Ebira people are known for courage in the face of stiff oppositions when they are standing for what is right and what they believe. What is however, alien to our trajectory is sabotage and hatred which are fast becoming the new normal in the pursuit of selfish political gains in the land.
As expected the wedding of Barr Natasha Akpoti with Alema of Warri Kingdom, High Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan came with pomp and pageantry which defined her class and further proved she is not a typical politician that can be cowed and ignominiously confined into the dustbin of history.
Of course, there are people whose Natasha’s wedding will block their source of income, it will do because the barrage of smear campaigns launched on her during election will stop. Those who feed on the name calling, the accusations and the blackmail because she was a single mother might need to find a dignified job to do, Akpoti’s wedding has rendered them jobless and the anger that followed is quite understood.
But what one does not expect is the open display of anger and frustrations by these set of people.
Human beings are wired differently, with distinctive understanding and reasonings, it is part of human nature to disagree and view things differently. But what is alien to our culture is when you want to destroy someone at all cost because of different political leanings.
Like every rational human being, I questioned the rationale behind the destruction of her wedding banner, the criticisms on her coronation as Ohi-Ogu of Ebiraland, of course, the many deliberate attempts to cage Ebira
fathers from gracing the wedding.
Beyond the ecstasy of Natasha Akpoti’s wedding is the underlying strong political message she has made for her oppositions to know her worth and what might greet her political journey in the 2023 electioneering phase.
The long overdue title she got from the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, the gathering of the creme-de-la-creme of the society at her wedding were not by accident.
The presence of Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, former Anambra State Governor and Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godwill Akpabio, Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Uche Ogar, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Former Delta State Governors, Enmanuel Uduaghan and James Ibori, former Attorney General of federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, former Kogi Deputy Governor, Philip Salawu, former APC national chairman, John Oyegun, Olu of Warri, Ohinoyi of Ebiraland amongst others weren’t by accident.
No! the presence of 2baba and other infamous Nigerian musicians that defined the class of Natasha Akpoti was more beyond the ecstasy of the wedding.
The strong political message has been passed and her oppositions who are not political neophytes understood what such gathering of political class mean which explained the several ambushes laid to reduce the significance of the wedding.
Howbeit, the wedding has come and gone, the message has been passed and the next stage will be the preparation for the 2023 election.
Akpoti will definitely throw her hat in the murky water of kogi politics in 2023, the trajection may have been defined, the approach may not be the same and those who thought she had been frustrated and retired may have deceived themselves. The wedding has proven the weight she carries and how well Ebira people love her.
Whatever Barr Natasha Akpoti chooses to contest in 2023, if you say the election is between the people and the power that be, you are not wrong.
But before then, let me officially congratulate the Amazon on her historic wedding and her title as the Ohi-Ogu of Ebiraland. God bless your home.
Remember, 2023 is a defining year for Kogi Central and Kogi State. Until then, enjoy your weekend.
Isah Bala…