Samuel Duncan
The current democratic dispensation has entered its nineteenth year and our dear nation, Nigeria has shades of tales as regards the experiences thus far garnered..
One cannot possibly say we are where we were before May 29, 1999.. However, it has been an admixture of good, bad and ugly stories attending our current adventure into the practice of democracy..
Nigeria claims she copied democracy from the States but, a critical look at Nigeria's democracy reveals a wide variance with what is practised in the US..
Outstandingly, the concept of true federalism has eluded Nigeria as her version of democracy is skewed towards the centre..
In the Nigerian version of democracy, resources are exploited from rural communities and collected into a central pool where they are more or less appropriated at the whims and caprices of the head of the central government and its agents..
The exploitation and harvest of these resources are selectively done.. This means that, not all resources are harvested and proceeds pooled into the central purse..
Nigeria largely depends on proceeds of petroleum which is mainly deposited in one section of the country although, all sections of the nation are blessed with one or more resources..
Nigeria has vast deposits of solid minerals as well as agricultural produces but, the percentage of proceeds accruing to the national treasury from these resources carry an imposing question mark..
At Nigeria's banquet table, sizeable portions of the proceeds accruing from the exploitation of communal resources (petroleum) are allocated to political entities called states which in my opinion are the epicentres of crass economic cum sociopolitical domination, exclusion, oppression, subjugation and corruption.. Here, bigotry, favouritism, hegemony, nepotism and tribalism are at their very peak..
These brash creations (states) of mostly the military regimes were so defectively structured that those favoured by number continually mete inhuman and unconscionable mistreatments on the minority groupings.. Sadly, the minority groups mostly own bulk of the resources sustaining the system..
Oro Nation happens to fall within the minority category in AKS and, in line with the above stated fact, owns the bulk of resources sustaining AKS.. It is no longer news that Oro Nation contributes about 80% of the resources used in sustaining Akwa Ibom..
Ironically, Oro turns out to be the most neglected, excluded and mistreated however one looks at the situation..
From the look of things, it appears there is a systemic conspiracy to decimate and emasculate Oro economically and sociopolitical wise.. This, from obvious evidences is done through the use of political parties and other devious means..
Besides gradually scheming Oro out of power equations in the state by not allowing her citizens hold strategic political positions like governor, deputy governor, speaker, party chairman or secretary, secretary to government, commissioners for finance, works, education, local government and chieftaincy affairs, head of civil service, heads of strategic boards and commissions etc., the system equally employs the instrumentality of political parties to subjugate Oro by imposing misfits and n'er-do-wells on Oro and then turning around to threaten the so-called Oro stakeholders with punishment for anti-party activities should they protest those satanic impositions by the party..
Beyond threats of punishments, they deceitfully promise the inordinately ambitious and extremely greedy rubber stamp stakeholders some attractive positions, contracts and other material gifts which they cheaply fall for and by consequence jettison any form of protest against the impositions..
What this achieves for the system is that, Oro loses her chances of challenging or even seeking redress for these calculated mistreatments from the system since she lacks quality representation at all levels, as a result of the premeditated imposition of mediocres on Oro..
This, apart from creating a conducive and congenial atmosphere for the continuous exclusion, subjugation and marginalisation of Oro, portrays Oro as a people who lack quality manpower who can assume such important responsibilities or occupy such essential political positions..
Is this not a calculated attempt to rubbish Oro's integrity as regards the quality of personnel she can offer?.. Must Oro continue to remain her detractors' laboratory for political experiments on ethnic conquering, marginalisation and subjugation?..
If Oro is serious about relaunching herself into relevance, she must rise to the occasion by stamping her feet and ensuring she chooses her representatives exclusive of external influences from parties or other satanic quarters who do not wish her well..
This, we can do by first of all placing Oro and her interests above political party considerations.. If this be the case, Oro would be able to reject brazen but insulting impositions by whichever political party by ensuring the election of her representatives on alternative political party platforms.. A perfect example is the Urue-Offong/Oruko State Constituency's 2015 bold statement of imposition rejection..
Fortunately for Oro, she has a good number of such political positions with which she can REBEL against party impositions and still DICTATE who occupies them..
These include Oron Federal Constituency Seat, Four State Constituency Seats, Five Local Government Chairmanship Seats and Fifty Councillorship Positions.. This done, Oro will be able to resist to some extent, the level of trampling she receives from the so-called system..
More so, Oro must cease from allowing such important positions to be used for settling or compensating the uninformed, mediocres, misfits and men of no wits.. We must at all times and in all circumstances go for our bests if we must safeguard our place in the comity of ethnic tribes in Akwa Ibom..
As 2019 draws closer, Oro must take her stand, make clear her position against political parties' insults of imposing candidates against her wish, and sensitise, strategise and massively mobilise to guarantee the enforcement of zero tolerance for impositions of incompetent candidates on Oro by political parties..
The dogma of holding religiously to certain parties at the risk of producing competent and capable representatives should be deleted from our political culture's dictionary..
This needs be because, the quality of our representatives will determine even how we fare in those parties.. Therefore, Oro as a threatened group must place effective/quality representation over and above party affiliations..
ORO CAN CERTAINLY REBEL AND DICTATE!
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