Editorial
Edo impeachment: Sad ending for ‘Emperor’ Obaseki
The Nigerian history book will certainly not forget Monday, April 8, 2024. On that day the nation’s democracy was dealt yet another hammer-blow. Just like the pains felt by Christians a fortnight ago, when the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was being replicated on Good Friday, the pains and shock of the nailing of democracy to the wall, is unimaginable to lovers of democracy in Nigeria and around the world, by that very disastrous outing.
From the outset, let us say that we at Whirlwindnews.com.ng, have followed the twists and turns of this story, flinching and wincing at the sheer intolerance and impunity of Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State.
We have been shocked beyond words at how much he could descend in his manifestation of sheer pettiness, narrow-mindedness, impulsiveness, if not outright childishness in his handling of his dispute with Philip Shaibu, his erstwhile deputy, whose only offence on record, was that he dared go against his wish by offering himself to be the next governor of the state, in the September 21 governorship election, a clearly legitimate ambition he has absolute right to.
Before the turn of events with the declaration of his ambition, the pair, had maintained themselves as chummy – happy good buddies in public. All that suddenly disappeared into thing air. Having so tracked the sequence of the events from beginning to this sad end, we do not hesitate to pronounce the governor the guilty party in this matter. What a sad story! What a sad day!
It becomes sadder still when we consider that Obaseki, is one of the most educated and high-profile governors in Nigeria today in terms of content and exposure. To this extent, his conducts in terms of public behaviour, official and private activities and more importantly, democratic credentials ought to be topnotch consistent with his high attainment.
But what did we see in the case in question? Nothing different from his counterparts, who found themselves into office out of thuggery or other manners of political brigandage and malfeasance replete in Nigeria’s political space. He clearly has not lived up to his billing.
There is no telling the fact that the Dennis Osadebey House in Benin would be swarming at the moment with all manner of political hounds, cheerleaders, praise-singers and goons, including the members of the state House of Assembly, who executed the odious project.
There will be celebration, no doubt. The fatlings reserved for this special occasion would have since been slaughtered and used to prepare exquisite cuisines. There would be surplus of choice wines which would go with other delicacies, soft and loud music and other concomitant accessories accompanying the backslapping and merrymaking.
In the end, Obaseki would have won the ego war. Even friends of Shaibu, who had egged him on in the war every Nigerian outside the imbecilic realm knew from the outset he would lose, would have returned to pledge their loyalty to the governor and denigrate his former righthand man in every manner.
But that is where it would end. From henceforth the governor would have lost any claim to democratic identity. For the simple reason that he has soiled his name, so disastrously, whenever those who helped Nigeria’s democracy are called to mount the rostrum, Godwin Obaseki, would be missing on that list, unless prepared by equally decadent, insipid and or deficient individuals lacking democratic ethos.
In the end, what did he gain? Perhaps, a well-oiled and massaged ego and nothing more! Shaibu, would certainly be the winner in the long run. Like others before him he has approached the courts to intervene in the matter and because as is wont in other cases, like the child sent by the father to steal, those who prosecuted the project, would naturally have been tempted to break the doors with their legs, by discountenancing due process, including valid court orders, in their bid to please the governor. In other words, the impeachment is most likely going to be set aside.
Obaseki-Shaibu
Yes! He would not have served out his term, but if the benefit of hindsight is anything to go by, if the impeachment is quashed at the end of the day by the courts and all the benefits accruing to him therefrom, paid and in the eyes of the law, he is returned to his original position as if nothing happened, what then?
So, why embark on a project with such a fleeting, phantom and temporally gains? Why lose everything, just to enjoy such a short-lived bliss? Indeed, what Obaseki did is not peculiar to him. Instead, he would be joining the special class currently occupied by President Bola Tinubu, who as governor of Lagos State, had the record of supervising the impeachment of two deputies, Isah Yuguda of Bauchi, Sullivan Chime in Enugu, the late Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara and Yahaya Bello of Kogi.
Except Tinubu, who managed to wangle himself to the Presidency, where are the others today? Some of them have fizzled out, while others have at one time or the other become victims of the obsessive and excessive powers, they had used in dealing with their deputies.
Who knows? The day might come when the same Obaseki, might face the same monster that he unleashed against Shaibu. Hopefully, if and when that day comes, he would look back and remember what April 8, 2024, looked like in Edo, when he held the levers of power and used it to determine political life and death. Today, he has established himself as not only a dictator but the Emperor of Dennis Osadebey. What a sad ending of a blistering public image!
It began less than 10 minutes after taking the oath of office. In his address to the nation, he uttered those three-letter words – subsidy is gone. The ink with which he signed the documents declaring him President was yet to dry.
That was it. From that moment, Nigerians have known nothing but poverty, tears and death. It was a declaration that came out of impulse rather than articulacy. It was not even contained in his original speech prepared for the occasion. But it sprouted out – from a rash, unthinking and impetuous mental construct.
But the effect was instant, the impact direct. From that moment, Nigerians have never known peace. Every thing took a cue. Minutes after, the news broke that the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol had jumped from N189 to N550. It was that instant. Today, it hovers around N1,500.
