Senate 2023: No better candidate than Ede Dafinone

By Onoriode Esievoatokpota,

As the 2023 general elections get closer, the time for the people of Delta Central to put on their thinking cap has come. This is no time to pander to political party supremacy without questioning. Political parties, as has been emphasized over time are simply vehicles for promoting the vision and aspirations of the individuals, particularly in the Nigerian context without a clear-cut ideological foundation for the political parties. What the people need at this point in our political journey are men and women with the capacity and character to deliver on their mandates. From our experiences so far, there is no gain in saying the fact that the calibre of people elected as leaders determines the quality of democratic dividends that would be delivered to the citizens.

Democracy and election do not guarantee that the elected people will deliver on their election mandate. The people must elect those that would deliver. And this is derived from the character, capacity, mental ability and attitude of the office seekers to life, wealth, issues, people and the position he occupies. Former Governor of Lagos State, in a keynote address at 2022 The Niche Annual Lecture on the topic, ‘2023 Elections and the Future of Nigeria’s Democracy,’ which took place in Muson Centre Lagos, disclosed that nothing short of the calibre of people elected as leaders determines the quality of democratic dividends that would be delivered to the citizens.

Fashola made it clear that the people must elect those that would deliver because democracy is expected to make the lives of the people better. And our democracy is wearing a new look to the extent that people with ideas and new visions are taking our political space by storm. That the likes of Ede Dafinone have decided to launch into the deep should be enough reason to hope for better days again. For this reason, the candidates should be examined critically before settling for any instead of looking at them through the lens of political background. Any candidate who cannot learn new strategies and discipline for getting things done, unlearn the old habits of executive inertia and parochialism and relearn new ways of rebuilding the economy and rebrand Urhobo image should be rejected in 2023. If we are looking for a candidate with the character and personal clout to deliver, then Ede Dafinone is the man.

For many years, Delta Central has suffered from a crisis of character in leadership. Ede Dafinone has come to spread enthusiasm for the reconstruction of the Urhobo nation. We should encourage all our political party leaders to launch unto the deep to fish out all the Ede Dafinones in Urhoboland because that is the only way to ban mediocrity and incompetence in our public life. With men like Ede Dafinone occupying public offices across Delta State and Nigeria, the land would yield her increase and the people will see reasons to celebrate democracy in the coming years. Those faces that represent the corruption and heartless failures of the past should be barred from the coming dispensation when a character will reinforce hope and peace for a better Nigeria.

And here is the thing, most Urhobo people have been praying and asking for a power shift from the hands of the accidental leaders who have been ruling and ruining us. We have been asking for leaders who are prepared. We got one in Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and we cannot allow our fortune to dwindle by allowing these accidental leaders who seized power in 1999 on account of the scepticism of the noble men of the time about the sincerity of the military boys, to continue to dominate our political space. There is no better candidate for the senate in the 2023 general election than Ede Dafinone. The time to elect Ede Dafinone to replicate the magic of his visible successes in the corporate world in the senate has come.

A great thinker, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, has been harping on the dangers of recycling all these accidental leaders who would always get into the office before thinking of what to do with power. This is why Ede Dafinone should be encouraged with our votes in 2023. He is fully prepared. He may not be a saint but he has demonstrated decorum and modesty in his service to the people. He is a thinker. He is disciplined. He has been a successful businessman and an investor who knows the value of customer-centricity. And so as a successful chartered accountant of no mean repute, with experiences on the board of several blue-chip companies, multi-national organizations and federal government agencies, he knows how to play boardroom politics and could be a huge asset to the National Assembly with the prospect of heading strategic committees of the senate. These are the kind of people we should be sent to the Senate and not some empty political noisemakers who boast of everything but achieve nothing for the people.

A paper delivered on September 7 in Abuja by Prof Chris Nwaokobia Jr on the credibility of leadership stated succinctly that ‘’The success of every legitimate Business and trade in any society, State or nation is almost always the sum of the credibility of leadership, the believability of the economic policy of the government, and the sincere commitment of leadership to etch new paradigms for the common good’’. He emphasized that where the credibility of leadership is thin the business environment suffers for fear of policy summersaults, self-serving policies and less than proper people-oriented trade programs. Where gangster impunity is the name of the monitoring and regulating Agencies, business and trade suffer. Those who managed our political space in the past with abrasive air of impunity yet still expect to benefit from the new wave of consciousness in the democratic experiment must learn some lessons the hard way to teach the anti-democratic forces in the land that one cannot eat his cake of goodwill and still have it.

Ede Dafinone, the APC Candidate for the Delta Central senatorial elections in 2023 represents true change as he brings a breath of fresh air to the political space. We can understand why there is palpable faith and hope across the Urhobo nation in his capability and credibility account. The people had always craved f new dispensation and a new order in leadership. Ede Dafinone comes to the table with an amazing score in competency, capacity, credibility, integrity, passion, humaneness and humanity and believability. No doubt, the impact of a Dafinone’s representation of Delta Central in the senate will be monstrous, magnificent and huge.

The 2023 political game is wearing a new look. The reality of the moment is to send men who can breast the tape with uncommon charm and grace. The coming dispensation is for people with grit and audacity to dare the system to yield our lot. None of those in the race is better qualified and equipped than Ede Dafinone in terms of professional qualifications. His world-class taste and acclaim would galvanize people to aspire for better things. His carriage is urbane and elegantly sophisticated. He is already being referred to as the ‘Barrack Obama’ of Urhoboland because of his unassuming mien and outlook. Handsomely suave and polished, Ede Dafinone is like a shining star in the firmament of Urhobo political cosmology. Urhobo deserves the best. Ede Dafinone is the best.

Onoriode Esievoatokpota wrote from Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.