I knew I had an onerous task on my hands when the Anambra State governor's wife, Mrs. Margaret Obi, requested the Presidents-General of the 177 towns to constitute women wings for effective coordination. There has never been a united umbrella organization for women in Ojoto and many skeptics described the task as impossible. But against all odds I led my EXCO to midwife a united, virile women's union within 30 days! The reward for the hard work and personal sacrifices was a fast-forwarded visit by the governor's wife.

I initially didn't buy into the visit as I doubted if it had any redeeming intrinsic value. Consequently, I requested my able deputy, Ichie Gerald Mbamalu, to represent me but re-considered when the charter president of the women's wing, Lady Bakky Adirika, stressed the importance of my presence.

It seemed all the elements had conspired to make the event a non-starter. Unknown to all the parties, the visit was scheduled to hold smack in the middle of the so-called "August Seven-Day Rain" and it rained cats and dogs all day long. Just when it appeared all hope was lost and the visit was no longer feasible - about 5:30pm - the rain ceased. Although Mrs. Obi was running a very tight schedule, she deemed it wise to first head for the secluded venue where the traditional ruler of Ojoto, Igwe Augustine Obidiwe, and his cabinet (Ndi-Ichie) had gathered to receive her. After receiving the customary royal blessing, Mrs. Obi marched straight to the open field where the mammoth crowd - whipped into frenzy - gave her a rousing welcome.

Anyone who watched Mrs. Obi as she worked the crowd would readily reach the same conclusion that she is fast morphing into a highly successful brand name and valuable political asset for her husband. Mrs. Obi would give any famous international model a run for her money. When I saw her, the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle why Gov. Peter Obi never looked flustered - despite his numerous legal travails and unending shenanigans by successive state legislators - fell neatly into place. From my own personal experience I can confirm that any man with that kind of exquisite beauty running the homefront can afford to 'suffer and smile' 24/7!

Mrs. Obi delivered her address with that kind of diction that left you in no doubt that she was born and buttered in England. Next, she made a deft move that caught many attendees unawares: she opted to extemporaneously repeat her address in Igbo for the benefit of the many illiterate women present. Of course, she spoke Igbo with a distinct British accent which made her delivery somewhat funny in some aspects.

Her Excellency equally earned my respect for the conceptualization and execution of her "Anambra Tour" project. Let's face it: How many governors or presidents do you know or have heard of who took it upon themselves to visit EVERY town under their jurisdiction, talk less of their wives! Mrs. Obi has declared her intention to visit the 177 towns in Anambra State and to do so within the 30-day window of opportunity provided by the annual Women's August Meetings. This would mean visiting 5-6 towns EVERY day without let up - a very daunting assignment!

Her dogged determination to accomplish this task coupled with her zeal to brush up on her Igbo clearly proves that she isn't the type of person that would recoil from setting difficult goals for herself, if necessary. I scored her A+ for Effort. There is no gainsaying the fact that Mrs. Obi is laboriously sowing precious political seeds and, unless something very unusual occurs, she looks set to reap a bountiful political harvest.

When I was invited to give the vote of thanks, I first thanked Mrs. Obi for making Ojoto one of the first 100 stops in her itinerary. While praising her for setting such a high performance bar for herself, I requested her to convey some very important messages to her husband (and no one can get a husband's ear like the wife or else...as TuFace Idibia would say: Nothing dey happen!).

During this year's Ofala Festival the governor promised to complete the major road (Uzo Mmili John) linking both sections of the town. While we were expecting work to resume in the dry season, the governor surprised everyone by mobilizing the contractor to site in the middle of the rainy season, which is really the best strategy to build a durable road since the topography is heavily prone to erosion. I asked Mrs. Obi to convey our 'bottom-heart' gratitude to her husband.

I also requested Her Excellency to remind her husband of an Igbo adage: Okuko ada echezo onye kworo ya odu n'udu mmili (the chicken never forgets who assisted her in plucking her tail feathers during the rainy season). The point I wanted to drive home to the governor is that although Ojoto is the headquarters of the Idemili South Local Government it has nothing by way of government presence to show for its status. And while past internecine (brother against brother) strife made the town to have only one political ward (unlike other towns of same size), she has the population any politician can only ignore at his own peril and the town - like the chicken - would definitely not forget those who satisfied her hunger for development when the day of reckoning comes.