THEY have always told us that politics is dirty but nobody informed us that there are also mad men in politics and that in politics indiscretion and sloppiness are virtues. It is sad that perhaps, because of the stupendous wealth and power politicians wield, there is something that makes some of them absolute nut cases, insensitive and unreasonable.
Former Edo governor and one time NLC president, Adams Oshiomhole, has consistently proven that wisdom indeed does not come with age. A man can be 100 years old and yet lacks wisdom. Oshiomhole has shown that the older he gets the more reckless, irrational and indiscreet he has become. How can somebody as old as this consistently speak without wisdom, discretion and self-restraint?
Oshiomhole, has always been known to speak before thinking, but of all the reckless, irresponsible, immature and irrational statements he had made in the past, the one he was quoted to have said recently in a response to the statement earlier made by the wife of the governor of Edo State, Betsy Obaseki, is by far the most imprudent.
As former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Oshiomhole’s arrogance, self-indulgence and the overarching importance he attached to this office was primarily responsible for his failure as chairman of the party. His abrasive mannerism ensured that an already disappointing political party was divided and fractured all over the country.
As governor of Edo State who gained tremendously from the goodwill he enjoyed as a labour unionist his performance was widely acclaimed. He was recognised as being the best governor since after Ambrose Alli in Edo.
However, his indiscreet and impulsive outbursts against a widow attracted national condemnation and would remain a major blight on his reign as governor.
Oshiomhole had during an inspection tour on Mission Road, in Benin told the street trader “to go and die” after she was reported to have pleaded with him to pardon her because she was a widow struggling to provide food on the table for her family.
Although, he was to apologise later and had a meeting with the widow where he offered her N2 million and a job, the outburst was not only irrational but also completely unnecessary and avoidable.
A supposedly penitent Oshiomhole later said, “I have also realised that even in anger, one could still achieve the same result that he set out to without provocative outburst.
“I apologise from the bottom of my heart, but sometimes you get angry when people compromise your efforts.’’
According to him, the state government was trying to beautify the state, adding that it is frustrating to see people truncate such efforts.
A sound argument, is it not? Yet the same Oshiomhole was widely reported publicly buying and eating maize from roadside traders during campaigns. During campaigns, roadside trading is permissible but after being elected, it becomes undesirable
As governor he fought all political godfathers and told the world that that would be the end of godfathers in Edo politics and a lot of people cheered him on because before his coming as governor, Edo was suffering from an unbroken chain of bad governance. Yet he wanted to be godfather after leaving office. He left office and fought his successor, Godwin Obaseki, who rejected his attempts to make him a lame duck governor.
He created confusion in Edo and misled some state legislators against Governor Obaseki. He housed them in Abuja from where they wasted their time and lost out until the end of their tenures.
Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo North Senatorial District had employed similar toxic and corrosive political tactics against Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu in 2016, while Ize-Iyamu was the candidate of the PDP. He called him names and accused him of everything under the sun.
But, as fate would have it, he was to return to his vomit when Ize-Iyamu defected to APC and became the candidate of the party for the 2020 governorship election against Obaseki.
His character assassination of Ize-Iyamu couldn’t be undone and this contributed greatly to Ize-Iyamu’s defeat by Obaseki.
With an overrated self-worth, Oshiomhole was seen on television recently berating protesters for the recent protest against bad governance and hunger. He tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to condemn the action of the protesters dismissing them as faceless, inconsequential individuals who are not known figures in the society.
To Oshiomhole and his ilk, banking must remain brick and mortar. He has not woken up to the reality that there have been generational shift and that the youths of this generation have consciously chosen to deviate from the usual method of protests where some so-called protest leaders exploited and undermined their agitations and struggles by going behind to compromise such struggles after selling their members for a miserable pot of porridge.
That was how they amassed their fortunes and built palatial fortresses and lived in opulence in the name of unionism. Oshiomhole thinks himself who has lived all his life as labour leader and politician as being more noble than this upwardly mobile current generation who have become what they are without government patronage and being in political office.
So, to address the present reality, the Oshiomholes of this world must realise that it is not for nothing that the protesters no longer present moles masquerading as protest leaders.
In his recent much criticised outburst where he mocked Governor Obaseki and his wife, Besty, for being childless, Oshiomhole simply confirmed that he is totally irredeemable. He showed that he is a bad example to his Christian faith which he often parrots every now and then. He is a bad example of what a good Christian should be, or does he want to be bored here with replete cases of women in the Bible who were similarly mocked by people and how God intervened in their circumstances? He should know if indeed he is the Christian he often claims he is.
Some have questioned my not condemning Mrs. Obaseki for challenging other candidates to take their wives along during their campaigns. That I cannot do because I completely align myself with Mrs. Obaseki on this. Can a man who is not temperate enough to live with a woman as wife have the temperament to govern a state with people of diverse cultures, traditions and of different behaviours, character and religions etc.?
Oshiomhole goofed and that is consistent with his character. And like his flip-flop disposition negatively affected the fortunes of Ize-Iyamu, should the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, fail in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo, Oshiomhole’s lack of tact and discretion would have contributed a great deal.
