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“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”,
This is a Latin quote rendered by Aeneid in the epic poem of the same name written by Virgil which translated into English means “I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts”, The phrase is spoken by Trojan priest Laocoön referring to the Trojan Horse used by the Greeks during the Trojan War in which the Trojans were defeated after the Greeks left behind a large wooden horse and pretended to sail for home. Unbeknown to the Trojans, the wooden horse was filled with Greek. warriors who spilled out and conquered the city of Troy.
The next Governor of Cross River State will be sworn-in at an expectedly impressive ceremony by the Chief Justice of the state after which a crown of thorns shall be placed upon his head, while the people hoot, dance and make elaborate merriment to celebrate the dawn of a new era. The crown of thorns will no doubt be heavy, having been constructed with lead spikes upon wrought iron, strung together with barbed wires that prick the scalp all the time.
In a symbolic sense he will be the Christ, who will be expected to take away the sins of the past and make the state a new dwelling place for all who live here and those who shall come to it. To make omelettes without breaking eggs and roll a bunch of palm fruits in cocoyam leaves without piercing them. He shall be the miracle maker expected to turn water into wine, an exalted king presiding over the ruins of an ancient empire brought to its knees by the rapacious reign of the king of locusts.
By the whimsical rush-hour enactments of the departing potentate the civil service will have 5,000 new staff, 5,000 more will be promoted, 5,000 more will join the pensions pay cheque while an army of at least 5,000 former appointees will be waiting to return to government waving their polling unit results in his face as their banner of true faith and fidelity. The Trojan horse for His Excellency has fully arrived with stuffed turtles, a coterie of wasps and a thousand regents to the throne of entititlement embedded in it.
Despite the elaborate afterthought appointment of a commissioner for government property, all the good cars will disappear while office furniture will suddenly develop legs. The posh automobiles in His Excellency’s fleet will also go with him in a blaze of glory. He loved convoys of cars before he became Governor, he should love them more now. The new Governor is sure to receive visits from bank officials bearing large files of loans, debts and overdrafts left unpaid and unpaid contractors who have already paid weired percentages of kickbacks upfront.
Young people from his senatorial zone, who have hardly come out of the gates of the University of Calabar shall demand for good appointments and good offices, so that they too can build swank houses with swimming pools, drive posh cars and live the good life. After all, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Water Board lands and LEMNA estates where not created for people from one senatorial zone in the state alone. And the beat goes on and on and on. Welcome to Perigrino Lodge, His Excellency, the Governor of Cross River State.
Through all these, the heavy crown remains on the Governor’s head, heavy, pricky and excruciating. No one notices his pain and discomfort. In a few days they will find new catch-names for him, ala Digital et al. Facebook and WhatsApp groups will be awash with the new prefixes and appellations. Didn’t the departing Governor once tell his Advisers that psychophancy was a legitimate tool in politics? And now that it has come to stay, I too will join the race. I am even now looking for three or four people to collaborate with me to set up a music band to praise the Governor. So that once he steps out of his car, the orchestra and the chant will go up and we shall tell him what we are sure he is not in the hope that we too can build fine houses and drive beautiful cars.
Yet there is one way out. Just like in the 1989 mercenary film starring Miles O’Keefe, ‘The Hard Way The Only Way’, will be the only way. The incoming Governor will have to put away recent precedence and do things his own way bearing in mind that he doesn’t need to be popular or loved in the first couple of years. What he needs immediately is respect, love can return later. He must reduce public expenditure, plug revenue leakages, keep family out of government and lead by example and not by laudatory declarations at the public gallery.
There has been too much casual drama and comedy recently, too many caricatures and mediocres in public office. The proper laid down forms, culture, conventions and proprieties of officialdom must quickly replace the childlike razzmatazz that has been the regular fair in the once beautiful city of Calabar. The Sesame Street must urgently seize to define our general corpus, because we are a people of excellent education, high class and decent standards. Written with the most excellent intentions and best wishes to the next Governor of our dear state.
DISCLAMER: The opinion reflected in this article does not reflect THELUMINENEWS or it agent, it credited to author, Dominic Kidzu
