Sir: This article captures our situation in Delta State, particularly in our Ndokwa area. The many years of a culture of praise singing of our political leaders gave them the wrong reading of the situation on the ground during the recent protest against the over 16-years of no electricity in Ndokwa nation. 

Ndokwa nation comprises the current three local government areas, Ukwuani, Ndokwa East, and Ndokwa West, or the defunct Aboh division of the Midwest region.

I remember how we usually laugh at Nigerian gatherings in the United States over the silly accolades for failing and redundant politicians and public servants. Somebody was called “the empowerment governor,” the “Ekwueme of the universe.” The person served eight years as governor and that eight years were part of the 16 years Ndokwa nation is in darkness.

Today, the same individuals are controlling the political machinery from the state to even the ward level. You cannot be anything in the state, even at a ward level, without his/their approval.

Meanwhile, nobody sees the connection between EFCC allegations of massive corruption under his administration as to why we don’t have electricity in our communities. 

There was once another one who was called the “Odidigborigbo” and spent some years in prison for stealing the state blind. If you look at his very public trials in the UK, he was literally moving money from Delta State account to his personal foreign domicile account, his wife’s, and his mistress for purchase of a private jet, yacht and pricey real estate in London.

Again, this highly hailed individual was governor for eight years. Within this period, 13 per cent revenue derivation the state was receiving was on account of Ndokwa oil resources, yet Ndokwa was left in the dark.

These are the big guns.

The lesser evils from our own Ndokwa land were called all kinds of names, praising their incompetence and prebendal politics. You dare not challenge their hirelings on social media. That is why they cannot accept the reality that their people can protest against the abysmal governance in Delta State.

To quote one of them on national television, “the Ndokwa people cannot protest against the government that has done so much for them” to include allowing them wallow in just stupefying darkness and underdevelopment. Even here on this platform, a supposedly leader and public servant could not even show empathy for his own people and our community.

Rather, he is so pained that his vehicle or state assigned vehicles were slightly damaged during the protest. There was no concern for the young persons who were shot and those whose motorcycles were burnt by the police.

Indeed, the protest showed how insensitive our leaders are and their perceptions of public service so out of touch with modern expectations of elected representatives of the people or public servants.             

Kingsley Dike, a former foreign affairs reporter with The Guardian and a retired intelligence analyst with the United States Army, wrote from Atlanta, Georgia, USA.