On Governor Oshiomole's "go and die" Gaffe

 

Amongst the many things I try not to pay attention to ( following sanctimonious preachers and bribe-accepting police officers) Nigerian politics ranks highly.

Time and again, Nigerian's political affairs have been bridled by poor, even malignant leaders who perceive power as existing for its own sake, rather than for the people's general well-being. There is the greedy kleptomaniac who siphons as much national capital as he can amass into private accounts shamelessly scattered hither and yon, the military-ordained tyrant who is ignorant of the basic human rights and ever ready to mete out inhuman sanctions on innocent individuals, the arrogant persona who is above being flawed, so refuses to accept responsibility for the  regressive state of the country's affairs.

Their administrations (or rather dictatorship) are marred by poor infrastructural facilities, poverty, crime, corruption, poor health and educational standards, doctored religious and ethnic clashes, general insecurity and unemployment. The list is endless, but then I need to take a chill pill now to douse the flame already brewing in my intestines.

Sometime ago, during the then trending Taraba crises, my friend expressed his disappointment over my conspicuous ignorance of an incident that was the topic of every media discourse. Of course, I should have known, but I preferred not to.

The reason for my apathy is not far-fetched. Our so called leaders are bunch of power-drunk people who are only engrossed in maintaining their existence rather than that of the people, interested only in assuming the seats of power rather than the obligations that come with it. It saddens me. Since it's not my intention to become slimmer than I already am, I chose the path of ignorance. "Not knowing is better than knowing and worrying", I told him.

The peak of my apoliticalism was post 2011 elections that saw the then interim President Goodluck Jonathan emerge the winner.

I seethed with Congress for Progressive Change party about the gross election malpractices employed by the People's Democratic Party, which thwarted Buhari's 2011 presidential aspiration. Unfortunately, my voice was gobbled down in the boisterousness of the majority. Many people taught I was stupid and gave me similar looks reminiscent of the ones I received  during the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France. "Everyone but you is TeamFrance", "What is wrong with you"? They questioned in perplexity and helplessness to my hysteric post match revelry. I could tell a lot of them were tempted to fling me out the window.

However, the political scandal trailing Adams Oshiomole, brought me out of my shell. I watched the video which has generated enormous amount of criticisms against the governor, majority tagging the governor's manner of approach as disgusting and wicked.

Normally, sentimental stories as this would stimulate me to join the castigators bandwagon. Surprisingly, that didn't happen. Instead I chose to cut him some slacks.

I haven't forgotten the gallant hero that undauntedly challenged the arbitrary government of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004. I haven't forgotten the Adams Oshiomole led National Labour Congress that stood as the only plausible opposition then that battled to uphold democracy, dialogue, that will improve the well-being of millions of Nigeria. I haven't forgotten the man who didn't yield to forceful arrest, teargas and other means employed by the manipulated security services to deter him from disputing the pump price increment by the Federal government. I haven't forgotten how the nation united to sing his eulogy. I haven't forgotten how that single patriotic act garnered massive popularity that earned him a landslide victory in the Edo state gubernatorial election in 2012 under Action Congress.

Apparently, all these were forgotten as many took to the social media and generated 101 reasons why Oshiomole was the meanest man ever to walk the face of the earth. Trust propagandists, a la People's Democratic Party to capitalize on the issue to selfishly and maliciously foster their political ambitions. "This is one of the reasons All Progress Congress Party is anti-people, tyrannical, violent, unpatriotic and therefore the most "inelectable" political party in Nigeria", PDP slammed. LOL! I choose to refrain from writing a litany of the tragedy of Nigeria under the horrendous leadership of PDP. A kettle should never call the pot black.

After my efforts at sanitizing my neighbourhood, I discovered someone still ditched a bag of junk at a particular spot that I spent a greater time cleaning up. "Ndi Ekwensu" (Igbo language for evil ones), I fumed when I saw it. A little while later, I regretted my utterance. Like me, the governor showed remorse, apologized and explained he acted out of anger. He was quoted as saying, ".... but sometimes you get angry when people compromise your efforts”. He said it all. We all say things we don't mean when angry, especially when others demonstrate little or no regard for our cherished projects.  Governor Oshiomole is not an exception here.

Like majority of every (sane) human beings, the governor made a mistake, and most importantly tendered a modest apology.

However, my bone of contention with him is playing to the gallery by offering the sum of N2, 000, 000 (two million naira) to the lady, otherwise I can't think of any other reason he was that outrageous. Whatever the case may be, he sacrificed appropriateness on the alter of damned politics in a bid to outdo his party's rivalry. Unfortunately, that's the move a lot of people applauded. Materialism. Isn't that one of the major problems we face as a nation, among our leaders, among us?

This is one of such issues folks blew out of proportion.