A large crowd of party faithful, town union associations, associations of traders, students bodies, NGOs and pressure groups cheered ceaselessly today as Chief Willie Obiano, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) received the party flag and the blessings of the elders of the party at a rally to mark the official flag-off of campaign for the November 16, gubernatorial elections in Anambra State.

The event which took place at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, attracted stalwarts of APGA including contestants who lost the primaries to Chief Obiano who gathered to show solidarity and dispel all insinuations of disunity in the party.

Receiving the totems of his office as the party flag-bearer, Chief Obiano who sounded highly inspired, declared his readiness to take on the challenge of lifting Anambra State to the next level of development.

Said he: “As I stand here today, I am reminded of the words of one of Britain’s greatest statesmen, Sir Winston Churchill, who once declared – ‘History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.’ My fellow party faithful, friends and brothers, in accepting the flag of our great party today, I have chosen to write our history. And I will be kind to myself! I am bound to serve!”

Chief Obiano paid profuse tributes to late APGA founder, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, for his phenomenal role in bringing Ndigbo together under one party roof. He assured the people of Anambra State that “we have finally come to that rare moment in time when the forces that slowed down our march to greatness have finally been broken and when our people’s great entrepreneurial spirit must find expression.”

Obiano equally assured that his government would build on the achievements of Governor Peter Obi in the last over seven years. He observed that after years of remarkable APGA leadership in Anambra State, the time had come to reclaim the rest of the South East from other parties whose ideologies stand in the way of the collective progress of Ndigbo and Nigeria as a whole.

According to the former banker: “Today, APGA stands on the crossroads of history as the only political platform that represents the aspirations of Ndigbo at home and in the Diaspora. Today also, Anambra State is the only state out of the five states in the South East where APGA is in power.This glaring imbalance reflects our people’s inability to grasp the political realities of our time. My brothers and sisters, the times demand that we rise to our full height to preserve the heritage of our fathers and the values of cohesion and brotherhood that once made Ndigbo great.”

Quoting Publilius Syrus, first century Latin writer, that ‘Where there is unity there is always victory’, Obiano invited all former aspirants on the party platform to join him on the table of brotherhood. “Let us join our hands together and form a formidable rainbow of unity that will sustain the fire of progress that is burning in Anambra State today. The times demand that we rise to our full height to preserve the heritage of our fathers and the values of cohesion and brotherhood that once made Ndigbo great,” he said.

Calling on Anambra communities at home and in the Diaspora, Chief Obiano declared that it was time to lend a hand. Hear him: “Now is the time to rebuild Igbo land. No longer shall our people be deported in the dead of the night for seeking temporary shelter in hostile territories. No longer shall Ndigbo be maimed and killed for seeking comfort in unfriendly cities across Nigeria! Let us join hands together and rebuild Igboland; a land where no one can be deported from!”

Earlier in his opening remarks, APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, had applauded the superb performance of the Obi administration in the state and argued that only a credible achiever like Obiano could sustain Obi’s legacy.

“Governor Peter Obi has laid a solid foundation. What we need now is someone who has the competence to build a skyscraper on it,” he declared.

Umeh declared Obiano and his running mate, Dr. Nkem Okeke, as the best team for Anambra.

•Photo (L-R) shows APGA National Chairman, Chief Umeh; Anambra APGA guber candidate, Chief Obiano, and Governor Peter Obi at the presentation of the party flag to Obiano . . . today in Awka.

Update news