The political theater in Edo State is gripped by sanguin activities: An intrusive legislator was alleged to have been beaten to pulp by opponents, the legislators quarters was said to have been invaded and mayhem was let loose, party chieftains allege gun attack and counter attack on their properties and explosive devices are feared to have been introduced as political weapon.
Earlier, the state watched with amazement the parody of parliamentary theatrics: Some legislators defected from APC to PDP in a manner that was alleged to have offended the law; the defecting members rushed to court to seek protection for their seats, the court granted part of their prayer and rejected a part, the legislators capitalized on the part rejected to slam suspension on them, they rejected the suspension and continued to attend sittings of the House, the House leadership approached the court to make pronouncement on the suspension, the court upheld the suspension and matters degenerated as federal might was alleged to have been deployed for the protection of the errant legislators.
As the live drama unfolded at Oba Ovonranmwen Square, the public watched agents of one of the parties breaking the doors of the House, they watched court bailiff assaulted, they watched the arrogant disobedience to court orders, they watched legislators engaged in fisticuffs and watched their legislators loafing away daily in front of the hallowed chambers. Indeed, the state Assembly was dishonored and desecrated! And finally, the House began to sit separately. The legitimate House, with 15 members, had been muscled by federal instruments of coercion to relocate to the old parliamentary facilities while the other party, nine in number, four of which were under suspension and whose cases are pending in the courts, retained the Kings Square chambers.
A new twist was introduced to the entire episode recently with the arrest of the Speaker and two other principal officers of the legitimate Assembly by a federal security agency whose statutory powers have nothing to do with the conflict. This seems to suggest that the opposition politicians in Edo are at their wits end devising new ways of using the much taunted federal might to cow, intimidate and subdue the ruling party in the state. This may have escalated the imbroglio.
In the streets of Benin City, it is the consensus that peace and tranquility reigned in the state until recently when the chances of the neurotically ambitious elements in the opposition seemed clearly endangered. Today, the game is not for the lilly hearted! Whether legislators are locked out of the chamber and allowed to waste precious time quarrelling, whether legislative rules and court orders are disobeyed, whether properties and even human lives perish, whether the unbridled struggles are simply to take control of state resources, who suffers the brunt? The answer is simple: Edo people!
It is interesting that the people are also the spectators. They may have remained passive on the drama and political actors may not have factored in, their sensibilities or may have taken them for granted. In reality, the people have the power in their hands to determine the political direction of the state. They represent the safety valve that checks and balances the excesses of political actors. In the final analysis they will be the arbiters of the squabbles. But they cannot watch and allow the destruction of the basic structures and ideals of democracy to degenerate to irretrievable levels before intervention.
Therefore, the time to act is now! They can proceed under a framework of citizens’ movement that is patently neutral and driven by men of impeccable integrity. I humbly propose a body of retired justices and top private and public sector icons that have never had business in partisan politics and nominated by the traditional and religious authorities in the state. Their duty shall be to engage the feuding parties in negotiation, conciliation and arbitration. Their decisions may not have a mandatory binding force but it will have a moral binding force with dire political consequences for non-compliance with decisions and code of conduct that may be imposed. The third party framework here conceived will have the capacity to put the political credibility of any body at stake. This has become a desideratum because pre-election violence is the greatest threat to free and fair election which could further pave way to disturbances and bloodletting of even greater proportion. God forbid!
Edo State citizens must, therefore, not allow the present drift towards anarchy to continue. The people must take firm and decisive steps to dismiss the bellicosity and intransigence of the political warlords. They are sordid political prostitutes who parade factious mercenary wretches. They have betrayed their constituencies, betrayed their God and there is no single integrity or virtue left in them. By turning the streets of Benin City into a theater of war, they have grown intolerably odious and diminished their humanity irrespective of the titles they ascribed to themselves and, unworthy of public office. It is high time the people woke up from slumber and identify their authentic partners in the quest for development of the state. (Vanguard)
- Osakue, a political strategist, lives in Benin City, Edo State.
Eboigbe Faith liked this on Facebook.