The East West Road
By Blecyn Wikina
In 2015, it was an item of campaign by our Leaders. It was so punchy, piercing, powerful and Leprous that it was used against a sitting President, as a measure of his success and failure.
The East West road pitched our people against themselves in a free for all verbal, voiced, vexed and visual masquerade dancing.
Those for, and those against, took turns in sermonizing why anyone who neglects this road, should be thrown out, and labelled a betrayer, and that’s how the word, entered our political constituency…..with all it’s variants
Betrayal
Betrayer
Betrayed
Now is the eve of 2023, and our Apostles had all concluded round trip first class passages, yet the East West Road is glaringly missing in the litany of achievements of our Ambassadors.
I just drove through the Elelenwo-Akpajo-Onne axis of the East West Road, mingling with trucks, trembling under pressure, cars meandering and avoiding treacherous gullys, potholes, and ditches that are no longer willing to be repaired.
How I wish that those who ride on the Lagos-Ibadan road, the Abuja-Kaduna road and railway etc, were Okrikas, Ogonis, Opobos, Andonis, Akwa Ibomites, Cross Riverines etc, maybe, we won’t have felt any sense of helplessness.
Eight years gone. East-West Road is still the way it was in 2015.
And our Ambassadors who used her to secure their Heritage, never used her to ride home to their Palaces.
Let’s forgive them, for their unforced errors.
*Blecyn Wikina*
*Kono*