NNEWI NORTH STATE CONSTITUENCY: THE CONCERNS AND THE CREDIBILITY QUESTION.

Nnewi North State Constituency: The Concerns and the Credibility Question.

As the 2019 elections draw to a close, there appear to be growing concerns in the industrial and commercial city of Nnewi over the direction voters in the town will go as it concerns who represents the town in Anambra State House of Assembly.

There is a general belief among voters in the town both the indigenes and non-indigenes that previous legislators who have represented the town in Anambra State House of Assembly have been abysmally poor in their performance.

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In a recent survey conducted by Nnewi based media outfit, Anaedonline, residents of the town are entirely dissatisfied with the performance of both present and past legislators of the town as it concerns those who have represented the town in the State legislative chamber

The explanation given to us by one our respondent, Mr. Ikechukwu Okafor, a native of Umudim Nnewi who is an auto parts dealer in Nkwo Nnewi Market, may have captured most of the opinion of most Nnewi residents,

He said, “I was born and bred in this town, to be honest with you, I have not seen or felt the performance of legislators that have represented this town since 1999, we only see them during election, the lack of state government presence in Nnewi is also because we don’t have vibrant representatives in the State Legislative House, in Nnewi, different State and local government agents come to our markets and shops to collect exorbitant taxes which mostly are illegal, what have our representatives done? None of the past legislators can stand to tell us the projects they attracted; can any of them take me around the streets of Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Nnewichi to show me what they used our constituency project money for? Unfortunately, they are not accountable because they only spend one tenure.

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He continued, “For example, the current representative, Hon. Amala Anazodo, since he was elected have never called a town hall meeting to brief his constituents on his legislative activities and also to give his constituents the opportunity to interact with him, his constituency office located around Nnewi-Owerri road have never opened for one day, he has never come out one day to tell us what he has done about the multiple taxations which are prevalent in Nnewi and the daily clashes between obiano boys, the police and the motorcycles riders in Nnewi. This was the attitude displayed by our past representatives.
Look at what Hon. Chris Emeka Azubogu is doing, you will understand that legislators beyond lawmaking can also influence other projects and policies of the government, he concluded.

In the survey, most of the respondents admitted that Godfathelism, high turnover of Nnewi legislator, the size of the constituency and incompetence are major factors that have contributed largely to their lack of performance.

Let’s consider these factors mentioned by most of our respondents;

Godfatherism:

Most respondent especially those who have followed the politics in the town have alluded that Godfatherism seems to have thrown up incompetent legislators in the town. All the legislators that have represented the town in the State legislative chamber since 1999 are all product of Godfathers. As a town that has many billionaires, these men tend to play god in choosing who represents the town. It was alleged that one particular billionaire in the town who happens to have a strong connection with the Federal Government, Nigeria Police and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has been the major decider of who represents the town in the State Legislative Chamber. Unfortunately, all his choice has failed the expectation of most residents of the town.

High turn of Nnewi Legislators:

The zoning and rotation of legislative seat in Nnewi, respondents say, have denied the town good and quality representation in Anambra State House of Assembly. All Nnewi House of Assembly Members is always beginners because they don’t spend more than one tenure. In the legislature, experience and seniority are factors in the sharing formula. If you not a ranking member in the legislature, you cannot aspire for certain positions in the house. The truth remains that in the parliament, the more experience you member is, the more positions he gets, the more experienced he is, the more projects he attracts.

Size of the Constituency:

While places like the commercial city of Onitsha have four (4) State constituencies and Nnewi South with two (2) State Constituencies, Nnewi is battling with one State Constituency. Many respondents believe with one State Constituency in Nnewi North, Legislators in the town may not be performing well as the enormity of representing Four Major quarters is very high.

Incompetence:

During the survey, many respondents attributed the lack of performance of Nnewi legislature as a result of incompetence. Most of the legislators sent to represent the town never understood the business of lawmaking. They never understood the problems and challenges of Nnewi as most of them were America, London, Abuja and Lagos returnee. Most of the past legislators were elected because of the influence of Godfathers and zoning arrangement in the town not because they were prepared for such a demanding task.

With 2019 election around the corner, voters in Nnewi will have another opportunity to go the polls to elect their representative in the State House of Assembly, with the failure of the past, the question that should be on the lips of every voter is the “CREDITIBTY QUESTION.

The credibility question is a question that must be answered by every voter in Nnewi. It is a question that calls for the thorough assessment of the candidates jostling to represent Nnewi in Anambra State House of Assembly. It is time to avoid the mistakes of the past by electing credible and competent leaders who understand the business of lawmaking and can use their position to make an impact that can be seen and felt. It is going to be a disaster if we elect an incompetent person in such critical time of our history, we must discontinue the attitude of showing blind solidarity and not to allow primordial and parochial considerations to affect our sense of judgment while casting our votes.

Voters in Nnewi must open their eyes and ignore the antics of the politicians and Godfathers who use the instrument of character assassination, insane sentiments, empty promises, propaganda, jamboree endorsements, and vote buying to deny our people quality representation. The competence and capacity of the candidates should rather be the primary determinant.