Oteghe Adams
There are extraordinary moments in the annals of human affairs when history irresistibly beckons on individuals particularly those who have emerged through various circumstances as societal leaders to stand up gallantly for the honour of service. Unfortunately, not everyone with the leadership appellation has the capacity to comprehensively understand the obligations that they must fulfill at such times.
Perhaps the grave shortcomings of these supposed leaders in epic moments are resultant from the fact that their emergence into prominence was not through genuine uncorrupted political and social metamorphosis. Indeed, the series of treacherous and undignified actions by the odious specie of leaders whose conduct is under examination calls the sociological and political pedigree of such persons to serious question.
Although, it must be understood that the mostly impalpable jewel and definition of human character that the Benin will call UYI is not an equal endowment of every leader. The word ‘’uyi’’ instigates the broad connotation and denotation of the innateness of unselfish dignity, a sense of unyielding pride in collective history, approximate puritanical abnegation for traitorous and treacherous conduct and the tendency for boldness and heroism. These are the pristine hallmarks of the Benin person before and now in the 21st Century.
Looking from a justifiable proud angle of history, it seems that some of the current alleged Edo South APC leaders are not cognizant of the fact that it has taken Benin people almost 40 years after Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia to produce another performing and endearing governor in the person of Godwin Obaseki. Perhaps the group of Edo South self-acclaimed leaders, who engaged in unpardonable betrayal and acts of internal sabotage and deliberately plotting the defeat of APC in Edo South during the Presidential and National Elections, were just incapable of responding to the critical obligations of the moment.
The pack of some Edo South APC chieftains were so lily-livered and so lacking in the tradition of honour for the Benin model character to stand out boldly and let the APC know that they were at war with the party. Rather they cowardly hibernated and plotted to surreptitiously commit suicide by exploding the electoral fortunes of the party to which they publicly pledged loyalty.
Most of the disgruntled Edo South APC leaders who were engaged in this infamy of internal sabotage during that election were not bold enough, for fear of opprobrium, to publicly come out against the popular governor that they sought to disgrace by working for the PDP in the Presidential and General Election. Of course Governor Obaseki swept the political midgets parading as heavyweights out of the way to secure the entire 24 seats in the consequent House of Assembly Election. But what is this coterie of the traitors and saboteurs seeking?
The hallucinatory dream of the dissenting gang is to deny Governor Obaseki a second term. And the hidden but true reason for their nefarious action is that Obaseki has adhered to the principle of placing more emphasis on services to the citizenry and less of patronage to the cabal of insatiable party leaders. Their real anger is that Obaseki has removed the feeding basin from the decadent arena of the festival of vultures. The resources that was previously channeled into the pockets of such leaders is now invested by Governor Obaseki in infrastructure for the public good of Edo citizenry.
Quite regrettable is the fact that the same kind of Benin sons who are engineering these diabolical plots against Obaseki are of similar breed with those that gyrated with heads upside down in the theatrical frenzy to secure a second term for Obaseki’s predecessor.
But now that it is the turn of someone from the Bini bloodline, the acidic venom of self-hatred has risen in these traitors with the self-destructive gene to wreck the endearing legacy of Godwin Obaseki. But these surreptitious machinations will collapse on the heads of their sinister architects and their dreams will turn to nightmare. One must recall how some similarly traitorous Benin characters initially made the Beloved Ex-Governor Ogbemudia vulnerable to the point of being subjected to disgraceful treatment by a successive administration. The cast of soulless masquerades who are now plotting to set Edo State back and minimize Benin’s prestige in the chronicle of governance of the region are not different from those who encouraged the humiliation of Dr. Ogbemudia by outsiders and attempting to diminish his legacy in our history.
This is not the vision of the progressive and people –oriented party that Governor Obaseki and the overwhelming majority of Edo people want to build. Fortunately, some credible and visionary Benin political leaders are offering a more proper response to the historic agenda before our people. Very noteworthy in this regard is the recent meeting of political leaders that was convened by a foremost APC Chieftain in Edo State, Charles Idahosa.
The meeting very clearly defined the popular acceptable path for our people. From giant strides in education reforms to evolving Edo State into an economic power house of the South-South region, the improvement in the welfare of workers and pensioners to the massive investment in road infrastructure and expansion of opportunities for youths’ employment, Governor Obaseki has justifiably earned the approval and confidence of the vast Edo electorate far above the dwindling horizon of those who attended the recent parliament of chickens with no concrete resolution.
The clock of history is ticking with ominous repercussion for those who acclaim themselves and accept the responsibilities of leadership – there will undoubtedly be consequences for the historical positions that we take as Edo the 2020 year of decision.
Ultimately, I hope that APC leaders of Edo South extraction will display a modicum of the honour and courage for which our ancestors were famed by boldly and publicly maintaining their stance instead of hibernating in the crumbling silos of traitors and saboteurs.
Adams writes from Benin-City