Hon Bede Eke And His Reprobate Silence Cannot Be Golden ➖ Wouldn’t You Rather Concede?

MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA

There is a gulf of shame that bestrides the totality of Ngor Okpala patriots – persons who have worked through the furnace of legitimate undertakings. Some are farmers with scalded hands, but tower magnificently in personal integrity. From the hills of Mbaishi to the slopes of Obike, down to the middle course of Okwe, through the delta of Igba to the mangroves of Onyeaghalanwanneya. Ngor Okpala has raised men and women whose sole purchasing power has been the enduring pillars of their unblemished integrity. There is no excuse for any generation of Ngor Okpala people to engage in the lowly trade of criminality for avaricious ends. Those who were lucky to have succeeded uncaught must remain silent on all public fronts for the sake of our “pristine identity” as a people.

I have remained focused on this particular course for all altruistic purposes. It was for the silence of the Edo people that the “first prostitute” became the node with which all Edo girls are described, not minding that there are a whole lot more decent Edo ladies. But, their silence and momentary gains from the illicit trade, foreclosed the chances of generations yet unborn. Today, the stereotype haunts innocent Edo girls, with some of them taking the fatal decision to live the shame so long as the money trickles in, no problem – quite shameful. When vice is celebrated, no matter how little, it burgeons and becomes the norm – a standard measure of personal success. The responses so far emanating from Bede Eke and his band of depraved supporters, validates my inquisitive probes on his antecedents.

To think that this can be foregone by mere emotive silence or swept under the carpet by any form of cyber or physical bullying, is to say the least very bizarre. While they continue in their wild goose chase and futile effort to trivialize the discourse, many decent Ngor Okpala people understand the consequence of having a person of questionable character and uninspiring antecedents on our shared identity. The de facto handler of the “Bede Eke” account and the kingpin behind the failed “contingency” blackmail, Chimarok Okereafor, is unarguably a brother, whose personal character deficiencies account for his misplaced support for a man who represents all his Late good Father stood against. How he came to this very point of moral crisis is what I do not want to make public, for now.

Chimarok Okereafor, in response to my article titled _*”In Bede Eke Our Virtues Died ➖An Unwholesome Development”*_, wrote;

_”Mazi, my brother. I will not be bothered if you attack policies but it beats my imagination why you choose to attack Hon. Bede Eke’s person…”_

Note the line, “Bede Eke’s person”. Does it follow that Bede Eke’s person is the same as the one with fraudulent antecedents, no career or business record, unforgettable 8 years of profligacy and debauchery at IMHA and tardy academic records? The shocker was the comment from, supposedly, Bede Eke himself which read thus;

_”Good morning my brother, my aides are on an instruction to allow him navigate the waters of stupidity alone. It’s needless to have my esteemed members of staff engage him. He is not worth the time. The only time I and my team can afford is the time kept aside to serve the people and as such keep people like him in paid employment one way or the other. Like I would always say, the place of a fool is in the silence of the King. Rest assured that my team is working on instructions. God bless”._

The big questions, which hopefully, “King Bede” may wish to respond to are the following;

➖ what then is the place of an “informed” fool when the silence of a King implies consent?

➖ Is it still possible that the “fool” can cover his face with a basket to tell the King some hard truth?

➖ Is the King silent in guilt or for want of words to exonerate himself?

Some questions cannot be answered by silence. Besides, this silence is too loud that I really cannot hear the petty defences raised by persons who have no regard for our public image, largely propagated by our political, social, religious and economic leaders. For a Bede, who represents me to have an image not too different from that of a common “Yahoo Boy” is unacceptable.

*#NgorOkpalaDeservesBetter*