By Foster Obi
There is this popular saying by Edmund Burke that weaklings do not write history nor do the timid ordinarily point towards progress.
This comes to mind when reasoning is turned upside down to justify the unjustifiable, especially in this era that most politicians have taken certain elective positions as if it is their birthright.
Analysts have also come to acknowledge that in the public life as in the theatre, it is good to bow off the stage while the applause is still warm and loud and before the stage lights are dimmed.
In the light of the above, it has become absurd to see certain publications flying around trying to justify the fact that the Honourable member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency, Nkeiru Onyejeocha who has stayed there for four terms at the House of Reps, amounting to 16years should go ahead to contest again when Isuikwuato by every standard has been shortchanged in the equation.
It becomes more scandalizing when you xray her four term tenure only to discover that Isuikwuato has been holding the short end of the stick in a supposed commonwealth.
In a certain opinion sampling recently, no body from Isuikwuato could readily point to one notable thing the Honourable member has done for the community except occasional handouts that insult sensibilities.
Pray, What is this paying WAEC fees for students being bandied about. Should it be a campaign gambit? How much is it worth in real terms? A lot of ordinary people have been doing this over the years without mention and how much more a person that holds a mandate to represent a people for 16 years. So why would it be a campaign strategy. Why are these fees paid only when election is around the corner?
The argument that Dr Onyejeocha got the ministry of works to gazette the construction of the Isuikwuato Urualla gully erosion is a non-sequitor, at best a deliberate falsehood intended to deceive the people.
There is nobody in Isuikwuato that do not know that the move to get that erosion menace checked over the years has been a collective effort by the people to get the government to attend to it.
Do we now begin to name Isuikwuato sons and daughters that went out of their way to get the authorities to do something.
It’s also good to mention that the Hon. Minister of State for Mines, Uche Ogah played a huge role to make the erosion control happen and he was pivotal to it all.
No doubt, the Honourable member added her voice to it, expectedly because of her position but should she now take the sole credit.
A certain writer was trying to substantiate the sit tight posture of Hon. Onyejeocha in the House by siting examples of the likes of Ekweremadu, Gbajabiamila, Ali Ndume etc. This is the most lame argument anybody has seen lately.
Now, because certain people have perfected the art of murder over the years without being caught, does it make it right? When has lies and truth become synonymous?
Is it not this same sit tight syndrome that provoked coup plots in military regimes. We have condemned military regimes as autocratic that should be jettisoned with, why do we again bring that ugly and backward disposition into a civilian arrangement?
Why would a single person sit down for four terms to represent a people that have great sons and daughters that could make notable difference better than her?
Why would a certain group of people come up with arguments to shortchange Isuikwuato again, in this day and age that bright minds are everywhere as the water covers the sea.
Where is fair judgement or should it now be the Shakespearean “Fair is foul and Foul is fair?
Like Nwafor Orizu of blessed memory once wrote, “it becomes more unpardonable when those in the government of a country try to sow seeds of discord and cultivate prejudice between nations.”
Analysts believe that if Hon. Onyejeocha goes again for that position, she would be directly slapping Isuikwuato in the face and this will cause disaffection in the constituency
Well meaning individuals in the constituency have argued that rather than making the House of Reps seat her birthright, she should aspire higher to the Senate, to make way for brighter minds, this time from Isuikwuato to do their turn. This is the only thing that will guarantee continued harmony in the constituency.
Some have argued that the long staying Honourable member is arrogant and irritable and does not respect anybody’s opinion. while this has not been confirmed by this medium, it is beyond the scope of this writing.
One believes she should give ear to sound reasoning when the ovation is still loudest.
Picture: Dr. Nkeiru Onyejeocha
FOSTER OBI is Editor, DFCnewsng.com
