The bible says, “Knowledge is power.” It also said, “Know the truth, and it shall set you free.”
I am not an apostle of Okpe Identity, but permit me to speak the mind of our people and express their disappointment.
It takes courage to stand for the oppressed. It takes courage to say “no” and to stand up against injustice in an unjust and biassed environment; it also takes courage to identify with and empathise with the enslaved, the poor, the vulnerable, and the weak in a society where inequality and victimisation are resultant consequences of those who dare to challenge the very foundation of oppression and inequality.
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The circumstances surrounding the quest for Okpe identity and the cry of marginalisation are an eye-opener to every political leader from Delta Central that the Okpe people are getting angry and insecure within the central senatorial district and that it is time to either stand up and defend them or stand aside.
How can Delta Central remain one when any issue concerning Okpe is viewed with irritating suspicion by our brothers and sisters in the same senatorial district?
How can Delta Central remain one when the call for fair play and equity is viewed as an act of disunity and rebellion by our brothers and sisters from Delta Central?
How can Delta Central remain home when Okpe, the biggest kingdom in Urhoboland, is classified as just one clan in Urhoboland?
How can Delta Central remain one when a government headed by our brother systematically stops the broadcast of television news in the Okpe language?
How can Delta Central become one when the Okpe are deprived of learning their language and history in our schools as it used to be before now?
How can Delta Central become one when, whenever it is time for Okpe to occupy a position that equity bestows on them, our brothers and sisters will come out with the postulation that “let the best from any constituency in Central have it”?
How can Delta Central continue to exist when Orerokpe, the former headquarters of western Urhobo, is still the most backward and underdeveloped local government in Delta State/Nigeria?
How can Delta Central remain one when Orerokpe, the ancestral home of the Okpe People, has no bank, electricity, good road, or stadium?
How can Delta Central become one when Okpes within the present Democratic dispensation are not allowed to hold Juicy positions at the federal level?
How can Urhobo become one when Okpe people are targeted for relegation within Delta Central?
How can Urhobo become one when our people within the senatorial district are divided along political and tribal lineages?
How can Delta Central become one when people like myself and other equity activists in 2O23 are labelled as enemies of the Urhobo Nation?
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How can Delta Central remain one when our people are segregated and demonised on account of their beliefs and unwillingness to renounce their convictions?
How can Delta Central become one when sectional supremacy is engendered and encouraged within the Delta Central political superstructure?
As unpleasant and distasteful as it is to accept, that is the bitter and simple truth, and the growing cause for the agitation for Okpe’s identification and governorship in 2O23 has proven it.
Given all this, those who are now clamouring for a better deal are in pain, and that pain has turned into a palpable and dangerous rage.
Those who lay claim to being Delta central leaders would do well to recognise that fact, accept it, and resolve to rise to the challenges and fears our people are expressing.
My simple advice to our Okpe leaders is that we must all be ready to stick our necks out for our people and defend them as aggressively and vigorously as is necessary, or if we fail to do so, we must as a matter of urgent necessity be ready to pass on the baton and step aside for those that are willing.
My name is
Sanco Ese
God’s pen of intervention
