By Kassim Afegbua
The embarrassment that ruffled the Edo State Governor ObASUEki and his annointed godson, was worse than being drenched in the rain wearing only a sheer shirt, and no underpants. He was left hapless by his choice to use the 1st August protest to score cheap political points: his plot was ill fated. The plot did not only boomerang, it expressly exposed the roost of those political demagogues and economic predators in Osadebe Avenue and their footsoldiers concerning the official plundering of our collective patrimony: in ObASUEki’s kingdom, everything revolves around politics and political marabouts. The Governor, had plotted to use the 1st August protest to shore up his diminished rating when he subterraneanly orchestrated the protest in Edo, and allegedly gave monies to 18 groups to build the protest podium, and also mobilized their members across the board, to grace the event. Part of the plot was to “invite” the Governor to speak to them following a script, but by the time he mounted the podium, he was greeted by a flip irreverent crowd who started raining curses on him, saying he was part of the problem that necessitated the protest in the first place. Edo people, ever vigilant and conscious of their environment, had discovered the cache of President Tinubu’s 20 trucks rice palliative which were given to ObASUEki to be distributed among Edo people to cushion the hard times of the moment.
Typical of Governor ObASUEki, in his wily wisdom, he hid the rice in several warehouses and arranged to re-bag them in bags with ASUE’s promotional label, so that when they will be distributed, the undiscerning members of the public would think they were being generously and charitably distributed by the Governor and his annointed godson. But as fate would have it, by God’s providence, when Governor ObASUEki was speaking at the orchestrated Ring Road showboat, his roost was blown open by the ever vigilant Edo people.; the bags of rice were discovered in two locations; Eyaen and Urora, area of Benin City and the people forcibly reclaimed their rice which was initially wantonly confiscated by their Governor. Unknown to Governor ObASUEki, the discovery of the rice was the denouement of his evil plot which he had thought would fetch him cheap marks even in the face of his abysmal performance in office. The #Endbadgovernance protest was directly addressing Governor ObASUEki’s cracked and broken records of abysmal failure in the governance structure and performance in the state, ably assisted by his Adviser-in-Chief Asue Ighodalo, who they desperately want to foist on Edo people to continue the profligacy.
In a frenetic rush, the citizens manhandled the rice that rightly belonged to them. They were jubilant and exultant as they avowed to intensify their mettle to get rid of Governor Obaseki in totality come 21st September. There are indications that the bags were already being rebagged, with bags decorated with the state government’s label; to confuse the public into thinking that the Governor was the provider of what in reality the Federal Government gave to them. Wickedness of the highest order, a certain manifestation of idiocy that transparently exposes the opaqueness of the business transactions in Edo state, over the past eight years. “Common rice wey President Tinubu say make Governor give people, e be wan pako am,” remarked Paul Obazele, who was consternated to see yet another act of executive brigandage at play by the “ExecuTHIEVES” in Osadebe Avenue.
The protest of 1st August in Edo State was not against the Federal Government alone, but particularly against the state governments across the country who have been receiving huge Federal Allocation without meaningfully impacting their constituents and home bases to justify the increased monthly revenue and internally generated revenue. Unknown to Governor ObASUEki, who in desperation to unravel the thematic focus of the protesters, thought he was excluded from the #Endbadgovernance protest. By the time he mounted the podium, his voice was drowned by the disavowal that greeted his patronising comments: it was deafening. They chorused the failure that was evident in Edo state’s sorry state of affairs: bad roads, erosion and flooding, poor health facilities, rotten education and above all, diverting “common rice” that was meant for the people. He was thoroughly reviled and berated; embarrassment will not be enough to adequately describe what he felt in their midst. Even the religious angle his vuvuzellas tried to introduce to mollify the public did not fly; another warehouse in Eyaen, Benin City was discovered.
Governor ObASUEki should thoroughly be ashamed of himself. He will certainly end up as a pariah in Edo State and his coterie of aides will like Peter in the Bible, deny him even more that three times. His conduct is not only a national disgrace, it attempts to bring to diminution the very man who presides over the nation. Edo people may have thought that President Tinubu expugated them from the charity extended to all other Nigerians; a sheer act of dubiety and executive brigandage, putting Edo state in the news yet again, for the wrong reasons. A bemused friend of mine asked me, “why did Governor Obaseki decide to divert the bags of rice that were meant for the people; was he trying to steal them?” For village, na this kind one them dey call “petty thief.”
. Afegbua is a former Commissioner for Information in Edo State and spokesperson for the APC governorship candidate in the state, Senator Monday Okphebolo
