DO YOU KNOW IJAW POLITICIANS?

By Asiayei Enaibo

Yes, they are great politicians in Ijawland. Many have groomed followers with the gospel of hatred. Those who managed our poverty divide one employee salary among seven persons. Those who want to see you serve their children, and their servants service their grandchildren and in-laws are in the mainstream.

DO YOU KNOW IJAW POLITICIANS?

Yes, we have great and eloquent Ijaw politicians that make or support a bill once in four years and give us cups of rice at the end of the year and we called them Messiahs. Are they messiahs or cups of rice and anti-development politicians? The last time I saw when my village children were sent as delegates by their families to collect cups of rice tied in a cellophane. Though, the children were happy and angry, but they could not say a word, for they do not know what good governance is all about.

We have politicians who only reward praise singers, including myself during election as to manage our collective poverty as we clap for their third or sixth term coming!

Ijaws are blessed with great minds as politicians that never brief us on constituency development projects for four years or twenty years. Once you make such comments, they will hire community based boys from your area to disarm your pen and break your legs in a ghastly Keke accident when their convoys are coming.

From the Senate down to House of Representatives, to House of Assembly,
the lawmakers, their oversight functions are to gather enemies, a list of stubborn boys they could starve for objective criticism, and blacklisted for having good community based policy ideas to help them excel in their business of politics. They will refuse you to come near their homes, locked with iron Gates, and Dogs to attack the Talking Drum.

Empowerment, zero percent, once you say something about empowerment, they will go and snap photos at the sales points of Keke and Okada to show us photos that they did empowerment at Abuja, while the people in the villages they are representing have no idea of such empowerment.

DO YOU KNOW ANY IJAW POLITICIAN?

Yes, those who have not said anything as a matter of any urgent public importance even though flood kills all the children at Bobougbene, yes those that don’t listen to the youths but listen to old contemporaries on money sharing formulas in Burutu.

DO YOU KNOW ANY IJAW POLITICIAN?

Yes, the few good ones, but the corrupt famili-tocracies are more than the public interest. When they manage to give our children one scholarship, they will go and brag about it, some will say it is their personal money. When they were not elected, non has personal money to share.They turn our heads against us.

They have never called for a town hall meeting to address us. Once we make such comments, those who called themselves as Ijaw Watchdogs which have been given cups of rice will be blindfolded to distract the meeting for their own interests not to allow the meeting expose their selfish, un-political thinking. They said they have influenced project to us, the last time I checked, the lawmakers are the same contractors, their grandfathers fathers’ names are the contractors, they partner as elder brother to corruption whose senior sister is to embezzle the money and abandoned the work, while they give her negotiated amount to run away. For they are the Messiahs we have as politicians in Nigerian.

I do blame the good ones that are afraid of bad ones not to contest to rule us with great ideas, innovative policies that can project our rural riverine areas to a tourist centre. We have great minds in Ijawland, the old good ones are poor, the young good ones are poor, they can’t buy vote.You know our society sells vote to buy poverty. For some have already exchanged their franchise for twenty pieces of rice cups come 2023.

Look at them, we have Urban development commission everywhere, but no riverine/ rural development board and nobody is saying anything. They gather and only laugh with their colleagues, no policy. Where is great Comrade Joseph Evah, who has done this to us?

HOW DO WE REFORM THEM NOW?

First, we should hold them accountable with a blue print whenever they are coming to our communities for campaign, itemize what they can do for us in a black and white paper and use Egbesu to swear, once they failed us, let what happened to Abacha happen to them. Amen!

Let us compel them to brief us in a town hall meeting what they could bring to our communities in a yearly budget. If they failed, we go to their national office with a placards as a vote of no confidence to withdraw our mandate in protests. Yes, we can!.

Yes, it is a good point, we do not have light, no politician cares in our area, we don’t have drinkable water in Ijaw area, no elected politician cares, we don’t have good schools, the political appointees are afraid to tell the Governor. We don’t have road, they said our places are difficult terrains.

Our mothers gave birth in the canoes while paddling to the cities to deliver in the hospital, then we called such children names with “Arukazi”

2023 is around the corner, they hire all the 200HP Engine boats to go to the difficult terrains to buy votes. The good, the ugly and the evils, many have listed the stubborn boys to beat the writers, many have planned hired boys for rigging, then vote buying, four years equal to two thousand naira, ten thousand naira for the future of a whole family. I blame our mothers and women with political Asoebi clapping for five hundred naira on daily basis at the end, no empowerment. Eyorotuooo.

DO YOU HAVE GREAT POLITICIANS IN IJAWLAND?

Yes, one half bridge as a legacy project for twenty years, they are the best coming again. Let us prepare to buy ‘Ongu’, that ancient water reservoir and cry into it to full it with tears so we could have water to drink.

Arise youth of conscience, let us watch over our future as 2023 comes around.

Some have already listed lists of my father’s enemy once he becomes a Governor, they will suffer, a premeditated plan to suffer the masses as if they are God.

Good leadership is a manifestation of public development.

Look around you and where you are representing, don’t allow your praise singers to deceive you as Darkness and Light are known to humanity at all level.

Asiayei Enaibo

The Talking Drum of the Niger Delta Writes from GbaramatuVoice Media Centre.

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