The effect: Within minutes, transportation cost quadrupled. So too, commodity prices. Caught unawares, marketers, who had earlier thought it was a day of the rains as customers rushed to their shops, soon became suspicious and then got wiser – these were not ordinary customers but smart alecs playing a fast one on them.
They stopped selling, retrieved the items they could from those who had not disappeared with their goods and closed shop to study the situation properly. Hours after, they responded. A plate of eba and soup, went up from N200 to N1,000. Prices hit the rooftops.
In fact, the vehicle transporting what used to be Nigeria, which had been moving at a horse and buggy pace in the days of Muhammadu Buhari, stopped abruptly, engaged the reverse gear and began galloping backwards. That has remained the ugly, parlous tale of the Tinubu days, since May 29, 2023.
Now, the expectation would be that the President and his government that wrought such a horrendous punishment on the polity, would themselves take some blows. But nada! Instead, the opposite was the case. Within months of plunging the citizens into the untold hardship Tinubu went on a binge, spending money – in the words of Olusegun Obasanjo, former President – like a drunken sailor.
Few weeks after, as Nigerians were reeling and gasping in pain from the impact of their new situation, 469 newly-minted Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), rolled out from factories in Japan, where they were produced into the premises of the National Assembly for the just inaugurated members.
Put the cost at N100billion – that is N160million for each unit, plus other charges. Reason: The lawmakers needed the vehicles because of their good suspension system, to navigate the so many bad roads in Nigeria. Yes, you heard right. How could they think well and make good laws after the hassles of the bad roads? Tinubu saw reasons, acquiesced and voila!
But it did not end there. Tinubu suddenly realised that Kashim Shettima, his deputy, needed a new home “befitting” his new office. Pronto! A voucher of N21billion was raised and he had it. Till date a haze still hovers over the project.
The last news that was heard was that Number Two refused to take residence because the entire environment, including the toilets was wired to the teeth to monitor him. And Number Two needed privacy.
Again, in the same weeks, Oga Patapata, also realised that Madam needed to transport more comfortably. Pronto! It was arranged. Another voucher was raised for cars for the Office of the First Lady. Cost N1.2billion. Of course, madam needed the comfort for peace at home.
Naturally, since transportation is not done by land alone, he also took care of that. For the sea, a yacht was procured. Cost N5billion. Because the birds in the presidential fleet were not good enough, Tinubu did the needful.
He enriched the fleet with the one befitting of his status and had it transformed to mimic the US Air Force One. To complete the status symbol project, he also added a replica of The Beast, the US presidential automobile.
Ironically, the funds used in procuring these luxury lifestyle, came, not out of productive ventures of Nigeria, but through borrowing. Today, Tinubu has practically borrowed Nigeria blind, doubling or even tripling that of his predecessors.
Meanwhile Nigerians had upped the ante from mere groaning and skreiching. Citizens, unable to take it anymore, now stop their hitherto sleek vehicles on the Third Mainland Bridge and plunge into the Lagos lagoon to end it all. The option is now more rampant than remote and occasional.
Many others, taking the Socrates option, now drink hemlock and many more simply sleep off without any intention of waking up. That is where we are. That is the new Nigeria – the Tinubu Nigeria. But there is more.
Terrorists and the landlords of the forest, having now discovered that the Commander-in-Chief has other fancies than security and welfare of the people – the constitutionally-declared primary purpose of government and scant regard for the citizens, have practically gone haywire. They have taken over and established their authority.
Presently, outside those wantonly slaughtered or butchered in their homes like animals at the abattoir, incinerated alive while sleeping on their beds, among other forms of decimation, many more citizens are now spending months, going to years as victims of captivity with them in various forests in Nigeria.
In their rampage, the terrorists have since broken all barriers considered out of place hitherto. One of their escapades is the present videos of the school children and teachers taken from Oyo State. The gory imagery captures the current Nigerian story.
For instance, on Thursday, just as the sound of heavy celebration was going on in neighbouring Ogun State as the world marked the Ojude Oba yearly carnival, two of the victims, one of them with a toddler on her back, were pleading for their lives, as others went through various forms of torture, including heavy whipping like beasts.
Don’t forget that the terrorists had earlier slaughtered one of their colleagues. In the new video, the totally terrified women, informed that they had chosen another victim to be similarly eliminated. Yet, no word about rescue! Terrible!
Interestingly, if not painfully, Tinubu’s response, in the few cases he bothered, was to see the crisis through the politics lens. His most recent reaction was to tell the world that the harvest of attacks and carnages ravaging the country, were sponsored by his political enemies, intent on shoving him out of power. That to him was all that mattered.
Now, where are your powers as C-in-C? They are mostly found in the most disgraceful economic and political acts of impunity. Nigerians now waking up to hear of the award of brain-dazing contracts such as the N15trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Badagry-Maiduguri Highway – with scant regard for official regulations, is now becoming more common than rare.
Few days after one of the teachers was beheaded and the video of the hideous act made to circulate on the social media, the President and his All Progressives Congress (APC), party, rolled out the drums of his winning the party’s ticket to contest the 2027 presidential election.
