By Eze Nwamadi, Ogbonna Asadu and Ezema Igwenunu

Failure is the best teacher of a true worker when the lessons it offers are appropriated. It takes a deeper level of what is called thinking to reflect on the beneficial absurdity of failure.The taste of its outer covering is bitter; its deeper layer sweeter than honey. Bite deeply the pod of failure. A shallow bite leaves a galled taste; eating deeper sweetens the board. Yet men would take to the bitterness of failure and paradoxically shun the sweetness it offers. Chijioke Edeoga, the governorship candidate of Labour Party in the March 18 governorship election, has preferred the bitterness of failure to the sweetness its lessons offer- in utter lack of sportsmanship and the needed maturity his political milk teeth lack.

Reading through his reaction to the victory of Peter Mbah at the polls in which he came second, one would believe Edeoga has yet to count the contents of his basket as would an old woman who falls two times while trudging the footpath to the market. How many times would it take for Chijioke to sit down and take a deep reflection over where the rains started beating him, as Achebe would say? How long would it take him to sleep over the way he is being used as a political pawn in the hands of a moribund dynasty desperately seeking political survival? At what level in this ill-fated journey to a culdesac would he realize the journey has come to an end, and then take a detour instead of kicking at the reinforced concrete thereby breaking his brittle toes? In the seven-paragraph press release full of sound and fury signifying nothing, Edeoga railed, ranted, and babbled away, sulking in childish protest over the result of the election. One thing to make out of his claims is that Edeoga would not understand that the glory of whatever Labour Party achieved in Enugu State should rather go to Peter Obi who himself was skeptical about Edeoga's competence. That Labour Party won seats in the national and state assemblies was as a result of the Obidients blindly voting Labour Party for the sake of Peter Obi. Many nondescript and inexperienced persons won seats in the assemblies because of the bandwagon pattern of voting the electorate chose for the sake of Peter Obi.

When one compares the governorship elections of Abia and Enugu State, one would find that Obi clearly endorsed Alex Otti and bluntly refused to endorse Chijioke Edeoga. That was a message to the Obidients. Edeoga merely had nothing to offer. He had no manifesto, unlike Alex Otti that had a 42-page manifesto which comprehensively captured his agenda for Ndi Abia. Obi's body language reflected his predilection for competence which in Enugu State Peter Ndubuisi Mbah embodied. By implication, Peter Mbah earned the support and votes of the Obidients in Enugu State. If that election is contested a thousand times, Peter Mbah will beat Edeoga a thousand times.

Nsukka and Nkanu East local government results were in contention over alleged rigging and over-voting respectively. The election at Nsukka was militarized and cases of voters intimidation, harassment and suppression were rife. Edeoga's masters allegedly unleashed the soldiers on Enugu North Senatorial Zone, leveraging contacts with the military. It was also alleged that Labour Party scored 17,000 votes in Nsukka against PDP's 10,000 votes, but that the figure for Labour Party was revved up to 30,000. Nkanu East was alleged to have done over-voting that saw PDP score 30,000 votes against Labour's 1800 votes.

These accusation and recrimination caused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to embark on the review of the results at Abuja and then came out with a new result for Nkanu East while sustaining the result for Nsukka Local Government. The result for the PDP was slashed from 30,000 to 16000 while that of Labour was raised by 9 votes. INEC explained that the 14000 votes deducted from the PDP were not electronically transmitted, but that did not amount to over-voting since the number of accredited voters remained the same. The total number of accredited voters was 33000 as recorded by the BVAS but 14000 votes were not transmitted via BVAS. That does not suggest over-voting in anyway, for the accredited votes were intact. Everyone knows that nontransmission of votes through the BVAS might be occasioned by nonavailability of network. So, for Edeoga to continue to allege over-voting after INEC's review smacks of desperation, insincerity and mischief.

In his so-called press release, Edeoga said he was headed for the court, claiming he had faith in the judiciary. Going to court is well within his right,only that he who goes to equity must do so with clean hands. Edeoga is unteachable. After he failed at the PDP primaries, he pledged support to Peter Mbah, knowing full well that he was clearly beaten as he had paltry 9 votes to emerge second. He had collapsed his support base to Peter. But because he had no mind of his own, he absconded to Labour Party at the behest of his godfather who wanted to use him as a surrogate as well as settle some political scores. Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, the father of Enugu democracy, had advised Edeoga to work with Peter Mbah, but Edeoga would renege on his promise to do so, after pleading that Peter should refund him his expenses incurred in the primaries. Chief Nwobodo today advises Edeoga yet again not to waste his time, energy and money pursuing shadows, but he would not listen. It is reported that some lawyers had already approached Edeoga to help him regain his "stolen mandate" (laughter). It is not about who gives the monkey water. Who will retrieve the cup from it after the draught? Why won't lawyers go to Edeoga? It is a festive season for them. Postelection litigation is a big honey pot for lawyers. They would leverage Edeoga's desperation and gullibility to gain unfettered access to the honey pot. 

Peter Ndubuisi Mbah would not be distracted. He will hit the ground running in order to fulfill his campaign promises to the people of Enugu State. Peter is a hard nut to crack. Going to court cannot help Edeoga. Peter will beat him blue black at the courts as Edeoga has no merit at all in his case. We also learnt that Frank Nweke Jnr who came abysmally distant third with paltry 17000 votes is also spoiling for legal battle. Why not? Didn't the ant claim he had a bumper harvest to the extent the yielded tubers were as big as his hands and legs? Ndi court are filing out. If the big spoon cannot scoop much, what becomes of the ladle?

Edeoga should take the words of the sage, Chief Jim Nwobodo, that all power belongs to God who wills it to whom he would. Fighting this way yet again will get Edeoga stymied on all fours. He would in the end return empty-handed. Now is the time to reinvent himself, take a deep breath, toe the path of honour, congratulate Peter Mbah and accept the olive branch extended to him. That way would Edeoga taste the sweet flagon failure offers.