Last week, the ugly part of our brand of democracy which we should have hoped should remain in our past, reared its ugly heads in Edo State; the shootings by gunmen at the gathering of prominent and respected senior citizens.
Irrespective of whatever side of the divide one is, what is inescapable is that the quality of politicking currently in Edo is an all-time low. Edo State is now a huge motor park where anything is capable of happening.
Sadly, the governor of the state, Monday Okpebholo, is every day assuming the role of a motor park gang leader. His admiration for Nyesom Wike and his mannerisms and public conduct should be something of concern for anyone with a modicum of decency and self-restraint.
The next general election is about 10 months away, yet shootings are already characterising Edo politics. When the elections proper come, what then are we to expect?
Last week, members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who were in Edo to receive the party’s candidate in the last governorship election, Olumide Akpata, into their fold, narrowly escaped being killed when some gunmen stormed the home of former governor of the state, John Odigie-Oyegun, shooting indiscriminately at his GRA residence in Benin. If this can happen to a former governor of the state and in GRA, one shudders to imagine what will be the fate of the ordinary citizens of the state who may not be in the same camp as those behind this.
This act is totally reprehensible and barbaric. It has no place in any civil and modern world.
In the first place, the ruling party in the state, the APC, cannot completely extricate itself from this because recently Governor Okpebholo, exhibited his zero-tolerance for the opposition, when warned Mr. Peter Obi, not to enter Edo without his knowledge.
The video where he displayed his crude and Wike-like kind of unrefined politics is there on social media for all to see. For a supposed distinguished ex-Senator and now a governor to exhibit such a lack of base level of understanding of political tolerance means that Edo is not safe under his watch.
For all one cares, APC in the state will just be deceiving itself deflecting the issues here, but with his disposition as governor, Okpebholo’s supporters will be encouraged to take to arms knowing that the governor’s body language supports that.
The state APC has dismissed the allegations of complicity, claiming that what happened was a case of intra-party conflict within ADC. How they arrived at that conclusion without investigation also makes them guilty of their accusation against the ADC of rushing into conclusion that the APC was behind the shooting.
The APC is the party in power and the governor is the chief security officer of the state, so the buck stops on his desk. He should ensure that the perpetrators are fished out and brought to justice. That way, he can free himself of complicity. Who are these armed men, and what were their motives?
However, like all other politically motivated cases in the past, nothing will come out of this. This certainly is an indication that Edo, as we said earlier, will be a flash point and a war zone come next year.
This more than any other reason should be why President Bola Tinubu must step in and rein in some of these governors and other political office holders. He should warn against such divisive and inflammatory rhetoric.
Nigeria must not be seen in this age and time tolerating such beastly attitudes in the name of politicking. After all, APC, too, was once an opposition, and if they were not allowed room to function, how would they have been in government today?
When you tell an opposition politician that you cannot guarantee his safety in your state as governor, that is no longer democracy, which allows for opposition, but a clear case of tyranny.
Okpebholo must realise Edo has had some of the best brains as governors, and what we are seeing now does not show that pattern. It falls far below the expectation of Edo.
Of all the states that Peter Obi has visited, why is it only Edo that this sort of thing is happening? In spite of the veiled attempt by Okpebholo and his spin doctors to change the narrative, it’s only obvious that this is a clear case of intolerance of opposition.
Okpebholo and APC leadership in the state have never hidden their hatred for Obi, and what really is his offence? Daring to seek the highest office in the land? This is antithetical to the very principle or guiding norms of democracy.
For those who pretend or pay lip-service to ending voter apathy, is this not serious enough a case to worry about? Why will anybody want to lose his or her life to cast vote during elections?
As respected and senior citizens of this land, these ex-governors and every law-abiding Nigerian, for that matter, are very free to visit and stay in any part of this country without seeking the approval of any governor.
Okpebholo must realise that someday he will vacate that office and let’s hope that same fate will not be his lot.
As we have argued in the past, political leadership demands more than just building bridges and constructing roads.
It demands a great deal of maturity and the right temperament to be able to handle all shades of political opinions and views. It requires the ability to understand that the state is bigger than any politician and that public office is transient and must be vacated someday.
