Contribution towards our representatives in the 2026 elections. ARE YOU THE PERSON?
A cyclical four-year period has been turned into a season of planting and harvesting in Nigerian political clime. The Nigerian populace has been turned into the farm lands while the politicians have become the farmers. They have elevated themselves to the pedestal of our Lordship. Either way, God Almighty who created all men equal shall judge us at the right time. Every one of us has their entrance and their exit. At the time of our exit, we shall face God individually to give accounts of our stewardship while on earth.
When my children were growing up, there was a time when I bought them snacks. I had left them with the instruction that it was” for all of you”. The most senior one was to share it for them but the youngest amongst them refused to let it go. He maintained that it should be left” for all of you”. He could not be convinced to abandon his view which he tenaciously held that” for all of you” referred to a particular individual. That was his contention and understanding at his tender age. I am going to borrow a leaf from him. I see myself being” for all of you”. This is to all the gladiators who have entered the political arena justling for one position or the other. I have no choice to make because you are all good persons. You are all my good brothers and friends. You have considered yourselves worthy of occupying the exalted vantage positions. Truly, without gainsaying, some of you have been there before but only just asking for a repeat program with” dignity”. At least so it appears to you to complete the good job which you had started. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
The beautiful lady you are courting now literally is the political diadem to be won. However, it must fit perfectly well one person for every position contested for at any particular time. Which person must it fit? This is the conundrum. The battle of choosing the right person should be done without any acrimony. There must be perfect tranquility after every tempest. We should enter the silver gate with gentility and professed armor of love. The Holy Bible has entreated us to owe no body anything in this world but love.
If a bunch of palm nuts falls down and left undisturbed, almost all the nuts would sprout. Naturally, the best genetically fitted survives to propagate the next generation. My candid support goes to all of you but specifically to those who are most genetically endowed after living a life without blemishes. Your score cards of your previous performance shall form the template of our arbitration. I must advocate ab initio that Electionary process is not an avowed war. Its trail or aftermath shall not have a tell-tale of whores of adversaries. I succinctly remember the great words of Former President Goodluck Jonathan.” My ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian”. It shall be a world of wisdom if all of us can embrace the truth in Politics. It is a game where only one person wins and others loose at the same time. It should be devoid of rancor and unnecessary bickering.
Election period should not be seen as a time where the contestants acquire empires like the British Empire of old. Armies of” never do well youths” are employed and wrongly indoctrinated. They are lured into unwelcome societies with ubiquitous promises from the engaging masters. They are armed with dangerous arms and ammunitions and cocktails of dangerous drugs including spirits of highest concentrations. I must sound note of warnings to these youths with youthful exuberance. These drugs do incalculable damages to the various organs of the body.
These youths are charged with the sole aim of maiming, destructing and killing of the opponents. The promises to them are usually an ill wind that blows no man any good. Because their masters fail them after the unfulfilled promises post elections, the system automatically fails them. A vicious circle of criminals and criminalities is planted and nurtured. They create Ukraine or Shahed like drone centers to torment the greater law-abiding citizens. The bad political contestants with bad political antecedents should not push us the welcoming law-abiding fellows to look at the pessimistic and nihilistic aspects of politics and taunt it as a dirty game. Politics on its own is supposed to be a harbinger of good governance. However, some of the players are dirty because they have failed to carry out its tenets properly. Let us purge ourselves of such poor representatives by voting correctly
Campaign period reminds me of the famous novel, ANIMAL FARM BY GEORGE ORWELL. An egalitarian society that started with a pleasant belief that all animals are equal. It later translated into the ominous one that all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. Now the campaigners see us as their employers and masters. They place themselves lowly as our footstools and servants. Of course, the beggar’s hand is always shorter. They are ready to absorb any number of unsurmountable disaffections to acquire the golden fleece. Once the head of the Gorgon Medusa is obtained, it is Uhuru. During the interregnum they paint themselves as white sepulchers. Their diction of merchandise is to sell themselves with the best available encomiums of perfection. However, we know that all that glitters is not gold as written in William Shakespear’s play The Merchant of Venice.
For the former representatives, there is already individual yard stick of measurement for you. Your performance is your score card which shall judge you adequately. Remind yourselves of the Legal Logo in the court of justice. There stands the status of a blind folded lady with a scale in one hand and a sword on the other. She is lady Justice or Justitia that signifies impartiality and objectivity. It’s a bit dicey for the new entrants who have no score cards. They have not passed through the doors of the hallow chambers. However, their previous actions in the society will speak louder than words. The festival day where every lady is immaculately dressed up is not the best day to choose a wife. All the disfiguring contours are usually padded up with make ups to disguise them. But they have their past in the society to refer to.
In my beautiful village of Umuoru on the western bank of River Niger, our main source of protein supply is fish. Although oil exploration and exploitation have depleted it seriously now. We are happy fishermen. We have an adage that says that there is no sonorous voice in the sale of fishes. The cheapest and best sells out itself without equivocation. A good ware does not need any advertisement. It sells itself out easily anywhere anytime.
There was this story of a man who was hired to dress a goat. He arrived the scene with his roguish bag. While he was dressing it, he was busy pilfering a good chunk into his bag. The man who had hired his services pretended not to have seen his nuisances. But unbeknownst to the actor, he never knew that his nefarious actions have been seen and recorded by his hirer. At the end, he expected praises courting steadfastness and honesty in his performance. He therefore requested for first offer of refusal for future action. With a laughter concealing his unhappiness and without mincing words, his hirer told him that he shall be invited if he has been found worthy. Of course he was never invited again. He was not found worthy. He lost the golden opportunity which usually comes but once- in- a- lifetime because of his incredibility and dishonesty.
