Group Demands Setting Up of Agro Based Industries in Esanland to Generate Massive Jobs – THISDAY Newspapers

Adibe Emenyonu

A socio-cultural group, Esan Okpa Initiative (EOI), has strongly called for guidelines to regulate the recruitment and behavior of Esan politicians with a view to ensuring that only leaders with genuine commitment to the interests of the people are thrusted to lead them.

Presenting a welcome address to the two-day hybrid Esan Assembly, held in Uromi, Esan North Esan Local Government Area of Edo State, at the weekend, under the aegis of EOI with the theme, “Development of Esanland And Its People: Confronting the Challenges of Our Time”, the organisation’s President, Mr. Mathew Egbadon, said this is important in order to stimulate the process of development and transformation of Esanland.

While hinging the political travails of Esanland to “the lack of unity, lack of effective, transparent and selfless political leadership in Esanland today, that has contributed largely to our current state of near political irrelevance,” he slammed most of the current “political leaders” in Esan land today for being too preoccupied with their quest to pick the “crumbs at their political masters’ table”, rather than think of the collective interest of Esan people. 

“They are concerned more about how to win the next election for themselves or their favourite candidates, than the collective interest of the present and next generation of Esan people – which should be our common concern and priority. Esan leaders must provide guidelines to regulate the recruitment and behavior of our Esan politicians.” 

He therefore, proposed that, “Violators of the guidelines should be visited with collective sanctions and opprobrium,” while expressinh the readiness of EOI “to offer a template on this guidelines, if the assembly approve this proposal.”

Dismissing the pervading “disinformation or misinformation being bandied about the demography of Esan people vis-a-vis of those of our neighbours in Eso State, that is now being accepted as the truth,” the Esan Okpa president laments that “This is with a view to holding Esan, a major constituent part of Edo State, down politically.”

“EOI finds the manipulation of the demography of Edo State to the disadvantage of Esan people as distasteful, as I am sure you do. The authentic 1963 census figures do not support the current lies about our population. 

“Whilst it is true that there has been a lot of rural-urban drift of our young and productive population to the major cities in the other Senatorial districts and beyond, in search of economic opportunities, that is not enough to make them less Esan people or deprive them of their birth right of identity to their native mother land in the true sense of it. 

“We should not be wearied of reiterating, day in, day out, to our neighbors, that our people reside all over the state and beyond; and they perform their civic responsibilities, including their voting rights in their places of residences.”

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