Edo Political Conundrum (3)

By Prince Kassim Afegbua

The Edo political narrative has become a poisoned chalice, a broken record with cracked rhythms that easily unveil the outer clothing of men to see their dirty, stinking linen on the inside.

The soundbites are disturbingly annoying. The level of political witch-hunt is gaining traction while political differences are no longer settled with convincing and superior argument but by exchange of cudgels, blunt scalpels or fire power.

The number of politically motivated attacks is growing by the day, and further complicated by the governor’s hard stance and breathing down the throat of those who are not ready to toe his line of thought. Only recently he told us of the efficacy of mosquito bite that can cause anyone malaria.

The only catastrophy in the mosquito fable is that it is an enemy of all. Whether the Governor’s allergory fitly captures his intended message is another kettle of fish, but it suffices to state that insecticides have proven to be ready response to stubborn mosquitoes. If the Governor is speaking from the point of view of claim that he was being referred to as a mosquito, and for him to think that his mosquito bite can cause maximum damage, also conveys the impression that he is speaking from the point of view of political combustion.

As a Governor, he should see the entire state and its people as his constituency. There should be magnanimity in his leadership evocation. It should not be a concept of we versus them. Gubernatorial power has limitations.

Each time I watch the Governor speak, I see the marrows of frustration all over his face. That is what you get when you enter into a needless political battle within the same party with actors that midwifed your election. An intra-party crisis fulfills the attributes of the proverbial saying that the kola nut eating insect or weevil resides right inside the kola nut. Once suspicion is planted as a new seedling within a party, it grows with time and thereafter assumes the status of the main discourse. Trust is broken down. Friendship is built on the pedestal of political exigency and not on the platform of any intrinsic or altruistic value for friendship.

Obaseki’s response to the legion of issues confronting him exposed his political naivety, and I mean no derision here.

But, to think that sacking political appointees because you feel their political loyalties reside somewhere and to some other political idols, is to miss the point squarely. Pretenders in politics occupy a higher percentage. In life, the hardest prison to escape from is the mind. There is no art to deconstruct the mind from the faces of those who gladiate around Governor Obaseki. And reappointing or trying to weed out certain persons on account of building your own army of supporters or loyalists is a classic case of undiluted contradiction. How can a man who has just broken the thin line of loyalty to his benefactor, be the one seeking to cultivate loyalists? Does it sound logical?

When the walls of loyalty are broken, what you get are emergency persons and stomach infrastructure supporters. Since the last one month that political appointees were relieved of their responsibilities, the cry of “hunger dey” has become the lyrical ballad of Osadebey Avenue singers. They tell you without any prompting that they need to collect their own reward for their dispensed labour in 2016 when they were given a hard product to sell. You hear some say ” I beg no take your reggae spoil my blues oh”, ” we just dey tag along oh, man must wack naa”.

Others will tell you, Obaseki is too stingy with money, but if fanning the embers of this political discord will make him spend the money, so be it. Some people are already making a fortune out of the scenario and the longer it endures, the better for those who are profiting from it. In fact, the Governor’s Deputy, Phillip Shuaibu has become comfortable now monetarily compared to 2017 December, when he reportedly walked out on the Governor over issues bordering on frugal budget under his purview. The first two citizens are now in bed and united by the same guilt.

Using Governor Obaseki as my guinea pig for experimenting with loyalty, I doubt if he would use his templates as model for getting loyalists on his side. Having broken the bond of loyalty, imprisoned the allure of friendship, arrested the quintessence of good naturedliness, and constantly search for victims and villains in a political conquest with predictable prisoners of war, I doubt if Governor Obaseki can actually trust even his own shadow, let alone the legion of his appointees who have become political scavengers in search of daily bread in a country where poverty is elegantly dressed in three-piece suit.

When I saw the chieftains of the pro-Obaseki APC line up in the inner sanctuary of the Church, on Sunday, 10th November, 2019 to accord praises to God for a journey of three years, it underscored God’s unequalled patience at tolerating human frailties, lies, chicanery, deceits, subterfuge and mischief.

Deep in the heart of man is wickedness, depravity, cunny, pretentiousness, and sheer platitudinousness. If Oshiomhole were told three years ago that the man he fought tooth and nail to sell to the Edo people, would turn around to now haunt him like the tale of the devil and the blue sea, a plague kind of, Oshiomhole would most likely keep malice with anyone coming up with such introspection. But the reality today has become a moving story that is a compelling read by all.

