Courage is Our Inheritance

By Senator Rowland Owie KSJI

A Goodwill Message by Distinguished Senator Rowland Owie, Ksji at the official Unveiling of the Edo State Chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)
Benin City on Tuesday, 2 December 2025

My esteemed brothers and sisters of Edo State, ladies and gentlemen:
Edo is often called the Heartbeat of the Nation. Today, I say without equivocation that this is not a mere slogan. It is history. It is identity. It is destiny.

Edo State, together with our sister Delta, remains the only federating unit (the now defunct Mid-Western Region) in the entire Nigerian union to have been created through strict constitutional means, via a popular referendum in 1963.

We were not created by decree, fiat, or military proclamation. We were created by the will of the people.

This singular fact makes Edo an exemplar of democracy, egalitarianism, and boundless possibilities. Democracy is in our bloodstream. Justice is in our DNA. Courage is our inheritance. We have always been at the vanguard of political renewal, cultural renaissance, and national conscience.

It is therefore no surprise that the ADC train, wherever it has gone, has found in Edo its most steady, passionate and enlightened supporters. Today’s unveiling is not the birth of a new movement; it is the homecoming of a political family whose values resonate deeply with the moral and democratic fabric of our people. Yet, my compatriots, we must speak the truth plainly: the battle ahead is herculean.

The national outlook today is grim – indeed, tragic. Month after month, the blood of innocent Nigerians cries from the soil. Just consider some of the recent sorrowful events:
A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Paschal Bobbo, brutally murdered in Kaduna, a shepherd slain by wolves.

Over 100 pupils and teachers in Niger State kidnapped at dawn, dragged into the bush like captured animals.

A Nigerian Brigadier General and three officers abducted and publicly executed, humiliated in death after serving their country.

Thirty-eight worshippers of the Christ Apostolic Church violently seized in Kwara.

Sixty-four civilians – women, men, children – in Zamfara still languishing in the bush.

Eight members of the Civilian Task Force killed in Gwoza; more abducted.

Fifteen persons taken in Sokoto, including nursing mothers and babies.

Four rice farmers slaughtered on their farms in Kwara.

Minor seminarians held in the forests for months, some killed in captivity.

And thousands of others, unnamed, unsearched for, unavenged.

This is the Nigeria the APC has built.

A Nigeria where children cannot go to school.

A Nigeria where priests cannot celebrate Mass safely.

A Nigeria where worshippers cannot pray without fear.

A Nigeria where soldiers cannot return home alive.

A Nigeria where forests have become slaughterhouses.

A Nigeria where the wicked rule and the people groan.
National life has been reduced to survival.

The soul of the country is bleeding. The promise of the nation is collapsing. The present administration has not merely failed; it has betrayed the covenant of leadership, abandoned the people, and substituted governance with impunity, propaganda, and incompetence.

As the Bible reminds us:
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

Today, Nigeria is groaning. But – and this is vital – Edo people have never been a people who surrender to despair.

We rise! We organize! We rebuild! We lead!

That is why the ADC stands as the only credible platform capable of rescuing this nation from the abyss into which it has been plunged.

Where others offer excuses, ADC offers solutions.

Where others manufacture fear, ADC restores hope.

Where others centralize failure, ADC decentralizes possibility.

Where others rule by deceit, ADC leads by covenant.

My dear brothers and sisters of Edo State, the moment has come. Every Edo son and daughter must go out and register with the ADC.

The time to stand aloof is over. The time to grumble silently is gone. We must mobilize, organize, and energize our communities.

From Ikpoba Hill to Uromi, from Isi to Igarra, from Agenebode to Uzairue, from the creeks of Ovia to the plains of Esanland, let the message ring clear:

Edo is ready.

Edo is poised.

Edo will rescue itself.

And Edo will help rescue Nigeria.

Let us reclaim our state and our nation from those who have converted governance into private enterprise, security into mockery, and citizenship into suffering.

The ADC is not merely a political party; it is a moral call, a civic obligation, a national rescue platform. And Edo must once again play its historic role as the compass of the nation.

As we gather to unveil this chapter today, I extend my sincere gratitude to:

– The National Leadership of the ADC for their vision and unshakable commitment;

– The State Executive and Local Government Coordinators for their diligence;

– All stakeholders and supporters who have laboured tirelessly; and

– The Planning Committee for the excellence of today’s event.

May this inauguration mark the beginning of a new dawn, one defined by courage, justice, compassion and democratic renewal.

Thank you, and may God bless Edo State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Distinguished Senator Rowland Owie, KSJI.