The Idoma League of Editors (ILE) has issued a strong warning to politicians in Benue State, particularly, the Idoma enclave otherwise known as Zone C to desist from fomenting trouble in the land in the name of do-or-die politics, even as the February elections draw close to a kickoff.
The Editors in a statement issued on Monday said the future of Idomaland was greater than the ambition of any politician, warning egoistic, niggling and money-bagged as well as fat-bellied political actors in the state to henceforth stop creating unnecessary tension in the land.
The statement established a dividing line between business politics and selfless politics, cautioning politicians in the land to desist from playing business politics to the detriment of the people they are to protect.
The league said it had watched with rapt attention and noted how Idoma politicians continue to cuckold their own people and intentionally selling them into political slavery.
The statement signed by its president; Adoyi Ali urged all Idoma Editors to rise up to the tasks by resorting to the most powerful political tools and weapons they possess to challenge politicians and their usual antics before and after the February polls.
It said the, “time has now come for these self-imposed leader to tell us where we are heading to or we show them exit way. We cannot continue to live in fear in our land because politicians who have over the years neglected our people have suddenly realized that there is now a home. They have arranged on how to move some thugs into the state to disrupt business activities that have sustained the land since we started experiencing political negligence. This time, we won’t only speak; we will write, talk and use all available legal means to stop politicians who are breeding seeds of discord in our peaceful Idomaland.
‘’We are currently disenchanted over the unfolding events and the state of things in our fatherland. Like Nehemiah, we cannot continue to grumble over the destroyed Idomaland. We will now go home and join our people in this selfless battle to reclaim our land from bad leadership, segregation and dehumanization.
‘’We must all embrace journalism of towering reputation. Becoming a doyen of local journalism, we must always peg out in the middle and take position when it’s clear that we need to speak for peace and for the good of our people.
‘’ Like Nehemiah, we have cried, and our tears are now dried up. We just need to go home, and sensitize our people on the need to vote for transformation. We are using this opportunity to remind our people that the change we all search cannot be obtained through some bags of rice or some thousands of naira that politicians will soon churn in to buy our votes as well as our conscience. We strongly warn our people to desist from business politics which aims at selling us to yonder. All we need to do as a people is to secure our future and that of our children. We cannot join them to destroy our land as the change we seek is very possible.
‘’We agree that the challenges we face today are without doubt huge and relatively unprecedented, but as Editors who have suffered persecutions at different capacities, we welcome challenges, and through our pen which we have never doubted its piecing impact, we say this is of course an exceedingly exciting, and energizing time to separate the good seeds from the chaff. This is the time we all need to channel our energy towards eliminating from the political scene those who continually sit on our progress as a nation. While going about this peacefully, we must remember that our nationhood must not be compromised. We must abhor violence and speak against it each time it tries to breed its ugly head. We must protect our land against any form of violent political rivalry. We will fight with our last effort to ensure that Idoma is set free from the jaws of business politicians who think that Idoma nation is their property that can generate income for them and their families.
‘’The time to change Idoma is now.”
