A viral video did it for me.
A man, grinning broadly, says he has just been sworn in by Governor Monday Okpebholo as Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area. He thanks “the governor,” thanks “my family,” and repeats: “I loyal… I loyal…”
My attention froze not because of the grammar. But because of the place he mentioned: Uromi. The headquarters of Esan North East. The political home of the man we all knew simply as “The Leader” — Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih.
And in that instant, I knew: Anenih would stir in his grave at the soundbites doing the rounds in the social media.
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—Uromi And The Anenih Standard—
Uromi was never just a town on the map. Under Anenih, it was the recruitment bureau for Edo politics. From that base, in consultation with his political family, Anenih decided who was fit to fly the flag.
Yes, people called him overbearing. “Mr. Fix It.” “Godfather.” But no one, not even his fiercest critics, ever faulted the quality of his products.
Anenih loathed mediocrity. He treated it as an original sin. You could not stumble into a council chairmanship, a House seat, or a ministerial slot with empty head and full mouth. You had to have pedigree, education, exposure, and a cosmopolitan bearing.
He built people: Dan Orbih, Odion Ugbesia, Oserheimen Osunbor, Mike Onolememen, Samson Ekhabafe, Anthony Aziegbemi, and many others. He was a charitable godfather. He loved his own and invested in them. And tellingly, he kept his biological children out of politics entirely.
I know this because I was admitted into that family. After reading a political analysis I wrote in Vanguard newspaper in 2004, Anenih called me in. He gave me free access to his home. Post-2010, after I resigned from THISDAY newspaper, he quietly formalised my role as media adviser.
From him I learned two things that governed his politics: 101 percent loyalty, and fastidiousness. Every memo, every statement, every name that passed through his desk was scrutinised. Mediocrity was not allowed to escape.
—The Okpebholo Intersection—
It was in the course of that service that my path crossed that of Monday Okpebholo. I cannot speak to who he is today as governor. Too much water has passed under the bridge. During the last governorship election in Edo, I made my choice and pitched my tent with another aspirant I had served for five years as media adviser. That too, was a lesson from Anenih: loyalty matters.
But I remember the Okpebholo of that era. And I remember the standard that was set in Uromi.
Which is why the video of the new Esan North East Chairman is so painful.
This is not about accent or grammar alone. It is about capacity. About gravitas. About whether the man standing at the gates of Anenih’s own local government understands the weight of the office, the history of the place, and the expectations of the people.
I listened to the gibberish. I asked myself: where did Governor Okpebholo pull this man from? And why did he impose him on Esan North East?
With respect, that man would not have passed Anenih’s leadership recruitment test. Not even as a ward assistant.
[Watch video via this link below ]:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JfPyipNBh/
—Shallow Calls Unto Shallow—
Today, as an Edo man, I am being asked questions by friends at home and abroad. They are embarrassed. “Is this the best we can produce from Uromi?” “Is this what has become of the Anenih school?”
Governor Okpebholo, you received tutelage under that school. You watched how The Leader built men and women. If this is what escaped your recruitment sieve, then one must ask: what else did you learn, apart from the quiet political gambits?
There is a biblical line: “Deep calls unto deep.” Psalm 42:7. There is also its painful inverse: shallow calls unto shallow. It takes intellectual fecundity to produce intellectual fecundity.
Leadership recruitment is not charity. It is not about “my boy” or “my loyalist.” It is about the future of 4 million Edo people. When you put the wrong person in Uromi, you insult the memory of the man who made Uromi matter.
Chief Anenih may be gone. But his standard should not die with him.
Governor Okpebholo, Edo deserves better than viral embarrassment. Esan North East deserves better than “I loyal.”
The grave in Uromi is listening.
NOTE: Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Theliberationnews
