By Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan
There is a Group that is loosely referred to as Obaseki Group. It is a misnomer. Obaseki is too colorless to have a Group. What people call Obaseki’s Group is Oshiomhole’s Group. This was the Group that Oshiomhole used in fighting the Odubu Group when he was foisting Obaseki on the people. Oshiomhole has now had a full doze of his own poison. From the beginning to the end, all those now fighting against him were made by him. One thing is certain – Oshiomhole is at the center of it all. We have no way of knowing how he left the first side – whether he was booted out or he sold the Group as a franchise to his former friend. Right now he is heading a Group that he once fought. In essence, the APC grouping is woven around Oshiomhole. It is the Oshiomhole Group of yesterday versus the Oshiomhole Group of today. We have maintained, perhaps with monotonous regularity, that Government is about human needs, the satisfaction of which is the sole justification for governance.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has come a long way – from being the Party that fought assiduously to win a tough war, to the Party that apparently did not quite know what to do with its victory, hence it soon embarked on further fights of self destruction.
We owe it to Providence that even where we are still deep in the tunnel, we can see some candle light at the other end. At least, people are beginning to listen or they are being compelled by circumstances to do so.
For ease of reference, we reproduce here the relevant portion of the first part of this article dated February 26 2020:
“Edo is gliding dangerously on a slippery slope and we are all watching. The people who should do something about it are also watching. The golf is already so wide that each combatant has assumed the position of “here I stand” and none is willing to listen to the other side.
Evidently, the only meaningful intervention in Edo APC today can only come from outside the State. It has gone beyond waiting for the people to settle themselves. It has gone beyond Oshiomhole and Obaseki.
They are already too deep in their respective trenches. President Muhammadu Buhari has watched enough. The next election is around the corner. If victory is not going to slip off the hand of the APC, Buhari should wait no further to rise up and clear the mess in the State.
In all conscience, do we need any cult of experts to tell us that the problem of the APC in Edo State may not be too far from Buhari? See how it goes: At the Ward, Local Government and State levels, APC is thoroughly entrenched in the State.
By whatever contraptions, APC wins the elections at those levels but when it comes to Buhari’s election (Presidential), the party hits the rock. And by benefit of hindsight, Edo is one State that ab initio embraced progressivism as symbolized by the outing of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), during the MKO Abiola debacle; and other subsequent elections before Buhari.
Now that Buhari is beginning to disengage from the scene, if he is not to handover that contingent liability to his Successor (s), he must work earnestly hard to bring a change. Every effort should begin with settling the current imbroglio in the State.
The combatants must realize that there are two sides to every coin. Each side is right. As we embark on the peace move, each side must soften its stand. The process will involve a lot of compromises, horse trading, and a lot of give and take.
For sure, this is not the time for shadow chasing while the substance eludes us. Edo is our State! It shall not die!”
Knowing what we know now, it is clear that even where the intervention of the APC leadership came too little too late, it has poured some ice water on a fire that had threatened to consume us all.
As soon as GABAJAN roared from the Atlantic shores, the Lion of Aso Rock caught the vision, ran away with it, and things were no longer the same – the conflagration dwindled into a storm in a tea cup. That’s the type of leadership we always asked for.
Then came Monday, March 16. The window provided by the Court of Appeal by putting estoppels on the suspension of the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was most appropriate.
This window will now give the Chief Bisi Akande Committee opportunity to promptly go to work for total reconciliation. This Committee headed by a no-nonsense man, a living ancestor, will certainly pull the Party through.
It bears repeating that the reconciliation here will involve a lot of compromises, give and take and a lot of horse-trading. It will return to fundamentals. For a man who is not from this State, Chairman Akande shall be told that the place to begin is to ensure that the full House of Assembly in Edo State is promptly inaugurated.
In return, Governor Obaseki shall be granted immunity from impeachment. Nobody wants to be a lame-duck. In a properly constituted legislature, Obaseki was not to last beyond the week of the Assembly’s inauguration.
That was the plan; and that was the fear. In the spirit of the new reconciliation, Obaseki should be allowed to run out the few remaining months of the present tenure, except he commits an obviously new impeachable offence.
Oshiomhole versus Oshiomhole
There is a Group that is loosely referred to as Obaseki Group. It is a misnomer. Obaseki is too colorless to have a Group. What people call Obaseki’s Group is Oshiomhole’s Group. This was the Group that Oshiomhole used in fighting the Odubu Group when he was foisting Obaseki on the people.
Oshiomhole has now had a full doze of his own poison. From the beginning to the end, all those now fighting against him were made by him. One thing is certain – Oshiomhole is at the center of it all.
We have no way of knowing how he left the first side – whether he was booted out or he sold the Group as a franchise to his former friend. Right now he is heading a Group that he once fought.
In essence, the APC grouping is woven around Oshiomhole. It is the Oshiomhole Group of yesterday versus the Oshiomhole Group of today. We have maintained, perhaps with monotonous regularity, that Government is about human needs, the satisfaction of which is the sole justification for governance.
There are men who see power in their hands only as an instrument for vengeance and destruction. Such men are evil. Unfortunately, in politics, we are all amoral. Oshiomhole could have crushed anyone on his way to the installation of Obaseki.
Truly, I will not bet one kobo of the monthly allowance from my children that he did not kill in the process – not after what could have gone down in history as the Auchi Massacre of April 30 2016 – but for the Almighty God!
Ordinarily, if a man is fighting for you with every breath in him, you should know that at the end of his fight, he will name his price. Morality demands that if the price includes you going to prison for him, you should walk straight into prison. But not so with politicians.
They will rather eat their cake and have it. That’s the Approach-Avoidance defense mechanism – we want good teeth but we must not visit the dentist. Evidently, danger is not yet averted in Edo State APC.
The leadership has started well. They will complete what they have started. Let the reconciliation begin in earnest. We must approach it with open minds, always keeping in mind that jaw-jaw is better than war-war!
One great lesson from all this is that leaders are born, not made. In the journey of life, no matter how fast a man wants to run, he cannot run faster than his shadow. All Edo needs at this point is to rally round Oshiomhole and Edo will be the better for it!
Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan is a public affairs analyst and former Chairman, Board of Directors, Edo Broadcasting Service. He can be reached at: joligien@yahoo.com.
