It all began one fateful early night when I decided to take a ride with Comrade Amade Godwin Edime in his car around some locations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Coincidentally, it rained cat and dog that night and, as usual, the haste with which commuters moved to get to their respective destinations was comparable to that of an athlete in pursuit of a gold medal.
Somehow, we had to get to somewhere in Garki for some sumptuous meal to clear our heads and be able to discuss some pressing issues of social and political importance. This was after a long and hectic day without a remembrance to attend to the concerns of the ‘middle belt’.
That settled, we set out again. The rain wasn’t subsiding any bit and Abuja street lights were nowhere in sight. Everywhere was so scarily dark that its combination with the downpour gave no chance at all for speed on the road. So we moved as slowly as a snail and extremely careful too, perhaps, to avoid any unintended eventuality.
With all that difficulty in driving and chaos on the road, we found ourselves at a T-junction of a dual carriage way. We however managed to drive pass the first crossing, then temporarily stopped in the middle so as to give way to thetraffic on the left as the law specifies: “at any roundabout or junction, left is right”.
As if we were onlookers of a drama that we were also actors at the same time, a tricycle rider (Keke) from behind our own vehicle ran very closely past us and the next thing we heard was a heavy bang on the car that shook us in the car as though it was a bigger vehicle that almost to overran us.
Standing there on that spot, Comrade came out, I followed as well. The Keke rider rode to a short distance ahead and also stopped. We discovered that the bumper that housed some headlamps had been forcefully detached from the body of the car on one end. But the other end was still hanging onto the car with a lot of broken lamps on the tarred road.
Meanwhile, while we were standing, miffed by the whole shocking scenario, the Keke rider and one other person who I guess was his friend, walked towards us.On my own part, I was so swollen with anger and thought that the Comrade, on coming out of the car was going to start shouting at the Keke guy and possibly create a scene on the guy for being that reckless. Surprisingly, he was not looking enraged at all. In that his calm and cool mood, he whispered to me: “Solo, watch them as they come, I bet you, they won’teven say sorry, but never mind.” And true to his word, they came around and stood aloof, not uttering a word.
However, I asked myself internally, what kind of Comrade is this? I have heard how tough and stubborn this man is, confronting even authorities is not even a big deal to him, let alone this small boy who he can just squeeze. Is he not going to even scold this young man who has just made him incur some expenses to repairs his car? So many other questions kept popping up on my mind but I kept my cool to see what he had off his sleeves.
Away from me and what I wanted from the Comrade. That was how the young men stood by and watched us struggle to forcefully remove the bumper and finally kept it inside the car through the trunk. By the time we were done, they quietly walked away and continued their journey.
On our return to the car, faced with the challenges of driving with only one headlamp in that dark rainy night and standing the risk of being accosted by the police for driving with only one headlamp, I couldn’t stomach it anymore so I asked the Comrade; “How come you didn’t even tell these boys anything? His reply was one of the most amazing replies one could possibly get from a man so blessed with all it takes to make trouble. He said: Even if I asked them to repair this car, all the money they have earned working since morning won’t be enough. If I shout at them, it won’t bring back the car to its former state. Just leave them, I will repair the car tomorrow with my money.”
Having said that, he then finally told me, he said: Solomon, you have not known me well enough,you will get to know me better as we continue to work together. I do not fight poor people like these; I fight for them. That is why people call me the PRESIDENT OF THE SOVEREIGN (Suffering) MAJORITY. I fight the OPPRESSIVE MINORITY FEW.
Since that day, many people who know him very closely have severally and independently told me some other sides of Comrade Edime that the People of Kogi East will be glad to see in someone who should represent them in the Senate come 2019.
Comrade Edime is contesting for the Kogi East Senatorial Seat on the platform of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA).
Please do not miss out on how Comrade Edime drove his one and only car to a programme, saw that the organization needed a vehicle for logistics, gave out the car as dash and came back to the his house on a motorcycle (Okada). What would you do if you were his wife? We will let you know in our next edition.
– Enejoh S. Ojotu
Director, Media and Publicity,
Amade Political Action Network (APAN)
