To those who have the capacity to discern, Igbanke is the missing X in the Edo State political equation, whether quadrilateral, simultaneous or otherwise, that needs to be found urgently but only the right thinking will consider doing that because to state that Igbanke has been left behind since Nigeria’s extant Fourth Republic is to state the obvious.
For those who are relatively lettered before the Second Republic (1979 – 1984) that produced Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Alli of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) as the Executive Governor of the then Bendel State, now Edo and Delta States, Igbanke had more to her credit than the current political dispensation.
During that botched Second Republic that came to an abrupt halt on the eve of December 31st, 1984 when General Muhammadu Buhari and his military jackboots flushed the nascent democracy down the drain, Igbanke had two secondary schools, her indigenes had Board appointments, a son of the soil in the capacity of Barrister Eddy Osifo was the Commissioner for Agriculture and Major (Rtd) J. E. A. Ighodaro was a member of the state House Assembly.This is to mention just a few.
During the very short-lived Third Republic that was midwifed by General Ibrahim Babangida, the much this writer could remember is that a young lawyer named Bamidele Igbinedion was elected into the Edo State House of Assembly and at some point, one Martins Erhabor was elected as chairman of Orhionmwon Local Government Council.
Recall that Igbanke happens to be the only economically viable community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area in terms of independence of thought and affirmative action on self-help and self-actualisation.
Igbanke at the apogee of her growth in the 1980s to early 2000s could boast of a very well-equipped general hospital, functional public water supply system that pumped water to the six traditionally autonomous communities in the area, a grammar school that ranked among the best in the old Bendel State, a police station, a state-owned public library that was sponsored by the Igbanke Women Progressive Union, a post office that was upgraded from the earlier postal agency, a customary court, eleven primary schools, three major markets that held the same day but at different times that attracted patronage from as far flung areas as Onitsha in the East and Ondo in the south west of Nigeria.
Added to these were also a health centre and a branch of New Nigeria Bank. And just to remember that Igbanke Grammar School hosted an Experimental Research Station of the University of Ibadan in the 1970s when this writer was a student there!
Is it not important to stress that the town boasted of a Central Hotel where musicians of note came to ply their trade, including the ever-green Sir Victor Uwaifo who came annually during the Igbanke New Yam Festival and drove his Citroen car, then the modern wonder of the ancient world, round the village for all to feed their eyes on such a magnificent contraption on wheels?
God forgive my innocent eyes, the first time I saw girls just dressed in pants and bras dancing on a vehicle was when General Bolivia Osigbemhe came from Auchi to perform at Central Hotel, Igbanke.
Such was the pedigree of Igbanke, such was the level of patronage and such was the level of appreciation of its prime position in the old Bendel State before Edo State became a reality sometime in 1985.
In the view of this writer, the best way to describe Igbanke since the last eight years of Governor Godwin Obaseki is a political orphan who in the face of obvious negligence, has determined to take her destiny in her own hands.
For starters, consider that the road passing from Warri through Agbor to Igbanke onward to Uromi and the northern states of Nigeria has been crying for attention for over a decade now.
On a visit to Igbanke precisely on April 12th, 2024, a trailer lorry laden with onions summersaulted just after Ottah village in Igbanke.
Ottah Village shares common boundaries with Agbor which is in Delta State. Upon enquiry, I was informed that the vehicle had been there for over one week and it went down on account of the failed portion of the Amukpe – Uromi road that was constructed in the 1970s and has never been revisited ever since.
To think that the Federal Government which owns the road that serves as a major artery to the North from the East of Nigeria could leave such important road in a state of incomprehensive dilapidation beats my imagination.
Ditto for the road leading from Owa down to Umunede through some Edo State communities into Igbanke that links Mbiri in Delta State and terminates at Umunede on the Benin – Asaba expressway.
There has been a reconstruction work ongoing on this road but when it gets to the Igbanke portion, it was blunted work ceased for no justifiable reason.
The Delta State government ensures that the portion from Umunede to Mbiri is kept in top shape but at the bridge that separates Igbanke in Edo State and Delta State, commuters encounter some dress rehearsals of episodes in hell.
