By Nduka Ugwueje
When the foremost Greek philosopher, Aristotle posited that "Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers," he might have the sociopolitical scenery of the 21st century Nsukka - Igbo Eze South Federal Constituency in mind.
A zone with that has produced men who were privileged to occupy renowned positions of authority, from where they were meant to be good ambassadors of their hometowns, but they faltered abysmally. And that was how the woes of the constituency persisted. The people starved amidst supposed plenty. To be precise, one of her sons had been pivotal in previous administrations in Enugu State. He was to be placed in offices of loft, where he can eke out a good welfare package for the constituency. But what they got was a screwed butt.
He has been a serial betrayer of public trust in his previous engagements in political offices. And today, he is shamelessly wielding a ticket of the same party that has held sway in the state, and neglected our constituency, soliciting to be voted to represent our people at the green chambers. He is an example of the conservative politicians described by former U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt as "a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward."
The fellow in question has squandered opportunities of service to the people on the altar of selfish interest. He sees political offices as avenue to feed his insatiable appetite and satisfy his cronies.
For avoidance of doubt, he was the chairman of the ruling party in our state for a full term. He sits as member governing council of Federal University Of Technology Owerri (FUTO). He has been a permanent contractor in Rural Electrification projects in the state. And for the past 23 years and counting, he has been part and parcel of successive governments in the state.
It pains to state that he has been on the left-hand side of history as a man who never helped a single soul either in the ward, village or communities in the constituency he is now begging to represent. The same old order that he had served in Enugu at the expense of the interest of his people, are projecting and urging him on. To them, he is their adopted son, and so whether our people like it or not, so long as his party holds the power of incumbency in the state, he will emerge by hook or crook. We know how the party had managed to stage itself in the state since 1999.
But, the truth is that a revolution occasioned by just angst of the masses is here. People no longer care about political party, but the content of character of the individual candidate. What we are witnessing in Nigeria today, especially in Ala Igbo is a demonstration of the primordial Isaac Newton's law of physical motion that "an object will continue in a state of rest until an external force acts on it..." and "when acted upon, the rate of action and reaction from the object are equal and opposite." We have been subjugated long enough by the twin extrinsic factors of stakeholder apathy and government negligence and we are reacting with equal force of repulsion.
Our people have wisened up. They now vote on the pedigree of individual contestants, no more on the humongous party dynasty that has bastardized our democracy for two decades. Two days ago, Femi Falana (SAN) reminded some politicians in a retreat fora that ahead of 2023 "power is now in the street." The hoi polloi, are today, the custodians of legitimate political office mandate. One has to go down to their level with convincing antecedents and enriched resumè to claim it.
And this explains why all those who were part of the days of locusts, like our man in the narrative above are jittery. As Bob Nester Marley said: "you can cheat some people sometimes, but you can't cheat all the people all the times."
Nsukka/Igbo Eze South constituency now know better. Political parasites within our enclaves should avoid the polls for the imminent danger that awaits them will be incalculable. Let every public office seekers in our constituency be aptly guided by this warning.
...Nduka Ugwueje writes from Ngwuru, Nsukka. He can be reached through e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . NNL.
