Udensi Ogba Orji

Most times, the enemy is that touchbearer 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 cheerleaders 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 fails.

I am aware that the weight of expectation hung heavily on him, Ben, bright, intelligent, and charismatic, and he has been a beacon of hope in a world of cynicism. In his political career, his towering charisma and vision have 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 a position to empower and dish out favours, so they’re certainly after his weight and wealth. Everything else is just a pretence of what’s not and placing it as is.

Ben should look beyond this 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, I don’t see anyone out there who will match the political forces you are putting on the ground. You’re too smart, too strategic, too organised, 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 who 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 Otti and the governorship and 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 saviour will begin to lose faith. You will become a good leader who 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 pretended 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 per cent 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.