Dr Ogbonna Onu :the Popular Choice For Sfg

In 1876 , he celebrated Frederick Douglas dedicated a monument in Washington DC , erected by black Americans to honor Abraham Lincoln. The former slave told his audience that “ there is little necessity on this occasion to speak at length and critically of this great good man , and his high mission in the world”. ’That ground’ he continued, had already been fully occupied ‘. In his words ‘the whole field of fact and fancy had been gleaned and garnered’. Even though Dr Onu is no Abraham Lincoln, this write up is not aimed at telling you anything new about him that most Nigerians do not know already. All that, has been covered by those who know him closely, intimately and professionally. All I am attempting to do here is to provide a comparative perspective by way of new and compelling insights into his life as a public servant , qualifications and suitability for the position of the Secretary General to the Federal government under the Buhari administration.

There are some who may be quick to label this write up an Igbo crusade of some sort or agitation for a top government appointment for one of their own. That may be so and I have no apologies to offer anyone in that regard. It is however important for the naysayers to know that in the present political dispensation where the Igbos have been criticized and in some instances vilified for not voting for the victorious party and in the view of some, not qualified to benefit from the spoils of victory, they are still an integral part of the Nigerian citizenry and should be accorded all the privileges of citizenship irrespective of their voting preference in the last elections. In view of the political maneuverings going on right now it is quite obvious that the Igbo’s will not get the

presidency of the Senate, the Speakership in the House of Representatives and probably the majority leadership in both houses. With the Presidency and the vice president positions already spoken for, it is only proper and makes for fair play if the position of the Secretary to the Federal Government be given to someone from the Igbo extraction and who is better qualified than Dr Ogbonna Onu.

I personally have never met the man, but I have done my due diligence about him and I have been both surprised , impressed and overwhelmed by his considerable accomplishments . His administrative, educational antecedents and experience is beyond measure . A chemical engineer by training and a former professor at the University of Portharcourt, Dr Onu was the first civilian Governor of the newly created Abia state in 1992, a position he held for 18 months before the military takeover by Gen Sani Abacha. In his position as the Abia state Governor which he contested and won under the platform of the NRC, Dr Onu distinguished himself as a cerebral , competent, reformer and administrator who set in place the institutions that have continued to sustain that state today. He also set the template on how to govern a new state fresh from creation .

During his reign as Abia state Governor, Dr Onu created a society without existential vacuum, where the young and the old co-existed and found real meaning for their lives. Civil servants were paid , pensions were not delayed or denied. The young gained gainful employment, civil servants assured of their jobs, the sick and pregnant promised adequate healthcare and the educational system improved. More important, there was zero tolerance for bribery and corruption. In

staffing his cabinet he sought out the best and brightest from home and in diaspora. He was a hands on Governor who did not outsource his responsibilities. Above all, he guided a new state into existence and left behind a lot of goodwill . It is therefore no surprise that the present out- going Abia Governor in recognition of his immense contribution as the father of the state appropriately recently named the new ultra modern electronic library after Dr Onu.

In the present Nigerian political parlance where most politicians are like prostitutes, migrating from one party to another depending on which party is in power, Dr Onu displayed his political genius and principle by staying on as a founding member of the ANPP at a time when it would have been more advantageous and financially lucrative for him to join the PDP. By staying put with the ANPP he held tight to the principles which had guided him all his adult life, those of avoiding the 5 deadly sins of wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character , politics without principle and commerce without morality. Again in staying on with the ANPP Dr Onu like Martin Luther King once said believed that ‘there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic , nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right’. In Dr Onu’s thinking , the principles of the PDP and what they party stood for were at variance with his and so he knew he would never be comfortable amongst them.

It is therefore not surprising that he saw Gen Buhari as a kindred spirit and became one of the founding founders of the APC when the ANPP joined the party. Unlike the many political interlopers who are

presently beating a path towards the APC Dr Onu as a founding member of the APC worked very hard for its existence and victory at the polls even at a time most Igbo’s preferred the PDP. As we already expect in forming his cabinet, Gen Buhari will be harassed by all types of office seekers. He will receive a lot of suggestions and recommendations, mine included, from far and near, but in the end he alone must solve the intensified crossword puzzle in which party loyalty and service, geographical location, personal friendships and a dozen other factors have to be taken into account and made to harmonize. However the position of the Secretary to the Federal government is one that should be made with the utmost care . It should be given to someone who must have the trust and support of the president. It must be someone whose loyalty and fidelity to the ideals for which the president stands for is assured . It must be someone whose loyalty to the president is unflinching and resolute and who above all has integrity and commanding influence.

In view of all of the above stated qualities, it is my candid opinion that no one fits the bill than Dr Onu , a former state governor, a founding APC member, a close associate of the president, a loyal and principled politician who in over 20 years had stayed in one party without switching party allegiances. He is a man of transparent honesty, depth of convictions and who inspires confidence. He is also a man not destitute of wit and experience . A man who is not oppressed by anxiety in his decision making or susceptible to the derangement of office. He is a man of undoubted intellectual ability and unsurpassed personal integrity not blinded by self righteousness. An experienced technocrat, vast in the management and running of a large bureaucracy

like a state. Dr Onu will no doubt be an excellent choice. Besides he fulfills a geographical requirement in the sense that he brings balance to an administration where all the top leadership positions have no Igbo representation.

Personnel choices often determine policy priorities. Sometimes a staff list can augur a road map for how you will govern. Political appointments sometimes are about values. They are by definition a statement of values, an indication of what kind of administration one intends to run and what kind of goals one wants to achieve, hence it will be wise for the president to pick those who will help him reach those goals. It was Theodore Roosevelt who once said ‘the best executive is the one who has enough sense to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it’. Gen Buhari will do well to Pick Dr Onu , for if there is a man to be judged by the higher rule of purity of conduct , of honesty , of motive , of unyielding fidelity to what is right or by his faith in the ability of Buhari to discharge his duties as president, that man is undoubtedly Dr Onu . A religious man who believes in God as much as the pope.

In conclusion I must add that soldiers when committed to a task can’t compromise . Buhari must not compromise his unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage and must not let himself be swayed from making the right choices in his political appointments. He must search for not only the non- corruptible but also the non -corrupted .He must seek those who are faithful to the ideals he stands for and whose loyalty and confidentiality he can count on since according to Edwin

Louis Cole, ‘Confidentiality is a virtue of the loyal, as loyalty is the virtue of faithfulness’. The Igbo’s on the other hand should not take their obedient place in the Nigerian society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel and let the wheel spin them around as it wants. I hope they do not become passive acceptors of the now official line that they are undeserving of certain positions because they voted for the wrong party. Appointing Dr Ogbonna Onu as the new secretary to the federal Government will go a long way in organizing the peace and will give the Igbo’s a new sense of belonging in the new Nigerian polity, besides he meets every qualification for the position.

Nnanna Ijomah, BSC, MA
A former special Assistant to Emeka Ojukwu teaches Political Science in New York City. Nna2ijomah@aol.com