Dear Prof,
I use this opportunity to thank you for inviting me
to be part of this laudable Forum/Movement and especially to be in the midst of eminent and accomplished sons and daughters of
Benin that have made their enviable marks in their various chosen
fields.
I am sending this message to you and must state that the
opinions expressed here are personal, based on my political experience,
haven served in various national committees/assignments for my Party in
recent times.
The political history of our country should not be
lost on us all, as we go into formation of this forum as a pressure
group for our people.
In the 50's and the first
Republic, Parties were formed along regional lines.The reason we had AG
(West), NPC (North) and NCNC (East). They were headed by regional
Leaders - Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikiwe. They
championed the interest of their people.
As a result of our disenchantment with the AG Western region, the Midwest Region was created.
We
had political leadership in Humphrey Omo-Osagie championing the
Benin agenda using the Otu Edo Movement within the dominant NCNC party
to demand for the rights in political, economic and infrastructural developments for the
Benins.
The fact cannot be controverted that the Benins got a fair
share of our agitations at the time, with the royal blessings of Oba
Akenzua of blessed memory.
What do we have now? This is the question and puzzle this Forum should try and find solutions to.
When
the third Republic was being midwifed, I am informed that the then
Chief of General Staff (CGS), Admiral Mike Akhigbe,
invited the Edo political three musketeers - Gen. Ogbemudia, Chief
Anenih and Chief Igbinedion to be at the fore front of the political
party formation in the State.
This gave rise to the birth of PDP as a
political party in the State. However, two political leaders,
decided to go for the Governorship position and the financial benefits
in politics, while the third decided to go for the political leadership
of the Party at both state and national levels. What do we have now? PDP is being led by a leader from a
minority group and using the position for political and economic
empowerment/development of his people. Why do we complain?
In an
attempt to break away from the PDP political leadership in 2007, our
own son Lucky Igbinedion, drafted his political cronies to form a party that he, up till
the present time, is struggling to reclaim. The formation of the Party
was a half measure effort. When our sons were in the fore front as
governorship candidates in the same Party, the incumbent
Governor was drafted into the Party to upstage our sons.
The
incumbent Governor, at the early stage of his administration and up till
not too long ago, will always stress the fact that, he was voted into
office by the Benins (Edo South). The leadership of our son's Party is
now firmly in the grip of another ethnic minority group.
An objective
research/analysis of the political situation in the State is that,
political and economic empowerment of this ethnic minority group are
being executed by the same person we, the Benins installed as Governor,
while offering to some us (Benins) mere political patronages as he deems
fit under the table.
The vital question to be asked here is, if our political leadership in this present political dispensation has and
will be in a position to properly represent us and negotiate from a
position of advantage for us Benins. The answer, I must confess, is NO.
The proliferation of pressure groups, as it
is happening today in Edo South, will not yield the type of result we should look forward to.
In
political negotiations and pressure group formation, the purpose is to
lay all cards on the table and negotiate and not being offered
patronages under the table. The group with the political leadership and
advantage will always triumph and not the group with mere size and
population.
We should accept our political naivety and short
sightedness and embrace the basic fact that, without an identifiable
political party platform and structure to operate with, our political, economic empowerment and emancipation will remain a mirage.
We should
also accept the fact that, without political empowerment and support to
our sons and daughters in politics, economic empowerment of our people
cannot be enhanced.. We will therefore continue to accept mere political
crumbs under the magnanimity of the political minority groups that are
the leaders of the dominant political
parties.
The tasks before this forum are to:-
(i) ascertain
if we can take leadership of one of the existing dominant political
party structure in the state and how to go about it.
(ii) if item
(i) is not feasible, the forum should identify an existing political
party to operate with and take control and leadership of the party.
(iii)
identify those in the forum that are politically inclined and form a
political committee or group within the forum to chart the way forward
to achieving (ii) above as a political agenda.
(iv) set up a finance committee to ensure funds are available to the forum to propagate the agenda of the forum and our people.
(v) set up an economic committee to advance our economic agenda for our people.
(vi) set up a strategy/development committee to promote our culture at home and in the diaspora and give
publicity to our activities.
The list of committees is not exhaustive, but these are personal suggestions.
In
conclusion, I am not inviting those who are apolitical to come into
politics, but stating that one cannot remain apolitical and pursue an
agenda for our people successfully.
Secondly, the seeming failure of
our political leadership may have prompted the coming together of this
group. There are other political pressure groups set up by our
sons and daughters presently. However, most of these groups have been
infiltrated by the dominant parties controlled by other ethnic minority
groups at inception, through funding. The forum should avoid this sort of
situation at inception and avoid inclination or leaning to a political
party for now.
Thirdly, we should accept the basic fact that, without
the Benins in political leadership of any political party, our quest
for political and economic empowerment and emancipation will not be fully
achieved.
I thank you for your efforts and my apologies for not being present at this first meeting of this forum.
My warm regards and happy deliberations.
Eddy Ogunbor.
N/B:- This memo was written to a Forum, yet to be established in Benin City, in January 2012, during its
innaugural meeting. I was invited to the meeting as a prospective
member. However, I was unavoidably absent due to other engagements at
the time, outside Benin. This formed my thoughts in proposing some areas
the Forum should focus on as a pressure group for our poeple, the Benins.
Seun
Kuti, son of foremost afro-beat crooner, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who died
15 years ago has condemned the non-legalizing of Marijuana like
cigarette, suggesting that the position of the law on the two products
was illogical.
