Ochacho and the spirit of community development

He came like a bolt descending from outer space! Without warning, without notice, he has hit the social and politico-economic horizon of Otukpo(aka Texas) with a furious jolt and and a psychic dent which seems to be getting deeper by the day, mesmerizing everyone and magically drawing many to Ochacho Avenue.

Ochacho has become the running verse on the lips of most residents of the town for the past few years.
You only need to take a ride on a commercial motorcycle for a few minutes to know that there is a new bride in town. But yet this is not the first time Texas is experiencing meteoric brides.
In my book, The Shepherd Cometh, published in 1999, I had described Otukpo as ”….a town of stories. A town of great speculations. You kept wondering where the people got their stories from.” The town has not changed one bit. In fact it has increased its billing as a Center of Gossip.

What is however, not gossip or speculation is the great spirit of community development which has emerged, propelled by Ochacho. Appropriately captured in the slogan ”Light Has Come”, the new bride in texas has flooded some popular streets with solar light. Upu Road, right to Upu and Otukpicho villages; Ibadan Street; Armstrong Avenue; and Ogiri Oko Street; are all beneficiaries of this Ochacho philanthropy. It is most commendable, and more of those who are financially endowed should emulate this gesture.
It is heart warming to hear recently from Ochacho himself, and reiterated by his younger brother, who wants to go to the House of Representatives, that his gestures are not in anyway politically motivated, but rather his own way of showing gratitude to God for blessing him. It is often said that the spirit behind giving is spiritually more uplifting than the mere act of giving, or the quantity given.

As a small boy growing up in Edikwu village, I knew that most developments were communally executed. I still recall vividly how the road which linked Edikwu and Otada was reconstructed in the mid sixties, by a combined work team from both villages, each working from their own village end and the two eventually meeting at the boundary, where the young ladies from both villages provided gruel and food that were equally communally consumed.
But now everything is left for Government to do. So bad! How much can Government alone do anyway?

The efforts of individuals like Ochacho must be viewed from the perspective of the dire need to return to the past glories of communal life, by engaging all components of the society in developmental pursuits.
King Mohammed Adah is presently giving a complete facelift to the Otukpo Community Secondary School, amongst numerous other community projects he is undertaking. To me, this educational youth development project is the ultimate in our present globalized environment in which education (especially technology based) is the cutting edge key to total development.
To my mind, the disturbing question however is HOW MUCH ARE THE LEADERS OF OUR COMMUNITIES ENGAGING THEIR PEOPLE TO COMPLIMENT THE LAUDABLE EFFORTS OF THE OCHACHOS OF OUR TIME?
I do not know if my question makes any sense oh.

By Steve Anyebe