DELTA 2015: TONY CHUCKS OBUH – A WINNER WITH AN OLIVE BRANCH

The nomination of Peoples Democratic Party Standard bearer is about a month and some weeks from now. Already the people have spoken in different fora and have strongly identified who their next leader should be. The people are ready to obligate their mandates into his hands for posterity and heirloom to the sustenance of the Delta Beyond Oil economic strategy in Delta State.

Among those who want to be governor of Delta State is our own Tony Chucks Obuh. A man with an archetypal political will power to run an all-inclusive government without any iota of neither tribal cleavage nor harbours any threat of victimisation of the opposing views.

He is one leader who is not a Christian by title or by mere public confession and acceptance of faith but he is a Christian in deeds and eccentrics of Christ like virtues. Tony Obuh is a leader who will love to work with all his brothers and sister who are all aspiring along him to govern the State.

He sees Ifeanyi Okowa as his brother who can contribute to development of Delta State and Nigeria and sees the likes of Ovie Omo-Agege and Clement Ofuani as those who can advise positively to the uplift of the people of Delta State. Tony Obuh is a leader who does not consider politics as a platform to exercise the winners takes it all spirit or a yardstick to be vindictive against his opponents nor what people will tag political enemies but a man who believes that it is only through team work that a true leader can succeed.

It is therefore irrelevant, to pass him for a man who is coming to execute a particular ethnic or personal agenda or to insinuate that when he is finally sworn in, he will prosecute his opponents to silence and oppress them, while forcing them into political asylum or opprobrium. In terms of development, Tony Obuh is not coming to concentrate development in one part of the State. He will be poised to balance development around the State by not allowing some sections to be so underdeveloped while others are well advanced.

Tony Obuh also understands that equality and equity are not only by rotation of governance but by developmental projects also. With all these, our governor in waiting Tony Obuh, understands that Asaba as the State capital must be well developed than all others for the house of a great man is known by the quality of his door. More so, it is a global practice that the capitals of any country, State or province receives more attention in terms of development than any other areas for it anchors the economy of that given State or country.

Tony Obuh is planning on how to make those now competing with him team members in the development of Delta State. He also believes that in every opposing view, there are positive attributes that could add up to the substance of development, peace and success of the State as a common entity. This why he issues at all events strict caution to all his supporters to desist from running down the image of any aspirant, as that will not add up to his success at the poll . 

His personal virtues are what most people mistake for being a coward, reasonable leadership is not a show of arrogance but humility, garnished with the fear of God. A leader must be able to be exemplary in all his or her conducts. Service to humanity should not be seen as an ambit of warfare against one’s foes but should be seen as a sphere to build broken bridges and strengthen the economy through peaceful co-existence with all parties.

Tony Obuh is a modern day leader, whose interest to lead the State is not bonded with deleterious intentions to manipulate and mastermind the destruction of others as advocated by some politicians who goes about blackmailing him a man with such tendencies to the public. They have said he is a seed planted to paralyze the political and economic potentials of the other Senatorial Districts.

The amount of endorsement Tony Obuh has received from socio-political groups, youths and women, is enormous to qualify him as the sole candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, but that notwithstanding Tony Obuh prefers to have the people vote one by one to assure the entire nation, that he is not an imposed candidate but the people’s wish.

The next Governor of Delta State builds his character around the scripture in Romans 12: 9 -10 that says, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honour. There is no gain saying about his preference towards the regrouping of his brothers and sisters who are now his aspiring peers as his team members in government come 2015.

Some of them can function as Ministers in With FGN, while others could be in the State executive, if they are willing to serve, for service is not the high position you occupy but your contribution to the development of your fatherland.

It is time to promote healthy competition in politicking. Competition is an elemental fact of life. In nature, it is the driving force of evolution by natural selection. In society, it is equally powerful and inescapable. Within every nation of every culture and political system, there is competition for basic needs like food, shelter, and sexual mates as well as competition for distinctively human goods such as honour, friendship, and power. Among nations (and among tribes before there were nations), there has always been competition for dominion and security.

Competition is ubiquitous because the condition that gives rise to it is ubiquitous: the scarcity of resources relative to the needs and desires of living beings. But, as the process of biological evolution suggests, competition is more than a result of scarcity--it is also a means of successfully adapting to that condition. In society, competition is largely peaceful when properly structured by public laws and private norms. And its advantages go well beyond the "survival of the fittest" of natural selection.

The most obvious advantage is discipline. Those working in rivalry with others tend to work longer and harder and to be more focused on production than on consumption--out of hope of gain, fear of failure, or sheer love of the politics. At the same time, competition promotes sociability, self-restraint, and service. It harnesses individual self-interest to the interests of others.

But competition can also be unpopular for a simpler reason: It keeps us from getting what we want. Although competition is frequently associated with individualism and egoism, its primary advantages are collective rather than individual. The individual person, firm, or group may gain or lose in competition with others, while society gains from the process one way or the other. Therefore, especially in personal life, competition often presents itself as a constraint on our aspirations and sometimes delivers bitter disappointments--when we don't get the desired position.

The act of trying to kill one another for the sake of politics should be in the past. We should refrain from sponsoring blackmail. We should all condemn the use of ethnicity as a template to win election, no leader before now has succeeded with it. If the like of Chief Awolowo, a brilliant leader, with good principles and polices could fail with it, who then can succeed? Politicians should learn from others' woes and also emulate good techniques in the formation of their campaign strategies, so that they don’t end their competition building heaven of enemies and descend to the abyss of failed politicians.

Tony Obuh is an astute lover of inclusive governance, than governance of exclusion. This is the reason why the entire Delta people make him their anthem and all are to vote for him both at the nomination and the general election. Tony Obuh is a humble leader, who is out to correct the mistakes of our past leaders and initiate modern leadership strata that is free of ethnicity, hatred, segregation, oppression, Satanism - cult/occult orientations, witch-hunting , modern day slavery or the winner takes it all attitude.