By Tejiri Ebikeme
The convener, South-South Reawakening Group, Comrade Joseph Ambakaberimo, has lamented the present precarious position of the zone in the political equation of the country, stressing the urgent need for the region to re-define its alignment strategy with other zones especially with the North ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Speaking during an interactive session with media men in Warri, Ambakaderimo noted that the region had been the ‘Beautiful Pride’ to other major ethnic groups in determining power sharing formula since Independence until the 2015 general elections when it completely lost relevance due to the sentiment of bringing back former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to power at all cost.
He described what befell the region in the 2015 general elections as political suicide that could have been averted if some of the key leaders and political gladiators had not allow ethnic sentiments becloud their sense of reasoning in insisting that their kinsman, (Goodluck Jonathan) must return back to power even when it became very obvious that the Northerns who had been short-changed over the demise of late President Musa Y’aradua, needed to complete their tenure.
According to him, ”it is on record and truism that the South-South geo-political zone has not played opposition politics in the history of our political life. We have to drive this into the consciousness of our people, may be some of us who are now at the fore front of playing antagonistic politics were not even born or were too young to know or to understand the politics of the North and the South-South”.
“We can make a quick reference to the era from 1959-2015; a period of 56 years. Edo state has since break away from the rest of the South-South states to show the direction. In the early political years of the Eastern and Western Ijaw division, the likes of thye late Chief Harold Dappa Biriye and Late Melford Okilo, Clement Isong, Donald Etiebet, Joseph Wayas, were at one time or the other in the main political party that formed the federal government”, he said.
Continuing, “dissatisfied with the policies of both NCNC and AG, Chief Harold Biriye and some southern minority leaders formed their on political party, the Niger-Delta Congrss(NDC) which they allied with the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) , which of course is a bigger party for the single reason that the NDC, could not go it alone and they succeed”
His words, “the political equation that has produced the President Muhammed Buhari is something that is very new in the political equation of this country. The North and the South West teaming up together to produce a national government is something that no one thought would ever happen but alas, here we are before our very eyes, the South East and the South-South has been pushed aside and left to gasp with our last breath”.
”Therefore, we need to urgently reawake the process of the age long bond of friendship of political marriage and go back to the alter and renew our marriage vows. While it is pertinent to note that it is not too late to retrace our steps, it is my profound opinion that we must prepare and begin now to position ourselves to become the ‘Beautiful Pride’ once again that must be counted by those who seek the number one position and never again shall we be so dumb to re peat the mistake of the last dispensation”, he concluded.
