Plato, one of the greatest philosophers of all times once said; “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
Let me take the liberty of probing deep into Plato’s mind and try to give meaning to what he means by inferiors. To my mind, Plato is not referring to persons richer than you/us on account of money in the bank, position in society, number of properties owned and in fact, the number of concubines we have managed to amass albeit illegally a.k.a moral bankruptcy but, rather those found unworthy and lacking in learning and character, accountability, empathy, vision and selflessness.
How far reaching is Plato’s thought, juxtaposing it with realities and truism of our time, especially as it relates to Gokana politics? A greater majority of Gokana people are of the firm belief that we ought to have done better as a people via-a-vis where we are at the moment placing our development at the feet/altar of socio-economic growth and output. So, what is amiss they query?
Altruistic leaders and or leadership has been fingered as responsible for our stunted growth and development.
Could the tide be changing for the better given the groundswell of support and goodwill the newly sworn-in chairman of Gokana LGA, Confidence Deko enjoys?
No sane mind in Gokana can live in denial that we live in such a time that we suffer insecurity, poverty, moral crisis, infrastructure deficit, gross lacuna in skills development and acquisition as well as opportunities for gainful employment and many more.
The brand-new chairman has his work cut out for him. These are tasks he must get down to work to change very quickly. No one expects him to perform magic, as the decay is almost ‘entrenched’, nevertheless; he must be seen to be doing something about this malaise. A good leader must soil his hands fighting with his people from the trenches to bring about the much-desired change and prosperity. He cannot afford to ‘fall our hands’ like they say.
‘’The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river’’ This wise saying by one-time American Presidential hopeful Ross Perot, is so apt and in tandem with our realities in Gokana. The chairman, Confidence Deko cannot just identify the challenges so earlier enumerated but, he must enter into the trenches and get the job done.
Are there encouraging signs, could Confidence be the panacea to these challenges?
It is heart-warming that Confidence Deko, only a few hours after taken his oath of office, as his first assignment, ordered that Lewe/Bomu/Bo-ue link road should be graded and expanded not only to enhance socio-economic activities in the area but, also as his signpost and goodwill that the warring communities of Lewe and Bomu should sheath their swords and embrace peace as no development can take place in chaos.
To further answer the dearth of infrastructure question, the brand-new chairman also caused to be graded and expanded the Mile 30 Biara farm road linking Kibaghan (a popular market in Gokana)
It is also worthy of mention that during Confidences electioneering campaigns, he identified security as a key area of policy thrust of his administration. In fact, before being sworn-in as substantive chairman, he had visited the warring communities of Lewe and Bomu twice to call for a truce and cease fire to hostilities on both sides.
Sequel to these peace moves, and to wield the sledgehammer to crush hydra-headed monster of insecurity, Confidence Deko, as one of his first act as substantive chairman of Gokana, set up a security committee saddled with planning a security summit where solution(s) hopefully, will be thrown up to deal the death kernel to insecurity in Gokana. This move has been widely applauded.
One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician’s objective. Election and power are. So far, as gleaned from Confidences actions, he has proven this position wrong as he has started working the talk. From the chairman’s visible body language, he believes that a healthy democracy requires a decent society, it requires that we are honourable, generous, tolerant and respectful. Little wonder, he has embarked on these moves to create that decent society, Gokana of our dreams.
It is also on record that Confidence Deko, before being sworn-in had set up a transition committee of five (5) members headed by an illustrious son of the land Mr. Baribor Dee.
There were the likes of Barrister Joe Gborogbosi, Mon Ledibabari and others as members. In a nut shell, as terms of reference, the committee was saddled with ascertaining the state of Gokana council.
The task has since been concluded and their report tuned in. This act was its very first in the history of the council. The chairman has promised he will study the report and act accordingly in line with their recommendation within the boundaries of available resources. This move was also applauded as proactiveness on his part. The document will serve as a roadmap to aid the chairman navigate the undulating road of governance and service delivery to Gokana people.
So far, his actions and utterances have been hailed as moving in the right direction. To close watchers of Gokana politics, this does not come as a surprise as the man has once been there in ‘care taker chairman’ capacity.
That stint, no doubt, bode well for him as it afforded him first-hand opportunity to see from the inside and understand the issues. Gokana people expect him to build on that experience and give them the best and posterity will be kind to his memory.
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