Mr. Valentine Obienyem cuts the odd image of a man perpetually looking
over his shoulders. It would seem that Obienyem who could not sustain
his early passion for law was able to convince his boss, a late
convert to media offerings, of his indispensability by going after his
adversaries with everything including strategies out of Sun Zu’s Art
of War. The danger however is that Val’s penchant for going after
assumed opponents is unwittingly leading his boss to Golgotha.
Loading ...Governor Obi believes in Val’s abilities as a writer, after all he has
written a book – The Last Patriot, and has written countless press
statements to defend a view point sufficiently, especially in defense
of a principal. Thus Mr. Obienyem became the closest aide to Mr. Obi
and he gave him the latitude to define his media strategy with
emphasis on Facebook posts and the use of third-party attack dogs.
Insiders observe that the duo have worked close enough that sometimes
Peter adopts Val’s position on issues without actually knowing the
details only to end up with the short end of the stick.
Without prejudice to Mr. Obienyem’s abilities, it is established that
every noble art form have certain nuances ingrained in the real
professionals – knowledge of the basics and ethics are eternal guides
to trained communications practitioners. The difference between
interlopers and communications managers is inherent in the ability to
recognize and stay within boundaries where the still small voice acts
as regular restraint from gutter journalism. Alas Val’s penchant to
play to the gallery by embarking on character assassination of
perceived opponents of his principal either in person or by proxy
marks him out as a someone looking for the wrong anchor!
Many politicians and personalities of Anambra descent who dared tango
with former governor Peter Obi at one time or the other can attest to
the onslaught and vile attacks initiated on their person from Mr.
Obienyem’s stable of social media character assassins. The likes of
Senator Uche Ekwunife, Dr. Chris Ngige and even the revered writer,
Okey Ndibe can attest to the blood chilling concoctions unleashed on
them at various times when they dared Peter Obi. In the same manner,
Mr. Obienyem and his cohorts continued to pour vituperations at
Governor Obiano and his family. To worsen matters, in the past
eighteen months they resorted to daily intrusion and sing-song that
his master left N75bn cash for Obiano and that every achievement of
the governor is down to former governor Obi.
Since Peter Obi exited office and APGA, the party that brought him to
power, there have been perceived disagreement with his predecessor,
and Mr. Obienyem pursuant to an agenda, selected social media foot
soldiers and somehow got his master to fund the campaign with all
manner of proxies who concoct lies and continue daily attack on
governor Obiano with a view to whittling down his burgeoning profile
as a performer but rather sustain the myth of the Peter Obi legacy.
What is worrisome is that Val and his boys are primarily driven by how
to sustain their lively-hood under the former governor. Hence, they
brook no foes nor are they restrained by any principles in carrying
out their brief to mow down any opponent with sustained vile attacks.
In the books of Val’s army of internet warlords, there are no
boundaries: wife, children, friends and associates as well as business
interests become soft targets in the orchestra played by Mr. Obienyem
with several pseudonyms and unleashed through his i-pad clutching
internet greyhounds, chief amongst who is one Stanley Chira, aka Mazi
Odera.
As an image maker, Mr. Obienyem believes that Mr. Peter Obi is the
best thing that ever happened to Anambra State. In the quest to drill
the perception into every body and to bolster Obi’s sagging political
fortunes after his new party PDP lost power at the federal level, they
returned to Anambra state with a plan to discredit others at all cost.
However, the disdain with which Obi’s aide holds the current governor
is very apparent and that is proving to be Obi’s undoing. The level of
hatred on display in their strategy and conduct is leading his
principal to Golgotha.
It is now clear that were he a painter, Val’s canvass could never
exceed the confines of Awka where he sees as his boss’s fiefdom. The
many intrigues that they resurrect to ensure sustained dominance of
Anambra State politics after eight years in office may yet come back
to haunt Peter Obi. Perhaps, the loss at the national stage has left
them with the unquenchable craving for what they used to have in
Anambra State. Indeed, there is a sense of arrogance and open
dictation to the current governor and other discerning citizens of the
state, that it is only Mr. Peter Obi or nothing.
Udenka writes from Orumba(ejimonu247@gmail.com)
