The recent zoning of the Obanliku Local Government Council Chairmanship position to Bendi Ward 1 by the Obaliku Chapter Caucus of PDP, in her meeting on Thursday, 12th December, 2019, is a welcome development and prompter of overwhelming joy in the hearts of all well meaning people of the Ward.
However, it is instructive to note that this joy is dead on arrival because of the wild rumour making the rounds that one of the aspirants from Akorshi Village is the one covertly ticked for selection as Candidate, by His Excellency, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator, Professor, Barrister, Sir Ben Ayade. What is worrisome about this development is two fold:
Firstly, the rumoured reason advanced for the selection of the said person as Government Candidate for the Chairmanship position, is that he is a blood relation of the Governor. This is to say the least, ridiculous and an assault on human intelligence.
Secondly, it is also unedifying and smacks of injustice, that the position is been considered for Akorshi Village from which the said person who brags about his blood relationship with the Governor hails. Such injustice is embedded in the obvious reality that since Bendi Ward I came into existence in 1991 when Obanliku Local Government was created, Akorshi Village has been the only village out of the five villages that constitute the Ward, that has benefited from all the elective positions that the Ward has ever been favoured with, beyond Councillorship that is a domestic entitlement of all the villages.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is a verifiable fact that the following elective positions that have ever been considered for the Ward have been occupied by only Akorshi people:
Member, State House of Assembly from 1991-1993 – Hon. Leonard Upan (from Akorshi).
Senator, Cross River State Northern Senatorial District from 1999-2003 – Senator Musa Unim Adede (from Akorshi).
Vice Chairman of Obanliku Local Government Council from 2013-2016 – Hon. Mrs. Josephine Ukpong (from Akorshi).
Mr. Mike Upan Aniah though not an elective position but has been Commissioner and SSG since 1999 to 2015 (from Akorshi).
Beyond the above, no other elective position outside Councillorship has ever been zoned to the Ward since its inception in 1991. It is therefore not justifiable that the Chairmanship of the Local Government Area which has now been zoned to the Ward, should also be allowed to slip into the same village that has all along enjoyed all the three positions for which the Ward has so far been considered as if the other four villages are irrelevant in the scheme of things.
From the foregoing, it is expedient that for other villages in the Ward namely: Ketting, Bendigie, Begiatsul and Begiatte, to have a sense of belonging, the Chairmanship position that has been so zoned to the Ward should be allowed to be benefited by the villages that have been politically lying fallow.
Indeed, as it stands, only two out of the four politically fallow villages have aspirants for the position. These are Ketting and Bendigie. It is therefore pertinent that rather than constipate Akorshi village with Chairmanship position, the ulcer infested villages that have starved since 1991 when the Ward was created, should rather be considered. This is critical for socio-political harmony unless the PDP family wants to dismember the other four villages for the continued benefit of Akorshi village.
Courtesy: Concerned People of Bendi Ward
*The views expressed herein are not the views of www.calitown.com