The
man died who keeps silence in the face of tyranny. This phrase, a very
unique one is taken from the master piece “The Man Died” written by our
loving Nobel laureate and literature guru, Professor Wole Soyinka.
I had decided to keep silence since the July 14 Governorship election
in Edo State not because I am afraid of death, but because I decided to
adopt the style of late Cicero of Agodi, Chief Bola Ige, when during the reign of Nigeria’s late maximum leader and dictator, GeneralSani Abacha, he said he does not talk to the deaf. He was responding to a journalist’s question on why he had not made any comment on the many atrocities Abacha was committing at the time.
However,
my patriotic instinct was awakened a few weeks ago, when one good
friend of mine in a telephone conversation, asked me if everybody in the
state has been blindfolded and taken in by the makosaor should I say ekassa dance
of the present sole administrator of the state, the diminutive looking
individual (not my words but those of Professor Eddy Eragbe during
the governor’s swearing in ceremony on November 12, 2012). I use the
word diminutive not derogatorily but in the actual sense of it even at
the risk of being accused by my loquacious friend, Ben Ogbebor, of describing an elected and siting governor as diminutive while I myself do the hop, step and jump walk.
I heard in the news on Monday 29th,
October 2012, that the lackluster Edo State House of Assembly had
dissolved the Edo State Local Government Transition Committees, months
after a State High Court Judge sitting in Ekpoma had
declared them illegal. The decision by the House of Assembly to become
alive to its responsibility is a cosmic relief to me. This is because
most members of the house had dissipated so much energy since their
inauguration in June 2011 trying to justify the illegality perpetuated
by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in retaining the dissolved Local Government
Transition Committees, before and even after the Ekpoma High
Court ruling. However, it is good and refreshing that the House of
Assembly has finally woken up from its slumber and decided that it is
better late than never. I hope this is the beginning of a deliberate
attempt of the house to assume its constitutional mandate of being a
check on the executive rather than being a stooge of the executive.
My mentor and senior in the journalism profession, Dr. Tonnie Iredia made
an interesting point in his article “Using the Judiciary to Win
Election in Nigeria” published on page 18 of the Sunday Vanguard of
October 21, 2012. In that article, he wrote in paragraph three: “But to
assume that all will be well as soon as Justice Muktar took
over the mantle of leadership of the judiciary is rather simplistic.
This is because there have always been and there still are many judges
in Nigeria who are less than worthy”. Less than forty-eight hours after
the piece was published, the National Judicial Council (NJC) announced
the dissolution of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal
headed by Justice Sulema Ambrusa. The NTA 9pm network news through which the announment was
made said the NJC took the decision based on a petition by some lawyers
acting for the PDP Governorship Candidate in the July 14th election, General Charles Airhiavbere rtd., alleging
that the panel had been compromised and they had therefore lost
confidence in it. Consequently, the announcement said a new three-man
Tribunal had been reconstituted.
Coincidently, Dele Sobowale in
his column “frankly speaking” published on page 17 in the same Sunday
Vanguard of October 21, 2012 wrote in the last paragraph titled
“Judicial Murders” and Nigeria Politics-4: “One Election Tribunal
Justice has dismissed virtually all cases before him on technicalities.
For how long must justice be hostage to Technicalities?” Dr. Tonnie Iredia and Mr. Dele Sobowale spoke
the minds of millions of Nigerians who feel that the nation’s judiciary
has performed below expectations contrary to their judicial oath of
office to be courageous and unbiased umpires.
I
must, however, with all sincerity commend the sterling qualities and
strong courage displayed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of
the NJC, Justice Mariam Aloma Muktar and
the NJC by dissolving the former Edo Election Tribunal. This is against
the background that the supporters and close aides of the Governor,
Adams Oshiomhole and even some PDP members have never failed to impress
it on those who care to listen that President Goodluck Jonathan
who they claim has a soft spot for the Comrade Governor will use his
position to influence the outcome of the petition before the Edo State
Election Tribunal. I feel highly elated that Mr. President has proved
them wrong, for if Mr. President actually had an unholy interest in the matter, that dissolution would not have been possible. I hope and pray that Justice Muktar and President Jonathan will before the end of their respective
tenures strive to leave behind them the legacy of having midwifed the
emergence of a new independent, bold, courageous, vibrant, corruption-free and enviable judiciary. They owe all Nigerians that obligation.
I also appeal to members of the newly constituted Edo Election Tribunal to discharge their duties courageously and dispassionately with the fear of God no matter whose feathers are ruffled. They too owe the people of Edo State and Nigerians that.
I
remember when we were growing up in the late fifties to the early
seventies in Benin City, our parents and teachers taught and admonished
us to place moral values and the fear of God above every other
consideration in whatever we did. Then, whenever we were brought before
our fathers and accused of any wrong doing, the onus rested on us to convince our fathers that we were innocent of those accusations. We painstakingly tried
as much as possible to convince them of our innocence. Where possible,
we called other family members to vouch for our innocence. We never for
once told our fathers that they lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate in
such matters brought before them. We never told them that such matters ought to have been taken to our mothers, grandparents or uncles for adjudication.
