By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/p>\n
Whether or notit is true that dynamite comes in small packages is a matter
\nfor public contemplation.But I saw what approximated to the truth in the
\nquote, attributed to an unknownauthor, after reading artist, hobbyist and
\nliterati, Jonathan Magistad\u2019sresponse to it, wherein he said \u201camen to
\nthat! We little people are little ballsof power!\u201d<\/p>\n
Glasses-wearingMagistad is at home with his little stature but quick to
\nposit that his smallstature houses the magnitude of his intellectual
\npower. Therefore, what helacks in physical stature, he makes up for with
\nhis brainy exertions. He fittinglydescribes his powerful cerebral output
\nas little balls of power.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it isnot Magistad\u2019s stature or the attire that he puts on that
\ndefines hisquintessential personality. What defines him is far more
\ntranscendent than theridiculous and the mundane. What defines him is his
\nmesmeric intellectualfirepower, which he deploys in its vast flourish to
\naddress and interrogateexistential issues of life.<\/p>\n
Magistad bearssome similitude with our own Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
\nSurprisingly,Oshiomhole\u2019s response to the issue of his diminutive stature
\nwas implicitly aricochet of Magistad\u2019s \u201cwe little people are little balls
\nof power.\u201d ReadOshiomhole: \u201cSome people say that I am short but fail to
\ntell the world what Iam short of.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a piece Iwrote in June 2018 titled: \u201cAPC and Oshiomhole\u2019s legerdemain\u201d
\nto capture theatmospherics and nuances of our encounter at the Ladi Kwali
\nHall of SheratonHotel and Towers, Abuja, where he hosted a dinner in
\ncelebration of theposthumous national honours conferred by President
\nMuhammadu Buhari on thewinner of the annulled June 12 1993 presidential
\nelection, Chief M.K.O Abiolaand human rights lawyer, the late Chief Gani
\nFawehinmi, I had weighed in with thevirtues that Oshiomhole is not short
\nof, to wit: brilliance, wits, patriotism,commitment and conviction.<\/p>\n
I had expectedthose to whom he referred to take up the gauntlet by telling
\nthe world whatOshiomhole is short of. Oshiomhole\u2019s sense of personal
\nknowledge andappreciation of the assessment or measurement of his
\nindividuality by the significantothers discounts the intent of those
\nsignificant others to put him down in thepublic space in a conquistadorial
\nfashion just because they are uncomfortablewith the force of oration and
\nintelligent ripostes of an irritating, diminutivebut restless spirit.<\/p>\n
But Oshiomholehad long overcome all the artificial limitations and emerged
\nas the inimitablepublic space intellectual that he is. \u00a0The comrade is a
\nrestless and fecund orator ofthe very utilitarian hue. He has, without a
\ndoubt, prepared himself forengagements with existential issues especially
\nthose that verge on labourunionism, politics (governance) and economy.<\/p>\n
Burnished inthe fiery furnace of trade unionism and labour activism in
\nparticular, theIyamho-born labour leader cum politician epitomises a
\nmature andsharply-focused leadership that navigates the turbulent
\ntrajectory of politicsin Edo state where he was governor for eight years
\nand in Nigeria where he isnational chair of the governing All Progressives
\nCongress (APC).<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole iswired. Like a dynamite! Yes, the same dynamite – that
\ndangerous innovativeinvention by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred
\nNobel which he patented in1867 and rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more
\npowerful alternative to blackpowder. The Oshiomhole dynamite has been more
\npotent than other elements thatpretend to be critical in national
\ndiscourses and conversations. \u00a0He had ripped through the Nigerian polity
\natdifferent epochs in episodic ramifications: at the levels of his robust
\nNigeriaLabour Congress (NLC) presidency and governorship of Edo state<\/p>\n
Therefore,Oshiomhole must be handled with respect even by those who may
\npretend to ownhim, as he cannot really be commercialized or privatized. He
\nis not a man givento political chicanery. He is however ready to go the
\nwhole hog with anybody onshared principles and trust. \u00a0In publicspace
\nengagements that require the deployment of facts, figures, logic and
\nevenadversarial stunts, in pushing through positions, Oshiomhole is not
\nanyone\u2019srun-of-the-mill opponent.<\/p>\n
As NLCpresident, he was the nemesis of President Olusegun Obasanjo\u2019s
\nadministrationin appropriate pump prices of petroleum products and salary
\nmatters.\u00a0 As governor in Edo, he was a spike in theflesh of the political
\ngodfathers. He successfully contended with theirinfluence to enjoy a
\ntwo-term governorship and install a successor.<\/p>\n
In the saddleas national chair of the APC, he had deployed his mantras of
\nparty disciplineand return of the party to the people to truncate the
\ngovernorship aspirationsof two ministers and to stop some self-appointed
\nimperial governors from usingtheir machinery in their states to foist
\ntheir anointed successors on thepeople through illegal indirect primary
\nelection. Ogun and Imo States remaintwo good examples.<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole hascontinued to rambunctiously exert his leadership mojo in the
\naffairs of the APCpost-2019 general election. He is in a joyous mood,
\nespecially over the party\u2019svictory in the presidential election. That the
\nAPC controls the majority seatsin the National Assembly has equally
\nexcited him.<\/p>\n
He has kepthis eyes on the ball of driving party and government
\narchitectures in synergyfor a robust delivery of the electioneering
\npromises that verge on takingNigeria to the next level. This, to him, is
\ndoable with the right kind ofleadership in the Federal Legislature. This
\nis perhaps the reason he has ledthe party to think ahead by identifying
\nthose that fit the positions.<\/p>\n
Successfulbusiness mogul, Bill Gates, in his book \u201cThinking Ahead\u201d
\ndeclared: \u201cHistory isfull of now iconic examples- (remember) the Oxford
\nprofessor who in 1878dismissed the electric light bulb as a gimmick, (and
\nlife proved he was wrong),the commissioner of US patents, who in 1899,
\nasked that his office be abolishedbecause everything that had been
\ninvented has been invented.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far asOshiomhole is concerned, nothing is significantly settled that
\nneeds no furtherimprovements by the party. Once the party has settled
\nissues at necessaryintersections, they remain settled.\u00a0 Sothe APC, under
\nhis leadership, exists to prove wrong certain assumptions,conventions and
\nconstitutional provisions about the election of NationalAssembly
\nleadership.<\/p>\n
The \u201cdynamite\u201dhas burrowed his head in the sand of the Federal
\nLegislature. Will there be an explosion?If there is, will it be positive,
\nover all, to the party? Expectedly yes, ifthe party perfects its moves and
\nstays surefooted on the process. Oshiomholehas the wits and the grits to
\nrealise this. Meanwhile, this is wishing thecomrade chair a happy birthday
\namid the post-election victory celebrations.<\/p>\n