Bende, Rejoice! For A New Bende Is Coming Under Hon. Pascal Karibe Ojigwe

By Amb. Monyeazor Oluebube Sunday

My people of Bende, hear good news on this Saturday morning! Good news from Bende Town to Igbere, from Item to Alayi, from Nkpa to Ozuitem, from Umuhu Ezechi to Uzuakoli, down to Ezukwu!

For many years we have cried. We have cried about bad roads that spoil our cars and spoil our market. Last night I saw the state of Amaokwe- Amaeke Item road and other roads in Bende. We have cried about no light for years while we buy fuel every day to power our small business. We have cried about no water, our mothers/Wives and sisters waking up by 4am to fetch water from the stream with buckets on their heads. We have cried about our youths leaving Bende because there is no job — becoming conductors and housemaids and security guards in Lagos and Abuja, while our land remains empty. We have cried about our people suffering in the farm with no support, no fertilizer, no loan, no market to sell their goods. We have cried about our children learning under leaking roofs, sitting on bare floors, writing on their laps.

For many years, we have been like sheep without shepherd. We send people to Abuja, they forget us. We give them our mandate, they carry it and lock it in their bedroom. For four years, we will not see them, we will not hear from them. Only when election comes, they will come with one bag of rice and one wrapper and say “Nde Bende, biko vote for me again.”

My people, are we not tired? Are we not tired of being deceived?
But today, I bring you good news that will make you dance, that will make you shout, that will make you thank God: Weep no more. Dry your tears. Rejoice! For a New Bende is coming.

And the name of that New Bende is Hon. Pascal Karibe Ojigwe — The Son of Bende.

THE DARKNESS HAS BEEN TOO LONG, BUT LIGHT IS COMING. THE NIGHT HAS BEEN TOO LONG, BUT MORNING IS HERE.

Go to around communities in Bend the road are bad, unmotorable and dusty. Go to round your community, our people still trek far to sell their goods and sometimes sleep in the market because there is no road to come back home. Go to our villages, our youths sit idle from morning till evening playing ludo, playing draft, drinking because there is no hope, no job, no capital. Go to Alayi, Uzuakoli, Nkpa, Ozuitem, Umuhu — the story is the same. Promise and fail. Election and forget. Rice today, hunger tomorrow. Wrapper today, suffering tomorrow. Motorcycle for party chairman today, nothing for the real people tomorrow.

They told us Bende cannot be better. They told us to manage. They told us “this is Nigeria, nothing can work.” They made us believe that suffering is normal, that poverty is our culture.

But Hon. Karibe is saying, No! Suffering is not our portion. Poverty is not our culture. Bende is a blessed land! Bende is the land of great men and women! Bende is a land of intelligent people! Bende can be better. Bende must be better. Bende deserves better. Bende deserves more!

That is why his message is shaking everywhere, from the smallest village to the biggest market: Bende Deserves More! Bende First! Let’s Build A Greater Bende Together!

A New Bende is not a dream you see when you sleep. A New Bende is a decision we will make when we wake up in 2027. A decision to say no to old things, no to old politicians who have expired, no to audio empowerment, and yes to new hope, yes to fresh blood, yes to real opportunity.

WHO WILL BRING THIS NEW BENDE? LET US ASK OURSELVES SINCERELY.

My people, listen well and listen with your heart. A New Bende will not come from the same old hands that put us in this darkness for 20 years. You cannot use the same broom that scattered our house to sweep our house again. The Bible says you cannot put new wine into old bottle.

A New Bende will not come from Abuja landlords who only remember Bende during election, who only come with convoy to share rice and take pictures and disappear for 4 years to enjoy in Abuja with their families. Those who gather our youths and give them data money to be insulting and blackmailing other candidates. A New Bende will not come from Politician who will change projects meant for one community.

A New Bende will not come from those who have been in power since 1999 and have nothing to show in Bende except their big houses in Umuahia and Abuja and their children schooling in London and Canada.

A New Bende will not come from those who think empowerment is buying 10 motorcycles and sharing to 10 party excos and calling press to take pictures.