With
those moral teachings and values still fresh in my mind, if anybody
today casts any aspersion on my integrity with regards to my primary or
secondary school certificates or even my university degree, I will use
the last drop of the blood in my body to prove to the whole world that I
read for, wrote and passed the examinations that earned me the certificates. I will prove to everyone that I was actually found worthy both in
character and learning before I was awarded my university degree. I
will go to the open court to list the names of the schools I attended
and the years I attended them. I will tell the court who my headmasters/mistresses and principals were. The names of some of the teachers and tutors who taught me in primary and secondary schools should still be fresh in my memory so I should not have any difficulty in providing them to the court. And of course, I should also not have any challenges with the names of the Vice-Chancellor of my
university while there and the lecturers who contributed to my being
found worthy both in character and learning to be awarded the degree
Did I have contemporaries in school? Of course,
yes, senior, Junior and class mates and I will not hesitate to make
them my witnesses in court to testify as to the veracity of my claims. Finally, I will request the court to subpoena the authorities of those schools and examining bodies to authenticate the genuineness of my certificate and degrees and if the schools I claimed to have attended were actually in existence as at the time I claim to have attended them. I will not go to the court to plead lack of jurisdiction. As a journalist turned politician, I
owe it to my children and siblings who see me as their role model, to
my family name, to my friends, my professional and political associates
as well as my numerous followers to establish the truth.
Furthermore, I owe it to the youths who should emulate me inboth words, actions and deeds as well as members of the public who regularly sacrifice their time, energy and resources to support my political aspirations. Above all, I owe it to God my creator to always say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I will not allowgreedy and selfish politicians and lawyers who are only interested inwhat they can gain from me to lead me astray.
This is what the people of Edo State ask of the Comrade Governor of the state, Comrade Adams Aliu(or Aliyu) Oshiomhole. The people demand of him to go before the Election Tribunal to prove his opponent wrong by
providing convincing and authentic evidences that the schools he
claimed to have attended were actually in existence when he claimed to
have attended them.
They want to be assured that they were not wrong in reposing their
confidence in him by his proving at the tribunal that he actually sat
for, obtained and owns the certificates he parades contrary to his
opponent’s allegations.
They want to be
able to convince their children and future generations that they did
not make mistakes giving him their votes. They want to be reassured that
the dignity and integrity of the office of GOVERNOR of Edo State has
not been soiled, polluted and contaminated.
These assurances the Comrade Governor should not hesitate to give to the people of the state and his numerous admirers nationwide
by exonerating himself of the allegation of certificate forgery at the
tribunal rather than hide under the guise of jurisdiction. He should realize that this dent will be a cross he will continue to bear in his life time if he does not take the right steps now to set the records straight. He should realize that any dirt swept under the carpet will surely resurface whenever the carpet is lifted up.
It is curious that in his citation read by Professor Eddy Eragbe during the Comrade Governor’s swearing-in,
the erudite University of Benin Associate Professor of History
conveniently omitted the early educational background of the Governor.
He merely mentioned that after his secondary education, Adams Aliu (or Aliyu) Oshiomhole proceeded to Ruskin University without mention of where the
said secondary education took place nor the modern and primary schools
attended by him. The question is: was it an omission or deliberate? This
was in contrast to the citation of the Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, read by one Pastor Remi Yusuf in
which all the schools attended by the Deputy Governor were listed for
all to hear. If the schools of the Deputy Governor could be highlighted,
what prevented Professor Eragbe from highlighting those of the Governor’s early educational background, if any? Were the hands of the Professor tied or do they have something to hide? But one thing is sure; Comrade
Oshiomhole missed another golden opportunity to set the records
straight as it affects his early education. The whole world tuned into
the live coverage of the swearing-in with a view to knowing the truth.
Moreover,
if the Governor in the INEC form he filled for the July 14 election
claimed he was born on April 4, 1952 and the citation read by Professor Eragbe claimed
he was born on April 4, 1953, then something must be wrong somewhere. I
wonder who is telling the truth-the Governor in his INEC forms or the
Professor in his citation. The Governor definitely could not have been
born in two different years. If Professor Eragbe made a mistake, the Governor ought to have corrected him like his deputy did when Pastor Yusuf inadvertently read 1989 instead of 1999 in the course of his citation.
Prince Tony Afejuku in Paragraphs 9 and 10 of his article ‘Edo election tribunal and Nigeria’s judiciary-less judiciary (1)’ published atthe back page of the Nigerian Tribune of Monday, 8 October 2012 wrote “Why do I say this? Governor Oshiomhole is presently
not an ordinary citizen of Edo State and Nigeria. He ought to be and
should be a model to be followed by our teeming youths, at least. If he
does not know, I put it to him, his lawyers, his party and teeming
supporters that the youths’ silence that speaks volume (dumtacent clamant) on this matter bordering on alleged certificate forgery is not one that is doing the ebullient Governor any good.
The
tribunal technical rejection of his number one opponent’s case of
alleged certificate forgery against him is something that Mr. AdamsAliyu (or Aliu) Oshiomhole should not allow on the ground of technicality …..”
I align totally with the submission of Prince Afejuku. The ruling on the 15th of
November 2012, of the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin which referred
the issue of non-qualification of Adams Oshiomhole back to the Edo State
Election Tribunal for hearing came as a relief to me. It vindicates the
stand of many of us that the merit of the case ought not to have been
sacrificed on the altar of technicality.
If the Comrade Governor is convinced and knows that the allegations are false, he
should prove his innocence at the reconstituted Edo Election Petition
Tribunal. If on the other hand, he is convinced that they are
allegations he cannot defend, he should do what common sense dictates to
be the right and ethical thing to do and that option is to throw in the towel and RESIGN NOW to preserve the DIGNITY of the office of Governor. He owes his family, children and grandchildren, his numerous admirers and the good people of Edo State (both those who voted and those who did not vote for him) the obligation.
Hon. Osaze Jesuorobo
No comments:
Post a Comment