This quote is a reaction to my poem “I weep for the Benins.” Fortunately and unfortunately, I am a Benin man. The day I stop being a Benin man, I will cry for my newfound home.
Rather than us coming together to rediscover ourselves, we are busy fighting. Is it the effect of izobo some of us have eaten? Anyway, I have noticed that the few criticisms of my poem are coming from identifiable card-carrying members of a particular political party.
I would rather we dwelt on issues raised in the poem, than chasing shadows. For example, I have yet to see the study that concluded that Edo North has the majority of voters and can determine the outcome of governorship elections in Edo State. This is an aberration whose reverberating effects will torment Edo South in particular and Edo State in general, for years to come, if not nipped in the bud today.
In Edo politics today, does Edo South have one voice? Politics should be for development and not for derision. A few of us are fond of pulling down our brothers and sisters who have dared to identify with our subgroup, her cohesion, and growth. It is rather unfortunate that we cannot build on the greatness achieved by our forebears in today’s prevailing environment. Rather, we allow ourselves to be dictated to.
May we rise above unnecessary envy for the growth of Benin. May we find reasons to forgive hurts, that we may excel as one. When macro and micro groups achieve great developmental strides, they transcend beyond them, to the centre, and a greater nation is achieved.
I remain,
Senator Ehigie Uzamere
