Celebrating With Destitutes: The Chinda Example

The last festive season – Christmas and New Year has come and gone but it left a mark, an enduring mark in its trail. A member of the House of Representatives chose to celebrate with destitutes, thus giving them reason to feel euphoric and ecstatic, and  be in tune with the spirit of the season!

The Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, who incidentally hails from Rivers State, Hon. Kingsley Chinda visited some destitutes’ homes and orphanages in Port Harcourt and Oyigbo with his family to celebrate the Christmas and New Year. The occasions featured Christmas and New year party, presentation of food items, clothings and cash for the destitutes’ upkeep.

Hon. Chindah, a former Commissioner for Environment in Rivers State who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House had, prior to Christmas, appealed to his constituents for understanding  his resolve to spend the 2012 Christmas away from the comfort of his home – with destitutes, noting that he has always spent previous Christmas  with them but that of 2012 was one with a difference!

He said this much in an interview with The Tide in Abuja: “Let my constituents bear with me this time around. They know I have always spent  Christmas with them but this time around I am moved to visit destitutes with my family and spend the season with these less-previledged ones. I know my constituents will understand—”

Chinda’s celebration of the yuletide season with destiutes  outside his native Obio/Akpor has lessons for the society at large – and if imbibed, will help to move the society forward and make it a better place for us all.

The first lesson inherent in the epoch-making celebration is the humility displayed by the fact that a highly-placed persons in the society could sometime condescend to the level of the ordinary people. After all, as President Barrack Obama observed at his swearing-in for a second-term in office as United Sates Number – One citizen, “all men are born equal”.

By condescending, they will be able to appreciate the feelings of the less priviledged and help touch their lives.

The second lesson is that by reaching out to them from time to time, as Hon. Chinda did, these destitutes would ‘feel they belong” as members of  the same society with the privileged ones.

Even the Holy writ says, ‘God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble”. The day our leaders embraced this virtue – humility – as opposed to arrogance, flamboyance, egoism and pride, true leadership will be enthroned and the present ‘gnashing of teeth’ that is the lot of the poor, the deprived, the traumatised and the dehumanised members of the society will be no more.

Fourthly, the much-talked- about justice, equity and fairness which we have been clamouring for in this anabolic society of ours could start taking root with kind gestures such as the one demonstrated by Hon. Chindah.

The fifth lesson lies in the truism that our present crop of leaders should be responsive and responsible in their actions to their constituents, subjects and all those they claim to represent and as well meet with them, from time to time to minster to their pains.

Finally, I want to recommend this meritorious and exemplary leadership quality to the rich in our midst. Feasting with destitutes and attending to their needs should really be embraced as a way of life and should be done often. Chinda has shown the way. Who next?

Justus Awaji