I have followed the gale of defections by governors, commissioners and ranking politicians in parts of the country, particularly recent ones in Delta State.

According to reports, the likeable governor of Akwa Ibom State who has admirably taken after his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, in terms of resourcefulness, hard work and unremitted application to set goals, is rehearsing. I am referring to no other than Mr. Umo Eno. The world will soon hear from him when he finishes warming up. For now, the world is waiting with baited breath.

Those who have crossed the line from PDP to APC are the governor of Delta State, Mr Sheriff Francis Oborevwori with his deputy and his predecessor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and their supporters. The PDP structure was dismantled. The defection leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

The most disgusting is that of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who in 2023 missed only by a hair’s breadth being the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of PDP. And come to think of it, the defection Oborevwori called a movement was framed in triumphal jollity and shameless celebration.

To receive the defectors were the Vice President, Kashim Shettima and Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the APC national chair, undoubtedly bubbling with fixation on 2027,who only see this, not as a debasement of our polity and of the lofty tone of our environment, but rather as building up a rich harvest of votes. They cannot see the consequences of raising a future generation bereft of principles, who will show utmost contempt for honour and wholesomeness as well as dignified carriage, above all wholesomeness of our people and our land.

David Omahi, then governor of Ebonyi State, again a dedicated administrator and resourceful engineer, defected from PDP to the APC, the step ladder he used to climb to the high office of the state governor. He got away with it. About the same time Professor Ayade, governorof Cross River did the same.

Justice Ekwo, a “reincarnation” of Conrard Idowu Taylor (J.I.C.), learned, true and courageous, asked Omahi and his deputy to vacate their office and return their mandate to the PDP that gave them the step ladder to their positions because his electors were PDP the mandate they gave to him was on the platform of PDP.

The higher court looking only at the letters of the law, and not the spirit, nor the loud and disarming wisdom undergirding the Justice’s pronouncement, overturned the judgment, arguing that the grundnom spells out procedures to go through to remove a governor.

Who could have envisaged that any senior government functionary at that level would without qualms abandon the platform that saw them to the highest echelon of governance in the state?The framers of the constitution did not in the widest of their dreams that a governor would leave his party for another without first honourably resigning. Since there have been no consequences for such disgraceful behaviour, the shamelessness continues with increasing converts.
And so, the truism rings loud and clear: A shameless people cannot be embarrassed!

Where there is no shame the word propriety has no meaning. The society becomes a world of anything goes in which the thick line between right and wrong is blurred. And the argument ensues that the words good and bad are subjective when in fact they are absolute: What is good is good and what is bad is bad and we can all feel them to our fingertips. What we are witnessing everywhere is the state of our collective inner being despite our vaunted religiousity: Hollow!