Let me begin by saying that writing this piece requires some courage, in view of the fact that the subject of my intervention is too big, a man, to be X-rayed in a single poetic narrative. I will try, all the same. I am talking of a man of plenty accomplishments; a man whose intellectual framework remains crucial in resetting Anioma political leadership. He is a rising star in the galaxy of Philanthropy.
Chief Hyacinth Enuha was a key player in Nigeria’s banking industry for decades. His contribution to the Nigerian monetary policy dynamics, his brilliant input in the nation’s financial sector progression, and his most intriguing macroeconomic arguments in the 21st century will form the basis of my subsequent intervention. In all, Chief Enuha symbolizes the proverbial tiny river that turned into a watershed.
We live in a world of many unknowns and we believe the dead still have powers to incarnate and reincarnate, but the incarnated comes with different name, from different clime, and with different mission as the new environment would permit. Chief Hyacinth Enuha of Nigeria and Giuseppe Garibaldi of Italy share similar traits in poetic comparison.
We need to understand that, great life stories are more than mere stories about social icons or influential people; they visualize wider ideals, values and aspirations and, in the case of Chief Hyacinth Enuha, embody the story of the Anioma greats. Garibaldi was a soldier and a revolutionary leader but Chief Hyacinth Enuha is an investment banker turned politician. Their similarity lies in one attribute: Undying resolve to save their people from dangerous leadership.
When Italy was at the cross road and about to be wiped out of the earth, a man rose to the occasion and mobilized other compatriots to defend their country and in the end their victory was worth the struggle. Garibaldi fought for Italian unity and almost single-handedly united northern and southern Italy.
How did he do it? Garibaldi led a volunteer army of guerrilla soldiers to capture Lombardy for Piedmont and later conquered Sicily and Naples, giving southern Italy to King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, who established the Kingdom of Italy. He stood in opposition to the oppression of the Italian people, and his revolutionary instincts inspired people on both sides of the Atlantic. Garibaldi was a courageous leader who stood against oppressive government in an attempt to salvage his people.
The analogy is that the quantum of patriotism the story of Garibaldi evokes has been the missing link in Nigeria’s political leadership until Chief Hyacinth Enuha emerged in the Anioma political turf. In Delta State, opposition politics is like a suicide venture. Those who ventured into opposition politics in Delta State have been reduced to poor dissidents.
One wonders why Chief Hyacinth Enuha, the Onowu of Ogwashi-Uku ancestry, would choose the path of opposition politics and pursues same with substantial energy. The ruling PDP call him a rebel but we call him a revolutionary in a democratic garb.
The revolutionary instinct of Hyacinth Enuha in terms of democratic carriage, gripping valour and daring-do towards reclaiming the Anioma political vehicle from the vultures is a model of the Garibaldian courage that we are yearning to attain. As an opposition leader in Delta state he deployed his wealth of experience in human coordination to making the All Progressives Congress (APC) party a formidable political alternative.
No doubt, the Anioma nation needs courageous leaders who will lead the way of our liberation from years of political banditry. It is self-evident that those who are in control of Delta State political resources since 1999 are not qualified to rule over civilized community. What we have on ground is semblance of development representing less than 20% of the resources accrued to the bandits in power. Anioma nation is backward in human and physical development owing to our collective failure to exercise the Enuha-Garibaldi kind of audacity for strong electoral assertiveness.
I think, the time for a change in Anioma people’s bad political behaviour is almost fading out. Chief Hyacinth Enuha stands as the new window of liberation and, being the Garibaldi of our time, the people of Anioma, especially the intellectual population of Enuani Kingdom should join him in bringing this liberation into fruition.
Garibaldi’s people joined him voluntarily to make the Italian liberation and unification possible. We need to join hands with Chief Hyacinth Enuha in laying the foundation for a new Anioma nation where dividend of political democracy will be development, more hope and abundance.
We need to act fast and use the window of democracy to set the new tone of electoral liberation. Let’s mobilize the right man in Chief Hyacinth Enuha who has the attribute of a charismatic leader with capacity having excelled in his noble career through mastery of diligence and love for the people.
Chief Hyacinth Enuha is a peaceful man with sense of community and commitment to the cause of humanity. He is an incredible political asset to the Anioma nation. Of course, some persons are tempted to equate him with that man-of-the-people created in Achebe’s poetic imagination. I think they are right. His engaging human quality reveals a philosophical life of courage loaded with impressive achievement of a great progressive thinker.
…..the road to heaven passes directly through hell…….
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