The hero we refuse to sing: Why Dr. Ekpoko Ekpoko Emmanuel is one of Itsekiri’s unfinished anthem

I am writing this not as a political ally seeking favour, but as a son of Warri Kingdom who watched with keen interest, a good man lose an APC Primary election and refuse to lose his love for Itsekiri nation.

Dr. Ekpoto Ekpoto Emmanuel contested the Warri Federal Constituency Seat during the APC primaries, but he did not win. The delegates went another way, as it often happens in the strange theatre of Nigerian politics. But what matters is not that he lost. What matters is how he contested; without bitterness, without buying conscience, without mortgaging the future of Itsekiri youths. He came with innovative and fantastic ideas to achieve good governance.

And when many abandoned him, because he did not share dollars, my organization, the Warri Youth Voice for Good Governance(WYVGG), which I lead as President, stood firmly with him. We stood with him not because he was the best man for the position, but because we saw in him that rare thing; a man who understands that representation is not about Abuja, but about the Warri Federal Constituency creeks, the markets and the forgotten classrooms. We walked with him, we spoke for him in the streets of Warri South, Warri North and Warri South-West. And even when he lost, he thanked us. That is character and good attitude.

But there is a second story about Dr. Ekpoto that many Itsekiri do not know, or know and trivialize, which is our greatest sickness as a people. Dr. Ekpoto Emmanuel is the CEO of http://Warri.com, the first and only Itsekiri language radio station in Warri. In an age where our children can recite foreign lyrics but cannot count in Itsekiri, this man built a temple for our tongue. With his own resources, without oil money, without government support, he gave our language a frequency.

In the worldview of Elechi Amadi, a community survives not by the strength of its warriors alone, but by the survival of its gods and its language. A people who lose their language have lost their oracle. Dr. Ekpoto understands this. He knows that a language is not just words; it is philosophy, it is law, it is the map of how our ancestors read the river. To establish a radio station that speaks Itsekiri all day is not business; it is Itsekiricentric priesthood. 

As an undergraduate of English and Literary Studies, many years ago, Prof. G.G. Darah has taught us for decades that culture is not for entertainment; it is the foundation for development. You cannot develop a people whose self-esteem you have destroyed by making them ashamed of their own tongue. http://Warri.com Radio restores that self-esteem for Itsekiri nation. It tells the fisherman in Ogheye that his language is worthy to be broadcast. It tells the market woman in Ubeji that her proverbs are wisdom enough for the airwaves. That is Itsekiricentric revolutionary, and we act as if it is nothing.

And here lies our tragedy, as Prof. Ogaga Okuyade would critically observe; we Itsekiri are excellent at celebrating outsiders who appropriate a little of our culture, but we trivialize our own heroes who live the culture daily. We will give awards to a musician from Lagos who wears a little coral bead for a music video, but we will not support the Itsekiri man who keeps our language alive 24 hours a day. Most times, we wait for death to give honour.

Dr. Ekpoto Ekpoto Emmanuel contested and lost an election, but he has won a more important election; the election of posterity. When the history of this generation is written, when our children ask who kept Itsekiri alive when others were busy politicking, his name will stand.

He is an unsung hero. And that is our shame, not his.

Therefore, I, Comr. Tuoyo Eboma, on behalf of Warri Youth Voice for Good Governance, call on the Itsekiri nation; chiefs, elders, leaders of thought, youths, women, businessmen; let us now sing this hero while he is alive. Advertise on http://Warri.com. Sponsor programmes. Invite him to our schools. Give him the title he deserves. Let us not wait until his funeral to say he tried.

Because a kingdom that does not sing its heroes will soon have no heroes to sing.

By: Comr. Tuoyo Eboma, 
President, Warri Youth Voice for Good Governance (WYVGG)

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