Opinion
Edo 2024: Betsy Obaseki’s broadside and Adams Oshiomohle’s bombshell
By Ehichioya Ezomon
The 1967 hit song, “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” written by British singer-songwriter, Cat Stevens, may not be related to the discourse hereunder, but it’s a strong advice to humans, to bridle their tongues – as the Apostles admonish in James 3:8-9 – against censoriousness, and reproving others with a magisterial air, as true wisdom comes only from above.
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” was originally released in April 1967 by P. P. Arnold – an American soul singer, born Patricia Ann Cole, on October 3, 1946, in Los Angeles, California – who relocated in 1966 to London, the United Kingdom, to pursue a solo career, and enjoyed considerable success with the single, which also became a hit by Rod Stewart in his seventh album, “A Night On The Town,” released in 1976.)
In the past week, all eyes and mouths have been on former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, even as social media remains agog – albeit slantily – over the Senator’s attack on Governor Godwin Obaseki and First Lady Betsy Obaseki, over their childlessness – a very sensitive and no-go-area issue in our cultural, traditional and religious settings.
Yet, the judgmental critics have made the Oshiomhole tactless attack – that touches the underbelly of the Obasekis – to appear as out of the blue, whereas it’s a riposte to Mrs Obaseki’s equally graceless reminder of the Edo people – especially the women – that only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, has a wife among the candidates vying to succeed her husband from the September 21, 2024, governorship election that’s 12 days away.
Below is Mrs Obaseki’s unprompted remarks at a PDP campaign rally in Benin City:
“Among the candidates wey dey contest election, na only one get wife. And na our own party candidate, Asue Ighodalo, na only him get wife. Na him wife bi dis” (as she raised Mrs Ighodalo’s right hand, to the cheers of the rallygoers).
“Women for Edo, make una know sey na only one candidate get wifeooo” (Mrs Obaseki added, as she pulled her left ear, as a sign of warning to the female voters).
What’s Mrs Obaseki’s motive(s) for dragging marital matters into the campaigns when there’re myriad issues of alleged poor performance in Mrs Obaseki’s husband’s eight-year governance, in which Mr Ighodalo’s the Economic Adviser?
Was it to change the opposition narratives on the subpar outing of Governor Obaseki; score political points for Ighodalo and the PDP; a dig at the other candidates, who, perhaps, have no wives to act as “First Lady” should they win the September 21 poll; or throw herself and family into the mix, to curry sympathy for themselves and votes for Ighodalo, and disparagement and denial of votes for the “wifeless” candidates?
On the basis of the law of reciprocity, one would be tempted to say good riddance to bad rubbish, as what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: Considering that it’s Mrs Obaseki, who prompted the “familial controversy” at a campaign rally, which Oshiomhole – a non-candidate at the election –uncouscionably jumped in to respond to.
Now a case of “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Oshiomhole’s likely unsolicited intervention on behalf of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo (APC, Edo Central) – whose campaign council Oshiomhole chairs – has several contextual proverbs.
The axioms include: 1) Without pulling the trigger, the gun will not fire. 2) Actions speak louder than words. 3) Familiarity breeds contempt. 4) People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. 5) The farting of the rich smells sweet, that of the poor fouls the air. 6) Someone who knows how their anus is should learn to sit properly. 7) First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matt 7:5) 8) Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Matt 7:12) 9) If you point one finger, there are three more pointing back at you. 10) The bird whose feathers are used for sacrifice moves about stealthily.
Some or all of these sayings fit into Oshiomhole and Mrs Obaseki’s dockets, but only Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) ultimately opens himself up to vitriol and odium. Because – short of scientific attempts to challenge nature – childbearing is a gift and a miracle from God, the Creator. So, no one – no matter the circumstance – plays God over an issue they’ve no knowledge and power to determine.
Let’s look at a post on the WhatsApp page of PAN EDO POLITICAL FORUM – which may not be altruistic but politically-motivated – to gauge the public angst over Oshiomhole’s attack on the Obasekis. The anonymous post, entitled, “What All Truthful Pastors Should Preach This Sunday Until It Reaches All,” reads:
“Words can be weapons, and Adams Oshiomhole’s recent jabs at Governor Obaseki and his wife have left many Nigerians in shock and dismay. Mocking someone’s childlessness is a hurtful and personal attack that crosses the boundaries of decent political discourse.
“Imagine the pain and anguish that comes with longing for a child, only to be met with ridicule and scorn. The Obasekis have shown remarkable strength and resilience in the face of this adversity, but Oshiomhole’s comments have reopened old wounds and caused fresh hurt.
