Oshiomhole And Wike: The Friendship of Obaseki’s Enemies

Perhaps no other two persons have stirred political drama in Nigeria’s South-South region in the Fourth Republic than Governors Nyesom Wike and the comrade governor, Adams Oshiomhole.

The sight of Governor Wike commissioning his numerous projects and the praise singers cheering ‘Nyesom Wike pepper dem well, pepper dem well…as eh dey sweet us e dey pain dem, as e dey pain dem, e dey sweet us..’ has become one of the more enthralling take aways from the sight and sound of the project inaugurations in Rivers State.

It is a reminder to the shouts of Osho Baba, Osho Baba that rented the air anytime Comrade Oshiomhole went out to inspect the Airport Road project or the Storm water project in Benin.

Oshiomhole as governor of Edo State was about the most excitable person in the political arena in his time. While governor, he regularly took to the roads to demonstrate his flair for political drama. Just like Wike, he was not about the most admired of persons especially among the political elite.

Oshiomhole’s celebration of his killing of political godfathers was celebrated as about the way Wike has also been celebrating his construction of projects all about Rivers State. It is remarkable that the two men only interacted as governors for one year as Oshiomhole left office about a year after Wike was inaugurated.

Though they came in through different political parties few would doubt that the personalities of the two men would have rubbed off on the politics of the South-South had they served together as governors for a longer period.

What is remarkable is that Wike to the embarrassment of his critics has kept on delivering projects in a way that has stupefied many. In fact, it makes a mockery of fellow governors that one governor keeps commissioning projects even inviting some of them to come and commission his projects.   

The project inaugurations have remarkably, been stages for Governor Wike to make political statements. Almost unfailingly, he has used the project inaugurations to accentuate his point on issues pertaining to the crisis in the PDP.

Predictably, Wike has not made any pretence in fencing out his political enemies from the live television commissioning activities. He has snubbed the leadership of the PDP and even its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and at the same time invited political actors from other parties for the inaugurations.

As he started the commissioning of projects this week, the governor could not hide his reaction to mutterings within the PDP over his invitations to Oshiomhole and Obi for the high-profile inaugurations. His reaction was that it is his right to invite whosoever he desires as he threw a punch to the critics to also commission their projects.

Now the appearance of Oshiomhole in Port-Harcourt was perhaps one of the most remarkable political statements that came from the project inaugurations.

Few would forget the role the two men played in the Edo State governorship election of 2020.

It would be recalled that in the days leading to the election that the PDP had sought a kind of man with grit to face the APC attack that was marshalled from the background by Oshiomhole.

Wike by all parameters fit into that image and he was duly appointed as chairman of the Edo Governorship Campaign Council. Wike’s main man, Chief Dan Orbih, a long-time political foe of Oshiomhole’s was also appointed the campaign manager.

The two worked together to deliver Obaseki for a second term with votes significantly above the muddle that brought him as governor in the first term in 2016.

That both Orbih and Wike fell out with Obaseki, just as Oshiomhole who first brought him to political light had earlier done, is not the issue here. What has amazed your correspondent is the way that Oshiomhole and Wike have resonated with the political philosophy of no permanent enemies in politics but permanent interests.

Another political saying that comes to mind is that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Wike was prompt to offer his apologies for the way he fought Oshiomhole even putting aside the claim that he did not take a bath for three days as he prosecuted the election war for Obaseki against the former APC national chairman.

The rapprochement with Oshiomhole is significant. The former Edo governor is the number two man in the operations department of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Campaign. It will be difficult for anyone to believe that comrade and Wike did not discuss how they could help the APC presidential candidate when they were alone.

It is no news that of the three leading presidential candidates that Wike has been reported to be more disposed to Tinubu than Atiku or Obi. The reasons are numerous and did not start today.  However, the Rivers State governor is constrained by the tremor on the ground around him.

That political tremor came to play when the Labour Party presidential candidate did a walkabout with Wike last Thursday during the commissioning of another flyover in Port-Harcourt. As the two men stamped the streets, there were shouts everywhere of Obi! Obi!! Obi!!!  

That is the puzzle for Wike.

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