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By Dapo Ipoola
Metaphorically speaking, someone who takes ‘the route less traveled’ is acting independently, freeing him/herself from the conformity of others who choose to take ‘the route more often traveled, generally making their own choices, and perhaps leaving a new trail that will become the route more often traveled until, of course, someone takes the route less traveled from there, and happens upon something even better than the first improvement; in that way, the cycle always repeats itself. Taking the route less traveled can sometimes yield better and more sound results. The route more often traveled is almost always more stable, easier to cross. It is an idea of doing things differently compared to how they are usually done.
The above eminent Nigerian is not only a distinguished personage owing to the fact that she is an avuncular member of the Nigerian senate which honorarily confers on her the distinguished status that is always accorded to every member of the senate, either serving or past. Her character and integrity are uncompromising, unsullied, and untainted and without skirmishes. In all her public conduct and engagement, she has remained distinguishably distinguished. And now as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing the most sensitive and herculean district, she remains undeterred in all her enviable virtues and quality. At every given opportunity, she has impeccably served meritoriously, leaving indestructible imprints for others to follow and emulate.
As a spartan and puritanical disciplinarian, one thing that you can not take away from Senator Ireti Kingibe is her constant penchant for saying the unadulterated truth, whether it is convenient or not. She has umpteenth times demonstrated this, not minding whose horse is goored, and this might have been the reason that one of the powerful ministers in this present government does not like her face. Senator Ireti will unhesitatingly speak truth when others are scared of the aftermath. She has often done this and damned the consequences because it is the easiest thing for her to do. She brooks no nonsense unlike others who run on emotions, alleging every dick, tom and harry of sexual harassment. As an amazon that she is, she depends not on feminine frailty to gain sympathy, and she was never known for frivolity and legislative inanities.
Over the weekend, the verity of her uncompromising stance during the Arise TV interview was further confirmed. She minced no words as she bare laid issues with incontrovertible and unassailable facts. During the interview, she said, “Silence is golden, especially when one of us is not following the rules. And as women, we did not want to come out publicly to say anything negative about her; and we were hoping all of this will blow over, as a lot of things do. The senate is not a place where we are supposed to fight over trivialities like seating arrangements. This is about the rules of the senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times. On that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved.”
The senate is not gender friendly, it has been improving.
“And the truth of the matter is, when we make a fuss and draw the attention of the senate president, he corrects it. Truly, the senate can do better than it’s doing, but there’s hardly anything that’s been done to us that’s not done to other men. The truth is, senator Natasha has gotten the most privileges among all four of us (female Senators). The seat I sit on now has been moved four times. I want women to know we have to follow the rules of the institution we chose to enter, and that is mostly the point of this visit here. I collected some documents for senator Natasha, informed her and went to her house. She told me that she was supposed to discuss something with Akpabio but she said she meet him at a hotel, and I said to her, you only meet Senator in the offices.”
In the cause of the interview when she staggeringly nailed everything on the head, some ignoramuses went hay wired, calling it an act of betrayal from the same gender. But subsequent positions of Senators Olujimi, Onyekachi Nwebonyi, and Florence Ita-Giwa further corroborated her stance, as those who spoke after her maintained the same position. For a fact, Senator Kingibe will never mortgage the truth on any altar, regardless of how appealing the offer may be. On countless occasions, she has been approached with mouth-watering offers, but all were rebuffed because it is against her unalloyed belief that standing alone is an act of courage and she roundly believes that strength is not measured by the crowd around her, but by the ability to stand alone. As a political tigress, the attitude that a certain minister never hid his disdain or animosity for, Senator Ireti Kingibe walks tall where other women tremble. Even in the dark hours and stout uncertainty, Senator Ireti Kingibe will remain steely determined and unfazed.
Dapo Ipoola, a media consultant wrote in from Abuja.
