THE LESSER EVIL (PART 1)

That afternoon when the call came in, I had thought we were up for some relevant political discourse on my state as it has always been. Little did I know that he had a different motive that could throw me off my seat as I relaxed my body in melancholy on the state of things?  Of course, while he was still speaking on the need to support a candidate, I already knew the camp that sent him.  But he got it all wrong. I was not ready to compromise; not ready to sell my state for anything, even though he referred to him as the lesser evil. “We can opt for the lesser evil; a better option; a departure from the bigger and crude evil” He opined. Who wouldn’t say that just for personal gains? But the question is after all the personal interest, what happens to the ordinary citizen of the state? They had a mission, but the only basic means was to use someone close to me to talk to me; get my endorsement; get my father’s endorsement; and purchase credibility and integrity. But how possible was that going to be when I couldn’t find the term ‘lesser evil’ in the Charlyboy dictionary. It was such a disappointing moment for him as I declined.   Their attempt to use me as a chain to my dad fell through, but they consistently followed up and reached out to my father whose integrity I will say is to a fault. My father had to weigh the request for endorsement. Sine in his innocence, he only knows little of what some of us know about these people, he was another victim of their early antics. He doesn’t really know about the treachery that goes on beneath the physical. He is a believer of what he sees because he belongs to the generation where appearance speaks volumes of the individual. But today, appearance is only a façade; so he was cajoled into the endorsement. It was already very late to let the old man see the lie behind the truth; I mean the façade and illusion behind the reality.    

The various scenes of that phone encounter and the follow up action run through my mind as I write this piece in what I should term a long and overdue out-pouring of natural emotion and pain.  I simply can’t express how terrible I feel because some of us have chosen the path of the majority, which is widely and generally believed to be the path to weather power but actually to retrogression. How does one categorize evil? I don’t believe there is a lesser evil or we should succumb to a lesser evil.  I don’t need a soothsayer to reveal to me why the people’s choice fell on the popular side; it was simply due to the rot and decadence that characterized my dear state. My people were tired, frustrated and left standing face to face with death. They wouldn’t just wait to be consumed by the venom of corruption and indiscipline; they wouldn’t stand to be insulted and brutally maimed by a haughty and egoistic self acclaimed people’s choice. Of course, many were grumbling at their backyards in pain. Manipulation and propaganda was the only available tool for the transformation of Imo State. Then we heard of the Green revolution. How can you talk about green when everything you see around you is brown or yellow and when the leaves that are meant to provide shades for my people have all fallen off their branches exposing my people to scorching sun? I strongly believe in the use of coined languages; so was my quick grasps that the clean and Green Project was a family project; just limited within the bounds of the family of those who controlled the state power. Now, what happens to the millions of Imo Indigenes who have been placed under these leafless and lifeless trees?  Today, we are all wondering what happened to the N50 billion naira reserved for IMO STATE EDUCATION when the fever for power was still burning in the skin of the so call bigger evil as my friend put it. What has happened to the state education plus such huge amount of money?  When the monster heard that the people had realized his antics and were willing to push him out of the seat, he quickly embarked on a new strategy. People cried and wailed as regards the Abduction and torturing of members of the opposition that metamorphosed into the state agenda. State funds were obviously used to entice members of the opposition. The Late Mr. Maximus Uba would have been my undisputed witness if not for death. Indiscriminate appointments to attract members of the opposition; I just wish Mr. Rof Ohaji could buttress my point in this. My friend has referred to this character as the bigger evil, and prefers to go with the lesser evil; I will still ask; is there a lesser evil? Is evil not evil? Is eveil not evil? Maybe, I will continue with this piece when next I write…I need to reflect over this phrase… The lesser evil in IMO STATE

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