Whilst I am not a diviner that foretells the future and cannot pronounce upon people’s destinies, it is easy to wagger that it may be nunc dimittis for Ben Ayade, who came to Cross River State, saw, pillaged, danced, but did not conquer. His arch nemesis, Jarigbe Agom, may have hammered in the final nail on his political coffin as he once again vanquished the embittered former governor at the Appeal Court. Now it is definitely the end of the road for Ben Ayade, at least as far as returning to the Senate is concerned.
For Jarigbe, it’s been a long road to travel and a hard, hard way to go. He has gone through grit and grime. He has been sent to hell but came back. For more than five years, Ayade has used the resources and apparatus of the state to take him down and out. Sometimes he succeeded in taking him down, but like a Phoenix, Jarigbe always found a way to bounce back. It could not have been otherwise. The two men worshipped opposing gods. While one knelt before mammon, bearing a haughty mien and cash money, the other worshiped at the shrine of the people.
That is why Jarigbe could not fall, because the people validate him in advance, on election day and the days after. They believe in him and venerate the very slippers he wears. They believe him, they trust him, they are one with him.
He has no mansion in Abuja, nor in Calabar, nor room in London or America, because he has spent his political seasons building his mansions in the hearts of men. So they are prepared to live or die with him and when they pray for him, God listens and answers. At last, humble David has slain the mighty Goliath with simple weapons of sincerity, steadfastness, and acts of charity and kindness.
Let me quote what I wrote in another article last week “Jalal Al din Muhammed Rumi, an Islamic philosopher and poet wrote:
“When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.”
To Jalal Al din as to Mahatma Ghandi, the ultimate fulfillment consists in doing good, as Ghandi confesses: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Yet, Ben Ayade may well bounce back into the political reckoning, but only if he has the humility to read from Jarigbe Agom’s rule book. Ben and his family piled heaps of cash for themselves from the eight years of his misrule.
Now I hope he has learned that money cannot tell you good morning, when day breaks, only people can do so. Ayade must be a lonely man now, finding amusement only in electronic devices that his money can buy. I wonder who he is dancing to now in his lonesome state, maybe he is dancing in front of the wall mirror, and clapping to himself all alone. Or perhaps he now dances to Alphonsus Ogar Eba, the chairman of his party and crafty contriver, who exploited him to no end. That is if he tarries long enough around Ayade’s precincts before moving to the next fall guy.
Congratulations, Distinguished Senator Agom Jarigbe Agom. Na man you be.
Dominic Kidzu, is a Cross Riverian and a journalist and writes in from Cross River.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Dominic Kidzu, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.