Obasesam Okoi|8 February 2016|5:57am
Recently, I read an article in Cross River Watch where Honorable Legor Idabgbo, who is barely ten months at the National Assembly, moved a motion to influence the establishment of a war memorial in his constituency. A few months ago, the same man moved a motion calling on the federal government to urgently prioritize the rehabilitation of the Ogoja-Calabar road.
Inspired by his courage I made a post challenging Bassey Ewa to show us his report card. Five minutes later I got a call from Bassey Ewa lamenting over nothing. He told me Legor and others are under training. So, its appropriate for them to move motions. He told me about the motions he has moved.
My fellow constituents, can someone prove to us that he or she has witnessed or read any motion independently sponsored by Bassey Ewa in the past 8 years? Unfortunately, the motions he claimed to have moved have no connection to the yearning of his constituents and the precarious situation in Yakurr-Abi federal constituency.
What is the essence of having Bassey Ewa in Abuja if he hasn't moved any motion nor influenced a bill that became national law? This man has every opportunity to put our constituency on the political map of Nigeria. He has every opportunity to hold the national assembly to a standstill during parliamentary debates and bring pride to his people. He has every opportunity to communicate sound philosophical arguments on the floor of the National Assembly and command the attention of Nigerians.
But as I write, tears are gushing down my cheeks because we deserve better representation. I weep in my spirit because a constituency replete with brains cannot afford to return from Abuja with no trace that we were ever present. I weep because as a student union leader I left a track record of governance reform through the struggle for accountability and justice even when I didn't know the meaning of justice. I weep because at the time people like Bassey went into politics through the help of Usani Usani, most of us were too young to understand politics. Even though we were making waves as student union leaders, we were naive about macro politics. I weep because our constituency has suffered the greatest shame under Bassey Ewa.
In spite of these challenges, I still opened my heart to embrace Ewa, thinking his association with independent minds like me will make him realize how society feels about his representation so he can change his ways for the better.
When I criticized Mfawa Ofegobi it is not because I didn't recognize his effort in the establishment of ITM Ugep. But I refused to praise his effort at the time because praise singing has the potential to make a leader grow wings and slow down progress. As painful as our criticism, Ofegobi never relented in his effort to pressure Imoke toward the completion of that project. Today ITM is there. Today, I can have dinner with him for not threatening us with weapons when we pushed him to the wall with criticism, urging him to prove his mettle.
Sadly, the only development Bassey Ewa has attracted to Yakurr constituency is a truck load of weapons, which makes me wonder if he was preparing for a genocide or massacre. Bassey Ewa's politics reminds me of the history of genocide. Whether we are talking about Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Cyprus, Bosnia, Srebenica, it all started with the manipulation of ethnic difference and the gradual stockpiling of weapons with the intent to change the structure of society.
This man is not an emperor. He is just an empty brain who cannot prove his mettle on the national scene and then using weapons to intimidate those who gave him an opportunity to transform from poverty to power.
Bassey should understand that Yakurr emerged from a history of war. Which means we have in our DNAs the natural disposition to warlike behavior but chose the weapons of peace in the pursuit of social harmony. A word is enough for the wise.
Obasesam Okoi
Is a Cross River-born Canada-based Academic
