THE TIMED MUTU AND PONDI
BY EKANPOU ENEWARIDIDEKE
Time often times people; and for even time that times people, its own time is also timed. This is what time may not know because it appears to be more interested in timing people than getting itself timed. And so time has just timed Rt. Hon. Nicholas Mutu of the Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency who is on his sixth legislative voyage and Rt. Hon. Julius Pondi of Burutu Federal Constituency who is on his second voyage in the House of Representatives.
Everything has a beginning and an end; and for every beginning it is timed just as every end is timed. For Mutu and Pondi, time has timed the two Honourables. Without batting an eyelid the people have told Mutu and Pondi that their time is up and it is now time for them to embark on their journey after many years of legislative sojourn away from Akugbene and Sokebulou towns, nestled in the rocky comfort of Abuja where the rocks overflow with the survival and sustainability essence of life for legislators. For the people to say it is up for Mutu and Pondi, they should be content with the verdict of the people.
Over the years there are institutionalised mechanisms for communicating the verdict of the people when it is time for a timed people. These are the mechanisms of the politics of irrigation, the politics of irritation and the politics of expulsion. That time is up for a timed candidate is usually based on the politics of irrigation, the politics of irritation and the politics of expulsion. The verdict of timing for a politician/aspirant without taking into cognizance these time-tested mechanisms is seen over the years as the best way to communicate the collective position of the people because when it is approached along these lines, accusation of antagonism, envy, vindictiveness, nepotism and bribery would not feature. It is against the backdrop of these factors that Mutu and Pondi have been told politely that their time is up.
ALSO READ: The Lords of May, Otuaro, Mutu, Pondi and Asupa
The politics of irrigation is when politics is primarily seen as an avenue to develop the communities and the people through the execution of relevant developmental projects. Where this rules the political space as a hegemonic force , visible development of individuals and communities can be seen. Towards a reflection of this politics of irrigation Rt. Hon. Nicholas Mutu legislatively influenced Akparemogbene River canalization project embarked upon by NDDC in 2019 though no kobo has been paid the contractor even after executing a commendable development project in Akparemogbene. Similarly, Pondi legislatively influenced the construction of a 3-classroom block at Omotimipere Primary School, Akparemogbene. These two projects and many others by Mutu and Pondi clearly tell a story of commitment to the politics of irrigation. Perhaps it is the competence and eloquence with which Mutu and Pondi have demonstrated the politics of irrigation that they have been told their timed time should be ready to depart for another timed voyage.
Beyond the politics of irrigation, the people do communicate their mind through the politics of irritation and expulsion. This is the space that harbours advocates of the politics of progressive impoverishment of the masses through contractual and appointive denial. Here the politicians are filled to the brim with dreams of electoral aspiration, and to ward off electoral collision on the day of election, they deliberately deprive the people of the power to grow economically and politically and reduce them to perpetual slaves and beggars who will always look up to them for survival. In their self-serving conceptualisation, developing the people through meaningful development project and political appointments would be a trigger to economic independence and possible opposition in their constituencies. And when people cannot point to visible development projects, they become irritated to the point they are compelled to develop thoughts of expulsion towards political power-wielders.
The politics of irritation and expulsion is the antithesis of the politics of irrigation. People become irritated when their areas are not developmentally irrigated because developmental irrigation is the primary purpose of political engagement in a democracy. Whenever developmental irritation is chosen over and above developmental irrigation in a democracy, thoughts of irritation and expulsion dominate the mind of the people. Minds become restless until political Lucifers are correspondingly expelled. For aspirants notorious for the cause of development irritation, they be given expulsion.
Experiences garnered from past decades indicate that in the communicative language of the ordinary people, aspirants preoccupied with the politics of irrigation in the discharge of their legislative duties are always designated as aspirants whose timed time is up and who must take on another legislative journey of developmental irrigation. And those aspirants obsessed with developmental irrigation, their time is not up because there is no time timed for them in the first place. Expulsion from the republic of representation is the word for those given to developmental irritation.
In the unusual parlance of communication credited to the masses, Mutu and Pondi are exemplars of the politics of irrigation whose timed time is up and so they should embark on another legislative journey just like Hon. Macdonald Igbadiwei of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly whose constituency 4 has told him recently that his timed time is up. Safely away from the tide of irritation and expulsion to the tributary where their timed time is only up for a fresh voyage, Mutu and Pondi should be historically celebrated as exemplars of the politics of irrigation who require electoral encore in 2023.And more specifically in their arcane language of communication, may His Excellency Kingsley Burutu Otuaro be equally timed by the people towards electoral resurgence and eventual arrival in Osadebe House in his divine 2023 gubernatorial journey now that only advocates of the politics of developmental irrigation are timed to voyage again and again until superior protagonists of the politics of irrigation heave into sight like ship on the political sea…
Ekanpou, Writes from Akparemogbene
Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region
Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!
