THE MEMOIRE OF A TRUE HONOURABLE

By Chris Tony Akhabue

The Prestigious ETERNO Hotel and Suits located at the GRA area of Benin City, the Edo State Capital, played host to the crem De la crem of the society yesterday as the book, MY JOURNEY INTO POLITICS,

 Between a hobby and a calling, was unveiled and launched.

The author of the book, Honourable Victor Osobase Emuakhagbon, the immediate past local government Chairman of Esan South East Local Government area of Edo state noted  that he decided to write the book to serve as a guide to the younger generation  to know that to whom much was given, that much was also expected. He pointed out that, that was the reason why he started the book with his humble beginning, his early life struggle to become what he is today. He said he particularly wanted to use the book as a didactic material to instruct the younger generation that it is dangerous to sell one's entire time to the service of  politicians, stessing that it was  inappropriate to leverage one's entire life to politicians because, according to him, politicians have the tendencies of using and dumping people.

 He said politics to him was between a vocation and a calling. He said the calling part of it was that it afforded him the opportunity to help his people. He therefore advised anybody, particularly the younger generation to see politics as a call to service not as a means to be served stressing that the  problem with Nigerian politics today is that people have taken politics as a profession. He said it was a wrong mindset. He said politics should be a vocation or as a hobby. He said people who intend to go into politics should have their own prefessional calling before coming into politics so that you can use your profession to serve. He said these and many more are some of the things he tried to get across to the readers in the book.

 

He was asked to retrospect and give an insight into the world of politics as regards the sweetness and the bitterness of the game of politics and he had this to say, "  you see, the sweetness of  politics is when you look at the people you represent and you see smiles on their faces as a result of the good things you have been able to bring to their  doorstep as a result of your concerted and purposeful selfless  determination to serve, you feel fulfilled and happy." Still speaking, he said he feels  fulfilled and happy because  right from the time as special adviser to Professor Osariemen Osunbor, the former governor of Edo State till just recently as the Executive Chairman of Esan South East Local Government  Council, I was able to fullfil  the goals of imparting the lives of the people through selfless and people oriented quality service, not withstanding how shortlived the periods were.

On the bitter side of the game of politics, he has this to say, "   when you have the people who saw all the good things you did and decided to encourage you to stay back and do more are the same people that betray you, then that is bitterness of politics. So his advise is that if you want to be a politician, you must have something to do as a profession rather than taking politics as your own profession.

On whether we will ever get it right as a Nation, he said getting it right is possible. He said for us to be able to get it right, we must get back to the basis and begin to teach our young ones the fundamentals of civic responsibilities so as to be more patriotic, to think of Nigeria first before self.

The book reviewer, Professor Anthony Monye- Emina, Professor of Economics at the University of Benin, pointed out that the book was timely and didactic as it exrays politics in Nigeria. He said people should disabuse their minds of what they can gain from politics but what they can contribute to the society. Corroborating the words of the author, the professor of economics observed that much of the bitterness in Nigerian politics is as a result of betrayals because of personal gains.

The Edo State Deputy Governor, His Excellenccy, RT Honourablel Philip Shuaibu was ably represented by the Chief of Staff.