DSP BENJAMIN KALU COMMISSIONING A PROJECT IN HIS CONSTITUENCY
Most times, the enemy is that touch bearer that shines the light on the dark places where evil manipulators hide. The one that whispers the truth and the one that wages the destructive tendencies of sycophantic cheer leaders and palace jesters.
To address the push by deadwood politicians who are luring and forcing Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, to throw his weight into the ring to run for governor in 2027, is to write a prose about a political leader with a bright future who is being lured to destroy his future by sycophantic, deadwood politicians that want to use him for their own selfish interest and will abandon him thereafter, once the project failed.
I am aware that the weight of expectation hung heavily on him, Ben, bright, intelligent, charismatic and has been a beacon of hope in a world of cynicism. In his political career, his towering charisma and vision has captured the hearts of many, and whispers of a brighter future danced on the lips of the masses.
Yet, unbeknownst to him, the very people he trusted are quietly crafting his downfall. The most pathetic part of it is that, in all sincerity, they might know about it. But, one thing is certain in all these, he’s in position to empower and dish out favours, so it’s certain they’re after his weight and wealth. Everything else are just pretenses of what’s not and placing as is.
Ben should look beyond these artificial, all of a sudden love and interest and focus on reality. Time runs fast, stay back at the Federal House, bid your time and solidify, after Otti’s second tenure, l don’t really see any one out there who will match the political forces you are putting on ground. You’re too smart, too strategic, too organized, and too resourceful to allow systematic and sycophantic praises to push you into a political suicide.
These sycophants, seasoned in the art of politics but bereft of substance, saw nothing in you, but a vessel for their selfish ambitions. They lavished praises upon him, feeding his hunger for validation, all the while manipulating him to serve their interests.
With each calculated step, they nudged him closer to the precipice, their whispers sweet but poisonous.
With the rate Otti is going and the popularity behind him, anyone that attempts to challenge him is putting his political career at risk, not just in Abia State, but among IGBOs generally. Stay back my brother, and look beyond these artificial emergency lovers. Take a time out and reflect on the first time you mentioned about Otti and the Governorship, the backlash that followed it, no storm from the ocean could have quenched it.
In this information age, the internet uplifts and kills, if you jump out in a hurry in 2027, your popularity will sink so much that you will become a liability in Igbo land for APC and the TINUBU administration.
There are people that you know, hanging around like vultures to devour you once you cave into this project. Wait, my brother, before you know it, Otti’s second tenure is over. Go back to the house, because once you lose to Otti, your political career will nosedive and all these people pushing you will disappear.
Once you step out to run, as the days turned into weeks, the once-promising horizon began to darken. Your decisions, now guided by the whims of these manipulators, will stray further from the path of integrity that you have built.
The people, who had once seen you as a savior, will begin to lose faith. You will become a good leader that was trapped in the web of deceit, you will watch your political future slipping away, piece by piece.
Without going back to the house, you will gradually become a liability to APC and Tinubu. You will see and hear words that will shock you from these people pushing you and find out how deep some of them envied your rise to power, but pretend to be loyal to you.
The sycophants, having achieved their goals, would then abandon you, leaving you to face the wreckage of their making, and blame you for being too ambitious. Your name, once synonymous with hope, would become a cautionary tale. The bright future that lay before you would be reduced to ashes, a reminder of the destructive power of selfish ambition, they will tag it.
Run, Ben Run. Run away from these sycophants. Run away from them and run for re-election for the Federal House of Representatives. Run for governor after Alex Otti and by then you’ll be 60 percent certain that you are running to win. But, as for 2027, run away from an obvious political disaster. Run away from running into a political liability. Run, Ben Run.
Udensi, Ogba Orji, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Umuahia
