“…WITH APC WIN, SOUTH EAST SHUTS SELF FROM SENATE PRESIDENT, SPEAKER SLOTS…”

Source: thewillnigeria.com

Mr. Owete is one of the many South Easterners and other Nigerians who are crying for SESS. My advice was/is: do not cry for SESS. Actions have consequences and when one thinks and acts one has to accept the consequences resulting from the thoughts and the actions. SESS voted and are well and are well and are well prepared to be out of the senior political line-up in Federal Government.

People who are shouting from the roof tops: “I told you so” miss five points.

A good government governs in the interest of the entire nation. In other words if APC becomes a good government there would be no differences in development between the zones. Therefore Mr. Owete and his fellow lamenters either believe that APC would not govern in the interest of Nigeria or that they would be another set of looters and therefore the SE should have joined the gang of thieves. Time will tell.

There is benefit in being in the opposition. An opposition leader learns from the work of the government and has time to think of different ways of doing things. This lesson would help the opposition govern better when the opportunity calls. That is how the so-called developed nations develop. It is what distinguishes a one party state and a true democracy. What kept PDP in power for nearly 20 years was group thinking.

Political parties around the world have safe bases. In USA the Democratic Party's bases are the East and West Coasts; the Republican Party occupies the south and rural America. So let SESS be the home base for PDP while APC's base is the rest of the country. It is a fair sharing.

People who occupy high federal positions do not or should not benefit just the home states or zones. The greatest Senate President of all times is/was Ken Nnamani. There is not much evidence of his senate presidency in Enugu. But his greatest achievement was denying OBJ his much sought after 3 rd He protected the constitution from abuse. Today and going forward no other president would attempt to be King forever. It is a monumental achievement. Other SE senate presidents did not bring the bacon home either. So even if Ngige had turned out to be the next Senate President he would have not been different.

Influence over the nation's direction can be accomplished from outside political positions. Some of the great leaders of the world held no political positions: Martin Luther King Jr., comes to mind. Coming nearer home Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Margret Ekpo, Mrs. Ransome Kuti et al. did their work with moral suasion and political organizing. So please let the decisions of SESS be left alone. Let us assume that they voted their beliefs. Let us not say that the people of Nigeria did not speak. Some of us may in private say that Nigerians were spoken for by the Western countries (America and UK) but let us keep that in the back burner.

Written by Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba.

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