To my former representatives, you shall be voted for if you have done well before God and man. This is my honest and candid prayer for you all. However, we shall be happy to ask you to be the sole judges of yourselves. We shall only come in as supporting or disagreeing second arbiters. We shall always remember you for what you have done for us. That shall be the angelic guide that will push our fingers onto your spots in the days of casting our votes. By their fruits, we shall know them as said by Jesus Christ and recorded in St Matthew’s Gospel.
I am not one of them. It’s said that a group of armed robbers plan very well and execute their actions with utmost precision. They however, disagree even up to the extent of killing themselves during the sharing of their booty. They are always at daggers drawn end if anyone wants to obtain the lion’s share at the detriment of others.
There is our neighboring ethnic Nationality whose action is worthy of emulation. They have never lost in any Government patronage since the inception of democratic dispensation. All their roads are tarred including in the envisaged new towns, villages and farm roads. We can count on our finger tips the number of roads tarred in the whole of Ndokwa Nationality. In the same nationality higher institutions are dotted everywhere. Establishment of higher institutions in Ndokwa Nationality by the state Government is a story of another generation. Even the mainstay of our economy which is oil derivation with its untold hardship on us has been thrown to the dogs. Successive Governments have refused to upgrade our quantum derivation. While new entrants are being welcomed and upgraded, we have remained stagnant. Fortunately, more oil and gas fields are being discovered on regularly basis in our domain. It’s plain truth that Almighty God never forgets its people. A time will come when the Pharoah that knows Joseph will mount the throne and the anomalies shall be attended to with alacrity and rectified. We can’t underscore or over emphasize the issue of electricity enough anytime in Ndokwa land. It is a recurrent decimal. We lay the golden eggs but are denied their usage.
The aforesaid ethnic nationality believes that the animal be shared before embarking on the hunting expedition. They always agree with the contestants of their dividends before casting their votes. It has paid them handsomely well. I am therefore a proponent of that axiom. We should less emphasis on” ego Orji syndrome”. We should discuss and demand what shall be our share of the Government largesse before the elections take place. Once beaten twice shy.
There was a time when the momentum of carrying ballot boxes stuffed with ballot papers was the order of the day. Events are evolving and a time will come when votes will count. Even if vote does not count, our conscience must count. The postulate becomes useless and nonsensical for those who have murdered their conscience for a paltry sum of money for the ascendency of rulership.
I want to remind us about the metaphorical adage that if fire balls fall on the mother and her son, she fends them off first from herself. This is survival instinct. Therefore, I am starting my observation from my famous ward 6 where I can speak on authoritatively. For the past twelve years until two months ago, when the LGA chairman showered us with projects, we never knew that Government at all levels do exist. We are bankrupt of gratitude to him and his executive council. Government developments had been like whirlwinds that blew past us. We were only onlookers and hearers without any tangible developments reaching us. We were like lame ducks that had no body to complain to. We were strangers in the Nigerian theater. We were dangling on a thin rope of the raucous statement of wait for your turn. But when will that turn come to us? Surreptiously, it came indeed.
Persons have been selfish to construct roads to their doorsteps and many wonderful developments without regard to others. We are aware that if corruption were not the bane of our misfortune, the money meant to construct one good bridge (not fake) in a sane environment can construct three or four similar bridges. We can only complain and keep quite thereafter. In a lucid society one’s voting card is one’s court of justice. Tersely vote the person out in the next election. That is the dictum. It is the norm in developed counties of the world. I hope that taking a trip to the moon will not be easier than achieving that in the Nigerian context.
Our representatives should dance in the alters of fairness and equity. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. If they are pragmatic and benevolent enough like Senator Mrs.Akpoti Uduaghan, every nook and cranny shall enjoy the dividends of democracy from the Nigerian cake. Almighty God has magnificently baked it for us all. Our representatives should not save to build golden needle houses for their fourth generations yet unborn at the mercy of the suffering masses.
Our selection or better still our election of a good representative shall not be a massive lunch pad for institutional corruption. This has pervaded the Nigerian nation over the years. We should be fighting to extricate ourselves at all levels from this humongous burden of corruption. It has become the hallmark of Nigerian Nation. Nigeria is endowed with fantastic intellectuals in a land flowing with milk and honey. There is no country like it. There is no natural disaster that keeps Nigerians awake. It is a country if well governed by men of conscience and probity can go to market with banners and banters of success. It is a country respected in all ramifications in the comity of nations but carpeted with corruption.
I am reminded of the Holy Bible question. Who shall I send and who will go for me? Here am I send me. The answer demands a man who is dedicated despite charging and challenging circumstances. It is a divine calling representing a shift from being unprepared to being cleansed and commissioned by God. We need proactive hearts in serving the people. We need incorruptible persons. If you think that you can wake up for our rights, throw the gauntlet, pick up the arms and come to serve us. Our noble servant shall not be greedy but truly a servant of the people. ARE YOU THE PERSON?MAY GOD BLESS YOU.
My write up is purely cautionary and advisory without regards to any one whose horse is gored.
OGARANYA TABS- TABOWEI
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