The Ambition of a Man.
By Andrew Udechukwu
Man nurtured by society is the best creature on earth, but most terrible character when he lives without guidance, control or positive ambition. Quite often, man thinks according to dictates of his mind, his inclination, he speaks according to the level of his wisdom and knowledge, he acts based on his prejudice.
Ambition is not just an aspiration for success, but unpretentious desire to possess, inherit, accumulate, or prosper without minding the negative implications. Ambition is so blind that it can be for good or bad, depending on mindset of purveyor. Ambition is worse than a slave because man of ambition has as many as there are people useful to his fortune, whereas a slave has just one master to serve. An ambition for wealth, according to William Corbett, is a man who wants to reach the top at a single leap, irrespective of the misery he is causing the society. Where ambition can cover it’s enterprise, even to himself, under the appearance of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of passions.
Ambition can destroy or save, that’s why intensity is high, every eel wants to be a whale, it is a vice without limitation, without satisfaction, ever grabbing without knowing what to do with the wealth. The ultimate interest of ambitious man changes like chameleon, a small famous lizard bearing the colour of its immediate environment. That’s the description of an ambitious man, not just an inconstant person but a pretender in a mix. He uses all manner of tricks and lies to soar, including employing flattery to dwarf the greats in the community. When flatterers meet, the Devil goes to dinner, according to John Ray, a famous international writer cum author. But when their ambitions converge together to reap the commonwealth of the masses, Devil goes on stage celebrating.
Nnewi, my fatherland, is aflame with ambitious elements, people scrambling for the lustrous apple full of worms, people jumping and hustling for money in a dangerous manner. Indeed, the agitation for political office is about tearing the Nnewi town apart, the exercise is wearing ugly head, the chairmanship seat of Nnewi North local government is attracting hot debate seven months ahead of its vacancy. Umudim- community, the current occupant is clamouring for four years duration, whereas Nnewichi community, the next beneficiary according to the town union rotational arrangement, is saying NO, requesting that the two years single tenure as approved by 255 Delegates of Nzuko-Ora Nnewi must be kept and implemented.
The wind of this arguement had started blowing since October last year, but due to the preparations for Igwe Dr KON Orizu centenary celebration, the Nnewichi people decided to cool down the tempo, and hide their feelings in ” KIV” file. January 2026, just after the celebration ceremony, Nnewi town came alive with chaotic wind, not just an argument on equity and fairness, but contradictory statements capable of throwing the commercial town into chaos. The comments in circulation are tilting towards one dangerous direction — Selfish interest! The bottom line of all the open and secret meetings so far held lack willpower and trust because of diatribe, or call it invective harangue, a pompous address without genuine interest. The gathering was not meant to solve THE PROBLEM OF NNEWI, but to serve the interest of Oligarchy. The discussion so far were merely dress rehearsal, a spurious arguement squinted to confuse the Nnewi grassroots, and create atmosphere of disunity among the elite.
There is impatient suspense in Nnewi, the town is currently on tenterhooks caused by Flyers, Hawkers and Poachers.There is burnfire, reminding us of late ninety Nnewi anarchy, the Nzuko- Ora platform is being bombarded every minute of the day with verbal attacks from interested juggernaut. It is no longer a battle between Umudim and Nnewichi, Otolo and Uruagu have thrown their hats into the ring, making accusations and counter- accusations here and there.But the irony of entire dispute is that each community among the four quarters is balkanized into different hostile opinions, not just fanning ember of violence, but working assiduously to satisfy the interest of their private pockets.
What a malady! What an obnoxious contest! How come, Nnewi found herself at this cross-road? Is this the town, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu once described like this : “Nnewi is composed of distinct communities who live in contiguity and in a peaceful co-existence. We are proud of our political systems which is testimony of our political sagacity, for ours is a genuine example of traditional indigenous confederation.”
Perhaps, official documents signed, sealed and delivered by relevant authorities can serve as a guide. And let us peruse through. The 1997 Nnewi Rotational arrangement designed and approved by 255 Nnewi Transition Implementation committee has been approved and upheld by Igwe Dr KON Orizu 111, Igwe Nnewi, to calm the nerves of agitators. However, Anambra state House of Assembly, just like other Houses of Assembly in Nigeria had passed the 2024 Anambra state local government Administration law( as amended) this section 65 provides clearly for the Tenure of Mayor or Deputy mayor. ” The Mayor and Deputy mayor shall hold office for Two years in the FIRST INSTANCE ( Tenure) and, shall be ELIGIBLE to be RE-ELECTED for another period ( Second Tenure) of Two years and no more.” Generally, it is instructive to note that to determine the Tenure of office is prerogative of Government ( Legislative arm of Government) while ROTATION could be determined by the community that decides to practice ROTATION.
From the above statement and interpretation, does Nnewi people deserve to be in any moral or verbal war? If actually NNEWI INTEREST is the bone of contention, does this matter warrant moonlight discussion? Nnewi, my people are known to be wise, they possess native intelligence above other towns in Igboland, but right now, where is their thinking cap? The bag of life experience in resolving this intriguing matter is as old as the town, but presently where is the bag?
As a citizen of this ubiquitous community, I had taken time to study the characters on display. The life history of some of them is too elementary, quite inexperienced to handle this complicated issue. Virtually, all is not up to 80 years, unlike the previous set that participated in late nineties Nnewi crisis.
I don’t want to mention names, neither apportion any blame to anybody. All the agitators have failed to realize the importance of displaying “NNEWI INTEREST”, before thinking of their individual fortune.
I read from online media that the Anambra state Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo has endorsed a single tenure of two years. I also heard that Umudim and Otolo bigwigs have concluded every plot to return the incumbent LG chairman after his first tenure expiration come August this 2026.
My humble advise is that the line of peace should be followed. And to achieve that, the aggressors should tender unreserved apology to the offended. The crux of entire hullabaloo is the way and manner of approach deployed by the aggressors, and the verbal uproar got out of control because ones right was being trampled upon. The reaction of Nnewichi community is understandable, their right was at verge of being snatched through voracious means, including obvious intimidation.
Yes, the aggressors 4 years demand stand to favour Nnewi town assuming all the eggheads were carried along, and possibly review the previous Rotational Arrangement of 1997 by Nnewi Transition Implementation Committee. A fresh resolution of four years single tenure for each quarter seems to be the best option. However, it has to be adopted after all the four quarters must have finished their two years single tenure, Nnewichi community inclusive.
Let us remove this monkey paw, before it becomes that of human hand. Welcome to 2026!
