By Charles Okoh
They have always told us that politics is dirty but nobody informed us that there are also mad men in politics and that in politics indiscretion and sloppiness are virtues. It is sad that perhaps, because of the stupendous wealth and power politicians wield, there is something that makes some of them absolute nut cases, insensitive and unreasonable.
*OshiomholeFormer Edo governor and one time NLC president, Adams Oshiomhole, has consistently proven that wisdom indeed does not come with age. A man can be 100 years old and yet lacks wisdom. Oshiomhole has shown that the older he gets the more reckless, irrational and indiscreet he has become. How can somebody as old as this consistently speak without wisdom, discretion and self-restraint?
Oshiomhole, has always been known to speak before thinking, but
of all the reckless, irresponsible, immature and irrational statements he had
made in the past, the one he was quoted to have said recently in a response to
the statement earlier made by the wife of the governor of Edo State, Besty
Obaseki, is by far the most imprudent.
As former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Oshiomhole’s arrogance, self-indulgence and the overarching importance he
attached to this office was primarily responsible for his failure as chairman
of the party. His abrasive mannerism ensured that an already disappointing political
party was divided and fractured all over the country.
As governor of Edo State who gained tremendously from the
goodwill he enjoyed as a labour unionist his performance was widely acclaimed.
He was recognised as being the best governor since after Ambrose Alli in Edo.
However, his indiscreet and impulsive outbursts against a widow
attracted national condemnation and would remain a major blight on his reign as
governor.
Oshiomhole had during an inspection tour on Mission Road, in
Benin told the street trader “to go and die” after she was reported to have
pleaded with him to pardon her because she was a widow struggling to provide
food on the table for her family.
Although, he was to apologise later and had a meeting with the
widow where he offered her N2 million and a job, the outburst was not only
irrational but also completely unnecessary and avoidable.
A supposedly penitent Oshiomhole later said, “I have also realised
that even in anger, one could still achieve the same result that he set out to
without provocative outburst.
“I apologise from the bottom of my heart, but sometimes you get
angry when people compromise your efforts.’’
According to him, the state government was trying to beautify
the state, adding that it is frustrating to see people truncate such efforts.
A sound argument, is it not? Yet the same Oshiomhole was widely
reported publicly buying and eating maize from roadside traders during campaigns.
During campaigns, roadside trading is permissible but after being elected, it
becomes undesirable.
As governor he fought all political godfathers and told the
world that that would be the end of godfathers in Edo politics and a lot of
people cheered him on because before his coming as governor, Edo was suffering
from an unbroken chain of bad governance. Yet he wanted to be godfather after
leaving office. He left office and fought his successor, Godwin Obaseki, who
rejected his attempts to make him a lame duck governor.
He created confusion in Edo and misled some state legislators
against Governor Obaseki. He housed them in Abuja from where they wasted their
time and lost out until the end of their tenures.
Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo North Senatorial District
had employed similar toxic and corrosive political tactics against Pastor
Osagie Ize-Iyamu in 2016, while Ize-Iyamu was the candidate of the PDP. He
called him names and accused him of everything under the sun.
But, as fate would have it, he was to return to his vomit when
Ize-Iyamu defected to APC and became the candidate of the party for the 2020
governorship election against Obaseki.
His character assassination of Ize-Iyamu couldn’t be undone and
this contributed greatly to Ize-Iyamu’s defeat by Obaseki.
With an overrated self-worth, Oshiomhole was seen on television
recently berating protesters for the recent protest against bad governance and
hunger. He tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to condemn the action of the protesters
dismissing them as faceless, inconsequential individuals who are not known
figures in the society.
To Oshiomhole and his ilk, banking must remain brick and mortar.
He has not woken up to the reality that there have been generational shift and
that the youths of this generation have consciously chosen to deviate from the
usual method of protests where some so-called protest leaders exploited and
undermined their agitations and struggles by going behind to compromise such
struggles after selling their members for a miserable pot of porridge.
That was how they amassed their fortunes and built palatial
fortresses and lived in opulence in the name of unionism. Oshiomhole thinks
himself who has lived all his life as labour leader and politician as being
more noble than this upwardly mobile current generation who have become what
they are without government patronage and being in political office.
So, to address the present reality, the Oshiomholes of this
world must realise that it is not for nothing that the protesters no longer
present moles masquerading as protest leaders.
In his recent much criticised outburst where he mocked Governor
Obaseki and his wife, Besty, for being childless, Oshiomhole simply confirmed
that he is totally irredeemable. He showed that he is a bad example to his
Christian faith which he often parrots every now and then. He is a bad example
of what a good Christian should be, or does he want to be bored here with
replete cases of women in the Bible who were similarly mocked by people and how
God intervened in their circumstances? He should know if indeed he is the
Christian he often claims he is.
Some have questioned my not condemning Mrs. Obaseki for
challenging other candidates to take their wives along during their campaigns. That
I cannot do because I completely align myself with Mrs. Obaseki on this. Can a
man who is not temperate enough to live with a woman as wife have the
temperament to govern a state with people of diverse cultures, traditions and
of different behaviours, character and religions etc.?
Oshiomhole goofed and that is consistent with his character. And
like his flip-flop disposition negatively affected the fortunes of Ize-Iyamu,
should the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, fail in the forthcoming
governorship election in Edo, Oshiomhole’s lack of tact and discretion would
have contributed a great deal.
*Okoh is a commentator on public issues
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