They are on the march again, these politicians. They gallivant all over the place with their glib tongues, jostling for positions they are not qualified for except if roguery and deception are badges of honour.
They are unperturbed about the mess of previous and current outings but have their eyes trained on tomorrow’s booty. It doesn’t matter to them who falls on the wayside of battle or who remains standing.
From the East to the West, APC has become MTN, crisis wherever you go. In Imo State, particularly, the foxy governor may have been outfoxed and has now joined the wailers’ club, bemoaning his fate, hitting below the belt former acolytes and even his blood, the one that’s creating happiness for Imolites but now wants to reap where she did not plant.
The business of politicians is to rule and to ruin; to maim and to mend, everything juxtaposed in confusing mishmash of politricks, benefitting none but the evil initiates.
As they perfect their permutations and manipulate their way to victory, nobody remembers Leah Sharibu, that Amazon of Faith, snitched alongside others from her dormitory in Government Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, by the dreadful Boko Haram Islamists. Leah has become a sore thumb sticking out prominently in the conscience of a prostrate nation.
However, the insurgents released the other girls but retained Leah in their gulag because she refused to deny Christ and convert to Islam.
She reminds me of the three Hebrew boys, Shedrack, Meshack and Abednego, who dared King Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to bow before his idol:
Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:13-18
Of course, the king threw them into fiery furnace but the fire could neither consume nor leave a smell on them. Because the King of kings walked fire with them and conditioned the flames for the good of them that trust him. That surely shall be the lot of Leah for the heathen only rage and the Lord will laugh at them in sore displeasure.
Leah has challenged us all, who run after cheap lucre in the name of politics. Leah has challenged both her captors and compatriots. For her compatriots, Leah beckons to us that there is something more precious than silver and gold and worldly acclaim. For her captors, defeat stares them in the face because, for such a young girl, whose life is still unfurling, to be unsparing in her resolve to throw it all away, she must have something superior going for her. For the Nigerian government, Leah exposes a dislocation of conscience and misplaced pursuits. No wonder the country remains a Lilliput at old age for there is yet no man to purge the land of evil; we are all culpable.
Leah has become a sore thumb sticking out prominently in the conscience of this country. For as long as Leah and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls remain in captivity, Nigeria is equally captive despite the millions of dollars paid as ransom or wasted in prosecuting the Boko Haram war and the claim to its technical defeat. That is why Nigeria should suspend every political activity and devote time to rescue these girls.
Government’s failure to protect citizens is very frightening. The Senate only recently released shocking statistics of Nigerians guillotined in just the first half of the year and, no matter the reasons adduced, it is a clear sign of government failure. In saner climes, such government should have resigned long ago, instead of parading the political landscape still seeking for fresh mandate.
Yet they disarm citizens of their licensed firearms but do nothing about armed marauders on rampage from coast to coast, leaving Nigerians vulnerable. Nigeria is in a bind and unless we stir our conscience and clothe it with flesh, we are skidding downhill to perdition.
LEST I FORGET: The crisis in the Imo APC is fast turning into something sinister. However, kudos must be given to those who stuck out their necks to rescue the state from one man’s vise grip.
Special mention should be made of Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, chairman of TETfund and aspirant to represent Okigwe South in the House of Representatives. It is not surprising that, against all odds, he stood on the side of truth, as has been his character. Truth shall definitely triumph over falsehood and, at the end of the day, Okigwe South will have a worthy representative in the young man.
Nevertheless, it must be on record that no matter how it goes, Governor Rochas Okorocha cannot dictate who represents Okigwe South, if the people want to take their destiny in their own hands. The people must stick to tradition, which was the agreement that each of the three components of the constituency – Ehime Mbano, Ihitte Uboma and Obowo – would do one term at a time. This has been upheld over the years, as the seat had alternated likewise ever since. Now it is Ehime Mbano’s turn and it must not be truncated under any guise.
Furthermore, the old Etiti is currently holding the Senate and House of Representatives seats. It is only fair and equitable for them to relinquish one and that one, strategically, is the House seat.
The current occupant, Hon. Chike Okafor, should wean himself of the Okorocha dependency syndrome and carve a niche for himself. He is eminently qualified to gun for governorship of the state and shall be supported but he has allowed Okorocha to dictate his political destiny, which is not good enough for him. He risks going into political oblivion, if the Okorocha gambit fails.
Nobody is contesting Okafor’s right or his qualification to run. Nonetheless, for fairness and equity, he has exhausted Obowo’s turn and Ehime Mbano cannot be shortchanged to please him and he knows the truth.
Okorocha is a politician, fighting for his own political survival. There is nothing inherrently wrong with that. What is wrong is a son of the soil being a willing tool in his hand to truncate the will of the people, especially in Okigwe South. IT MUST NOT HAPPEN.