How Edo APC diminished, insulted Edo people
By John Mayaki
As if possessed by an unfamiliar spirit, Jarett Tenebe, Chairman of the APC in Edo State, appeared on national television yhr other day to berate, disparage, and mischaracterize the people of Edo State as unsophisticated, poor, and disconnected from modernity.
He sought to justify the unjustifiable selection of Monday Okpebholo, an unlettered and intellectually deficient individual, as the party’s flagbearer in a critical election with far-reaching consequences for the state’s future.
Unwilling to admit the error and unable to answer questions from journalists about why their candidate hides from scrutiny, Jarett Tenebe shifted the blame to the Edo people. He claimed, absurdly, that the candidate refuses all interview requests, including debate appearances, because the state’s residents are too poor and unsophisticated to access such platforms.
It was Orwellian politics on full display. I previously warned of this when the party’s surrogates argued that it wasn’t their mute candidate who was dumb, but rather that Edo people were deaf.
Instead of addressing the flaws in their candidate choice, the party opted to belittle the very people they seek to represent. They are not only diminishing the character and capabilities of the Edo people, but also insulting their intelligence and aspirations.
While their Pastor-Politician misleadingly claims that education is unimportant before a gathering of young people, Tenebe announces to the world that television, an 1897 invention, is a strange item in a state that houses some of the greatest civilizations in the world. This is the politics of APC in Edo – one that debases, devalues, and destroys.
Even party sympathizers are shocked by this madness. Daniel Bwala, who does not hide his affinity for the party despite a brief dalliance with the opposition, has condemned Tenebe’s mouth diarrhea. It is not the fault of the people that Edo APC neglected the professionals within its ranks and settled for a badly programmed robot. Nor is it their fault that the godfathers in the party placed their self-preservation and desire for control over the well-being of the state.
So why should Edo people share in APC’s shame? Why should they be disparaged on national television by a misguided party chairman whose conduct was no different from a motor park tout?
With the election only a matter of days away, Edo people must resoundingly reject this harmful portrayal and punish the APC for treating them as mere collateral in its desperate power-grab.
In Benin, Esanland, Afemai, and other parts of the state, they must take a clear stand by electing Asue Ighodalo, who has shown himself capable of upholding the true values of Edo State and advocating for its people’s interests on both national and international stages.
