Oshiomhole's Metamorphosis

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole… President Nigeria Labour Congress. (As he then was) had this to say at various times about removal of fuel subsidy and deregulation of the economy.“Our leaders should go into the Guinness Book of Records for fighting poverty by increasing the price of fuel and stopping Christmas gifts."- Oshiomhole addressing the press, Presidential Villa, Abuja, 2001. “We are saying to government, until your poverty eradication scheme works, until you can lay claim to some prosperity as a result of government economic policies, you have no moral basis to extort more money in the name of taxation or petroleum price increase from the people. If you do, you then heighten the level of poverty, which is already unbearable.” In an interview he granted Ima Niboro, then an editor with TELL magazine.“The Nigerian people have made the point well enough in the past that as citizens of an oil-producing country, they must not be made to pay through the nose for fuel,” Oshiomhole, Newswatch, January 15, 2003. “Let me tell you, it is the duty of the government to protect consumers. Any attempt to add any kobo to the present prices would be seriously resisted. How can a government be making decisions that would be injurious to the welfare of Nigerians. It will kill the private sector. I can tell you, any further increase will lay a foundation for a national crisis.” –Daily Independent, August 7, 2003. "We refuse to accept that Nigerians should continue to make sacrifice, because those who push the policy have shielded themselves from sacrifice. The finance minister earns in dollars. By the time they finish dealing with us with this policy of deformation, Okonjo-Iweala will fly back to United States to stay with her husband and children."- Thisday, 1st November 2004."This struggle must now be deregulated. We must go beyond the issue of price to include all those problems associated the growing state of hopelessness and the growing level of destitution and above all, the political regime that has made dialogue completely impossible. Those issues will be articulated by the coalition and they would form the basket of our chatter of demands." (Vanguard, 1st November 2004)“(Removing subsidy) does incalculable damage to the credibility of governance in the country, which is now associated with cynical exploitation of the machinery of dialogue and what is seen as public deception.-“ In an open letter to President Obasanjo, September 3, 2005. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole…Now as Governor of Edo State.“I do not want my colleagues to be shocked by the views I am going to express. The truth is, besides petroleum price, which other price has remained what it was five years ago…should subsidy be removed? Yes! But Nigerians must rise and insist that the proceeds must be judiciously utilized.“ – Vanguard, December 23, 2011. “Don’t push the people to do what they are not capable to sustain. Allow the federal government to move forward in the direction it has chosen. If President Jonathan does not take the decision to do the right thing (deregulation) now, Nigeria will crash in no distant future.” –Businessday, December 23, 2011.The foregoing a few excerpts from thousands of fiery speeches made by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole when he was labour leader and now that he is “on the other side.” It has often been said that the true test of a man’s character is when you give him power.The Peoples Verdict“It was the same Oshiomhole who, as President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led more than seven general strikes against the Obasanjo government’s attempt at deregulating fuel pricing and privatize the refineries. Is the Comrade Governor telling us that all he did during in his sojourn at the Labour House are mistakes?”- Osun State Labour Party, reacting to Oshiomhole’s volte face at the town hall meeting on petroleum subsidy.This is what former military president General Ibrahim Babangida had to say of Oshiomhole: "...It will also interest the electorate to know how (he) came about his stupendous riches, particularly as a Labour leader, to warrant his rather ostentatious life-style, much of which is done in pretence at the expense of the masses."Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Beyond the characteristic austere look of Oshiomhole lies his acquisitive demeanour to the extent that he owns choice houses in Kaduna, Abuja and Edo, yet portraying a pro-masses Labour leader on the one hand, while exploiting them on the other hand as an agent of the ruling elite.” IBB spoke through his spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, who ironically became a media aide to Oshiomhole before abruptly resigning his appointment.CONCLUSIONWhat the times call for are principled men.A man who finds it convenient to change when his status changes wont see anything wrong with changing whenever the weather changes. Such men are as capricious as the wind.We pray God to give us leaders who are driven by their conscience and not by selfish benefits.Those who will not betray the people. Leaders we can Trust. Leaders who are as constant as the northern star.God Save Edo State, God bless Nigeria! OSAGIE EHIS Coalition of Concerned Edo Citizens.