A friend of mine, a Professor of Gynecology, who
has been following very closely the Airiavbere-Oshiomhole case as I am,
has described the Comrade Governor as a strange character. Incidentally,
himself and the latter are ethnical neighbours. When he so described
his ethnical neighbour as stated, I humorously added that were the
former Nigeria’s Number One labour leader a woman, one would have
ascribed the peculiar type of strange behaviour with regards to the
current allegation against the accused to some defect. What a jocular
chat we had!
As Governor Oshiomhole closed his case in the tribunal, his stranger behaviour sparkled. But I must for now resist the temptation to call him Oshiomhole the effervescent. Before you query my logic and jocularity you must follow me to the end.
His accuser did not just call witnesses to argue his allegation against the governor, he also entered the dock to be examined and cross-examined by all the silk-donning legal luminaries on parade. In my opinion, by the time the PDP gubernatorial candidate closed his case, he had made his case against his opponent. Perhaps I’m wrong.
Now Oshiomhole dodged the dock to defend his case or to contest the case of certificate forgery levelled against him. Very strange. Perhaps pathetically and pathologically so. I salivated in wait for a bite or a taste of the oratory or garrulity of the governor. I salivated in vain. The governor did not enter the dock to give his accuser a devastating blow. But the governor and his team deserve a huge chunk of praise from me. Why? You must gallop with me till we reach shortly destination-welcome-and-good-bye.
It is worthy of note here that the governor, rather than enter the dock himself got a witness to do so. And the testimony of the witness, a Professor, is way interesting. A newspaper of Wednesday, December, 12, 2012 (page 58) reported his statement, among other ones, as follows: “I know Oshiomhole in 1963 when we both entered St. Blessed Martins Modern School, Jattu, Uzairue. We were classmates between 1963 and 1965 when we completed that modern school and left” I hope the Professor was correctly quoted. If so, I ask: how old was Oshiomhole at that time? And when did he complete his primary school education? At age nine/10/11? Or? And how many years did he spend in primary school at a time the right palm must go over the head for the fingers to touch the left ear before a prospective pupil was deemed to qualify for a place in school?
Professor Agbebaku was also reported to have said, this time in another newspaper of Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (Page 10), as follows: “My Lord, Industrial Relations, Industrial Sociology and Industrial Economics are all university courses and are far higher than their Senior Secondary School Certificate subjects and cannot be taught in a school lower than the equivalent of a university.” This is the Professor’s personal opinion which he is rightly entitled to. But I disagree with him. Any subject or course or topic, including any of the ones he listed, can be taught at any level of education or of schooling. What differs from one level to another is the area of emphasis. There are other considerations as well, but I will skip them. In any case, I don’t see how this “testimony” of Professor is relevant to the allegation. And what was Airiavbere’s lawyer’s response to Agbebaku’s evidence above or other aspects of his evidence in the tribunal? None of the dailies that reported the proceedings addressed this issue.
Now I must say it loud and clear: I have nothing personal against the Comrade Governor. If I have any grouse against him, it is because I firmly believe that to whom much is given, much is expected. He must live and govern in accordance with our high expectations of him. He must demolish the allegation levelled against him to our great satisfaction and exceeding relief. He and his team must not see me as an inveterate nitpicker. (I chose to rest my case here until some other auspicious time).
Merry Christmas.
NigerianTribune
As Governor Oshiomhole closed his case in the tribunal, his stranger behaviour sparkled. But I must for now resist the temptation to call him Oshiomhole the effervescent. Before you query my logic and jocularity you must follow me to the end.
His accuser did not just call witnesses to argue his allegation against the governor, he also entered the dock to be examined and cross-examined by all the silk-donning legal luminaries on parade. In my opinion, by the time the PDP gubernatorial candidate closed his case, he had made his case against his opponent. Perhaps I’m wrong.
Now Oshiomhole dodged the dock to defend his case or to contest the case of certificate forgery levelled against him. Very strange. Perhaps pathetically and pathologically so. I salivated in wait for a bite or a taste of the oratory or garrulity of the governor. I salivated in vain. The governor did not enter the dock to give his accuser a devastating blow. But the governor and his team deserve a huge chunk of praise from me. Why? You must gallop with me till we reach shortly destination-welcome-and-good-bye.
It is worthy of note here that the governor, rather than enter the dock himself got a witness to do so. And the testimony of the witness, a Professor, is way interesting. A newspaper of Wednesday, December, 12, 2012 (page 58) reported his statement, among other ones, as follows: “I know Oshiomhole in 1963 when we both entered St. Blessed Martins Modern School, Jattu, Uzairue. We were classmates between 1963 and 1965 when we completed that modern school and left” I hope the Professor was correctly quoted. If so, I ask: how old was Oshiomhole at that time? And when did he complete his primary school education? At age nine/10/11? Or? And how many years did he spend in primary school at a time the right palm must go over the head for the fingers to touch the left ear before a prospective pupil was deemed to qualify for a place in school?
Professor Agbebaku was also reported to have said, this time in another newspaper of Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (Page 10), as follows: “My Lord, Industrial Relations, Industrial Sociology and Industrial Economics are all university courses and are far higher than their Senior Secondary School Certificate subjects and cannot be taught in a school lower than the equivalent of a university.” This is the Professor’s personal opinion which he is rightly entitled to. But I disagree with him. Any subject or course or topic, including any of the ones he listed, can be taught at any level of education or of schooling. What differs from one level to another is the area of emphasis. There are other considerations as well, but I will skip them. In any case, I don’t see how this “testimony” of Professor is relevant to the allegation. And what was Airiavbere’s lawyer’s response to Agbebaku’s evidence above or other aspects of his evidence in the tribunal? None of the dailies that reported the proceedings addressed this issue.
Now I must say it loud and clear: I have nothing personal against the Comrade Governor. If I have any grouse against him, it is because I firmly believe that to whom much is given, much is expected. He must live and govern in accordance with our high expectations of him. He must demolish the allegation levelled against him to our great satisfaction and exceeding relief. He and his team must not see me as an inveterate nitpicker. (I chose to rest my case here until some other auspicious time).
Merry Christmas.
NigerianTribune
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