In our rooted Igbo culture, there is a serious warning captured in the proverb: “Nwata bulie nna ya elu, ngongwo na ngwongwo awuchie ya anya.” This literally means, “If a child lifts his father up, the father’s loincloth will cover his eyes.” It is a metaphor for the shame, confusion, and ultimate disappointment that awaits younger persons who attempt to humiliate or look down upon their elders, or those who built them.

Today, in the political arena of Abia State, the common question is if we should be worried about Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu’s recent penchant for “matching the heads” of those who paved his way? Just because he is NO6? So, if he becomes NO1 in the state, he would pluck the eyes of everyone who looks at him the way he doesn’t like? Including having no regards for our elders?

Benjamin Okezie Kalu’s (BOK) political journey did not begin in a vacuum. Under the mentorship and administration of the then-Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK), a young Benjamin was given his first major platforms. He served as the Local Government Chairman (Transition) for Bende LGA, given to him freely by OUK against all odds, and he held various advisory roles within the OUK’s administration.

Orji Uzor Kalu didn’t just offer him an opportunity, he provided the political structure and the “Bende strength” that eventually propelled Benjamin to the House of Representatives. For decades, OUK has been the bedrock of Abia’s political architecture, surviving federal onslaughts and building parties like the PPA from scratch. It was this architecture that OUK made available for BOK, the same way he did and still doing for many Abia-born politicians doing well today.

Now serving as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu appears to be challenging his Chi to a wrestling like the proverbial nwanza, just because he is eyeing the governorship seat in the 2027 election. While ambition is a virtue, it becomes a vice when it is seasoned with a lack of recourse for one’s roots.

The current leadership tussle within the Abia APC is a clear example. Rather than deferring to the veteran experience and established structures of Orji Uzor Kalu, Hon. Ben is “dragging” the leadership of the party. By laying claim to the party’s coordination in the state without acknowledging the man who literally “gave him his first air ticket” into the political skies, he risks falling into the trap of the aforementioned proverb.

When a child lifts his father above his head, he gets blinded by the father’s garment. This political blindness will definitely not favour him. I don’t know who is advising him on this but he is essentially trying to build a skyscraper without a foundation.
Orji Uzor Kalu remains a “Man of His Own,” with decades of grassroots loyalty that cannot be dismissed with a wave of hand. For the DSP to ignore this is to invite the “shame and disappointment” our elders warned about. In the end, political strength isn’t just about the title you hold today; it’s about your structure that cuts across all the stakeholders, and the respect you show to the bridge that carried you across.

#KeepHopeAlive

Comr. Duke writes from Umunneochi in Abia North.