GODDY JEDDY AGBA: PROTECT YOUR ACHILLES HEEL The Achilles heel—a weak spot. Achilles according to Greek traditions and mythology, was the son of sea nymph Thetis and Peleus; a famous Greek hero of the Iliad. Fates had it that Achilles would die in the Trojan war, as such, Thetis dipped her infant son in the River Styx to make him invulnerable. The heel by which she held him was untouched by the water and thus vulnerable to injury. Throughout his life this part of his body was his weak point and he was killed by Paris who pierced his heel with an arrow. For reasons of my ideologies and the Alliance which I currently Coordinates, I for a while stood aloof over who becomes the next governor of Cross River State from the Northern Senatorial Constituency. This was so because I was tied to known apron strings yet to be disclosed. Being a campus pressman considered as a “controversial” writer in my days in Malabor Republic, (University of Calabar) and a unionist referred as a social activist by a vast plethora of folks in the aforementioned citadel of learning with an audacity interest in the political and social change of my nation and dearest state—Cross River State, I have a task of performing the sloe duty of swiftly responding to the multi-viral questions some of my contemporaries who I thinks are Jeddy’s “patroclues” weaved and entangled me with. These questions were propagated from friends and foes. There were propelled on the wings of melancholy; there surfed on the crest of political philosophy, on the trough of party affinity and laced with personal eccentricity, tribal consanguinity, ethnic disproportion and man-know-man or ’naweewee’ mentality. The question anchors on 2015. To many, a year of political decider for the future generations yet to come. To like-minded readers; to clear-eyed political pundits, my associates and numerous social-site-friends (SSF), I present the questions thus: Who are you? Where are you coming from? Who are your people? Who are you supporting? How much have you been given? You are just circulating cheap blackmail. Are you short-sighted? Show me your governorship candidate and we will tell you how good is Mr. Jeddy Agba. Bla bla bla! Don’t use your hands to carry trouble on your head”. These questions came from anonymous callers with the intention of threatening and intimidating me as contained in the acoustical pitch of their voices. It all began few days after I published a piece in an online media (WWW.paradisevoice) with the caption, “The making of the governor, 2015” and later exacerbated when I lifted an excerpt from a piece titled, “Asphyxiated democracy” by lmaji Jio Ufumaka and published in my face book wall and in Cross River State Coalition for Change, (CRSCFC). As an informed writer, a political “determinant” factor and a son of the soil with political right like everyone else, I have written an explicit analysis of the political geometry of the State with particular reference to the “real and the perceptible weight” of the gubernatorial aspirants both on ground and on air for those that have eyes to see. This I did without any extrinsic biasness but with absolute solidarity to the immeasurable wishes of the masses and electorate to know their would-be governor if any is among those x-rayed in my piece. This I have been exercising even while I was yet at the threshold of activism. However, afterward, it would be sadly fatal for myself and other of my kith and kin if I mute now, thus the response to their bellicosity tenor, ‘hitlarity’ strategy to propagate and incite hatred among those who I share same apron strings. Though, the proverbial puppy and pussy-cat may not be best of friends. Therefore, irrespective of the left over lunch, the puppy must have promised the mice shouldn’t over choke her to lure the cat into collision with the “humbled” puppy. Never has it been noticed in the chronicles of our history the robustness of political socialization as promoted by Jeddy Agba Campaign organization. Mr. Agba has been conducting himself in high standard of civility. But most of his supporters on social sites who I called his Achilles heel who want to make him a triton amongst the minnows should be heedful not to chase the shadow and lose the substance, I warned! Without the rigor of recap either from my previous piece or from Imaji Jio Ufumaka’ Asphyxiated Democracy’, while I reciprocate a great deal of regards to Mr. Agba, the erudite and ebullient members of his campaign organization, I also reserve the right to state frankly that I’m not synonymous with the habit of exchanging advertorial on social media over who is for or who is against a particular aspirant. I want to believe that those that love and are truly supporting Mr. Agba would not pugnaciously and shallowly go silly on social sites lashing and hewing vituperations on the people with divergent views. I had in several occasions admonished my followers that supporters must eschewed stone-age supporting approach, medieval