An Open Letter to One of Abiriba’s Best, Chief David Onuoha Ogba (Bourdex).
19th September 2023.
Nnam-uku,
I stumbled on a document with the Labour Party Name and Logo wherein you were recommended to the Executive Governor of Abia State for the TC Chairmanship position of Ohafia Local Government. The document has generated serious and unpleasant political discourse on the streets. I wept profusely because whoever thought such an idea is setting up our highly respected uncle, senior brother, father, and the entire Abiriba Community for a sucker punch. The recommendation is not only a Greek gift but a deadly booby trap to ridicule one of our last titans, a fortress of Knowledge and culture of Abiriba people with all the commanding influence of Abiriba successful businessmen. I could not imagine watching helplessly and allowing our masquerade unmasked and dropped in a marketplace.
Decline the nomination Chief!
Chief, you are an accomplishment, an institution, and replete in all spheres of life. You are the only fortress left in the class of that wonderful generation that passed through the Abiriba firmament. You are in the class of those Abiriba great patriots that compelled the black race to realize that in the mangrove forest lies a Community that can trade with the developed world without mercantilist lexis, yet, arranged their documents better than highly educated minds. I am proud of you Chief and cannot stand by when there is an attempt to diminish the face of the Abiriba Community. You have it all Chief in the large family of productive minds, like the Jews of the Middle East. You live a quiet life, hardly seen in the public. You are everything associated with success and have never had any business scandal with upcoming young people. You were a Communication guru when this part of the world was fast asleep. You are a true Abiriba Example.
Decline the nomination Chief!
Just in the recent past, we had men like Chief J. I. Okam, Chief Dike Udensi, Chief Nnanna Kalu, Ezera, Noko, Pico, and more. These were the minds and names that stood tall and were clearing roads for our people. They have all succumbed to nature’s call. They are no longer with us. We only have a very few of them today amongst the living who belong to that wonderful generation but none is like you Chief. They might be wealthy but the guts are lacking. They are not sagacious and flamboyant like you and most of them are apolitical.
Decline the nomination Chief!
My name is Agbagha Ochunkwo. I write because I have been a Local Government Chairman. I know and understand the thinking and mindset of the locals, the urchins, the area boys, and the market men and women who turn up at the Local Government Headquarters for assistance daily. I understand the character traits of civil servants and their games. The League where you play cannot condone and will not be elastic in mind to accommodate the restive youths in that environment. The councilors have their gross inadequacies; always looking for monetary inducement even when the purse of the council is empty. Chief, I doubt if you will have the heart and patience to bear all the sure problems that must erupt in the council from time to time. It is pertinent to note that the Local Government does not operate independently from the State financially. The State remains the father of the Local Government and controls her funds. They pontificate figures for the Local Government. If as a Chairman, you refuse to flow with the State directive, you will be sacked immediately, especially when it is TC which is on appointment capacity. God willing, the New Government will come with a certain degree of modification to give life to our Local Government but it will remain an arm of the State until a Constitution Review says otherwise. I do not have anything against you, Chief, and cannot have anything against you. You are my master anytime, any day, and anywhere. I am still productively qualified to act as your gateman and man your gate. You assisted me with the sum of One Hundred Thousand Naira (When a Thousand was a Thousand) when I ran for the Chairman of the Aba North Local Government Election. You were the highest donor to my campaign. You stood by me when the forces of darkness came after me in the political process. I remain eternally indebted to you for the kind gesture you showed my person. As a way of appreciation, I will not contemplate standing akimbo and watching Abiriba’s best masquerade being unmasked and dropped. If you are unmasked and dropped, our Community that knows how to turn a penny into a pound will be destroyed politically.
Decline the nomination Chief!
We are in a world of dynamism. Nothing is static. New opportunities keep popping up daily. The Community might be lucky tomorrow to be given a Senator, House of Representative, Ministerial, Ambassadorial, Gubernatorial, or even the highest office of the land’s slot. Who shall we offer if we keep mute and allow our best to be deflated like a soap bubble at the Local Government level? If our best is only good for the last tier of Government, we are finished as a people. I am not a prophet but this political expedition if caution is not applied must certainly end in disaster. It will offer our neighbors the opportunity to talk to our best with pettiness and contempt. No one can stop the people from asking for the balance sheet and state of affairs of their commonwealth and patrimony. I humbly call on all men and women of good conscience from our Community wherever they might be under the face of the earth to intervene and appeal to you to jettison the idea. If it is an offer from the Government, you can consult with the Labour Party leadership and stakeholders in Abiriba to give the State a credible younger person to represent you and the Community or reject it if they insist that it must be you. If the offer is coming from our neighboring Communities, they should graciously surrender to us one of the higher offices they have now. We are not lacking in human resources, vibrant and resourceful younger people who can serve and deliver as Local Government Chairman. You can pick from the pool that will be acceptable to the Governor.
Decline the nomination Chief!
Finally, I have no atom of interest in being Local Government Chairman. I have served as one at my younger age and you were my pillar and gave me the support to succeed. I write because of the famous quote by Wole Soyinka, ‘The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny’. Consequently, I beg you to see this exercise as a patriotic one. I beg my Bosses, Brothers, and Sisters who are very close to the Government to consult with themselves and reach out privately to Nnam-Uku, Chief David Onuoha Ogba (Bourdex) to decline the nomination in the interest of the Community. If the big masquerade dance that drumbeat that is for the kindergarten, where will the elephant perform when the drum from an iroko tree produces the sound and drumbeat of the giant? It is rather anthill in the savanna, but fireflies are still around to beautify the African Night.
Accept, Nnam-Uku, the assurances of my esteemed consideration.
Agbagha Ochunkwo
(Owo-Blow)
