Smear Campaigns Won’t Build Anambra: Why Running Down Ekwunife Is A Dead-End Strategy -By Isaac Asabor

In every election season, especially in Nigeria, the playbook rarely changes: instead of selling ideas, politicians resort to tearing down their opponents. They throw mud, spin lies, and launch coordinated smear campaigns, hoping the noise will substitute for vision. This time around in Anambra, the target is Senator Uche Ekwunife, a woman who has survived the trenches of politics and earned her place in the state’s political consciousness. But let us be clear, running down Ekwunife is not only tactically foolish, it is also a tragic diversion from the real work Anambra desperately needs.

Negative campaigning is not strategy; it is desperation. When politicians abandon issues for insults, what they are really confessing is that they have no workable agenda. It is easier to attack a person than to defend a policy. But that ease comes at a cost: it poisons the political climate, raises unnecessary tension, and drags governance into the gutter.

Anambra, like most Nigerian states, does not have the luxury of engaging in personality politics. The state is besieged by insecurity; kidnappings, cult clashes, and separatist violence have unsettled communities and stunted business activities. Roads and infrastructure are deteriorating, frustrating trade in a state once celebrated as the commercial hub of the Southeast. Youth unemployment remains dangerously high, while the economy limps without meaningful industrial growth. Against this backdrop, what the people need is clear leadership with measurable solutions, not politicians scrambling to destroy opponents for cheap applause.

Let us state it bluntly: vilifying Uche Ekwunife will not fix a single road in Onitsha. It will not secure a single village in Aguata. It will not put food on the tables of the unemployed youths loitering across Awka. Running her down may give opponents a few moments of political excitement, but it does absolutely nothing for governance.

Smear campaigns are not just a waste of time; they are an insult to the people. Every minute spent plotting how to discredit an opponent is a minute stolen from governance. Every headline dominated by mudslinging is one less headline about solutions to insecurity, job creation, or infrastructural renewal. It is a distraction masquerading as politics, and the ordinary people are the losers.

Why is Ekwunife such a magnet for attacks? The answer is simple: she has survived where others have perished. In a political environment notorious for instability, Ekwunife has managed to remain relevant. She has the rare ability to cut across party lines, to connect with the grassroots, and to articulate issues in a way that resonates with ordinary people. That kind of staying power unsettles opponents.

But attempting to diminish her through character assassination is not just morally wrong; it is politically shortsighted. Her track record and visibility make her a formidable candidate. Smearing her will not erase her name from the ballot, nor will it silence her voice in public debates. If anything, it makes her more visible, casting her as a victim of unfair political bullying. And Nigerians, especially Ndi Anambra, are not blind, they can see through desperate tactics.

The tragedy of Nigerian politics is that it often degenerates into personality wars. We forget that governance is not about individuals but about systems, policies, and results. Politicians spend more energy digging dirt on opponents than drafting policies that can tackle unemployment, insecurity, or inflation. That is why, decades after independence, Nigeria is still grappling with the same basic problems, electricity, roads, healthcare, and jobs.

Anambra deserves better. The state has one of the most resourceful populations in Nigeria. Its people are hardworking, entrepreneurial, and globally recognized for their innovation. Yet, politics in the state continues to underperform because the political class is too busy playing petty games. They reduce campaigns to insults and reduce governance to patronage. The fixation on personalities, whether for praise or for vilification, robs the people of serious debates about development.

What Ndi Anambra truly deserve is issue-based politics. Candidates should be competing to present the best blueprint for reviving the state’s economy, not who can concoct the most damaging rumor about an opponent. They should be unveiling plans to boost trade in Onitsha, to secure the highways, to create youth employment through industrial parks and tech hubs. They should be debating education reform, healthcare access, and agricultural development.

But smear campaigns sidestep all these. They reduce politics to the level of beer-parlor gossip. And when smear replaces debate, governance becomes a casualty. Instead of policies, we get propaganda. Instead of development, we get division.

At its core, negative campaigning is political laziness. It is easier to write a defamatory press release than to draft a workable economic plan. It is easier to circulate rumors on WhatsApp than to design a security strategy that actually protects lives. But laziness cannot produce leadership. Anambra cannot be governed by lazy politicians.

The November election is too important to be wasted on theatrics. Whoever emerges governor will inherit a state with enormous challenges. If we spend the entire campaign season tearing down Ekwunife, or any other candidate for that matter, then we are effectively telling Ndi Anambra that issues do not matter; only mud does. That is a dangerous message for a state that should be leading, not lagging.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing points, there is no denying the fact that the electorate must demand better. Ultimately, the power lies with the people. If voters reward smear campaigns with silence, the politicians will continue to indulge in them. But if Ndi Anambra insist on issue-based politics, then the political class will have no choice but to step up. The electorate must begin to ask hard questions: What is your plan to tackle insecurity? How will you fund infrastructure renewal? What are your strategies for job creation? How will you position Anambra for regional and global competitiveness?

Politicians who cannot answer these questions do not deserve votes. Politicians who reduce the campaign to character assassination are unfit to govern. The people must make that distinction clear.

The coming election should not be about who can shout the loudest or smear the deepest. It should be about who can govern best. Running down Uche Ekwunife, or anyone else, is a dead-end strategy. It will not build roads, it will not secure communities, and it will not create jobs. It only exposes the emptiness of those behind the attacks.

Anambra deserves leaders, not gossipers. It deserves visionaries, not political bullies. It deserves progress, not propaganda. The people must reject smear campaigns and demand governance that speaks to their needs. Enough of the noise. Let us get to work.