A TIME FOR SACRIFICE

5th February, 2018

By Pat Utomi

When a cry comes from deep inside a soul, the pain may stay on to eternity. Such is the nature of what I have struggled with regarding the imperative for change in Delta State.

For many it is about politics, but politics has paved the way to poverty, bloodshed and anarchy in many parts of our continent.

Can we, even if there are many other ways God has enabled us to carry out His will of loving and serving our neighbor, continue to think the sacrifice of the kind of politics played in Delta makes it a disproportionate trade off? That is to say that the trouble is not worth it.

Increasingly I am convinced that any Deltan not willing to make that sacrifice may have much to answer to in history and in life after here, if they are people of faith. It is as such that I am committing myself to helping build a coalition for a Deltan Transformation.

Participating in the burial programme for the man, Dr Alex Ekwueme, who first brought me into politics as a 27 year old so called Technocrat, has sparked off a new commitment to sacrifice for the revival of Delta State. When he sent for me after following my thoughts, and then casually telling me he had recommended me to President Shehu Shagari that I be appointed to replace Prof. Odaigwe, in 1983, I couldn’t believe that this mild-mannered man would remain resolute the rest of his life. I have learnt much from his decent principled struggle and know that charity has to begin at home.

That inspiration makes me rededicate myself to a coalition that will build a new Delta.

As part of that process I will write a reflection every week to Deltans on the path to freedom and  progress. I will also be calling for passionate engagement of Deltans living outside of Delta. From my work I know that Japan’s turnaround following the Meiji Restoration profited from Japanese returning from Europe. In more recent experience, I saw India go bankrupt, technically in 1991 and thought classes on how the Diaspora drove the current renaissance. We all need to stay engaged.