Edo 2020: The Tantrum-throwing Tyrant Cries for Justice- By Prof. Idemudia Oviosun (PhD
Tambiri.infonews Jun 11, 2020 1:08 PM
The tantrum-throwing tyrant cries for justice

By Prof. Idemudia Oviosun (PhD)



For a man who is not fond of giving people justice, Governor Godwin Obaseki has many demands from justice. Where was the justice he gave after denying 14 State House of Assembly members their inauguration after they had been duly elected?

Alternatively, where was his sense of justice when he, in addition to his executive duties, became a court of law unto himself and denied people their legitimate sources of livelihood by destroying their businesses and properties? Where was the justice when he swept away over 300 political appointees late last year in a bid to wipe away those he felt were opposition to his views and opinions?

Those democratically elected council chairmen he removed from office in Etsako East and West, Egor and Esan West have not forgotten the injustice they suffered at his hands - why should Obaseki the tyrant get justice?

Although his recently published academic certifications point to a frightening degree of academic incompetence, there is a tendency to assume that exposure to sophistication, wisdom and constant ascription of the sobriquet “technocrat governor” to his person would have made Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state amiable to the finer points of democracy, stratagem and governance.

Three years ago, the people, happy that he purged Ring Road of thugs in the night, whilst they yet slumbered, called him “Wake and See” governor. The traitorous dark horse then galloped on the crest of the people’s acceptance to demolish a certain shopping complex belonging to an APC chieftain, Chief Osamede Adun (aka Bob Izua). What people did not know was that he was simply a vengeful man on a vindictive vendetta.

His veneer of altruism held in the face of media onslaught. He had a powerful media team he had wheedled into believing he was up to a lot of good for the people of the state. They repelled attack after attack until the people were sure he was the real deal – a son of the soil out to spoil them with good governance like Santa with gifts on a Christmas morning.

Now it is clear that the people had never really woken. They had been asleep all the while to his whims and caprices. The first to wake up to the technocrat’s trickery was his close media aide, John Mayaki. He had seen Governor Obaseki for who he was and left him years ago. Now, the state is waking up to see his true nature of mere tyranny and revenge.

His party has turned its back on him, so he gazetted a series of regulations in favour of the opposition party. His Chief of Staff, Mr Taiwo Akerele, about a month ago, left his sinking canoe. His Commissioner for Communications, Paul Ohonbamu, has ominously quoted Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (very aptly) and left him.

He has deployed the same thugs he expelled from Ring Road several times to attack different people - more recently his erstwhile boss, Adams Oshiomhole. He has destroyed another hotel belonging to Tony Kabaka Adun in Benin, complaining about the property belonging to a Public School. Apparently, he was just finding out this?

The mask has fallen from his face and his chickens are coming home to roost. The denial he lives and operates in is his hamartia. Now he cries for justice where none accrues to him. Lured into a false sense of power by the political office he holds, he is on a collision course with his own waterloo and he cannot admit it to himself.

The handwriting is on the wall and he knows this. He has resorted to such base threats, as “I will show him I am the governor in this state”. He has reduced himself to demolishing hotels, as well as launching hordes of thugs on unsuspecting politicians. The people have woken and can now see that this man is no technocrat; he is a tantrum-throwing tyrant wielding legitimate power to execute ultra vires acts and posing a danger to himself, his party, anyone remotely tied to him, and the state.

Prof. Idemudia Oviosun (PhD) is consultant and expert in Leadership, Management and Strategy