A New Bende will come from a son who knows the pain of Bende. A son who lives among us, not in Asokoro. A son who drinks from the same stream we drink from. A son who knows that garri is now N4,000 per custard in the market. A son who knows that one bag of fertilizer is now N60,000 and beyond our farmers. A son who knows that our youths are angry, not because they are lazy, but because they have been abandoned by those they voted for.

That son is Hon. Pascal Karibe Ojigwe.

He is not coming with big grammar that our mothers in the village cannot understand. He is coming with a big heart for Bende that even a child can feel. He speaks like us. He dresses like us. He understands us.

He is not coming to take. He is coming to give. To give hope to the hopeless. To give opportunity to the forgotten. To give voice to the voiceless. To give power back to the people. To give light to those in darkness.
He is not coming to be called Honourable. He is coming to do honourable work for Bende people. He is not coming to answer “Honourable Member” in Abuja while his people suffer at home.

WHAT WILL THE NEW BENDE LOOK LIKE? LET ME SHOW YOU WITH MY EYES, SO YOU WILL REJOICE.

In the New Bende under Karibe, a mother in Item will not cry because her son has no job. Because her son will have a skill, a shop, and capital to start his life. He will not need to leave Item to Lagos to suffer as conductor or sales boy. He will stay in Item and make money in Item.

In the New Bende, a farmer in Igbere will not suffer to sell his cassava for nothing. Because his cassava will become a product that will be branded as Bende Gold and sold in Umuahia, Aba and Lagos — and he will become rich from his own land. His palm oil will buy him a car, not just wrapper. His yam will be exported.

In the New Bende, a child in Ozuitem will not sit on the floor to learn. He will have a desk, a good roof, a good teacher, and a computer to learn like a child in Abuja. And our daughters will not drop out of school because of school fees. No child will drop out because Karibe says education is right, not privilege.

In the New Bende, our primary health center in Bende Town, in Igbere, in Item, in Alayi will not be a place where people go to die. Our ambulance will no longer be a Keke Shuttle bus that has to be pushed before it can start. It will be a place where our pregnant women are safe, where our old mothers get free drugs, where a doctor will be present 24 hours. No more woman dying while giving birth because there is no doctor, no light, no drugs. No more!

In the New Bende, when job comes from Abuja — Customs, Immigration, Army, Police, CBN, FIRS, NNPC, NDDC, Federal Ministry — Bende sons and daughters will not be left behind. Our Rep will fight in the National Assembly, will shout, will knock doors and bring our share home. Our youths will wear uniforms again and make us proud. Our graduates will get federal jobs.

In the New Bende, our roads will be fixed. The road that links our villages — Nkpa to Umuimenyi to Ozuitem — will be fixed. Because Bende is not too poor to have good roads, Bende is just poorly represented. Money is there, but our voice is not there to bring it.

In the New Bende, empowerment will not be for party excos alone. Real people — the barber in Bende Town, the hairdresser in Alayi, the tailor in Item, the welder in Igbere, the POS girl in Uzuakoli, the phone repairer in Nkpa, the poultry farmer in Ozuitem, the content creator, the footballer, the trader, the keke driver — will be empowered with real tools, not audio promises. Not audio. Real.

In the New Bende, our traditional rulers will be respected and carried along, not insulted. Our town unions, our age grades, our women groups — Umuada — will be carried along. Our women will be given a voice at the table. Our youths will be given a table to sit, not just floor to sit.

In the New Bende, Bende will be heard in Abuja. When they mention South East, Bende will be mentioned. When they mention Abia, Bende will be number one. Because we will have a Rep who speaks, not a Rep who sleeps in chamber.

This is the New Bende Hon. Karibe is talking about. And it is possible. Very possible. Because other constituencies like Arochukwu/Ohafia, Isuikwuato/Umunneochi are enjoying it. Why not Bende? Are we not Nigerians? Are we not human beings?

WHY WE SHOULD REJOICE NOW — BEFORE 2027 — BECAUSE HOPE IS HERE.

Some people will say, “We have heard this before, all politicians talk like this during election.” Yes, my brother, you are right to doubt. Because you have been deceived before. Many times.

