…accuses Edo Gov of striving to demystify monarch
A former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, Prince Kassim Afegbua has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of pretending to have respect for the revered Oba of Benin while openly and surreptitiously striving to demystify the reverred monarch and the ancient Benin throne.
Afegbua alleged that the Governor had only been lying in his claims of showing any respect for the Benin monarch that he had continued to treat with utter disrespect by his various actions continuously aimed at humiliating and demystifying the person of the revered Oba and the ancient Benin royal stool.
The former Commissioner, who is currently the Media Consultant to the Edo All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Organisation for the forthcoming governorship election in the state, stated this in a statement entitled, “Godwin Obaseki: The other side of a pretender,” which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja.
In the statement he claimed and listed the litany of alleged disrespect and disdain with which Governor Obaseki had been treating the revered Oba of Benin.
The full text of Afegbua’s statement reads as follows:
PRESS STATEMENT
GODWIN OBASEKI: THE OTHER SIDE OF A PRETENDER.
I just read an elephantiasis of a statement credited to one turn-coat vuvuzella declaring that the Governor of Edo state reveres the Oba of Benin and that our exposition of their pernicious intention is not correct. My kids used to say, talk to the hand; cause the face ain’t listening.” That’s my response to that lie! Governor Obaseki reveres the great Oba of Benin, and he maliciously withheld Oba’s statutory allocations for over a year, starved him and his Palace of funds that the constitution provides for him, collected grants from the German Government as recompense for the stolen and returned artifacts, and brazenly refused to transfer same to the Oba of Benin. He reveres the Oba of Benin but till date has the Oba Akenzua Centre under lock and key, he denied the highly respected monarch opportunity to use the centre for temporary warehouse of the artefacts, humiliating and demystifying him and the stool. He left the center to rot and become decrepit as if to say, “ let’s see which will rot faster, Oba or the center.” He’s now planing to demolish the centre. Obaseki reveres Oba of Benin, but he instigates sedition and mutiny within the monarchy, using some Enogies to trump up accusations against their Oba, pushing them to seek freedom and their own kingdoms; an act that is utterly reprehensible and a clear abomination. As if that was not enough, he instituted a case against the Oba of Benin, using the so-called Enogies to attempt to balkanise the Kingdom and, according to him, clip the wings of the Great Oba of Benin. Who is he deceiving???
No matter how cunning and pretentious he is, Obaseki cannot hide from us. His invidious plots to malign, disgrace, humiliate and denigrate a palace that survived the British Invasion in 1897 have now lost their shroud. But there is something peculiar about the Palace and the ancestors of the Benin Kingdom: they cannot be reduced. Those who try to drag the Palace and the Monarch always end up on the wrong side of history. Obaseki claims that he reveres the Oba of Benin, and when the Palace sends word to him that the Oba of Benin wants to see him, his only response would be that he is playing golf, and doesn’t have time. How arrogant and haughty! As a Benin man, if he doesn’t rate the Oba of Benin, he is invariably asking outsiders to reduce the Oba too. We will not allow you to practice your pig hogging with the Palace thereby soiling it too. We will protect the sanctity of the Benin Monarch, tradition and values.
You, Godwin Obaseki revere the Oba of Benin, yet you have declared his Palace a no-go area. Whenever your attention is sought by the palace you shun the palace. In eight years, no single investment has been made in the entire Palace Ground. You quarrelled with our late illustrious son, Captain Hosa Okunbor, for helping to fence and beautify the palace. That illustrious son only took up the challenge after you, Obaseki copped out! He ate his words and folded his arms, as earlier promise to undertake the renovation of the Palace was in retrograde. He unilaterally decided to start building a Museum of West Africa Arts to showcase what: the artefacts that were returned from abroad- artefacts which traditional importance and significance he has no knowledge of. Just because oyinbo people stole them in the past, he reckoned that they must have significant pecuniary value, and as such, he must capriciously acquire them, while still paying lip reverence to the Oba. I sincerely hope that our approach of exposing him and shaming him is the right approach for dealing with this character for his problem may actually be a malady- like kleptomania. If that is it, it means we have taken on his problem the wrong way. His dark passions are ensconced in his makeup, but his antecedents suffuse the entire atmosphere in Edo State and have left him transparent- we see the inside of you, Brother Godwin. To Godwin Obaseki this is his season to keep singing, “I don get alert, God win.” But soon, very soon, his tail will be between his legs
We will continue to expose all the nefarious and sinister plots that the government of Edo state intends to execute using Obaseki’s volunteer force. We get daily briefings of what transpires in Osadebe Avenue and elsewhere, and we will continue to expose the rotten underbelly of the inhabitants of Osadebe Avenue. Every attempt aimed at ridiculing and or reducing our respected Monarch, will be met with overwhelming resistance. Obaseki, leave the Oba in peace and go and manage your loot.
PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA.
MEDIA CONSULTANT
EDO APC CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION.
