The Battle Of Ideas In Okpe Nation 2
Introduction
A polity that does not accommodate dissenting views forfeits the rights to be referred to as a democracy. It is within this prism that, for example, citizens assess the performance of their political and traditional leaders, including in Okpe Nation. The dividends of democracy that leaders frequently pronounce imply a basket of essentials that includes good governance, demonstrable accountability, dialogue with constituents, responsible management of public wealth, respect for contending views, etc.
When regime regulators and their praise singers stifle open debate on socio-political issues, they render democratic institutions impotent and cause serious injury to peace and development in the polity. Just as we wrestle with political leadership at all tiers of government on this existential challenge, it is imperative that we do the same with our traditional leadership. Failure to do so is hypocritical and mere sycophancy.
Unfortunately, History is replete with occasions where hypocrites and sycophants gain the attention of political and traditional leaderships in prosecuting citizens that dare to speak truth to power. We witness this appalling phenomenon in both democratic and dictatorial polities. The unjustly prosecuted become respected citizens following the expiration of the previous regimes and the hypocrites and sycophants become vicious critics of the expired regimes which they had hitherto praised to high Heavens. For example, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and his associates were declared as “enemies” of the Soviet Union for their criticisms of the flaws in Soviet government. He was forced into exile in 1974 to live in Switzerland and in the United States of America (USA). However, as the Soviet regime was on its sick bed, the personalities that had conspired against Solzhenitsyn facilitated his triumphant return to the Soviet Union in 1990. He died a hero in Russia in August 2008. Thus, sycophants and hypocrites are always ready to change their tunes when the regimes they mislead cease to exist.
A similar tendency was witnessed under the Presidency of Donald Trump in the USA when he branded critical journalists as “enemies” of the State. Trump was condemned by leading US politicians, including some of his colleagues in the Republican Party who elected to speak truth to power. This patriotic stance is absent in the Okpe Kingdom. Interestingly, in 1994, Ms. Liz Truss called for the abolishment of the British Monarchy. She was NOT declared an enemy of the United Kingdom and neither was she denied access to gainful employment. On September 6, 2022, she was invited by Queen Elizabeth ll to become the 3rd female Prime Minister of Britain. It is imperative that we as enlightened Okpe nationals guide Okpe traditional institutions along the path of democracy and reject any tendency towards absolute monarchy.
The Okpe Nation
As the umbrella organization of the Okpe Nation, the Okpe Union played and continues to play a pivotal role in the development of Okpe Nation. The role of the Okpe Union in the resuscitation of the Okpe monarchy and recognition of the Orodje of Okpe in 1945 as well as in the installation of subsequent Orodjes underlines the vital symbolic role that Okpe Union plays in Okpe History. Unfortunately, since the purported dissolution of the democratically elected National Executive Council (NEC) of the Okpe Union on October 3, 2020, as aptly noted by a respected Okpe leader, there is a “disarray” in Okpe Nation. To disregard this fact is to play the ostrich.
Simply put, the disarray in Okpe Nation derives from the contending views on the articulation of Okpe Identity. While we in the Okpe Union consider it timely to persuade the Delta State Government to recognize Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, it is significant to note that some leading members of the Udogun Okpe and a fraction of Okpe politicians and intelligentsia prefer to deny Okpe Identity for their opportunistic political aspirations. We consider this proposition a flawed argument as it subsumes that Okpe must deny its ethnicity as a path to the Delta State Government House. It also disregards the fact that Okpe is very well regarded and recognized as an independent ethnic nationality by the other ethnic nationalities in Delta State: Ijaw, Ika, Isoko, Itsekiri, Oshimili, and Ukwuani.
