RE-CHIDOKA: RE THINKING FEDERAL CHARACTER

When I first saw the above caption on the back page column of “Achilleus this Wednesday” of 20 January 2010 in the Champion Newspaper, I could not immediately fathom the linkage between Chidoka and the Federal Character he wrote about. But when I took time to read the piece, the esssence of the message became clear to me.

Apart from the first lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, Achilleus’ write-up on the Chidoka’s revolution currently going on at FRSC is the first public acknowledgement by any of the numerous curious visitors that had come to FRSC Headquarters to see for themselves the technology-driven revolution by a young man that the people of Obosi community in Anambra state duly made the strength of their community through his traditional position as Ike-Obosi. The silence that followed the visits of others was however not out of lack of what to say, but the medium through which to say it.

When Hajia Turai Yar’Adua came calling at FRSC Headquarters in August last year and was taken round the call centre facilities commissioned by Chidoka to facilitate traffic management and administration in the country in line with the lead agency status of the Commission, she expressed publicly her excitement at what she saw on ground. Infact, she promised while later commissioning the Ambulances for pilot emergency services scheme for FCT that she would personally support the Corps in its desire to bring succor to the motoring public and indeed, victims of road crashes in the country.

I remember the feelings of elation and satisfaction that were visibly written on the faces of other visitors to the centre. These include the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed; the former Minister of Information and Communication, John Odey, who commissioned the project and his predecessor, Nweike Junior. Others that came were the National President of NURTW, Alhaji Gidado Hamman and most recently, the Director General of NIPSS, Professor Ahmed Danfulani among others.

One observatin that was consistently made by each one of the visistors was the satisfaction wiith which they viewed the ongoing reform at FRSC and their conviction that age is not necessarily the only criteria for performance. No doubt, at the time his appointment was made by the Federal Government, there were hues and cries by some antagonists who hinged their arguements on his age and experience, which they considered inadequate for him to face the challenges of the exalted office of a Corps Marshal.

To be fair though, throughout the period, issues of his ethnicity and geographical origin did not feature prominently in arguments against his appointment. Despite all the clandestine moves by those interest groups however, it was evident that Government which appointed him in the first place stood by him, while those who saw the appointment from the strategic point of view insisted that there must be something spectacular in him which government saw but hidden to the ordinary citizens. They therefore appealed for patience to let the man prove his capability or otherwise.

The rest is now history as they say. The man did not only prove his metle within the first 100 days in office despite the stiff opposition, but recorded a feat that convinced all the doubting Thomases of the direction which the Corps was set to go and laid within one year in office a structure that supassed the calculation of even his most ardent supporters.

Many Nigerians who were witnesses to the campaign of calumny against him preferred to keep mute in order to let the people have their say and for the man to have his way through his performances. Some of such people therfore could not hide their feelings when Chidoka started manifesting the real stuff he is made of. For instance, the Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Isa Yuguda was so overwhelmed with what he saw in FRSC only a year after Chidoka assumed leadership of the organization that he told him during his advocacy visit at the Government House, Bauchi in the presence of members of his Executive Council: “those of us who had known you before, were sure that Nigeria would soon need your service. We were therefore not surprised when your appointment as Corps Marshal was made by the Federal Government”.

Even the Sultan of Sokoto, who hosted him in his Palace last year, when he carried his road safety campaign to Sokoto state, did not mince word when he told him: “I want to assure you that we support what you are doing in FRSC; and we will stand by you in your efforts to bring sanity to our roads”. There are several examples of views expressed by prominent Nigerians who have seen the positive changes that have been brought to the Federal Road Safety Commission by Chidoka in managing the affairs of the organisation using the modern technological tools.

One may now be wondering about the spirits that derive the young man to perform superlatively above the imagination of people who initially saw age as a hindrance to his appointment. One thing am sure of is that his vision is driven basically by his pan- Nigerian outlook devoid of the primordial sentiments of ethnicity and religion. As one born after the Nigeria Civil War and into the period of reconciliation by the Federal Government, he has never let the mistrust and bitterness that characterized the pre-war Nigeria beclouds his sense of vision.

Even as he is deeply attached to his community, he has never displayed bigotry and undue fanaticism about tribe and religion. This explains why he has hardly changed the management he met on assumption of office and would not remove any officer from his/her position on the ground of creating space for people of his ethnic background. As one officer rightly put it recently, “he is not an Ibgo-kwenu Corps Marshal that would blindly undermine his Nigerian spirit, which he carries like a baggage”. Some say this spirit is fired by his realization that his emergence as an FCT NYSC Award winner and subsequent federal employment into the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Abuja, were without recourse to any big name, but purely on personal merit.

In trying to sustain this spirit of a new Nigeria, where the sons and daughters of farmers, peasants and the less privileged members of the society could enjoy equal and equitable access to national opportunities therefore, he has carried this campaign and defended his stand even before the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Federal Character.

In Chidoka, the Nigerian youths can be consoled that through doggedness, belief in oneself and focused leadership, no challenge is insurmountable. And what is happening at FRSC today represents the triumph of the Nigerian Spirit over all the known centrifugal forces that have made the emergence of young, focused, detribalized and genuine bridge builders impossible. The people of Obosi, who made him the youngest Chief Warrior of their community, saw these steering qualities in him; and Yar’Adua’s government which has stood solidly by him against all tirades of attacks by the antagonists are testimonies to the fact that there is limit to human manipulation.

Personnel of FRSC, who have the vision of a Corps that is scientifically oriented, operationally functional and politically supportive of development agenda of the government have been quite happy and satisfied anywhere they are across the nation, that their dreams have been realized by the positive developments that have taken place under Chidoka. As there is no amount of propaganda that can replace the position of real achievements, history will surely document that “the Federal Road Safety Corps had in Osita Chidoka, a young, brilliant and committed Nigerian who changed the fortunes of the organization and introduced it to the path of modernity and technology, through which it conquered the national apathy on road safety”.