But you have never heard it from a man like Hon. Pascal Karibe. Never.
Hon. Karibe is not a man who talks too much. He listens more than he talks. He sits with old women in the village and listens to their cry. He sits with okada riders and listens to their complain. He sits with students at community school and listens to their dreams. He writes down what you say in his small notebook. He carries your problem like his own problem, not like political story.

Other politicians come to tell you what they will do for you, even when they have not asked you what you need. Hon. Karibe Ojigwe comes to ask you what you want him to do for you. That is the difference between a landlord and a son. That is the difference between a boss and a servant. That is the difference between a leader and a ruler.

He has said with his mouth, and we have recorded it: “If you give me your mandate, I will not carry it to Abuja and lock it in my house. I will bring Abuja to Bende. I will open my main office in Bende Town where any man from Item, any woman from Igbere, any youth from Nkpa can walk in without appointment and tell me his problem. My phone number will be public. My door will be open.”

And he means it. His heart is in Bende. His future is in Bende. That is why his 5-point promise is touching every family, every village, every clan, every heart:

1. PEOPLE FIRST — Your needs, my priority. Because without people, there is no Bende. Bende is people, not land.
2. DEVELOPMENT & PROGRESS — Building a stronger Bende with roads, light, water and markets that work.
3. INTEGRITY & ACCOUNTABILITY — Leadership you can trust, because Bende money must work for Bende people, and every kobo must be accounted for.
4. YOUTH EMPOWERMENT — Creating opportunities for a better future, so our children will not run away again to Lagos and Abuja to suffer.
5. UNITED WE STAND — Together for a better tomorrow, because Item, Igbere, Bende, Alayi, Uzuakoli, Nkpa, Ozuitem, Umuhu — we are one blood, one destiny.

This is not politics. This is love letter to Bende. This is a son writing to his mother: Mama Bende, I have come to help you. I have come to wipe your tears.

Umunne m ndi Bende, Igbere, Item, Alayi, Nkpa, Ozuitem, Umuhu Ezechi, Uzuakoli — Oge Erugo! The Time has come! Ogechi Eruwo!

For 20 years we tried sentiment. “He is from my village, let me vote him.” “He is from my party, let me vote him.” “He gave me rice, let me vote him.” Where did it take us? Backward. We are still where we were in 1999, if not worse.

For more 20 years we collected N5,000 and rice and sold our future, sold our children’s future, sold our road, sold our light. Where did it take us? More suffering, more pain, more crying.

Now, let us try sense. Let us try competence. Let us try a man with energy who can stand for 12 hours fighting for Bende in Abuja. Let us try a man with ideas that can change Bende. Let us try a man with heart who will not abandon us after election.

Do not sell your future for 5Kg of rice that will finish in one day. Do not sell your children’s future for wrapper that will tear in 6 months. Think about tomorrow. Think about your child who has no job for 5 years after graduation. Think about your mother who has no hospital when she is sick. Think about your farm that has no support. Think about your road that has been bad for years, yet they drive through the same bad roads to come vote for them again. My brothers and sisters think about the roads in your community how it is now? Does the standard of road, schools and health centers in your communities reflect good leadership from our representatives?

In 2027, vote for a New Bende. Vote for hope. Vote for light after darkness. Vote for a son, not a landlord. Vote for future, not past.

Vote Hon. Pascal Karibe Ojigwe for Member, Federal House of Representatives, Bende Federal Constituency — Under NDC — The Nigeria Democratic Congress — The Party With V Sign of Victory!

Tell your father. Tell your mother. Tell your brother. Tell your sister. Tell your neighbor. Tell your pastor. Tell your Chief Priest. Tell your age grade. Tell your town union: Bende, Rejoice! For A New Bende is Coming! A New Bende is Here!

Share this article to every Bende WhatsApp group. Share to Facebook. Share to all Bende sons and daughters at home and in diaspora — in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, America, London — tell them good news is coming home.

Bende Deserves More!
Let’s Build A Greater Bende Together!
Victory is Coming!

My name is Amb. Monyeazor Oluebube Sunday
Convener, Okijwe Karibe Movement
With Love for Bende — For A New Bende