29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

16 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
•Obaseki
Edo election and our
unconstitutional players
THE September 19 Edo
gubernatorial polls was not
just about electing a governor but
more of stopping a major affliction
that has put democratic order under
siege in our county: the rule of
godfathers . When I called my brother
and friend who was the symbol of
that struggle three days after God
won a big victory for anti-lawless
movement, he opened my eyes to a
major dimension of this scourge that
we have not seriously addressed.
Said Governor Godwin Obaseki:
“You know, as a governor, I am
governed by the Constitution and
every action I take can be measured
by the provisions of the Constitution;
but a godfather is not known to the
Constitution but operates by his own
rule”.
Godfathers have truly established
unconstitutional order and they
operate like the mafia. They have
wrecked states and they are major
contributors to our poverty index
.They drill holes into the treasuries
of states and they are not seen in any
budget line. They use the fingers of
others to pull the chestnut from the
fire. Their myth is sustained by
manipulation of the system,the
control of reward system and the use
of violence when necessary are their
weapons of warfare all the time.
Taking control is key for them; that
is why they don’t allow the system to
function except according to their
manipulation. Lamidi Adedibu who
used to be a godfather in Oyo State
once made a faux pax when he told
journalists that he once asked Ladoja
to give him the lion share of the state
security votes because “ what
insecurity can come outside of me
?”. At the peak of his reign in Oyo
State, he practically burnt down the
state the way the Uba brothers did in
Anambra when they put the state
under siege.
The characters who play
godfathers in Nigeria are mostly
outlaws with no enervating values
and it takes people of low esteem to
put themselves under their whims
and caprices.I saw a time bomb in
the waiting from the moment I saw
Obaseki on the scene. He was suave
and thoroughly polished and you see
a God-fearing man in him if you are
very perceptIve.
My sympathy was with his
opponent in 2016 when he first ran.
I never trusted his cover that time
right from the time he ran the Labour
movement and was using the fate of
workers to cut deals. He became
governor dealing in sophistry. Like
a spirit producing holy witness, he
started his deception with one -manone
-vote. But you can’t deceive all
the people all the time.He organised
a rally in Benin on April 29, 2010
and invited the Nobel Laureate, Prof
Wole Soyinka and leading
“Democrats” in the Action Congress
to witness the event.They were
already in the stadium before
You don’t get men of
conscience like that in this
environment ruled by the
end justifies the means; I
hope the rest of the
country takes the
necessary lessons from
Edo and make
godfatherism an
anathema
realising that the annuller of June
12, 1993 presidential election,
General Ibrahim Babangida, was
already in the background and
Senator David Mark who vowed that
Abiola would only assume his
mandate over his dead body was to
play a key role. Soyinka took to his
heels and the AC leaders followed
suit before Oshiomhole could fully
execute his coup.They spoke clearly
that they could not in good
conscience be participants at a
democracy rally that has Gen
Babangida playing a key role. But
Oshiomhole defended the invitation,
saying it was time Nigerians
shunned exclusion for inclusion
.Those who still had any illusion in
the former sweet -talking labour
leader could not have read him well
as a “salad man”.
There was no adjective he did not
committee together
which said they
disqualified Obaseki
because he lacks
certificates. I laughed my
head off because I know
Mr Mike Orobator who
was Obaseki's teacher in
1972 unlike the man who
wanted to chop his head
whom we cannot trace his
teachers. Senator Daisy
Danjuma once told me
where he did his youth
service somewhere in the North
Central. The only worry was if
Obaseki would have the testicular
fortitude to
engage the
godfather and rub
his nose in the
dust. As this all
started festering, I
w a t c h e d
Obasaeki on
Channels TV and
he was saying the
right things. He
listed all the good
things which he
had started for
Edo and could not
afford to walk
away from. I said
to myself that if the
man I declared
my guy of the year
for 2019 was
speaking from the
heart, he deserved
all the support in
whatever decision
he takes.
He was to take
a position that
would pose a
challenge to me.
He was to declare
for the PDP where
a man I had
known when I was
a little over 20 at
Ife was a front
runner for
governorship.
K e n n e t h
Imasuagbon was
not only my friend
at Ife but a strong
pillar of support
when I ran for
union leadership,
which I won. I owe
him support in his
endeavours. But
the Obaseki
situation was to
put me in a
situation where I
had to plead with
him to shelve his
ambition for now.
use to describe Obaseki
when he sold him four
years ago. But that he was
ready to do to him what
godfathers are known for
four years after shows that
the successor must have
tried to be a governor
which godsons don’t have
the right to be.
He was going to throw
him outside the process.
It was too tedious
orgainising to defeat him
at the primaries. The
godfather put a screening
I remember I told Pa E.K. Clark
that I know Kenneth to be so strongwilled,
but we have to try our best to
talk to him.When I first broached the
topic with him I knew it was the
mutual respect we have for each
other that made his response not to
be as fierce as it would have been. I
followed up on Ben TV where
Godwin Obaseki was to appear on
Zoom meeting but sent his brother
Don Pedro Obaseki.There was hot
exchanges between Kenneth and
Don but I poured water
intermittently . When Kenneth said
“Godwin will have to defeat me o”,I
told him strongly that: “You and
Godwin will not run against each
other “. The breakthrough came
when I visited my friend and brother,
Governor Bello Matawale of
Zamfara in Abuja. I called Kenneth
and told him I was with Matawale
who happens to be his good friend. I
gave him the phone and they spoke
lovingly .The Governor said Kenneth
was the first person he would see in
Benin and he should not take any
decision yet. Twenty-four hours after,
Kenneth and the two other aspirants
had stepped down for Obaseki.
Aftermath was the focus on
September 19 which promised to be
a serious war. But God took control
All hail our Labour dealers
IN A Farewell To
Arms, the 1929 novel of Ernest
Hemingway, an authorial question
came through one of the characters
on why the masses are not fighting
for a better deal. The answer he got
was that it could be because they are
not organised. The follow-up was
that even if they get organised,their
leaders would sell out.
That has been the tragedy of
organised labour in Nigeria. Save
for the Michael Imodus, Hassan
and it was only a battle between the
will of the people and the impunity
of the manipulators. All worked
together and God won it for Obaseki
and the Oshiomhole machine was
beaten silly by Edo people.
On the eve of the election, Obaseki
said God should give victory to his
opponent if his own victotry would
cost the blood of any Edo man or
woman. He won with a clear gap
without the death of any soul.
The tendency for any man who had
the kind of support he got was to
become swollen-headed but not
Obaseki. In victory, he extended
hands of fellowship to Oshiomhole,
indicating that the battle was over, a
profound statement that God forbids
that he should nurse the ambition of
becoming a godfather. The other
thing he has said that impressed me
about him after his victory is that it
would be highly immoral of him to
use PDP in his time of need and return
to APC in his victory. You don’t get
men of conscience like that in this
environment ruled by the end justifies
the means. I hope the rest of the
country takes the necessary lessons
from Edo and make godfatherism
an anathema. Congratulations,
Obaseki.
Sunmonus and Frank Kokoris, they
have mostly been led by dealers who
call action only to call it off once it is
gathering steam for the deals they
have cut.
Now they have moved to the next
level of just taking their members
through foreplay and never go
through the real action. That was the
symbolism of the latest action on fuel
price and electricity tariff hikes that
never took off. All hail our Labour
dealers.
C
M
Y
K