*I’ll build a house and live among you if…Gesila Khan
*Gesila means brave people in Ijaw and first in Cross River

By EMMANUEL UNA

GESILA — BAYELSA State-born Resident Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Cross River State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, until recently, Resident Commissioner in Rivers State, has traversed all the states of South-South region and other parts of the country in the course of her career, but she did not prepare for the bolt from the blue she encountered in her new station.

Gesila, an Ijaw from Bayesla state, who resumed duties in Cross River state in the last week of February, faced the task of conducting a rerun election in Yakurr II State House Constituency into the Cross River State House of Assembly, March 12. The election was subsequent to the sack of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Eteng Williams, who the Appeal Court, Calabar, declared winner in 2015.

In her accustomed elements as field Resident Electoral Commissioner, she embarked on tour of the wards that form Yakurr 11 state constituency to sensitize the voters on the need for peaceful conduct of the election.

Gesila polling unit in Gesila community
That was where she got a pleasant surprise. One of the polling units in the village of Gesila in Ashiga community bears the same name with her Ijaw name, Gesila.

She said: “I have served in the other South- South states and Cross River state    is the last of them and I have travelled all over the country and had never   come across the name Gesila anywhere and so I feel honoured that there is a village called Gesila and a polling unit by the same name in Cross River. I have no choice than to identify with this place and when I retire, if I have money, I will build a house here and live among this brave people, which Gesila means in Ijaw.”

An enchanted Gesila disclosed she was yet to come across any other person bearing the name Gesila, apart from the person her parents named her after and as such, she would do anything to keep memories of the place alive.

Pledge
Her words: “One child was named after me by a colleague but she died and since then, I have not seen anyone bearing Gesila, talk much of a whole village bearing that name and so from today, I am from Gesila in Asiga in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State”.

Community rolls out cultural displays
On their part, the people of Gesila came out in large numbers when they heard the electoral commissioner bears the name Gesila. Within minutes, dances, choreography, songs and mimes took the centre stage as both the men and women of the area displayed their culture in her honour.

One of Gesila chiefs, Ogar Ekpe, told her: “You are from Bayelsa State, which is a riverine area and we also live by the riverside, so there is the possibility that somehow one brave man from Bayelsa might have come to form this community several decades ago, which none of us here might remember.”

“But suffice it to say that we feel proud that you, Gesila, which means first in our dialect, is the resident electoral commissioner in our state. Please find time and come again and let us talk more about our common ancestry,” he said.

She used the occasion to sensitize the people on the need for peace during the election coming up on Saturday, saying that no one should push them to violence or use their youths to cause trouble during the election.

“Election is matter of choice because just like we are wearing different dresses bought from the market based on our preferences, electing someone to represent us should be a matter of choice.

A father could have different choice from the son and a mother could prefer someone else from the daughter, so let everyone make his choice on that day,” Gesila told her people.

According to her, “INEC will ensure that the one who has the most support will be the one announced as the winner because we are a neutral umpire.”