I have watched for years with trepidation the political fortune of Igede people and her political class. I am scared and ashamed about my inability to fully comprehend a minority tribe giving wings to a tomorrow that will never come. Maybe, I am not spiritual enough to believe the saying of the Holy writ–“weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. Those who are spiritual enough should tell me when the glorious morning of Igede people will come in the political arrangement of Benue State.
I have been asked many times what I think of the political future of Igede people surrounded by Tiv and Idoma; here is what I think, a people mercilessly beaten and drenched with everything available. A close interaction across the spectrum of Benue society with lumpen proletariats, prominent members of the bourgeoisie as well as top officials at the highest echelons of Government, will reveal the same narrative–a people that are a minority and seems to be asking for too much of the commonwealth of the State, a people that are not appreciative of the peanut they are given. Peanut, indeed, empty nut wrapped with a big paper boldly labelled ‘Neglect’.
Was it a mistake or a formula that the current political class in Igede are uninformed of; at a time in Benue State, we had a deputy Governor, and at another time, we had two commissioners in choiced ministries like Education and Health. I think the current breed of politicians should look for where the formula is kept. Maybe, we have a wrong substitution of X or Y or selfishly replace square root with a division sign.
This is a rarity in our clime; leaders of all hues and colourations are treated as demi-gods, and they also consider themselves as such. Where the lives and livelihoods of most people depend on government patronage, telling the truth to the power that be is as difficullty as passing through Awaji-Oju road or Otukpo- Oju road. Let me now go to the main meat of my epistle today.
With a proper understanding of the political dynamics of ZONE C and BENUE, Igede votes can only add to the 7 Local Governemnts in Zone C and 21 in the State. So Igede political stakeholders should study critically and know the popular candidate in other parts of Zone C and the State. It may be beneficial for individuals to deliver their area for a politician that appointed them a DG or Coordinator but will be detrimental to Igede nation if the person failed to win. A weak question some will ask ‘how will I know if the seemingly unpopular candidate will not win’ and I could do the reverse too ‘how do you believe, as a correct politician, that a candidate that only uses Igede land as his political playground and not on the ground in other places will win?’
An unverified statement was credited to a certain political office holder why Igede land was neglected, guess the response was–“they did not vote for me in the last election.” In as much as I am not endorsing that primitive response, in our clime, that is how our leaders work and think.
In time past in Zone C, we have the likes of Young Alhaji, General Onoja, Mike Akhigbe, Onje and a host of others that almost made Igede land their political headquarters with mouthwatering promises contesting against David Mark– you know, the rest of the story. At the State level, we had Mgba Nyoo, Prof Saror, Taazoor, and now we have Hemba and others making Igede their home and contesting with major aspirants like Uba and Alia. In Zone C, on the roll are Onje and Ojobo against the incumbent Abah Moro.
IGEDE POLITICAL STAKEHOLDERS, let us hear from other places as a minority tribe and know who is more popular in other zones so we will know where to cast our votes. What benefit do we have to align with a candidate that will not win as a minority tribe? What benefit do we have to align with a candidate out of sympathy that will not win? What benefit do we have to align with a candidate that will not win because he merely recognised that we are marginalized? Some of them coming to Igede from zone C barely campaign in Otukpo. Some of them coming to Igede as Governorship candidates barely campaign in Gboko and Makurdi. What benefit do we have when we give a likely loser all our votes? A personal benefit, maybe.
As a people desiring to reap from our commonwealth in a political setting, we should be strategic, knowing that we have few cards to play. We have a Joker, a playing card that is usually printed with a symbol of victory and we should be careful how we play it. Why give wings to a tomorrow that will never come?
Keep a date with EKURWE for the open letters 2 &3.
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