By Bobson Gbinije
“Our world is a neighborhood.
We are tied together in the single
Garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly”
(Martin Luther king Jr)
The arrogant segregationists and the Caucasoid depots thrived in their Golgotha savagery because their victims were sandwiched in the tragedy of despondency, non-violent complacency and passivity over their inheritance, legacy and their rights. Hence, the epitome of oratorical dexterity and verbal phosphorescence CICERO posited that, “falsa demonstratio legatum non perimi” (a legacy is not destroyed by an incorrect description)
But the people of Okobia in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State have been crying for over 53years to successive Governments for construction of the road leading to their town to no avail.
This writer has written over seven articles published in (The Guardian, Vanguard, National Mirror, Tribune, Urhobo Voice, Urhobo Vanguard, Urhobo Times Newspapers etc to draw successive Governments’ attention to the horrendously sordid state of disrepair of the road to Okobia Town in Okpe Local Government area of Delta State to no avail. As usual, our Okpe Politicians have made Barmecidal- dish, placebo and half- hearted efforts yielding no results. But with a promise that the Okobia Road Project will be included in the 2014 budget. What an Alice in Wonderland promise!
During the Ibori administration we published three articles and now in the tenureship of His Excellency the Executive Governor of Delta State Dr Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan we have so far published four articles with no response to our plight.
The access roads from Okuabude through Okuetolor, Okuegume to Okobia are horrendously hellish and a troglodyte Siberia. The other link roads from Aghalokpe through Arhagba to Okobia are exemplifications of lugubrious furibund and furuncle-stimulating contraptions.
It is clear that the cardinal objective of governments, governance, leaders and shrewd leadership is the pursuit of the greatest good for the largest number. But this is not the case in Delta State as far as the people of Okobia are concerned. It looks like we shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have altruistic moral and ethical principles we can applaud with an enthusiasm that enables us to rally support for them based on confidence and trust. We will have to demand high standards and give consistent loyal support to those who merit it.
Leadership is leaders acting – as well as caring, inspiring and persuading others to act for certain shared goals that represent the values- the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of themselves and the people they represent. And the genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders care about, visualize and act on their own and their followers values and motivations.
There are three key points to remember about the anatomy and dialectics of leadership. First, leadership omits the use of coercive power. Leaders, rather, move others by caring, by inspiring and by persuading. Tyranny and dictatorship are not only contradictory to the rights of human nature; they are contradictory to leadership itself. Second, leaders have a propellant intuitivity for action and a sense of urgency that are centered around shared goals. And third, Leaders act with respect for the values of the people they represent which are in concert with their own personal convictions.
To the people of Okobia, we remind them of the eternal refrain of Martin Luther Jr. that, “these are revolutionary times: all over the globe, men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression. The shirtless and barefoot people of the world are rising up as never before. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light…..” we must move past indecision to action … if we do act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength , without right.”
Finally, we believe that our amiable Governor will heed our earnest and passionate plea to construct the road to Okobia. This matter must gravitate out of the realms of politics to the promenades of altruism in governance. Chinua Achebe observed in his book “ THERE WAS A COUNTRY” that “ A man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body” and “the man who gave you an umbrella in the midst of a torrential rain, him you must thank at the end of your journey.” LET UDUAGHAN GIVE OKOBIANS CAUSE TO THANK HIM”.
Chief Bobson: Gbinije
Mandate Against Poverty (M.A.P)
WARRI – 08023250378