The virtue of gratitude must not be lost on us no matter the provocations and the temptations. We must, as good Africans with a rich tradition and culture, imbibe the subliminal humility to say thank you always for the good done to us. When I hear people talk about Obaseki providing the funding for an Oshiomhole governorship in 2007, I often laugh with helpless awe. How can a man whose businesses had nosedived be the one sponsoring Oshiomhole? Where was Afri-Invest in 2007 and 2008 when Obaseki was running helter skelter to bail himself out of economic quagmire and financial gooble-de-gook?

The truth is, when Oshiomhole realised that it was becoming difficult to sell a Godwin Obaseki candidacy, he decided to hand over all his achievements and ascribed his successes to him. If possible, he wanted people to see Obaseki as a cloned version of himself. He preached and sermonised in the homes of those who make things happen. He visited chiefs, traditional rulers, Enogies and told them pointedly that they should trust him. He was the guarantor and Dangote was the chief guarantor. Oshiomhole danced “azonto” with staccato steps to whet the appetite of party supporters. He exhausted his energy on the podium, betraying the supposed strength of his age, just to make sure that no stone was left unturned. But today, all that has amounted to pouring water into a basket of trouble.

Little did Dangote and Oshiomhole know that the man they were guaranteeing had a different plan altogether. He had no collateral. He doesn’t care a hoot about sustaining friendships. A movie trended about a certain Chief who tried to betray the Benin Kingdom and the palace in the 18th century. The movie trended for a long time but Oshiomhole was undaunted. He moved from house to house, reached out to the youths and the elderly just to make the point for an Obaseki success. Godwin Obaseki on his own path, was in some kind of cul-de-sac because he was relatively unknown across the state. He hadn’t played politics in Edo State and hardly voted in previous elections. He was standoffish and remarkably self-effacing. He presented a picture of someone who was not desperate for power. He stood as bestman on May 15, 2016 when Comrade married Iara, his Cape Verdean Queen. Comrade thought he had found a true friend and brother but the reality in Edo State now is a deep cut in the heart of man. No one is expecting Obaseki to behave like an Oshiomhole. They surely nurture different idiosyncrasies. But gratitude has no synonym. Gratitude is gratitude. It is the wickedness of man that two political and social friends would turn apart like sworn enemies.

Barely 24 hours after the victory of Obaseki, he had allegedly informed the Accountant General of the State to halt any payment of approvals coming from Oshiomhole’s table. Work done were never paid and typical of civil servants, the Accountant General complied by using delay tactics to halt those payments, while at some point, the banks were blamed for the delays. One month later, Obaseki was sworn in and the full script of the real Obaseki began to unfold. When laughter does not emanate from the heart, it adds ugliness to the conduct of men.

Pretentiousness is not only insanity by other means, it is the most disturbing character indices that lower the bar in character profiling. The dubiety of it is what kills relationship and hurts friendship. I feel a sense of loss watching the ugly scenarios from the inner fortress of Osadebey Avenue, where Osarodion Ogie, Phillip Shuaibu and Godwin Obaseki call the shots, and supported by a horde of visionless youths who have been converted to mobile army to visit mayhem on anyone that stands in the labyrinth of opposition.

I have received phone calls from concerned persons that I should stay away from Edo State, my place of origin. So, an expression of opinion has now become sacrilegious and the only way to respond is through mayhem and assault. This is what you get when leadership is not cultured and schooled.

I am being reminded every now and then that Governor Obaseki wants to seek re-election. I find it hard to believe. A man seeking re-election should seek votes, not cutlasses, gun-powder, assault and mayhem. Democracy is an inclusive and participatory game where votes count based on campaign promises. Fighting against the electorate is a dissonance that cannot be ignored.

This is why I feel strongly that Governor Obaseki wants to cause maximum damage, destroy the structure that birthed him, uproot the canopy that provided cover for him ab initio, and supplant a regime of radicalised and militarised youths on a fragile system, just to make the point sink that he is the new Sherrif in town. Any politician that truly wants votes, will tone down on assault and verbal warfare, especially one that has not delivered substantially on his campaign promises.

But if the war we witnessed in Kogi State on 16th November, 2019 is anything to go by, elections will no longer be decided by votes, but by cutlasses, gun powder, AK 47, Pump Action, and a combination of other dare-devilry confrontations to railroad everyone to conquest. And Nigeria will gradually be plummeting to an abysmal cesspool of inanities and butt of jokes around the world. Very soon, and very soon, elections will no longer be conducted by the electoral umpire but by armed robbers in a desperate bid to install whoever they desire to enthrone. This is where democracy will now assume a new name; demonstration of craze…….

To be continued next week…..

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