An Open Message to Hon. Engineer Rodney Ambaiowei Ebikebina, Member Representing Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency

Dear Honourable Rodney Ambaiowei .E.rnrnI wish to acknowledge your recent effort to empower members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in your constituency through the purchase of motorcycles (Okadas) as part of your constituency projects. However, with due respect, it would have been better if such a project had not been executed at all, because the people of Southern Ijaw deserve far better.rnrnWhy is it that things are always different when it comes to Southern Ijaw? Don’t we deserve the same level of development and empowerment other constituencies are enjoying? Across Bayelsa State, other Honourable Members are empowering their constituents with cars, mini-buses, pickup vans, Dyna trucks, tractors, and other life-changing equipment. Yet, when it comes to Southern Ijaw, what we receive are Okadas — and only for PDP supporters.rnrnHonourable Sir, are you not aware that the Bayelsa State Government has banned the operation of Okadas within Yenagoa metropolis? Or has that ban been lifted without public knowledge? How then can the distribution of banned motorcycles be termed “empowerment”? To many of us, this gesture feels more like an insult than empowerment.rnrnI am fully aware that this message will be misinterpreted, as is often the case in Bayelsa State where whatever the elites do is deemed perfect and unquestionable. Here, supporters survive at the mercy of political leaders, so sycophancy and praise-singing have become a way of life. But I refuse to be a member of the Praise Singers Association of Bayelsa State.rnrnIf speaking the truth about the poor state of development in our land will earn me condemnation, then so be it. It is my constitutional right — and moral duty — to hold my leaders accountable. After all, leadership is service, and our elected representatives are servants of the people, not their masters.rnrnSouthern Ijaw deserves meaningful empowerment, not mockery.rnrn— Chief Inko Brightstar a.k.a. Whoknows Tomorrow