By Onoriode Esievoatokpota
The political experiences of the people over the years have left an unsavoury taste in their mouths.
Since the beginning of the fourth republic, many leaders have emerged to drive the politics of the land but in the wrong direction.
Expectations have been dashed. Corruption institutionalized, Instant billionaires have been made at the expense of the welfare of the people.
Those without any visible means of livelihood have chanced upon staggering fortune without attending to the needs of the people.
They have amassed so much wealth that over the years, they could afford to buy anything, buy judgments, electoral victories, certificates and followership.
All these have no bearing with the welfare of the people and the poor masses have suffered for too long.
Many of those who attempted to tame the ugly situation and change the narrative have been drowned by the unrepentant current of a thriving volcano propelled by the evil characters who tend to the altar of the socio-political shrine of failure.
The pains have been so unbearable fueling brain drain as those who could afford it migrate to better-organized havens. Those who left are of the opinion that when the people can no longer take it from those who weaponised poverty in order to perpetually keep them in bondage, they will act and decisively so.
Nigerians may have finally arrived at that juncture, driven by the sheer impishness of the political elite.
For once, they are uncharacteristically angry, having been grossly dehumanised by their leaders who held them in absolute contempt over the years.
What is more: this time they are poised to do something rather than sitting down and complaining.
They are prepared to take political action to remedy the situation. That is what the Ede Dafinone Movement’ is all about and why it must continue to resonate in all the nooks and crannies of Urhobo land.
Ede Dafinone is the face of the historic movement to keep the agents of retrogression in the land in check. Having found new hope in Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Urhobo cannot afford to go back to Egypt, where complacency and political inertia without productivity reign.
Yet, it is not about him. It is about the long-suffering masses who seem to have finally woken up from their lethargic slumber.
It is about a people looking for an alternative to the old order that has impoverished all and diminished the land. For Urhobo people, it is about rewarding the great sacrifice and honour that APC has reposed in Urhobo in making one of our own illustrious sons, Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate. Even with one of our very own neighbours as President for 6 years, Urhobo could not rise to blossom all these years until the present time when President Buhari reposed confidence in one of our own and pave way for his ascension to the position of the fifth highest political office holder in Nigeria.
Sooner than later, the rapacious political elite will resort to their old divide-and-rule playbook by playing on the people’s primordial sentiments and intelligence.
The primordial fault lines will be thrown into the mix. But the people should be wiser because there should be enough awareness that suffering can be tamed with the right and selfless leaders in the saddle. The system has not helped the people.
What matters now is the credibility and integrity of the candidate who is prepared to give the people quality representation.
In his recent interview with newsmen, Chief Ighoyota Amori added insult to the wounds he has inflicted on Urhobo over the years when he claimed: ‘’I don’t have a questionable character that could lead to a breach of trust. I have always represented the interest of the people in every office and I will replicate the gesture of their magnanimity if the mandate to represent Delta Central is given to me.
’’ Amori has failed to differentiate between service to PDP and service to Urhobo. In the streets of Urhobo, the name Amori is synonymous with the betrayal of the Urhobo cause. The man should know that while we now live at peace with the Itsekiri nation, the past cannot easily be forgotten and ‘Amorighoye’ as his full name is, cannot be more Urhobo than Ede Dafinone.
To lay claim to any patriotic inclination when his anti-Urhobo escapades are open books before all is like adding salts to an open wound. The people cannot be deceived, not anymore.
Urhobo will vote for a full-blooded Urhobo son in 2023. Those reeking of the foul odour of betrayal and ethnic duplicity should be brought to their knees for truth and credible representation to blossom.
Ede Dafinone is that man who would be in the Senate and the people can rest assured of soaring to greater heights in political glory. Being a broken megaphone without commensurate patriotic productivity cannot promote Urhobo on the path of glory. We must vote right in 2023 by sending Ede Dafinone to the senate to cut a better deal for the people.
Onoriode Esievoatokpota is from Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
