By Odiboh
My people of Esanland, affiliate Esanites and those who align themselves with our people in one way or the other, let us accept one simple fact that united we stand, divided we fall flat on our face because unity is the strenght we need to become great sons and daughters of Esanland. The Esanness in us is not accidental but an ordination of the will of God in our lives. There are people from remote villages in Bangladesh, India, Atuagbo, Emu and Emunokhua, Ohordua, Ewohimi and Ewatto, Okhuessan and Ozigono, Igueben, Irrua, Ewu, Iruekpen, Ekpoma and Urohi to mention but a few places. These people were born there or originate from there because God has made it so.
The source of being Esan is not
simply from origin but from what we are as a people, our ways of reasoning and
mentality, our culture and languages, as well as the beingness of being Esan
people on earth. This is a celebration of our values and heritage, our land,
our relationships and family union and reunions. While all these are necessary
for our existentialism, there are those obnoxious cultures and traditions of
the past that are un-progressive or retrogressive to our beingness of being.
There are those aspects of our lives that are culturally selfish and
destructive to our well-being. Prominent among these are some of our obnoxious
customs and traditions of the past, the act of envy and petty jealousy, the
advent of negative witchcraft as weapon of evil and human destruction, petty
gossip, pretense and idol worship, as well as acts of hypocrites in our
communities. Most of these customs and traditions and our ways of life are
responsible for the cries and woes of the Esan people, our torpidity and
backwardness, and the underdevelopment of our fatherland.
Here people stay away from the
truth and worship vanities and human egos. There is that Esan nature where most
people do not wish for the progress of other people and do everything
imaginable under the sun to cause misfortunes and try to hold the destiny of
Esan people to ransom by delaying our progress. What we are as a people is what
Esanland is today in terms of development and progress in our land. The story
of Joseph in the Holy Bible and what his brothers and sisters did to him is the
story of what most Esan people often do to their brothers and sisters in life
using the Esan missiles and Esan forces of darkness as a bait to their evil and
devious intentions. While some people are doing their utmost best to better the
lives of our people and help make our fatherland a better place to live, there
were always those people with very big wide mouth, empty like cans of worms in
an empty vessel making loud noise, talking anyhow after eating eba and akpu,
drowned with kinkana, local gin. They have very loud mouth with the heart of a
devil full of creatures of darkness. This evil power in them or the emptiness
in them make them drag backwards the progress being made our industrious sons
and daughters. They discourage anything good in our lives because their hearts
are either bewitched or tormented by the typical Esan ego of lackadaisical
torpidity.
We must have a change of heart
and shy away from those aspects of our lives that bring us no good. We must
drown our pride and learn to be pious, humble people, and control the use of
our words and mouth after eating cola-nuts. We must shy away from the
bitterness of our hearts, unnecessary acrimony and malice which we hold against
ourselves and embrace the spirit of goodwill and progress among ourselves if
our names must start to have meaning on earth among other races and tribes. We
must learn to love each other and wish other the best that life can offer our
people and our fatherland. We must not allow our hearts to imbibe the spirit of
petty jealousy in the common bonds that hold us together as a people. In this
way, our case will not be like that of cola-nuts which decided to take the
place of bitter-cola but refused to serve the purpose of Esan culture and
tradition. Esan bha kugbe for the common good of our fatherland.
