Jedy Agba: Antidote To Elites Hegemony In Cross River Politics

Mr. Gody Jedy Agba

The current United States Of America President, Donald Trump didn't win the 2016 elections realistically because he had better programs and plans for the people than the Democrat Candidate, Hillary Clinton but majorly because he was the bridge between the masses and the elites hegemony in American politics.

Despite the fact that Clinton won all their public debates as well as had control of the media, the general election reflected the wishes of Americans; returning power to those(who) own it!

Despite the support of all former American Presidents and the then President, Barrack Obama who was adjudged to have performed credibly, Americans still saw the President that came from the people not the elites. People were generally tired and fade up with the elites hegemony.

In Cross River State politics, there is so much similarities between what Gody Jedy Agba represents and what Trump stood for. In fact, he is almost tthe only man who has presented himself as an antidote to the elites hegemony and has demonstrated courage and capacity to  redeem the state from their control!

Since the dawn of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria since 1990, power have continued to revolve round the conservative cabal who have continued to sit on our common patrimony. The cabal, so powerful that they see power as an exclusive reserve for them. They have little or no regard for the wishes of the masses because it's all about them and them alone.

Once their selfish interest is protected, the state can be sold to even a person who has no preparation or desire to give the state a focused and responsible leadership.

A good example of this is the current administration which came as a result of the commercialization of leadership by the former Governor Liyel Imoke. Imoke practically sold the state to the incumbent governor, Ben Ayade as allegedly professed by him (The Governor).

One thing must be made clear. Jedy may have had all the money to "buy" the state, even triple Ayade's offer but he was not preferred because he had taken his appeal to the masses. To him, Cross River state is not a business venture for politicians to trade on. He traded the path of honour by insisting that power should come from the people not from a few reactionary leaders.

His ordeal in 2015 was largely because he challenged the status quo to a supremo that power must return to the people. Although, the then state government with the support of the former President Goodluck Jonathan rigged him out, he has remained very popular and appealing to the masses because of what he represents and his brand of politics.

As political gladiators continue to meet to prepare and strategize ahead of 2019, his name has resurfaced again. People have seen him as the only or one of the few people from the north senatorial district which is rightly supposed to complete the remaining four years based on the zoning formula of the stat. This is because he is seen as having what it takes to effect the much desired change in political orientation.

Jedy's popularity continues to grow because he is seen as a leader who has shown the courage and commitment needed to transform the political inertia in the state to a more participatory one where not only a few entrenched interests decide on who gets what, when and how.

When a government is not installed by the masses woeful performance like what we witness today is always the order of day. People at the helm of affairs will not see themselves as serving the public but their interest, ego and that of those who installed them.

There can't be a better example of this kind of retrograde pattern than what we have in Cross River State today. Incompetence, misplaced priorities, lack of focus, complete absence of mission , vision and zero policy thrust is the new order in Cross River.

The only thing that bothers the current leadership is how to recoup what was invested in securing the mandate not how to develop the people. That is why people will be talking about dual carriage super highway when there's no road. That's why government will be talking about rice city when there's no policy on ground to support rice farmers to improve production.

It's because it is all about their pocket and them alone that people are talking about Pharmaceutical Industry when there's no laboratory or funds to support research. It's because of misplaced priority that billions of taxpayers money have been expended in setting up a private Garment Factory (Tailoring shop) when the machines would have easily been installed in T-mart or one of the halls in Tinapa.

These and many more is what you get when a few minority continue to decide for the majority. The government will never go down to interract with the people to know what they want.

But when the elites are defeated and a government from the people is installed, the method of leadership will be bottom-top approach. The government will constantly interact with the people to know what matter most to them.

A people-oriented government will be a government where every voice will count not a system where the Governor is an encyclopedia of knowledge and all knowing. This kind of government is adverse to the conservative few or if you like elites and that's why Jedy, perceived to come from the people was stopped in 2015.

Now that Cross Riverians have seen the glaring failure of a government of the cabal by the cabal and for the cabal, would they still allow this misnomer continue or they would want a liberal man like Jedy to intervene and correct the wrong in 2019?

The signs are so glaring but only time shall tell whether or not Jedy is ready to answer this clarion call!

®This piece is an editorial of Fearless Reports.