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… Pays Tributes To Late Tombia Monarch, King Otobotekere
Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo has faulted Nigeria’s political class over the nation’s comparative backwardness in the comity of states.
He noted that despite the huge pool of human and material resources, majority of the nation’s political elites were still selfish.
Ewhrudjakpo made the assertion on Thursday, at the ‘Literary Swansong and Day of Tributes’ organized in honour of the late Paramount Ruler of Tombia Community, HRH Christian Atani Otobotekere in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The Deputy Governor who spoke as special guest of honour at the event, lamented that selfishness had been the bane of progress in the country, stressing that every progressive nation has leaders who are not only patriotic but selfless.
He described the departed foremost traditional ruler and educationist, popularly known as The Poet King, as a man of impregnable integrity, just as he urged the political class to emulate people like the late monarch to make positive impact in society.
Ewhrudjakpo said the lifestyle of the late nonagenarian paramount ruler was devoid of greed and selfishness, noting that that enabled him to lead the Tombia community for about 50 years and his native Ekpetiama Kingdom as Clanhead for 14 years without recording any major intra or inter-communal crisis.
He said: “Selfish countries are less progressive. Nigeria is not progressing because of the greed and selfishness of most of her leaders over the years.
“The less selfish a country’s leaders are, the more progressive it becomes, and vice versa. Our father whom we have all come to honour today, clearly lived an impactful life.
“He was not greedy. He was not also selfish. And so, we really have to imbibe and follow the footsteps and positive legacies of people like him for us to be able to make good progress in this country.”
Senator Ewhrudjakpo also applauded the deceased for contributing immensely towards the intellectual development of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta region in general through his outstanding literary works.
He equally commended Chief Otobotekere’s children for the elaborate celebration they put together for their father at his 97th birthday, adding that it is more worthy to celebrate a great man while he is alive than to do so when he had passed on.
Responding to some of the recommendations made by the reviewer of the 14 books written by the late Otobotekere, the Deputy Governor noted that the poet king deserved to be immortalized not just for a decade as recommended, but for as long as Bayelsa remains.
