David-Chyddy Eleke reports about the huge crowd that assembled recently in Awka for the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his promises to the people of Anambra State.
As early as 8am last Tuesday, Alex Ekwueme Square, a popular event centre in Awka, Anambra State capital was already brimming with huge crowd, this is as more buses from every party of Anambra State continued to pour into the centre for the rally of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
By 11am, the entire arena has been overtaken by human presence, with many masquerades, dance groups and political pressure groups all dressed in the APC regalia. Many were dancing or marching round the arena with the posters of their preferred candidates in the APC for one political position or another.
The arena was not only filled with the masses, but the VIP stand was also fully packed with many bigwig politicians of the party as they all waited for the arrival of the presidential candidate.
One thing that was clear about the gathering was the mobilization strength of the APC and its legmen in Anambra. The venue of the rally was lit with colourful decorations, just as members of the party were able to attract people from all parts of the state. Many described the huge crowd as a sign of victory for Tinubu in Anambra State.
Ichele Agulu, a member of the party and the compere of the event insisted that the crowd is a sign of the love the people of the state have for Tinubu. He said: “This crowd is indicative of the love Anambra people have for Tinubu and the APC. Come February 25, our people are ready to vote for APC.”
Also, the chairman of the party in the state, Chief Basil Ejidike said: “Anambra is the melting pot of South east politics, and Anambra people are ready to show that APC is the party to vote, and also to be connected to the national grid.”
However, there are others who believe that only Tinubu’s weath could have mobilized the huge crowd that attended the rally.
An analyst, Mr Jim Uzor who spoke to THISDAY at the rally said: “Crowd at rallies is not what wins elections. The people you see here may have been mobilized with cash too. One thing you cannot take away from the crowd at this rally is that it is indicative of the ability of Tinubu and APC to mobilize. Not even APGA, PDP or LP have been able to gather this kind of crowd in Anambra, but again, the crowd is not an indication of support for the candidate.
“There are three major categories of people who are here today. The largest number are those who were mobilized from the hinterlands of Anambra, with a promise of payment. You cannot describe them as supporters of APC. The second category are people who came to see if the candidate is truly healthy, of even to amuse themselves with one of his gaffes, while the last category, who may be truly few are staunch party members.”
A party official, Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, the APC Zonal Chairman, South East, in an interview countered allegations of a rented crowd, saying: “The popularity of the APC candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu in Anambra is very high. The rally in Awka has confirmed that our party is ready to take the South-east. The people you saw during the rally are pure party members from all parts of the state. We did not hire people to come to the rally. These are people who are on ground, and who are ready to vote for our party once the election comes.”
Meanwhile, many people who attended the rally complained of not being paid, while others said their expectations in terms of payment were not met. A man who simply identified himself as Mr Aloy expressed unhappiness that after being mobilized to the rally from Umunze in Orumba South, he was given only N1,000 as payment.
“I left my house as early as 6am to join other people at a primary school field for onward movement for Awka, and we arrived Awka at about 8am. What is the time now, it is past 7pm, and I’m still in Awka, just for N1,000. This is disgrace for me. I am a carpenter, if I stayed back at Umunze today, I would have been able to accomplish something,” the man retorted.
He accused the man who mobilized them from Umunze in Orumba South LGA to Awka, saying he may be responsible for hiding money released to take care of people from the local government: “No, it is our coordinator, Mmirimarugo that deceived us. He may have been given a lot of money to give to us, but he is giving us N1,000 each.”
Meanwhile, at about 7pm on same day, students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University were still stranded at Ekwueme Square, where they were making calls to their SUG president, over their mobilization fee. The students union government of the institution had during the rally read out a letter at the rally, endorsing Tinubu.
However, Tinubu’s speech in Awka can be rated as the most beautiful in all his rallies across the country. Unlike some states where he could not as much as speak to his supporters, or made speeches that were ridden with incoherence, in Awka he made glowing promises of what he intended to do if he wins the presidency. He also personalized it to Anambra State.
Tinubu said: “You will have industrial hub in Anambra. We are not like PDP that forgot your rail line. They are liars. You want to make Anambra a highly dependable state right? That is the memory of my dear friend Chuba Okadigbo. That is what we will continue to carry on – the joy of Chuba Okadigbo. Youths of Anambra, I’m here today to concretize the promise of development that will promise you restoration and industrialisation.
“You know me, you know Tinubu, the city boy of Lagos? You know I had the Atlantic tamed in Lagos. The way we tamed Atlantic Ocean is the same way we will tame the erosion in the eastern region. We will tame the erosion. We will make the value of your property worth more than 1,000 time of your investment. We will create jobs for our youths. We will industrialize and make Anambra both the economic city and the economic centre of Nigeria. Your resources will be applied to create handwork and hard work, better paying jobs.
“We are not like the other party that come here to lie to you. Tell them when they bring their lie, ask them how long will it take their lies to travel from Port Harcourt to Onitsha, Onitsha to Aba? You see their lies, for 16 years, PDP lied that they will give industrialisation, but instead they sold our assets to themselves and they called it privatization. Privatization to their own pockets. They privatized the industry to their pockets.
“The hour has come, your PVC is the master, the voice of commandment. Atiku said he is the candidate of the North, is that not a dog whistle? Is that not a division among us. Anambra people lived well, in prosperity and joy with me in Lagos. I started paying WAEC fees, I didn’t discriminate whether you are Igbo, Christian or anybody, I paid for everybody.”
He also threw jabs at the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, saying: “When you hear Atiku use the word and say ‘walahi talahi’, what is in his head is “na lie I lie”. Anytime you hear him say Walahi talahi, just reply and say, “na lie I lie”. The man who left here, he calls himself Peter Obi. We read in the Bible that before the cock crows, he will deny Jesus Christ. Is it not true? So how can he keep his promise to you. He cannot prove a point. Has Bola Tinubu not proved a point? Did I close any market? Did I kill anyone? I’m a thinker and a doer, I even tamed the Atlantic.”
As a way of pandering to the whims of the people of the state, Tinubu eulogized Soludo, saying: “Soludo your son is not contesting with me or against me. He is a brilliant man, he has the brain, he is a thinker, he knows the way. We will work together. When I become the president, Soludo will be one of those advisers who will bring prosperity back to you. So the way you voted for Soludo is the way you vote for Bola Tinubu.”
Analyzing Tinubu’s speech, Dr Arodiogbu said one thing that marks Tinubu out is that he knows the peculiarity of all the states in Nigeria, and has marshaled out plans to solve them.
He said: “One thing that is going for Tinubu is that he knows the peculiarity of the various states. He also knows what the problems of the various states are, and the method of solving them. That is why in Anambra he talked about manpower and industrialization.
“In Enugu he knows that the state has a huge deposit of coal, and he plans to use it to generate electricity. He told them he would utilize the coal in their state to generate electricity. Keeping those promises are not difficult, and if you know Tinubu, he is a man who does not see difficulty in anything. He will call Anambra people and the entire South-east to a round table when he eventually wins.
“In APC, we are very prepared for the coming election and we hope that victory is ours. You have seen the huge crowd yesterday, and even with the two Presidential candidates from the state, we still got that number of supporters. We are taking South-east and that is sure. Even other political parties know this, and I think they are doing what they are doing to give themselves a ground for them to contest our victory after the election,” Arodiogbu said.
