One thing men of clout have in common is their taciturnity. Most goal getters do their thing without blowing the rooftop with praise singing. No sector in Nigeria suffers the syndrome of ‘empty drums making the loudest noise’ more than the public sector.
By sheer bad luck, Nigeria’s public sector is inexplicably under the full control of what could be said to be worse than empty noise making drums.
However, one of the exceptions to this anomaly is the member, representing Apa-Agatu, Benue state, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Samuel Odagboyi Godday. He’s not only doing great but has shown purposeful leadership in today’s representative democracy. For the sake of peace and tranquility, Godday, who won on the platform of Labour Party (LP), returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which denied him a ticket in the first place for just no just cause. No wonder, in politics there is no permanent enemy but permanent interest. But to the returnee, the yearnings and aspirations of the people supersede his own interest. With this singular act of humility, Hon. Godday, a philanthropist, is a political trailblazer and peace maker in Benue politics.
Hon. Godday has not only touched many lives as a law maker but also put smiles on faces of the downtrodden in the society within his one year in office. No wonder, political pundits adjudge him to be the life-touching lawmaker of the era in the Benue South Senatorial District in relation to community-based projects and house to house interface. His love for education makes him offer scholarships and donations of academic materials worth millions of naira to pupils of primary/secondary school in the constituency.
The lawmaker has commenced the electrification project of Ekwo-Okpancheyi -Okadu as well as Egba-Aila-Okokolo. He also promised the donation transformers to Ugbopko and other communities to boost power supply.
The Ogbalu born politician is doing everything humanly possible for some of the communities to access safe water. Godday’s effort to tackle this challenge necessitated the drilling of motorized boreholes across the constituency with a pilot project at Usha, a community in Agatu LGA.
Having considered the socio-economic importance of the Oweto road to the development and growth of the constituency, he is currently working round the clock, lobbying relevant authorities for the completion of Oweto-Keffi road for easy access to Abuja and northern parts via Apa-Agatu axis as the Oweto road serves as a gateway to every part of the country.
On employment, he has liaised with the board of directors, Jewel Enterprise Ltd headquarters in Asokoro, Abuja to have his constituents employed on an interim basis while awaiting other opportunities. Thus, over 30 youths from the constituency have been empowered.
Since Agatu LGA was created in 1996, Hon. Godday is the second Agatu indigene from Ogbalu ward in the saddle at the National Assembly. His presence at the National Assembly has no doubt helped to restore peace to the Agatu local government area of Benue state, which has been in the news for quite a while for the wrong reason.
This relative peace currently in place and orchestrated and coordinated by Governor Samuel Ortom, Hon. Samuel Odagboyi Godday, and Hon. Adoyi Suleiman and his tireless vice Hon. John Anthony Ikwulono, should be supported irrespective of political and clannish differences for the good of the entire Agatu people, particularly the Eastern part of Agatu that has been in squabbles and the needless killings since 2008.
Consequently, my candid advice to the good people of Agatu entirely, is to unanimously shun violence in its entirety and to embrace peace at all cost no matter what. Rumour mongers, Facebook war instigators, those equipping for war must understand that in the end, you will be losers, victims and at the same time in more bondage than you were before. The glaring reality of today’s world is that violence cannot solve anything but rather breed hatred among people. No communal killings or war ever got won by a fraternity of emotions. It hurts and my heart bleeds each time I think of my Agatu East. I owe my people a duty of stating the truth and nothing but the truth.
Martin Luther JR, once said, “Darkness cannot drive away darkness except light.” The time to embrace permanent peace is now. Where is our pride as a people with a common destiny? Is it too late to say sorry to one another and be trusted again? Come to think of it; what is the rationale of killing ourselves over laughable district heads or fish ponds in this age of Agatu people? What a people with questionable history dancing precariously in the lion’s den.
We must advise ourselves on this ugly situation of self-killings and destructions. A show of bravado or audacity will not take us anywhere. Chinua Achebe said, “We often stand in the house of a coward to point at where a brave man once lived’’. No individual is greater than the law of the land. Those politicians who do not progress should be voted out of office with the use of PVCs not war. For the sake of humanity, remember we are pencils in the hands of Almighty God.
We the Agatu people should stop chasing shadows by leaving the substance behind, meaning that the Agatu people should channel their energies in the fight to the education of our children. Truly, crises cannot solve anything or bring about needed development. Thus, we owe a lot of gratitude to Hon. Godday, the governor and local government chairman, who made the restoration of peace to Agatu possible.
Eibo writes via [email protected]
