06/08/2022
Beware of Brutus
By: Prince Ntuk
It was Marc Anthony in William Shakespeare who said " The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest–
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men–
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man....."
Today in our midst are noble men who like Honourable Brutus have said ills about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State. They alleged imposition of candidates, exclusion of statutory delegates during party parimaries, deprivation of a federal Constituency of her legitimate rights to produce the next Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the preference of older candidates against the many enlightened youthful in the state.
Like the Romans, many leaned towards their criticisms and like Marc Anthony, I dare say "Beware of Honourable Brutus". A glimpse on some of the allegations that these noble men of our clime had alleged revealed that if given the opportunity they seek, like we gave the APC at the national in 2015, they will do even worse.
On imposition of candidates or having a preferred candidate, we have seen worst in their party. A situation where the gubernatorial office was exclusively preserved for a certain individual even as he was yet still in the PDP against the backdrop of many aspiring individuals deprives them of the privilege to further speak about "imposition or preference" in the PDP again.
The use of ad-hoc delegates against statutory delegates for party primaries which they accused the PDP of has also been found to be in order against their widespread criticism and legal fireworks by their use of similar ad-hoc delegates and exclusion of statutory delegates during their recently conducted gubernatorial primaries. What then was all the mumbo jumbo about?
From their calculations, a certain Federal Constituency rightly deserves the 2023 Gubernatorial slot of Akwa Ibom State. While I may not want to digress into the issue of micro-zoning or merits of their claims, may I ask them why they in turn gathered candidates rejected by the PDP on account of zoning into their fold? A case study is Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency where Ikono LGA by 2023 would have taken their two terms(8years) in the Green Chambers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and whose turn after that is the Ini LGA yet they preferred a sitting federal House member who is not from the zoned area. Can Brutus tell Akwa Ibomites why he plans to rob the people of Ini LGA of their turn at the Green Chambers and give Ikono LGA an uninterrupted 12 year tenure ? How double standard can they be to agitate for equity on one hand while demonstrating megalomaniac tendencies on the other hand. Where then is the Justice, fairness and equity which they preach?
Lastly, the camel's back was hit when the same party produced a retiree as her Deputy Governorship candidate against the backdrop of politically enlightened youths in the state who they claim to have come to salvage from the claws of older political titans. Can they in all honesty say that no Akwa Ibom youth in their fold is competent enough to be a Deputy Governorship candidate? What then do they want to salvage when it can't be demonstrated now that we are still testing the microphone 🎤.
These were the acts of Brutus, leveling allegations on his friend and boss, Julius Caesar so as to have him killed and rule in his stead but his records showed that he was worst than Julius Caesar and all that he accused Caesar of.
On the hills of the above dear friends, countrymen and electorates, please lend me your ears, these men, like Brutus, have nothing to offer than calamity, pandemonium, anarchy and a general state of unrest in Akwa Ibom State. Beware!!