mind-set, feudal and emirate disposition of galvanizing support for an aspirant or a candidate for any elective or appointive position. Let us know that the celebration of personal eccentricity by way of wooing the electorate is not a generational political mobility in the art of politics. In aluta parlance, we often sing: freedom comes by `struggle’. With serious mindedness, we do so but not with “by any means necessary” as proposed by El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz for short, Malcolm X. When Mohandas Gandhi and his clique were agitating for independence from the British imperialism in India, they did it with modesty and frequent hunger-strike without pulling down the heavens over anybody’s head. Martin Luther King (Jnr.) tells us that only those whose backs are bent are the only ones who are taken for a ride. We shouldn’t misunderstand him. Hear him while he was instructing his followers: Violence only brings temporary peace (victory), at the end, it brings a conflagration of spiral-chain of unending commotion”. If a product is good, the marketers wouldn’t stress themselves beyond breaking point. If the marketers are bad, the product may not reach the final consumers. According to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria got her independent “on a platter of gold”. To him, freedom should be fought for and won, and not given as a gift, so that it will be appreciated. Must everybody support Jeddy Agba ambition? You have the answer(s). Then why should those who have contrary views be called names? One of those prominent names that frequently take to social site to unscrupulously perpetrate this act is Barr. Venatus Ikim, the former benefactor of the incumbent government. Nasty things about the governor have been severally said by the aforementioned. After this political gymnastic, what next? This space is reserved to commend Dr. Sandy Ono, the Director General of Goddy Jeddy Agba’s Campaign Organization and Mr. Clay Offorbuche for the serious job they are doing for the actualization of Agba’s political pursuit. Others should learn from these fellows. Some of their platforms worthy of mentioning are: G18 Coalition for Jeddy Agba (G18 for Jeddy) and Jeddy solidarity movement (JSM) and many others yet to join. Their intellectual and scholarly informative messages always sent to the people are worthy of emulation. These messages are usually stored and saved in my storage devices. If I lack storage space, I usually prefer deleting other messages from other sources. These guys are doing a great job of voters’ education and re-orientating the electorate. This is first of its kind since May 27, 1967 when the state was created from former Eastern Region by Gen. Yakubu Gowon and later known as Cross River State in 1976. Again, for the second times in my recent write-up, I will be re-affirming my earlier observation that it is only Mr. Agba that is showing high level of seriousness concerning 2015 guber election. The rest aspirants are patiently waiting for Governor Liyel Imoke anointing oil and to declare them as heir apparent to the seat of government come 2015. The state ordinarily is “catching cool” politically. Only Jeddy Agba and his team are doing what a physicist called latent heat of change on a system. On a personal note, if I may advice, I wish to tell Jeddy that in this twenty-first century and with the level of our exposure, party affinity doesn’t matter all that, but the quality-perhaps the caliber of the candidature of the person and the acceptability by the people that matters the most. If party A refuses to give you ticket as their flag-bearer, party B will surely gives you. Or you can run as an independent candidate. There are many Paris (es) that are ready to capitalize on the heel of Achilles. The greatest weak point and political fulcrum of Jeddy’s ambition is his “basket-mouth-like” tendency of some of his supporters who are doing more harm than good. To me, they are perfectly playing the role of ‘a wet blanket’. My talk on the politics of ‘money bag’. I don’t discourage generosity and philanthropy gesture in any of its kind; provided it is meant to help the needy and not for personal aggrandizement or for parochial interest to score cheap political goals. Politic of money bag must be discouraged because politicians have capitalized on the emaciated economy status of the poor people to buy them early, use them now and dump them later. There are three people you cannot deceive: God, devil and yourself. We shouldn’t be told because we can’t claim ignorant of it. “Auzyna mai” as my friend, Aizhan Tashenova from Kazakhstan would always tell me after every discussion in the Kazakh language which means thank you. I say auzyna mai! “it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools”—King Solomon. Comr. Ogar, Emmanuel Oko Is the coordinator of Youths Alliance for Northern Cross River Dreams (YANCRID)
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 14:12:14 +0000