“Let us rally around the Obasekis and show them that we stand with them in solidarity and support. Let us reject the politics of personal attacks and embrace empathy and compassion.
“Childlessness is a sensitive issue that affects many families, and we must approach it with kindness and understanding. Let us create a society where people can share their struggles without fear of judgment or mockery.
“Oshiomhole’s comments may have been meant to score political points, but they have ultimately revealed his own character and exposed the dark underbelly of our political culture. Let us rise above this and choose a higher path – one of love, empathy, and respect for all.
“Furthermore, Oshiomhole’s behaviour falls short of the standards expected of a public figure, and his actions are a disservice to the people of Edo State and Nigeria as a whole. His comments are not only unbecoming of a leader but also contradict the values of our cultural heritage.
“In the Benin Kingdom, where Oshiomhole hails from, respect for elders and dignity for all individuals are deeply ingrained traditions. His utterances have brought shame to his people and tarnished the image of the kingdom.
“Let us reject Oshiomhole’s divisive and hurtful rhetoric and instead embrace a culture of empathy, kindness, and respect. We must hold our leaders accountable for their words and actions, and demand better from those who seek to represent us.”
The foregoing is a mild version of what concerned members of the public have written about and against Oshiomhole, whose public utterances – time and again – have tended to be unguarded and out of step and control, like a loose cannon. It’s time he checked his exuberance, and act as a Statesman!
That said, Oshiomhole appears unfairly treated by the same public that wears Mrs Obaseki the toga of victimhood! Why should the critics be one-sided? Why don’t they also censure Mrs Obaseki, who pulled the trigger first by mocking other candidates – who’ve no wives – in the September 21 governorship election?
While there’re pressing issues of governance to highlight at every stop on the campaign trail, Mrs Obaseki off-handedly threw “familial matter” into the political arena. Thus, as we blame Oshiomhole for unwarrantedly responding in kind – especially as he’s not a candidate in the election – Mrs Obaseki should also be held responsible for unnecessarily teasing the “unwived” candidates!
In the interim – as if Mrs Obaseki’s allusion to candidates with no wives was specifically targeted at Okpebholo – there’ve been calls from broadcast talking heads and pundits, and women groups for Okpebholo to introduce to the public his wife, who, they argue, should join in the campaigns to elect her husband on September 21 – citing, as an example, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, who joins her husband’s campaign train and/or does separate stomps on his behalf.
Still, having a wife isn’t a requirement for the Office of Governor – and other elective positions of a Member of the Senate; a Member of the House of Representatives; a Member of the State House of Assembly; the President and Vice President; and the Deputy Governor – as spelt out in Sections 65, 106, 131, and 177 of the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
To qualify for any of those elective positions, a candidate must certify that: (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; (b) he has attained the age of 35, 30, 30, 40 and 35 (applicable to each office in that order); (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and (d) he has been educated to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
Clearly, there’s no provision of the 1999 Constitution requiring a candidate to have a wife before they can vie for the governorship. It’s an extraneous matter injected into the campaigns by Mrs Obaseki for political optics, to puncture the enthusiasm and momentum in Mr Ighodalo’s opposing camps.
So, going by the 1967 hit song, “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” shouldn’t Mrs Obaseki’s “polemic” on candidates, who’ve no wives, be ranked as the deepest cut – or at least placed on equal pedestal with Comrade Oshiomhole’s “thunderbolt” on the Obasekis childlessness – for attempting to throw an already tensed Edo politics into a tailspin, which, indeed, she’s succeeded in doing? Let’s not bury the truth in emotion or partisanship!
Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria
By Tunde Olusunle
It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in *Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.
The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state. The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.
Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.
In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”
While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in *Idoma and Igede land.* This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent *Och’Idoma* and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.
Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.
If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. *River Agatu* which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into *River Benue,* is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.
The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.
Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.
It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.
The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.
Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja
By Dr. Ag Zaki
On Thursday, 9 January 2025, Prince Adewole Adebayo presented a keynote address at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion was the annual conference of a group of professionals, business executives and experts codenamed J9C for January 9 Collective. The theme of the Conference was “Business and Policy Strategy: Examining the Role of Reform in enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.” Prince Adebayo is a versatile cerebral man of many parts, a lawyer, a multimedia practitioner, a real estate investor, a large-scale miner, a philanthropist, a community developer, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The organisers of the J9C conference introduced him as an intercontinental lawyer because he currently practices law in over sixteen countries.
