ESAN BHA KUGBE

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.