Ita Benedict, have you ever given anyone even a grain of rice

By Emmanuel Nicholas

Ita Benedict epitomizes a loquacious personality whose public conduct betrays a profound deficit of altruism.

Throughout his tenure as an aide to Senator Godswill Akpabio during his governorship, he did not, on a single occasion, extend even the most rudimentary benevolence, not even a grain of rice, to the people of his village or to members of his extended family.

His lifestyle is characterized by an egregious absence of sympathy and empathy toward humanity.

His conduct is so morally corrosive that during his last appearance as an aide at an election in his ward, he was assaulted by youths who, out of justified indignation, manhandled him.

Their grievance stemmed from the perception that he is a miser who has made no discernible impact on his community in any capacity.

Driven by personal frustration, Ita Benedict now seeks to masquerade as a paragon of virtue in a space where his antecedents are widely known to be antithetical to the public good.

A man who has never offered even a cup of garri to his kinsman possesses no moral authority to cast aspersions on those who distribute bags of rice to the needy.

The tragedy of Ita Benedict is that his public relevance is as empty as the rhetoric he spews daily. He is a hollow vessel, loud in noise but bankrupt in substance.

His intellect is so impotent that it cannot conceive an idea, initiate a project, or solve a single community problem. All he knows is to sit on the sidelines and throw stones at those who are doing the work he lacks the capacity to do.

One wonders what occupies the mind of a man whose entire political capital is bitterness. Ita has no track record to defend, no legacy to showcase, and no conscience to guide him.

So he resorts to infantile tantrums and baseless attacks, hoping that by pulling others down he can appear taller. It is the strategy of a man who knows he has nothing to offer, and so he specializes in criticizing those who do.

Permit me to elucidate, for the benefit of those whose understanding is deficient, the meaning of “palliatives.”

Palliatives are temporary interventions, relief materials or supportive measures, provided to mitigate hardship, suffering, and deprivation during periods of economic distress.

They are not intended as permanent solutions, but rather as immediate forms of succor, akin to first aid, to enable citizens to cope pending the implementation of sustainable, long-term policies.

The Government of Akwa Ibom State, under the visionary leadership of Governor Umo Eno, cognizant of the prevailing economic realities and propelled by compassion and a steadfast dedication to the welfare of the citizenry, instituted palliative distribution as a deliberate policy to ameliorate the suffering of the people.

Governor Umo Eno is not devoid of humanity, unlike Ita Benedict, who, in eight years of proximity to power, cannot point to a single individual he has assisted with food in his community, nor to one life-impacting project he initiated for the benefit of his people.

Ita ought to be overwhelmed by shame. It is evident that he covets the bags of rice himself. Rather than make a dignified appeal, he has resorted to denigrating the noble intentions of the Government.

He derides the documentation of beneficiaries of humanitarian interventions. Yet, even the United Nations photographs recipients of its aid. There is no impropriety in this. You lack such images to post because you are a miser who has never expended a kobo to ameliorate the plight of others.

You referenced the distribution of wheelchairs. Can you enumerate how many persons with disabilities Governor Umo Eno has graciously provided with wheelchairs? Why do you bark with the frenzy of a rabid dog?

A dog without provocation barks to attract the attention of its master so that it may be fed. Governor Umo Eno does not preside over a government that capitulates to blackmail by offering financial inducements to miscreants like you to secure silence.

Your mission is, therefore, misdirected and futile.

Over one million residents of Akwa Ibom State have benefited from the food items distributed by the Government.

A substantial number of rural dwellers are contending with hardship, and the Government is making concerted efforts to extricate the people from the throes of poverty.

Furthermore, Governor Umo Eno has disbursed over 20 billion naira in grants to business owners, traders, farmers, artisans, transporters, and small-scale industrialists, all in a determined effort to eradicate poverty and foster prosperity.

Ita Benedict is willfully blind to the 347 homeless persons who have benefited from the ARISE Homes Project, where fully furnished two-bedroom bungalows equipped with solar-powered potable water have been constructed for them.

Each beneficiary also receives five hundred thousand naira as seed capital to engage in any enterprise of their choice.

In addition, the children of beneficiaries are frequently awarded scholarships or sponsorships to acquire vocational skills.

Ita Benedict, do not allow the bile of bitterness to lead you to a point of no return. Your vitriolic remarks are devoid of decorum and pedigree.

They only serve to expose your long-standing antipathy toward the current administration.

You have deliberately refused to acknowledge the Governor for his care of the elderly, through which five hundred thousand senior citizens receive fifty thousand naira each to support their welfare, in addition to free medical care at hospitals proximate to them.

Ita Benedict hurriedly wakes up to blackmail Governor Umo Eno’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs for taking pictures during a distribution exercise, yet he refuses to condemn the United States Government for distributing food to homeless people on the streets of New York and taking pictures of them.

So it is evil when it is Governor Umo Eno, but it is good and noble when it is Donald Trump. You are more hopeless than a stray dog. “Ewa ama Ukoro-iso”

Footnote: Governance is measured not by rhetoric but by tangible impact. While critics like Ita Benedict traffic in vacuous allegations and personal animus, Governor Umo Eno is engaged in the substantive work of governance, building infrastructure, empowering citizens, and restoring dignity to the vulnerable.

If the burden of leadership is to be judged by compassion in action, then the ARISE Agenda stands vindicated. Akwa Ibom people deserve progress, not pettiness. And history will record that in a time of hardship, leadership chose humanity over hubris.