By Comrade Ikhuenbor Felix Igbinevbo (Mr Figo)
What Edo South Senatorial District is experiencing today is a classic and dangerous example of sick gatekeepers – a condition where those entrusted with authority, protection, and moral oversight are weakened by internal crises, compromise, fear, greed, or external manipulation. When gatekeepers are sick, access collapses, order breaks down, and communities become vulnerable to forces they were once shielded from.
Traditionally, the Okaighele institution exists as a functional gatekeeper – a structure meant to organize, protect, and defend communal interests, particularly land, security, and youth discipline. The Odionwere, on the other hand, represents ancestral authority, moral balance, and continuity of tradition. Together, these institutions formed a protective wall around Edo South communities. Today, that wall is fractured.
Across many parts of Edo South, the ongoing Okaighele leadership crisis, coupled with the systematic weakening, sidelining, or compromise of Odionwere authority, has left the gates unguarded. Internal power struggles, political interference, intimidation, silence, and the actions of greedy individuals within the system have eroded the very foundations of community governance. As a result, what was designed to protect the people is now failing them.
The consequences are visible and severe. Land grabbing thrives where authority is divided. Criminal elements infiltrate communities where leadership is confused or compromised. Youths are weaponized in the absence of moral guidance, while ancestral lands are sold or allocated without collective consent. Justice is no longer anchored on truth and tradition but increasingly enforced through force, influence, or fear.
This is not a problem of weak people; it is a problem of weak gates. True value – honest elders, principled youths, and voices of conscience – is often shut out, while opportunists and manipulators gain access. Standards decay, accountability disappears, and chaos quietly replaces structure. A sick gatekeeper, after all, cannot protect what it no longer controls.
More troubling is the fact that the sickness did not come only from outside. Enemies within – driven by greed and personal gain – have played a significant role in weakening the gates. Some elders, leaders, and influential figures betrayed communal trust by selling ancestral lands to aliens without the knowledge or consent of the community. These transactions, carried out in secrecy or under intimidation, opened the doors for external interests that neither understand nor respect the culture, boundaries, and social balance of Edo South.
The influx of these alien interests, backed by money and force, has compounded the crisis. Lands that once belonged to generations are now contested. Boundaries once respected are now violently challenged. Communities that once lived in harmony now face insecurity, division, and prolonged conflict – all traceable to the moment the gate was deliberately opened by those who were meant to guard it.
What makes this situation more dangerous is that sickness in gatekeeping rarely announces itself loudly. It creeps in gradually – through silence when truth should be spoken, through compromise disguised as peace, and through greed masked as opportunity. Over time, abnormal conditions become normalized, and communities begin to mistake disorder for inevitability.
The weakening of Odionwere authority is particularly damaging because it disconnects the present from the past. When ancestral institutions are disrespected, ignored, or deliberately bypassed, moral restraint collapses. Without the weight of tradition and communal consent, decisions affecting generations are reduced to private deals and personal enrichment. The land, which is sacred, becomes a commodity. Leadership, which is a trust, becomes a weapon.
Equally troubling is the crisis within the Okaighele structure itself. When leadership becomes contested, politicized, or influenced by those who profit from chaos, the institution loses legitimacy. Instead of being a shield, it becomes a battleground. Instead of guiding youths, it mobilizes them for conflicts they do not fully understand, leaving destruction in its wake.
Edo South is therefore not merely facing a leadership challenge; it is facing an access crisis. Who is allowed to decide? Who speaks for the community? Who guards the land? Who disciplines the youth? Until these questions are answered through restored, credible, and unified gatekeeping institutions, the exposure will continue.
Healing Edo South requires more than security operations or political statements. It requires the deliberate restoration of gatekeepers and the moral courage to confront internal betrayal. Odionwere authority must be respected, protected, and insulated from manipulation. Okaighele leadership must be restructured, reconciled, and returned to its original purpose of service, protection, and discipline. Those who profited from selling communal inheritance must be held accountable, and communities must reclaim collective ownership of their destiny.
When gatekeepers are healthy, communities are safe. When gatekeepers are principled, greed has no hiding place. But when gatekeepers are sick – whether through fear, compromise, or betrayal – even the strongest walls collapse from within.
Edo South must decide whether it will continue to treat the symptoms – or finally confront and cure the sickness at the gate.
#MrFigoSpeaks
Comrade Ikhuenbor Felix Igbinevbo Popularly known as Mr Figo, writes from Idibo Village, Ohuan Ward, Uhunmwode Local Government Area, Edo South Senatorial District, Edo State, Nigeria.
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