Andy Uba: Facts are Stubborn
In understanding the effects of propaganda and the denial of truth, even when evidence stare us in the face, I take solace in the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
In our clime, with its penchant to believe the vociferous majority or anything that is said to be trending or to have been shared multiple times on social media or regurgitated endlessly by a herd of people, truth is often obscured and character assassinated just because the vociferous chose gullibility over facts.
One of the most popular regurgitated propaganda tales in the forthcoming Anambra gubernatorial election is the attempt to link Sen. Andy Uba with the sad mayhem that befell Anambra state under the administration of Dr. Chris Ngige where a sitting Governor was kidnapped and public properties destroyed.
The propagandists had sought to lay a nexus between that incident and Sen. Andy Uba, by simply citing a relationship with President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he served at the time as Special Assistant on Special Duties and Chris Uba, younger brother to Sen. Uba who is said to be linked with the incident. In their weird thinking, if Chris Uba is/was involved in that incident, then it can only be through the endorsement of his brother at the Presidency, hence without any proof seek to transfer a vicarious liability to Sen. Andy Uba. Indeed, the propagandists have gone a notch higher, heaping the entire liability on the whole Uba family – without any proof of any larger family connections.
But facts are stubborn, no matter how one tries to bend it, it remains inelastic. As at 2003, Chris Uba was a BOT member of the People’s Democratic Party, the highest hierarchy of the party as its youngest member.
On the other hand, Sen.Andy Uba who was invited by President Olusegun Obasanjo to assist him from his United States of America (USA) base was only but a Special Assistant to the President.
As a BOT member of the PDP, Chris had access to the President and the hierarchy of the party and needed no one to introduce him to the President.
In fact, President Obasanjo is no fool and no one could game or force him to do what he wished not to. Not only is he belligerent, President Obasanjo suffers no foolhardiness. He knows what he wants at any time and goes for it. It’s only a mischievous genius of satire, therefore, that would try to insinuate that a no nonsense General Obasanjo was ever controlled by an SA on Special Duties to do what he never wanted to do. Obasanjo never left anyone in doubt who was in charge of his government and anyone who tried to question his authority had scars that would never heal as evidence. It was, therefore, impossible for Sen.Andy Uba as a Special Assistant to force a stoic Obasanjo to take an action he, Obasanjo hasn’t decided to.
Come to think of it, Obasanjo’s use of unconventional methods to dislodge Governors who were opposed to him during his reign isn’t in question. Gov. Joshua Dariye of Jos was impeached in a gestapo style with only six out of the 24 members of the Plateau House of Assembly. Similar things played out in Bayelsa and Obasanjo attempted to use the same method in Lagos, illegally stifling the allocation of Lagos with no consequence.
To now seek to link Sen. Uba to the actions or inactions of President Obasanjo in office is most uncharitable and can only come from the wicked machinations of dangerous conspiracy theorists. I am sure no one in Nigeria can offhandedly mention the name of the present SA to the President on Special Duties, or any other in the history of Nigeria. Special Assistants to the President are low-key appointments within the Presidency, as they have no constitutional authority on any matter, or any functional powers and hence are always obscure and attend only to the personal needs of the President.
I know Nigerians love the illusions of power and arrogate it freely with their illusions. These illusionists have out of their imaginations arrogated an out-of-size power to Sen.Andy Uba while he was at the Presidency and from that imagination created obfuscating conspiracy theories.
It is necessary that I state that, in all public interviews granted by Ngige and others knowledgeable in the matter, none has ever linked Sen.Andy Uba to the saga. The propagandists and theorists are thus advised to try out their luck elsewhere.
For the records, there is no evidence or report anywhere that have, either directly or indirectly, linked Sen. Andy Uba to the mayhem in Anambra state in 2004.
Anyone who claims otherwise is hereby challenged to provide evidence.
In fact, anyone who knows Sen.Andy Uba up close will testify that he is a perfect gentleman incapable of hurting a fly and exudes goodness at all times. This is probably why enormous goodwill has continued to flow towards his ambition to become the Governor of Anambra state from all over the country. Sen. Uba is not obligated by law to bear any vicarious liability for his brother Chris, or indeed, anyone else. He can only answer to any crime committed by himself and no one else. So far, despite serving eight years at the Senate and eight years at the Presidency, not one corruption charge has been brought against him. This remains an insistent fact.
In his eight years at the Senate, Andy went on to become one of the most profligate in terms of bills. I am not sure anyone in the South East did better than him, and the quality of the bills would leave an unbiased observer amazed, especially at his adept focus on what really matters. There’s no community in Anambra South Senatorial Zone – which he represented – that does not have at least, one constituency project from Sen. Uba while he was at the Senate, especially projects related to educational infrastructure.
In 10 years, I doubt if any Senator from Anambra South will beat his records at the Senate. Because these things were under reported, the propagandists have latched on to this error to label him an underperformer. But, the facts are stubborn and it will not bow to anyone.
