By Victor Egba
Statesmen, fellow youths, ladies and gentlemen,
Today, we have reached a place of sober and somber reflection. The murmurs, whispers, and grumblings must now snowball into political action. We can no longer continue to hide the obvious, disguise the truth, or ignore the impending saloon of mediocrity we are being whitewashed into.
This is beyond sad because it touches the very root of our strength as a Senatorial District. We are not just suffering in silence; we are now being bamboozled to gratify the political cupidity of one man. We are being compelled to accept our melancholic political situation as though it were our collective destiny. It appears to all clear-thinking fellows that to have an option is now being criminalized. In fact, even the Governor is not spared from the rhetoric. Everyone must accept the mediocrity that has been foisted upon us. Our aspiration for better is our last hope—and they are fighting to take it from us.
My fellow compatriots, are we going to pretend that we are not aware that nobody takes the Central Senatorial District seriously anymore? Are we not aware that our stake in the polity is dwindling?
Just yesterday, we were the most courted people. We held sway. On the floor of the Red Chambers, our Senators glided like lilies—mastering their words and owning the show. Beyond the superficialities of oratory, we had a representation that remembered home. Our representatives didn’t come on pilgrimages to our hospitals to rape our goodwill or insult our collective sensibilities.
It was not surprising to see them at funerals, birthday ceremonies, dedications, commissioning events, or even house naming ceremonies—not because these were their job descriptions, but because they wanted to keep the warmth, unite us under leadership, and remind us that they were one of us. Even though the roads of Abuja were tarred and the hotels cosy, the journey to the hinters of Boki, Agoi, and Akparabong was a journey of solidarity and reassurance. So that our children wouldn’t just imagine who our Senators were—they would make music of them.
Today, we are far from who we were. We are now being programmed to accept this as our fate.
BUT AREN’T WE THE CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT ANYMORE? ARE WE NOT CAPABLE ENOUGH TO DECIDE OUR DESTINY?
I think we are. I believe that we can. And I believe that we do not lack the will to act—we will act in due course.
But therein lies our problem: the postponement of action—the delay buried in our long-suffering patience. We are likely to say, “Let’s run the cycle. Let’s allow him finish only this term.” But in doing so, we give ourselves another opportunity to be lied to.
Just suddenly, our Senator appeared to care—after two years of utter abandonment, sheer neglect, unreplied messages, unhonoured invitations, leadership not provided, and a complete disconnect from the yearnings and aspirations of us all. What a fantastic awakening.
Does it not surprise us that after two years, we now have liaison officers? There is suddenly a need to reconnect with the grassroots. Does it not concern us that the Senator would steep so low as to play politics of optics and psy-ops with people who are genuinely sick—handing out a few notes of our collective wealth again as a poser for effective representation? What a theatre of the absurd.
Fellow youths, we cannot pretend to have any connection with our Senator. We have no one to rally around. We don’t even know who to call upon. We are completely shut out—no access, no opportunities, no shared wealth.
Fellow youths, doesn’t it concern us that, in his so-called altruism, the Senator schemed over 95% of scholarship opportunities to his associates only? What does that say about his sense of justice and our collective future?
Are we forgetting already, that in the last year budget, the Northern senatorial district (5LGAs) got a total of N12billion Constituency projects in the 2025 budget, while Central senatorial district (6LGAs) with an APC Senator got a paltry N8billion. Drooling behind the Northern and Southern Senatorial District, are the indices not just ever evident?.
Fellow constituents, we are not oblivious to the quality of representation we are now constrained with. The question is whether we will sit idly by and watch this ongoing campaign of blackmail—targeted at His Excellency and designed to maneuver and arm-twist the Governor into compelling his aides to stay away from the polls—just to reinforce mediocrity upon us again.
Doesn’t it concern us that this campaign continues to twist the Governor’s words? That, two years in, the Senator is still trying to cling to the Governor’s graces in a desperate bid to return to power? After riding on the goodwill of past Governors, our Senator still refuses to build. He always wants to be bailed and babied.
Nothing seems satisfactory to him other than stoking the system with unhealthy paradoxes and shamelessly seeking to crucify a Commissioner who is stepping up to fill the leadership vacuum and rescue our senatorial district from collapse.
While this article is a critical call for appraisal, it is also a plea for calm detour and wise choice. Can we effectively compete for available resources and dividends of democracy in this condition? In the event zoning fails, do we have a leader we can rally around?
Are we going to keep pretending that we are not already disappointed? Are we going to wait until 2027—or should we begin this recall now?
Victor Egba
Writes from Lagos.