Hypocritical Politicians: Wike, Oshiomhole Trade Blames

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Nyesom Wike Tuesday traded blames over the culpability of the political class to live by the principles they preach.

The two politicians spoke at the launch of the book, “The Big Interviews,” a book written by the immediate past Managing Director of the Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Eric Osagie.

The occasion which was graced by the elite of the political, business and media sectors also saw Vanguard publisher debunk claims that he and some publishers to negotiate with the DSS for the release of Omoyele Sowore.

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC threw the first shot at the ceremony when he taunted Nigerian journalists for being soft on the political class who he said do not live according to what they preach.

He said: “When I watch interviewers abroad, I see fearlessness, I see courage. When I watch any of the international cable networks, I don’t hear any of the interviewers interviewing President Trump (Donald) say, Your Excellency.

“But in Nigeria, journalists make you feel that you are already superhuman. And he will ask you questions that sometimes for me are quite patronising. And you get away with so much half truths without the right to interrogate even obvious lies.

“President Muhammadu Buhari would be the easiest person to interview. I watched an interview with a former President and I believe that many of us here watched it. The host of Hard Talk that popular BBC programme asked a Nigerian President, I won’t mention any name but Governor Nyesom Wike knows the person. He has associated with the person and he has been groomed under the person and he is still being overseen by the person. He was asked two questions at two different interviews.

“The man started by giving lectures as he has always done. He said the problem of Africa is lack of population control. He said the population was growing at 3 per cent and the economy at far less than that and that that was why poverty was endemic.

“And then this fearless professional BBC Hard Talk host asked him. ‘Since you were the President of Africa’s most populous nation, how did you contribute to the population? How many children do you have? And how many wives have you married, all your life?’

“Leaders should not preach what they are not doing? You can’t be on record as having so many wives registered and unregistered, several children, some in dispute and then you go the Queen’s land and lectured about population. You ought to have married one wife and maybe two children and then you use yourself as an example. If you were part of those who helped to create the problem, you then become a role model to the younger one.

“The Second one was the same big man who writes letters a lot. They asked him that there was a lot of corruption in his government (Nuhu Ribadu will testify to that). And he said “did they say I am corrupt?” You superintended over a government that according to Transparency International was very corrupt. You didn’t fight it even though you set up formal institutions, his interviewer continued. He tried to make a distinction between the President and the government. But the man told him, you have a responsibility to enforce law and order. You made those laws, you did not enforce them. I am trying to imagine if anyone here could have asked him such questions and found his way home.”

Following him, Governor Wike of Rivers State took to the podium and said:

“I agree with Oshiomhole that leaders should practice what they preach and not to preach what they do not practice. I remember during the chairman’s (Oshiomhole) second tenure as governor of Edo state, he came to the villa to thank the then President for One man one vote. Today, do we have one man one vote?” The audience replied No!

“’I expected that when he had the opportunity to thank the President, he would have carried it along with him to make sure one man one vote continues to count. So preach what you practice,” he added.

Continuing, Wike fired on:

“Remember during their own time, they had what they called occupy Nigeria. Nobody was arrested, nobody was sent to jail, but today, today, today… Are they practising what they are preaching? We cannot be deceived, all of us know, we are not progressing, rather we are retrogressing.”

Amuka speaking on his mission to the DSS headquarters said:

“Some of you would have heard that on this Sowore matter, I was among the persons that went to the Department of State Services, DSS. And what was published that you saw was the opposite of what actually happened.

“Indeed, we went to the DSS, but it was to tell the DSS to release Sowore because we believe that keeping him was not good for the government. It was not to negotiate with Sowore to come to terms with the government.”

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