OKPO
EWA EDMUND II LLB, BL, C.Th, DRS.
OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISOR
FOR TOURISM, ETHICAL ORIENTATION & DAKKADA PHILOSOPHY, OKOBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL.
THURSDAY
21ST, 2016
Dear
Elders, Brothers and Sisters,
OPEN
LETTER TO ORO NATION
I salute you all with
the humility, loyalty and solidarity of a son, brother and comrade of the Oro
race and nation. Perhaps you may have come across some of my open letters and
agitations for the Oro nation in the past. I also have been following that of
some of yours especially those of Hon. Robinson Uwak, Rt. Hon. Alice Ekpeyong,
Hon. Barr. Bassey Etienam and the very latter days crusades by our elders Arc.
Otu Ita Toyo and Engr. Ita Awak. And I must without economy of words and
emotions commend you all for the bravery and savvy with which you went about
it.
Today, I write with a
bleeding heart and bruised soul as an Oro son. This is because in all your
agitations you have told the world of Oro nation and beyond how we have been
marginalized and how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not the party for
the Oro nation. Indeed, some believed you and followed you to your new found
political love the All Progressives Congress (APC) while others remained where
you left to graciously fill the space you left and a few others remained at
political akimbo watching the turn of events. Eventually, the APC won at the
presidential polls but lost the governorship where one of our finest sons was
chosen to be a running mate to a prestigious son of Akwa Ibom State who himself
never considered us as a people worthy of a shot at the governorship as far as
his ambition was concerned.
After the loss Oro
people have been repeatedly told by you that Peoples Democratic Party hates us
while some Oro sons and elders have in proportional reciprocity stated how PDP
is the best party for the Oro people. Kudos in this light goes to the likes of Hon.
Victor Antai, Hon. Nse Ekpeyong, Rt. Peter Linus, Chief Jerry Okpo, Sen. Nelson
Effiong and Rt. Hon Felicia Bassey to mention a few and to buttress this they
have the office of the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy
affairs, Senator of the Federal Republic, Deputy Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State
House of Assembly and aides to the governor to show at present and more in the
past. Obviously, Oro has not been given a shot at the Hilltop Mansion. We would
like to have it. But we do not today but with reasonable consolations. My
mission here however is not to enumerate some of the projects undertaken by the
present PDP administration in Oro nation which are themselves able to speak for
themselves like we lawyers would say res
ipso loquitur.
Beloved elders,
brothers and sisters I write to challenge us to review our stand and judgment
on the gospel nay heresies of APC.
So far, the APC Federal
Government has made appointments into the presidency and other parastatals without
a single consideration for the Oro people. Instead an Ibiono Ibom son is a
presidential aide, a lagos based Ikot Abasi lawyer is a minister, a foreign
based Abak son is an Ambassador, an Onna man is an NDDC Commissioner and we are
now looking at another Ikot Abasi son asthe Managing Director of NDDC. Nobody from
any of the five Oro Local Government Areas is being considered for any
appointment. Please, I will like us to explain the love and wisdom in denying
Oro people appointments only to give two to Ikot Abasi, one to Abak that
already has a deputy governor and one to Onna that has a serving Governor. How come
no Oro son was considered worthy of any of these offices? In fact, if APC were
to be sincere an Oro son should have been the first to be nominated for
appointment because it is only an Oro Local Government that the party managed
to win at the polls. Today, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has a lone
opposition voice from the constituency of the APC’s deputy governor designate
when their governorship candidate could not even garner reasonable votes at his
own polling unit let alone his Local Government. Yet they deem it fit to look
elsewhere to empower. Is it a strategic move to make sure that come 2019 these
people will join forces to support an Oro governorship bid? Well, we already
hear rumors of their very own intentions to bid for the office. We also know
how some people nominated themselves and kins men and friends for appointments
at the presidency while feeding some of our misguided Oro sons fat with false
hope.
I think it is therefore
high time elders like Arc. Otu Ita Toyo and Engr. Ita Awak apologize to us for
attempting to misleading the Oro people because all we have seen of the APC so
far proves that sufficiently.
Even if the rector of
maritime academy is given to an Oro son as it is rumored that Ita Awak is
lobbying for it of what effect will that be to the Oro nation? The maritime
academy that Rotimi Amaechi as rumored is wont to ensure its under-funding once
his girl is replaced?
I do not want to bother
you with long piece so I will respectfully wind up here with this truths and
charges:
APC hates Oro nation or
those in control of APC despise Oro nation and as such we should as a nation
remain with PDP where we have some value than go where we are not even
considered worthy of second class citizenship.
And for those who would
zealously run to radio stations and newspaper houses to vilify PDP for
marginalizing them nay Oro nation and sing the hypocritical praises of APC I
leave them to God if they do not in the same speed and alacrity run to those
stations and tabloid houses to apologize to Akwa Ibom people and Oro nation
specially. We are not foolish. We know how some people empowered themselves and
family members with resources that were meant for Oro nation while they were in
PDP, we even know the frivolous indulgencies with which they squandered our
common wealth and we know that the day of reckoning is catching up with all men
in turns. We are also not ignorant of the fact that, as far as some of these so
called Oro Leaders are concerned, the only time Oro interest is marginalized by
a government is when the personal interests of these very few selfish Oro
elements are not reckoned with. So in protest they attempt to indoctrinate the
unsuspecting Oro masses to fight the government. We are now wiser.
Oh, lest I forget, I am
one of those Oro sons that refused to follow the false prophet to the fake
promised land of APC despite their advances to lure me and I am very bold and
proud to say that I made the right choice to stand with Udom.
My fellow people of Oro
nation, you need not the miracle of a talking horse to know that APC has no
good plans for us. Their appointments so far is enough Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin for
us all.
Hence, we chose to
stand with Udom. And standing with Udom pays.
Let us therefore stand
firm with Udom.
Ojei Ojei Badi Afang Gi!
Ojei Ojei Badi PDP!
Ojei Ojei Badi Dakkada!
Ojei Ojei Badi Oro Ela
Mu Udom!!!
