THIS IS NOT WHAT WE ARE
A KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY ELDER ASU BEKS, CEO, MARITIME MEDIA LTD, AT THE MAIDEN IJAW PUBLISHERS’ FORUM WORKSHOP IN YENAGOA
Protocol
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to stand before you today. I must thank the organizers for finding me worthy to address this gathering. This is certainly not the topic allocated to me. But in view of the exigencies of the moment and the mood of the nation, I decided to speak on the topic THIS IS NOT WHAT WE ARE. Yes, this is not what we are.
Izon means truth and I grew up to this grand norm that an Ijaw man or Izon keme abhors lies. If you like, put a gun on his head. He will stand by the truth. Growing up as a barrack child, I had the rare privilege of criss crossing the length and breadth of Nigeria depending on where duty took my father to.
My late father, Edward Erete Asu, was a police officer having worked briefly as a school teacher before joining the Nigeria Police Force. In those days, the average Ijaw man in the city lived a communal life. Every Ijaw man in the city was his brother’s keeper. They freely visited one another. The home of Yepeigha Waritime was also home to Edward Erete . The Kentebes, the Sorohs the Brisibes, the Zuokumors were home to every Ijaw man. We were our brothers’ keepers.
But politics came and destroyed the true Ijaw spirit. Brothers no longer see eye to eye. Blackmail, backstabbing became the order of the day. If you are in PDP, you are the enemy of your brother in APC, for instance. We started killing and maiming one another to climb to power, forgetting that power is transient.
Despite our many years of association with the North, right from the days of late Melford Obiene Okilo, our present political gladiators seem to have learned nothing. The politics of bitterness and acrimony runs deep in our veins. We hardly forgive and forget. Every body wants his pound of flesh back.
What we see entrenched in public and national offices is a cult-like regime. For instance, a Sammy Ogbuku of NDDC would shut his doors permanently to those who do not subscribe to an alliance, no matter how good your intentions are. Same thing is playing out at the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources where our son, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, holds sway. If you like call him from January to December, he will not pick your calls. The situation at the Presidential Amnesty Office where Dr. Dennis Otuaro is in charge is the same. There are too many examples to this ugly trend. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE ARE.
The sad aspect of this development is that the totality of the Ijaw nation is the loser. While these self-styled patriots are shutting the door against their kit and kin, Nigerians from other walks of life are having a field day. They are considered first both in appointments and contracts and other perks of their office before our full blooded Ijaw sons and daughters. THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT WHAT WE ARE.
I refer every patriotic Ijaw son and daughter who occupy critical public office to adopt the KINGSLEY KUKU and SENATOR DOUYE DIRI models of politics without bitterness. When K3 was chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, his doors were open 247 to every Ijaw son and daughter. Discrimination against a fellow Ijaw was no where close to his DNA. But this spirit died the moment he left office Back home in Bayelsa, another APOSTLE of Politics without Bitterness is Sen. Douye Diri, Executive Governor of Bayelsa State. Sen. Diri stands out as the most accommodating Governor of our time. In his present cabinet, all members of the 18 political parties are accommodated. He is a sterling example of politics without bitterness.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let us all rise up and give a standing ovation to Sen. Douye Diri and Dr. Kingsley Kuku for truly representing what we are. Ladies and gentlemen, I would have failed in my duty if i draw attention to two burning issues that affect us all as Ijaw sons and daughters. First, is the current debate on the tax reform bills before the National Assembly and the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry created by Gov. Douye Diri. As a people, we cannot afford to remain passive over the debate over the tax reform bills.
We need to come together and take a common position as the NASS prepares for the public hearing. Are there areas of conflict between the bill and Petroleum Industry Act? This is the time for us to assemble our best legal minds to critically peruse the draft bills. As for the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, all hands must be on deck to make sure the Ijaw nation derives maximum benefits from this sector. With our extensive coast line, we are condemned to explore and harness this sector like no other state.We must get our best brains in the sector to gear up and come with the bankable blueprint for people to modernise and optimise the way we harness the immense natural resource.
May I, once again, thank the organizers of this programme for finding me worthy to speak at this forum. May God bless the Ijaw nation. Haaaa Izon.
Elder Asu Beks
December 11, 2024.
