Obaseki Scorches Political Terrain, Holds no Prisoners

By Ehichioya Ezomon The faceoff between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu recalls to mind a popular meme - "If Men Were God" - adopted by a transport company plying many routes across Nigeria. The phrase was left hanging without supplying what would happen were men to be God! But trust Nigerians! They filled the void with a stream of alternatives, thus: If men were God, "Humans will have one eye, one nostril, one ear, one hand, one leg, no fingers, no toes, no teeth, no stomach, no private parts. And wait for this: The "men-God" will limit, ration or seize air completely for any infractions! Welcome to Edo State where Governor Obaseki straddles the "Heart Beat of The Nation" and strikes fears in cowered residents. Lately in a litany of actions, Obaseki's cut communications with, and barred Shaibu from accessing him - hiding behind security details' duty to choose who to allow access to the governor. Fair enough! On September 18, Shaibu's left stranded at the outer fencing of the Government House, Benin City. He's heard, in a viral video, telling someone on the phone that: "Up till now, I don't have any official communication (about his new office). It's the civil servants that have official communication. As I'm speaking to you now, I'm standing by the gate" (of the Government House). Shaibu's ordeal stems from his "expulsion" from the Osadebey Avenue seat of Government, for "aspiring to be governor" in 2024, and daring to take out a writ, to preempt Obaseki using the House of Assembly to "impeach" him and scuttle his ambition. As Shaibu's expressed remorse for whatever his indiscretions, and pleads with Obaseki to "find a place in his heart" to forgive him, may I remind the governor about the unkindness of history, as he faces the homestretch of his eight years of governing Edo State? Earlier in the heady days of his administration, l'd cause to advise him to tread softly for the sake of posterity, channeling the counsel through a March 29, 2021, article captioned, "Edo 2020: Legacy Obaseki wants remembered for." In it, I recalled the immortal words of a popular social-political critic in the defunct Bendel (Delta and Edo) State, Air Iyare. He's the type that lobes dynamites at the authorities, and you only ignore him, and his moral suasion at your own peril. That's the lesson Military Governor Husaini Abdullahi learned in Bendel (1976-1978) from Mr Iyare's crusading, when he wanted to turn a secondary school in Benin City into a hotel. Excerpts from my article: "Writing in the once-flagship Bendel-owned Nigerian Observer, Iyare held that sustaining the grammar school far outweighed the advantages derivable from turning the complex into a hotel. "Closing his article, Iyare stated that should Abdullahi seize the school for commercial purposes, he 'will not be remembered as Abdullahi the Governor, but Abdullahi the hotelier.' And that did it! Mr Abdullahi, who retired as Vice-Admiral and died in 2019 at 80, let the grammar school be. "The moral here isn't Abdullahi's succumbing to public opinion, but the legacy he would've left behind had he turned the secondary school buildings into a commercial venture. "Coming to the now, what legacy does Godwin Obaseki want to be remembered for after his eight-year tenure in 2024 in Edo State? Is it as Obaseki the Governor or Obaseki the "demolisher"? "Mr Obaseki should ponder this, as he embarks on a bulldozing spree of property of his real or imagined enemies." Read more: https://phmundial.com/obaseki-scorches-political-terrain-holds-no-prisoners/

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