You are a butterfly who thinks himself a bird.” – Gbokan to Odewale, The Gods Are Not to Blame
It is almost poetic how life imitates art. Chris Nehikhare—yes, the self-appointed megaphone of a factional, confused, and decapitated PDP in Edo State—reminds one of Gbokan’s brutal but honest assertion in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not to Blame. A butterfly, no matter how much it flutters, will never grow the wingspan of an eagle. Chris and his political house of fallen cards should take a long look in the mirror and ask themselves: are we still relevant, or just flapping wings in the ruins of a party eaten by termites of treachery and mediocrity?
His latest press release, a concoction of bile and poorly rehearsed sarcasm, is a classic case of political projection. The joke, in truth, is not Governor Monday Okpebholo. The real comedy is a PDP spokesman still shouting from the sidelines of irrelevance—pushing fiction as fact and mistaking social media noise for grassroots strength.
Nehikhare attempts to ridicule Governor Okpebholo’s declaration to deliver 2.5 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027. But let us examine that. First, this is the voice of a sitting governor—elected, sworn in, and leading Edo out of the scorched fields left behind by the PDP’s disastrous years. Unlike PDP’s infamous legacy of industrial parks and hubs MoU and inflated ego, Okpebholo has launched bold infrastructural, agricultural, and youth-focused interventions within months of assuming office. The people see. The people know. And the people will remember.
What Nehikhare calls “absurd” is actually the voice of a renewed Edo—the awakening of a progressive movement sweeping through the South South, with Okpebholo as its torchbearer. He is not merely the Governor of Edo State; he is the new star boy of the APC in the region. And come 2027, he will stand at the frontline of Tinubu’s victory charge—a governor with the grassroots on his side, the credibility of performance behind him, and the momentum of destiny before him.
Let us not forget that the same PDP now weeping over “291,000 votes” could not muster a credible candidate for the last governorship election. What they had were court-imposed aspirants and emergency unity meetings held in hotel lobbies—while the APC was galvanising real support in markets, streets, and communities. PDP today in Edo is a house with many landlords but no tenants. They have no direction, no candidate-in-waiting, and no prayer of recovery.
So Nehikhare, before you accuse anyone of absurdity, kindly recall your own party’s comedy show:
* A governorship candidate who needed external oxygen from Rivers to survive his campaign.
* A national leadership engulfed in ceaseless litigation and caretaker extension.
* And a state chapter whose publicity secretary can’t tell the difference between digital outrage and electoral outcome.
Indeed, butterflies are beautiful, but they are fragile, fleeting, and ornamental. They don’t lead revolutions. Birds do. Eagles soar. And Senator Monday Okpebholo is soaring—above the noise, above the lies, and above the broken glass of yesterday’s politics.
President Bola Tinubu understands the strategic importance of Edo in 2027. And in Okpebholo, he has a dependable general—not a sycophant, not a court jester, but a grounded leader. The South South will not be left behind again. The new wave is red, not tattered umbrella blue.
So, let Chris Nehikhare continue his open mic nights. The serious business of governance and national victory is already underway—with Okpebholo on the frontlines. Butterflies may dance in the sun, but when the eagle appears, they vanish into the shadows of history.