It is atrociously embarrassing that, while we proudly declare Okpe as the most populous monolithic ethnic group in Delta State, we are seemingly scared to propagate our Okpe Identity as an independent ethnic nationality instead of a sub-group of another ethnic nationality. This is a family debate amongst us Okpe which should be discussed freely in-house, devoid of insults, intimidations and referring to those with differing views as “enemies” of the Orodje and of Okpe Kingdom. This tactic is not a suitable substitute for reasoned debate and logic. Relying on this faulty construct, Dr Ejiro Imuere repeated this lie in his recent post and even referred to Okpe nationals that disagree with the Udogun Okpe as “ITSEKOKPE”. While we strongly condemn this dichotomization of Okpe by a non-Okpe, we find it troubling that some educated Okpe nationals and Ekakuro give credence to this insult on Okpe by circulating Dr. Imuere’s arrant nonsense. In fact, an Okakuro admitted on September 8, 2022 that the lies published by Dr. Imuere emanated from his twisting of the presentations of an Okakuro; and yet the Okakuro was happy to disregard the lies and misinformation so long as Okpe Union is cast in bad light in the public.
We are of the firm view that such a dichotomization employed by Dr. Imuere does not represent the views of the Orodje of Okpe and/or the Udogun Okpe. We consider it a debilitating consequence of the poverty of thought and false consciousness when hypocrites and sycophants postulate in the name of a Leader or a Monarch in spreading hate messages injurious to the fabric of Okpe society. It is therefore our duty and historic responsibility to expose this arrant nonsense. Perhaps their next phase, to be endorsed by some Okpe leaders and Ekakuro, will be to categorize Okpe citizenry into “BINIOKPE”, ESANOKPE”, “IGBOOKPE”, “IJAWOKPE”, “ISOKOKPE”, URHOBOKPE”, etc.
To frame the problems facing Okpe within the prism of one’s maternal linkages is a gross distortion of the tasks before us Okpe nationals. Very puerile attempts have been made by some Ekakuro and educated Okpe nationals to question my first name, Omajuwa, suggesting that I am less of an Okpe than they are. Even laughable is their statement that I had “suppressed Igho” as my name, and that I only resurrected it after I became the Founding President of the Okpe Union of North America (OUNA). And that I was in my mid-80s, as some of them posted on the platform of the Okpe People’s Forum in 2020/2021. Those who knew me at the University of Benin (1980-1989), including students, colleagues, and prominent Okpe personalities, will testify that the name plate on my office door read O. IGHO NATUFE, and this was long before I became the Founding President of OUNA in April 2005. My academic publications bear O. IGHO NATUFE. In fact, O. Igho Natufe has been on the name plate of my office doors since 1970 (Government of Canada, 1970-1978; University of Ghana, 1978-1980; and the Government of Canada, 1989-2011, when I retired from the Government of Canada in March 2011).
Perhaps they should extend this view to all Okpe nationals with non-Okpe mothers or grandmothers. Or, perhaps they should extend this to all Okpe nationals bearing Itsekiri names, even though they have no blood relations to Itsekiri. To expose their duplicity, most of them have relatives that bear Itsekiri names, even though they have no blood relations to Itsekiri. Or, to make it more laughable, they should extend this to all Okpe nationals bearing European names. But we cannot expect hypocrites to behave otherwise.
Regarding my age, I am so grateful to my Dad, of Blessed Memory, for recording the births of his children in a Family Birth Registry. Instead of posting lies about me, these Okpe Ekakuro and scholars could easily have contacted my Uncle Victor, the Most Senior Okakuro of Okpe Kingdom, who is resident in Sapele, since they claim to have access to him. But hypocrites are never bothered with seeking the truth.
The above detour was necessitated by the illogicality of reason and the poverty of thought of some of our Ekakuro and educated Okpe nationals, who excel in discussing trivial matters and peddling lies at the expense of more serious matters facing the Okpe Nation, as they struggle to demonstrate their loyalty to the revered Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.
In Lieu Of A Conclusion
Like Nigeria, the failed giant of Africa, we are witnessing the failure of Okpe to exert itself as a giant in Delta State. Are we to achieve this laudable historical mission by hiding under the identity of another ethnic nationality? How do we address the Leadership question in Okpe Nation? There is need for us to pay attention to the leadership selection process in Okpe Nation to ensure that we have suitably qualified persons to represent us at all levels of governance. It will do the Okpe Nation a lot of good if those who speak truth to power are encouraged and recognized for their selfless services to the Okpe Nation. The binding ethos that define our Okpe ethnicity must be acknowledged and strengthened.
