Race to Delta Central Senate: Ede Dafinone in the spotlight

By Onome Akpososo,

All over the world men and women are elected into the senate or law-making body of the government of a nation for possessing some personal qualities that stand them out from among the pack. Those special innate and acquired qualities have nothing to do with the number of years one has been in government promoting unethical behaviour to undermine the democratic will of the people. Those qualities could be professional attainment that distinguishes one from the other, the number of lives touched from personal achievement in a chosen career not even with government funds but from personal funds towards humanitarian services and others.

 

One major bane of the Nigerian political system is the celebration of corrupt politicians by their beneficiaries for using their opportunities to undermine democracy over time. What they fail to appreciate is that the Senate is not an assemblage of people with an entitlement mentality. It is a place for serious-minded people who meet to tackle questions of national interests. In the United States where we borrowed our democratic institution from, it takes something special to be a Senator and mere fame does not fill the bill. The gangster notoriety that his major opponent exemplifies is an abnormality in sane political clime.

 

Political watchers had been curious to know the credentials and trajectory that stand Ede Dafinone out for many people, particularly the youths to be clamouring for him. One major factor that stands for Ede Dafinone is his clean record. He has no baggage of having to explain why he betrayed Urhobo in the past. His father’s exemplary records of service as a senator are another factor why Urhobo yearns for a return to the good old days when integrity defines the core attribute of a senator.

 

By endorsing Chief Ede Dafinone for senate, Urhobo people are collectively creating high hope for the future, building revolutionary compassion for our constituency, and inspiring the younger generation to seek nobility against gangsterism, humanity against brutality, and compassion for the less privileged in our communities against cold wickedness against the people whose votes have been suppressed over the years. It is obvious that if we can have a few more Urhobo men and women with the heart of gold like Ede Dafinone, Delta Central would be a glorious place to live in.

Those qualities in Ede Dafinone which distinguish a senator as an essential democratic voice for effective and distinctive senatorial service are a special combination of personal qualities and political circumstances. Those qualities determine which Senator can rise to distinction and which stays submerged in the pack. According to the Times Magazine, the best Senators, generally, are those who use their powers, not simply to serve selfish interests, not even those of their constituency alone, but those with large hearts big enough to serve the general conception of national interest.

One major quality that defines the success of a senator is the instinct or the drive in some men that takes them to the heart of the issues of their time. While some senators are concerned with the private, backroom trades of projects, patronage and appropriations, others are concerned with publicity and noise making on every debate on the floor to gain popularity. Those in different schools of thought would attract different benefits to their constituents. Ede Dafinone will not be in the senate to crave popularity but what he could attract to his people through projects and patronages. He is a content man and his primary concern is what he could attract to his people. The noise-makers will continue to make noise to gain popularity, but Dafinone is already famous and a household name on the global stage as a chartered accountant of no mean repute. All he would be in the senate for are results that would impact the people.

Another quality is diligence, again well typified by Ede Dafinone. No professional can be more diligent than an accountant with their commitment to details so as not to make mistakes that could plunge an organization into chaos. Chief Ede Dafinone owes much of his influence to the simple fact that he studies more intensively and places much values on due diligence in handling of his professional calling. He would be a diligent senator and would study hard to know more intimately the provisions of the bills he is to debate even more than the vast majority of his colleagues.

A good senator must have a breadth of interest, or must refuse to be bound by the parochial dictates of sectional, local and selfish interests instead of those of the majority of the people. Ede Dafinone as a man with varying degree of experience in a wide range of professional concerns within and outside accounting is well suited for the position he seeks. It is the man who can see beyond the borders of his own selfish interest and those of his gang that is remembered for good. Ede Dafinone will stand out in this regard. He is not seeking personal but the common good of the people. He will not trade off projects meant for his people for personal gains.

There are circumstances which can disqualify Senators from achieving their ultimate goals for the people. Apart from being capable and possessing the ability to deliver, Isolation from the mainstream of play on the National arena can bar one from playing a leadership role in the Senate. The point being made here is that being in the ruling party in the country is an advantage. Those hoping that the APC Governors will betray their party for Atiku may be in for a wild goose chase. Those who want to betray Atiku have already borne their fangs. The APC governors are working hard to deliver Tinubu and nothing suggests that they would betray him for the serial contender and loser that Atiku is.

The mood of the nation does not also support another northerner succeeding Buhari, a fellow Fulani man. Tinubu is the candidate to beat and would most likely be the next president. It would be foolhardy to ever consider sending a senator who would be in the senate to swim against the tide of National politics. Urhobo should simply send Ede Dafinone so we can be in the mainstream of National politics which gave us the privilege of producing the Deputy Senate President in Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. Ede Dafinone should go for us.

 

Onome is from Effurun-Otor, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.