By John Mayaki
If Adams Oshiomhole were a woman then we would have safely concluded
that Governor Godwin Obaseki is romantically obsessed with him. Why
wouldn’t one conclude such when Obaseki has used all his resources in
pursuing Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; why won’t we conclude such when
Obaseki, with all his might, soul, spirit, energy, and strength have
gone after Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole?
On the pages of the newspapers, on podiums with microphone, in
discussion with close friends and allies, and even in his sleep, we have
learned, the name of the National Chairman of the governing party
haven’t left his lips.
The most recent activity in this bout of obsessive affinity is an
article sponsored by Godwin Obaseki and published on the 20th page of
May 11 Vanguard dispatch. Written and signed by Pastor Joseph O.
Osagiede, the purported publicity secretary of the Obaseki disillusioned
faction of APC in the state, we are well aware that Obaseki is the true
speaker who, masked and can only perform from behind, allowed his
expression to come through the witless writing of Osagiede Joseph.
The article, demonstrating Obaseki’s obsession with Oshiomhole, without
disappointment began, even from the title, with going straight for
Oshiomhole. But after that, it made no haste in sliding into
self-denial, into willful blindness to the truth, into a sweaty effort
to revise truth. “Oshiomhole’s Aspirants Working To Fracture APC In
Edo,” the headline read, revealing the deliberate ignorance of Obaseki
and his refusal to understand and accept that his seat as Governor of
Edo State is under review, up for the grabs, and open to transparent
contest. To be clear, there are no Oshiomhole’s aspirants working to
fracture APC in Edo State.
There is rather, independent-minded, capable and competent aspirants
gunning for the gubernatorial position in Edo State. Obaseki, like a
child born into privilege, with a silver spoon shoved into his mouth by
the benevolent spirits of the universe, remains lazy and entitled and
incredibly attached to a transient power. It is not a bad thing to want
the sugar benevolently slotted in your mouth to remain there; the bad
thing, however, is a refusal to prove one’s mettle, to contest for the
perpetual remaining of that sugar in your mouth.
And so that is Obaseki, a man who has four years of unmitigated failure
under his belt, as the governor of Edo State. An undemocratic tyrant who
is at loggerheads with accountability–the very soul of leadership. The
dazed and confused leader who in the place of tangible and provable
projects has countless signed MoU flying around in the cabinet of his
administration. A sleepy and confused leader who had, over and over,
made incredulous mistakes in advertising renovation contracts outside of
his authority and constituency, in a nonexistent location, and for
nonexistent structures.
But those are minor crimes. This is a petulant man-child who went on
national TV to promise a torrential rain of blood and fire on persons
who do not cue-into his second term ambition. A man brazenly devoid of
diplomatic wisdom or leadership charisma. A governor sitting on a pile
of potential corruption charges awaiting fruition upon his eventual
booting out of office. An incompetent wildling wanting to machete his
way to sustenance in power and for this he had used state agencies to
abuse power, demolishing properties belonging to perceived enemies,
sending official thugs and police after upright individuals who had
renounced his inept government.
And yet he speaks of ‘fracturing APC in Edo.’ Does a deity join in
mourning the man he had killed? Does a stinking man lament that the room
is smelling? No, of course, except he is Godwin Obaseki. Because this
very man who swore 10 out of 24 Edo State House of Assemblies
legislators-elect, hijacking them at the dead of night and foisting a
speaker on them, while alienating 14 members who were all APC members,
is today speaking of fracturing Edo APC. The same man who had refused to
employ the expertise of Edo State professionals, qualified members of
his own party, and other stakeholders is today clamoring about
fracturing Edo APC. A man so unfit and terminally unable to lead his
camp that his Chief of Staff resigned and abandoned him a few months to
an election. Yes, there are fractured things in Edo State and they are
Godwin Obaseki, Godwin Obaseki’s mental health, and Godwin Obaseki’s
crumbling political camp.
It is not surprising that the masked speaker in the article in question
expended too many paragraphs in highlighting the imagined achievements
and legacies of Obaseki. Since it is Obaseki speaking through Joseph,
such is just a mere megalomaniac display of insecurity. No true achiever
really advertises his achievements. For Obaseki, there are no
accomplishments, no legacies, no achievement, just Obaseki, a dark shiny
head of putrid nothing taking an aimless stroll through the corridors of
power. Is it not the man who, for four years now, has been taking loans
after loan, grants after grants, claiming to be applying those to the
agricultural sector of the state but who got afraid after an NGO wrote a
petition against him that he began an emergency reconstruction of the
agricultural facility in Iguoriakhi?
Even in the said article, Obaseki’s brutish tendency glimpsed its face.
In the seventh paragraph, Obaseki speaking through Joseph’s writing
says: “As a matter of fact, Oshiomhole should be careful and not take
the state government’s benevolence for granted, particularly as pertains
the host of financial and legal infractions perpetrated in his tenure.”
Here, the Tasmanian Devil threatens violence, hoping to strongarm the
party’s National Chairman into cowardly shivering by mentioning the
State Government’s ability to sue and investigate on the former
governor’s financial dealings.
Obviously, there is nothing there to be investigated and sued for, but
this posturing by the Obaseki’s government provides an insight into the
mentality and workings of the administration: collusion, intimidation,
abuse of power, abetting of crime, and leveraging on evidence to the
unholy benefit of the administration. By a slight of the mind, they
reveal this dangerous character to the public, imagine then, the
severity of the things they have done in the private.
It is a shame that Obaseki has placed his shame on a national pedestal,
expending public funds on a doomed adventure, while distracting himself
from more serious works of governance in the middle of a pandemic that
he has so badly managed in the state.
—
PRINCE JOHN MAYAKI
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA
PASTOR OSAGIE IZE-IYAMU CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION
info@johnma