To say that it has been three years of weeping, wailing, mourning and gnashing of the teeth, is a clear euphemism. There is no starker way of putting it than calamity – pure, unmitigated catastrophe – disaster.
Then comes the big question. Nigeria is already breasting the tape of these ruinous years of the first term. Suppose Tinubu succeeds in renewing his tenure by January next year? Will Nigeria survive five more years of a life like the last three? What will be left of Nigeria? Is there a way out, outside shouting – God forbid!?
Now that Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has fully executed his plot against Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, where would it be placed in terms of identity, nuances, ethos and history? Where would it be placed in democratic arrangement and value? In other word, by what name would it be called?
So, this is what President Bola Tinubu’s much-advertised democratic credentials is all about? This is what being listed among the arrowheads in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the body that fought relentlessly against the late Sani Abacha and his henchmen has finally come to?
Is this where “The Last Man Standing” – apologies Tony Elumelu – has ended up? So, after wedging an epic battle for and through Lagos State, against then President Obasanjo and practically defeating him, even if perceptibly, in all the struggles – such as running government without federal allocation for years and surviving the political onslaught that took away other South West states like a tsunami, it has come to this?
Don’t forget that it was this selfsame Tinubu that served as the bastion of opposition in Nigerian politics from when he was Governor of Lagos State, not only standing up against Obasanjo, but undertaking the relentless battles that led to the All Progressives Congress (APC), winning the war eventually in 2015.
So, this is what all the struggles, the speeches, the colloquia, the meetings and the strategies have come to – the end result? So, the definition of democracy, to Tinubu, is selling the dog to buy a monkey – replacing democratic bad-behaviour with democratic-heist? So, this is it?!
Make no mistake about it. What you saw play out in Rivers is nothing but Tinubu at work. It is all about him, it is for him. Never make the mistake of adorning Wike in the toga of a powerful man. That would be a fatal error of judgement. Every power he exercises, real, imagined, inferred or contingent belong to and are exclusive to Tinubu.
Take away the President and Wike would turn to a political meek-lamb or a jellyfish. Fubara would have eaten him for lunch a long time ago. So, Tinubu it is – the reason the klieglights must be beamed on him. That is why he must carry the can in this odious construct in Rivers in particular and the entire Nigerian political scenario in general.
With the picture that assaulted Nigeria regarding the APC primaries that have just held, what is different from the edition we saw in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of old? Is it not worse or the worst in real and imagined terms? What then has Tinubu been fighting all these years?
Incidentally, where we have Wike today, we had Lamidi Adedibu, the Amala Politics exponent, Tony Aneni of the Mr. Fix-it fame and the Uba brothers in Anambra to whom the political firmament in Nigeria once bowed, among many plethora of examples.
So, there is nothing really new about the development, but for the fresh dimension that has been introduced into the narrative by the Wike phenomenon, which is totally novel. Before now it was a case of one behemoth in a political party rampaging the system.
But today, it has gone beyond that. Wike has developed the penchant for taking no prisoners. In his own strange construct, he has now coalesced the entire APC and PDP structure into his shoulder basket, from where he dispenses favours.
Imagine Kingsley Chinda, purchasing APC governorship election form, as a PDP federal lawmaker without first resigning from his original party. That is how wacky it has become. Wackier still is that nobody – not even the APC apparatchik has been able to raise a finger. Why? Obvious answer – the Tinubu factor.
Now, here is the danger. By the heist in Port Harcourt adding to the sequence of political oddities and absurdities since the Tinubu years, it has become obvious that Nigeria is headed towards a Paul Biya’s Cameroun, a Yoweri Musaveni’s Uganda and Zimbabwe under the late Robert Mugabe.
Tinubu, has shown obvious incapacity to tackle the parlous economic crisis in the country with 150 million Nigerians plunged into multidimensional poverty and many more growing the list daily, while also displaying uncommon powerlessness towards addressing the debilitating state of insecurity.
Under his nose citizens are daily being forced from their homes into the forests by terrorists, with some of them taken from their crutching positions, positioned before the camera and slaughtered – heads cut off like animals at an abattoir and video images freely displayed on social media.
Yet, by what has now happened in Rivers State, it has become obvious that Nigerians are not being factored into the whole equation and if they were, scant regard is paid to their opinion, ending in their powerlessness to change the situation. That is the tragedy!
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Terrorists strike Ibadan again! Abduct ex-Minister’s sister, twin children
-
News1 week agoBREAKING: Troops rescue wife of kidnapped General! *Terrorists flee scene
-
News3 weeks agoEmeka Ike: I’ll make example of Lere Olayinka for prying into my privacy
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Count me out, Okonkwo tells Atiku *Amaechi VP’s choice an insult to Ndigbo
-
News4 weeks agoTinubu’s $9million lobby deal in jeopardy *Group goes after US firm
-
News2 weeks agoDickson: Obi, a big asset to NDC, we’re working together … but!
-
Columns4 weeks agoAtiku-Amaechi tag-team: An indication of ADC’s hideous plan for Obi
-
News2 weeks agoOvia, ex-Zenith Bank boss swings into luxury apartments *Flats hit $2.8million price tag