BY GAB EJUWA

ONE of the paramount teachings of the Lord Jesus, in the epoch-making “Sermon on the Mount” is that new wines should not be stored in old bottles under any circumstances.

In fact, the Son of God who doubles as the Son of Man affirmed that destruction is the outcome of such unequal arrangement. However, in sharp contradistinction to the time honoured biblical precept, the Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State seems to be hell-bent on reversing this great teaching of the Great Teacher, implying by the behaviour of the politicians of the area that new bottles must be the permanent reservoirs for old wines.

This is borne out by the way old politicians from the area seem to be recycled at every election period and forced upon the electorates, so much so that political leadership has become stale and musty, with most candidates going for a record third term in their respective constituencies.

And indeed tales of marginalisation are the norm rather than the exception. To mention but a few of these musty old politicians, I would start with one individual called Daniel Mayuku of Warri South West Constituency in the state House of Assembly seeking a third term in office when we have people like Comrade Alex  Eyengho who is by far better and psychologically prepared for the political challenges ahead and who is on a rescue mission apart from being a unifying force for the Warri South-West Constituency.

The next old brigade is the two-term member of the Senate, Delta South Senatorial District, Senator James Manager, who is even now lacing his political  boots to run for a third term in the Senate. That this man is nurturing a third term is an insult on the sensibilities of the Itsekiri and the Isoko people.

The glaring fact is that it is obviously the turn of the Itsekiri to produce the senator representing the District in 2011.

This   political oppression explains why Temi Harriman has picked the ACN ticket to once again challenge James Manager in the April 2, 2011 polls. Harriman, it would be recalled, had challenged the declaration of Manager as the winner of the 2007 polls at the Appeal Court, which case is still pending.

Similarly Mr. Ogwilaya Ufoma, an Isoko, from the DPP who is relatively new on the political scene is also battling to wrest power from Manager who wants to sit tight in office, refusing to give way for other people.

Yet another third term agenda strategist is Leo Ogor Okuweh of the PDP representing Isoko North/South at the Federal House of Representatives. Perhaps because a senator or a representative earns more than an Arab oil magnate (in fact, Nigeria is the only country where politics is more lucrative than oil business), something in the region of N200 million per annum, this man would rather stay put than make way for a new candidate for his constituency.

As far as he is concerned, the battle to remain in office, just like his avuncular mentors, is a do-or-die affair. That is why he is prepared to swallow up more credible candidates who would infuse a fresh breath of change into the politics of the area. One cannot understand the grab-grab mentality of Nigerian politicians who are even more corrupt than the Nigeria Police.

And in Warri South Constituency II, the PDP candidate, Mr Dennis Omovie, rules the roost, strutting all over the place, and angling for a third term as if he were the only one there, having been in office since 2003. His main challenger for the April polls is the ACN candidate, Chief Birinus Ojogri.

There is also Mr. Ojuvwe Okumagba who is flying the flag of DPP, especially against the background of deep-seated animosity against Omovie and his party, the PDP. The race seems clearly defined between Chief Ojogri and Mr. Okumagba.

Yet, if we look at the manifestoes of the various political parties and pressure groups, one recurring word is “change”. Change from what to what? One is inclined to ask. If the other parties which have not ruled this country use the word for their programmes we can understand. But certainly not the PDP third-timers who have been in power for almost 12 years and the only noticeable change in the polity is that of the politicians’ bank balance and the ever-changing texture and degree of our pervasive poverty and indeed impoverishment.

Even on the international scene, change is the buzzword. There has been a change of guard in the Arab World: Tunisia and Egypt readily come to mind. Others are teetering on the brink of change.

Mr. Ejuwa, a journalist, writes from Lagos.