voters of the viability of their candidacy.
It is no secret that APGA does not need any campaign across the state for the upcoming council elections towards the end of August 2026.
While this has its advantages for the party, it has far more demerits in the long run.
The party will gain in the sense that it will tighten its grip on power, but the people and good governance may be sacrificed because sometimes better and more qualified candidates do not get the opportunity to offer themselves.
INTERNAL DEMOCRACY IS CRITICAL
We must reflect on this in good faith.
While we cannot wake up the opposition in Anambra State, we can at least allow internal democracy to flourish to the fullest within the party.
In the end, it is not how powerful the party is.
It is in the tangible and measurable impact it is able to make within its time in power.
POWER WILL ALWAYS REMAIN TRANSIENT.
Any man or woman opportuned to be entrusted with political power should make a portrait of this fact and place it in a very prominent position at home and in the office:
POWER IS TRANSIENT.
The people who praise leaders the most while they are in power are often the people who speak most ill of them when they are out of power.
NKE A BU NKE ANYI!
May we, as a party, be mindful of “ANYI” in the final analysis.
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Chike Olisadebe Uzowulu is a faculty member of a prominent Nigerian university and the author of several books.
His bestseller, OUR FATHERS HAVE R***D US: WHY NIGERIA WILL REMAIN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY, is in its 3rd reprint.
He is the founder of the Center for Inter-Generational Dialogue. He has a passion for sound education and helps young people develop their innate abilities and the gift of writing through The Young Writers Series, where he publishes literary works of young people.
At the time of writing, he is a doctoral candidate at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and was a former councillorship aspirant in the party.
