" If Sobe Wants Development, Go and Contest" — Looking Beyond the Edo Speaker's Rhetoric
by Ogbeta Joseph prince
The recent comments by the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, have generated widespread reactions across social media. Responding to a Facebook appeal by Mr. Ebohen Chris Onward over the continued blackout in Sobe Community, the Speaker reportedly replied, "Go and contest if you want to fix the light."
To many, the statement sounded harsh, dismissive and insensitive. But beyond the emotion lies a painful truth that every son and daughter of Sobe must confront.
For more than eight years, Sobe has remained in darkness. Yet electricity is only one of the many signs of a community left behind. The community still lacks tarred internal roads. Public schools struggle with inadequate classrooms, forcing pupils to learn under conditions that should have disappeared decades ago. Youth unemployment remains high, while many graduates continue to search endlessly for opportunities.
It has been made known that more than 400 jobs have been facilitated across Owan West over the years, yet none has been given to Sobe, leaving the community’s share painfully insignificant. Whether by political miscalculation or inadequate representation, one fact remains undeniable: no one will fight for Sobe better than the people of Sobe themselves.
Perhaps the Speaker unknowingly delivered the most important political lesson the community has received in years. Development does not come to communities that only complain every four years. It comes to communities that organize, invest in leadership, occupy political spaces and defend their collective interests.
For too long, Sobe has celebrated politicians without demanding measurable results. Elections come and go. Promises are made and forgotten. Yet many of the same people return to campaign with little resistance because the community has failed to build a united political voice.
The time has come to end that culture.
This is a wake-up call to every Sobe son and daughter, both at home and in the diaspora. If the future of the community truly matters, then political participation can no longer be left to a handful of individuals. It is time to register, mobilize, support credible candidates, contest elections, and invest financially and morally in those who genuinely represent the community's aspirations.
Politics is not won by sympathy. It is won by strategy, sacrifice, unity and sustained participation. Communities that refuse to invest politically often find themselves neglected when decisions are made.
Instead of allowing the Speaker's remarks to discourage us, let them become the spark that ignites a new political consciousness in Sobe.
The challenge has been thrown before us.
The question is no longer whether Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku will develop Sobe.
The real question is whether the people of Sobe are finally ready to rise, unite, produce leaders of their own, and fight for the future they deserve.
History has shown that communities that remain politically passive rarely receive priority. If Sobe truly desires development, then this is the moment to rise—not tomorrow, not during the next election campaign, but now.
The era of waiting must end.
The era of participation must begin.