Igbanke was in real darkness for ages before last year when each of the six communities had to contribute millions of naira for electricity to be reinstalled in their communities.
The old students of Igbanke Grammar School, under the aegis of Igbanke Grammar School development Association (IGSDA) since 2020 have been on the redevelopment and revamping of infrastructure in the school, one project at a time, and they are making remarkable progress.
The streets in Igbanke are being gradually lit, thanks to the efforts of individual who have realised that the government of Edo State as currently constituted needs only one thing from the community: their votes during elections, and the election seasons are here!
Enter the Political Summit, and the time to decide is now! So on Wednesday, June 12th, about 140 people who represent the IGBANKE INTELLIGENTSIA will be meeting under one roof and the agenda is obvious: charting a political future for Igbanke.
The forum being put together by members of Igbanke General Union, currently being led by Engr. Arthur Osaretin Usiagwu, is expected to expose the underbelly of the protracted negligence of the community by current and past administrations.
It is a forum that is expected to raise a voice so that Igbanke can be heard. It is a forum that in the thinking of this writer would formulate a political agenda for the current and future generations of Igbanke indigenes so that the marginalisation of the community will be undressed, addressed and redressed.
A Ward Chairman of one of the political parties in Igbanke once told this writer that on a visit to the Governor of Edo State last year in the heat of the continuous blockade of the Benin – Asaba Expressway on account of its dilapidated nature, he got some big stuff from the governor.
It was not possible at that meeting who was really in control of the situation between the man himself and the quantity of alcohol he had consumed.
As far as he was concerned, Governor Obaseki was being blackmailed by the opposition because the road in question was a federal road.
Arrant insensitivity! But that is the kind of political representation we are currently confronted with: the love for stomach infrastructure over traditional developmental infrastructure.
It may stand to reason that some names in today’s media and corporate communication space in Nigeria cannot be mentioned without some awe.
In no particular order, Mr Eze Anaba is the editor of Vanguard Newspapers, and is also the president of Nigerian Guild of Editors.
Mr Collins Edomaruse was an editor in ThisDay Newspapers and currently publisher of METROWATCH ONLINE newspaper. He also serves as the General Secretary of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).
Mr Sufuyan Ojeifo has been many things to many people and the tip of his pens have some characteristic elements only found in eternally ordained conquistadors.
He is the publisher of The Conclave, an online news media that is ever on top of the news.
Mr John Osadolor has been an anchor man in BusinessDay since this writer worked that way back from 2004 to 2008.
There are many others that could be mentioned including Mr Nelson Egboboh who currently makes the image for a top class insurance company.
The last time I checked, Mr Kingsley Omonobi was bestriding Abuja like a colossus looking into the defence space for Vanguard Media.
Most of these people and their peers do not know Igbanke, nor can they locate the place on a map of Nigeria.
However, they have one thing in common: they passed through the tutelage of Mr Joseph N. E. Igbinedion who was Head of Department of Mass Communication when they all schooled in Auchi Polytechnic.
So as far as they are concerned, Mr Igbinedion is H.O.D.
Mr Igbinedion was later to serve as the Chief Public Relations Officer at the Accra – Ghana headquarters of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) before a stint with FEMNET, an NGO in Nairobi, Kenya and ultimately getting into the United Nations field office in that city.
In his capacity as a staff of the United Nations, he had opportunity to travel to about 33 countries from where he garnered experience in diplomacy and more.
These experiences he has garnered as a teacher, author, lawyer, diplomat, conflict resolution expert and more, he will bring to bear as he dissects the political misgivings that have engendered the political summit in Igbanke which according to Arthur Usiagwu, is expected to produce a re-engineered political framework for a monolithic opinion and voice for Igbanke in the extant and upcoming political dispensation.
This is wishing all the participants successful deliberations for the benefit of all sons and daughters of Igbanke.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vincent Chuks Igbinedion, an educationist, lives in Lagos. He can be reached on:
Vincedion2917@gmail.com