The full speech of Prince Adebayo at the occasion is available online and can be accessed by clicking at this url: https://youtu.be/SsHkcJbVNRg?si=ebvoOVqGh0zVOsnt or by scanning the QR code above. However, we are presenting the salient take-aways from this most incisive keynote address below for the convenience of interested persons and for the public good.
THE TAKE-AWAYS
Preamble
1. Not every change of policy or programme is a reform. A reform is a fundamental change in the activities, programmes, and policies structured to cause improvement. Genuine government reforms are people oriented and so citizens can interject, comment or contribute.
2. Reform may be internally motivated, externally forced or imposed, or technological driven.
3. The government of Nigeria must first reform itself to be able to implement development-oriented reforms to improve the country’s economic performance.
In general terms
4. Fiscal and monetary reforms are critical and are urgently required in Nigeria. While government can freely control its fiscal reforms, it must be bound by market forces for realistic and realisable monetary reforms.
5. Economic reforms must positively affect developmental policies, programmes and projects to engender economic growth, increase in efficiency, and lead to stability. Economic and political reforms must be implemented pari-passu for untainted policies and programmes.
6. Urgent structural reforms are required in areas of legal reforms, laws on banking controls and regulations, lending and borrowing as well as land matters.
In specific terms
7. Reforms which are aimed at targeting ease of doing business must be aligned with the Malam Aminu Kano maxim that “all civil servants should abstain from contracts or business”.
8. Nigeria must break the current odious and unwholesome conspiracies between policy makers, civil servants, and contractors, which can lead to irreversible endemic corruption, long foreseen by the revered Malam Aminu Kano, and which can permanently damage the economy.
9. Structural reforms must ensure that land laws open up maximum benefits and potentials of the land, encourage labour productivity and efficient and transparent entrepreneurship rules including registration, capital and lending matters.
10. Tax reforms should be broad-based, not about sharing of revenue but promoting productivity and competitiveness in all aspects of endeavours and infrastructure reforms should make transportation of people and goods safe and cost effective.
11. Monitoring economic crimes must be thorough and should go beyond arresting of “Yahoo boys” and those spraying Naira notes, but those devaluing the Naira and abusing economic rules and regulations.
Warnings
12. Adebayo left some stern terse warnings for the business sector and for the government of Nigeria.
13. Business executives and professionals should not ask or encourage government for specific reforms but for general broad-based reforms as firm-specific reforms can enhance operations of specific firms or business in the short term but will ultimately kill the industry.
14. Government should not meddle into business or be guided by partisan businessmen; government should meet business only at the junction of regulatory framework.
15. Government should be selfless and honest in carrying out reforms, incorporate measurable performance indices and ensure that reforms are implemented in a way not to inflict pains or punishment on the people.
# DrZaki25, 903 Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja
By Eigbefo Felix
His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State, has demonstrated that he is a blessing to the state through his policies, appointments, initiation of road construction across the three senatorial districts, and his deep love for the people of Edo State.
Governor Monday Okpebholo has begun fulfilling the five-point agenda he promised the good people of the state since his inauguration.
In the area of security, he has shown total commitment. He assured the people of Edo State that he would ensure their safety, and true to his word, the state remains peaceful, which has brought joy to its residents. He has provided the necessary support to security personnel.
The governor increased the subvention for Ambrose Alli University (AAU) from ₦40 million to ₦500 million. He also promised to address the issues facing AAU medical students. Additionally, he has started renovating primary and secondary schools across the state, underscoring his understanding of the importance of education.
The agricultural sector has taken a positive turn as Governor Okpebholo has allocated ₦70 billion to the sector. Recognizing agriculture’s importance to both the state and the nation, he is positioning Edo State to become the food basket of the nation with his investments in the sector.
During the electioneering period, Senator Okpebholo promised to create 5,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. He has already begun the process, and soon, the people of Edo State will benefit from these employment opportunities. Unlike in the past, he will not rely on MOUs before making appointments. Furthermore, he has started appointing Edo State indigenes, rather than outsiders, to various positions.
Governor Okpebholo has commenced road projects across the state, from Edo South to Edo Central and Edo North. He believes that when roads are motorable, the prices of goods in the market will automatically reduce.
He has also begun investing in the health sector, understanding its critical importance to the people of Edo State.
Governor Monday Okpebholo’s initiatives and actions affirm his dedication to transforming Edo State for the better.
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