There is no denying the fact that the essence of democracy is the participation of citizens in the process of government. At the most basic level, the participation involves selecting leaders for the nation, the states and the various local governments through the electoral process.
Popular participation also includes examination of government and public officials to determine their fitness for serving the people. Discussions, criticisms and suggestions collectively play a part in the orderly transition of governments and elected leaders. The right to speak and oppose, no doubt, is inherent in a nation governed by popularly elected leaders.
Analysed from the prism of the foregoing backdrop, it can be said in this context that one of the reasons that may have compelled the major opposition party in Edo State to be unjustifiably and relentlessly be carrying out orchestrated campaign of calumny and mudslinging against the person of Mr. Godwin Obaseki is ignorance of the dynamics of the freedom of expression.
Since he joined the gubernatorial race in the state that culminated to his victory as the current governor of the state, he has remained an object of campaign of calumny in the camp of his opponent and their agents.
There is no scintilla of hyperbole to say that the right to discuss the government, the right to criticize the government, the right to oppose the government, the right to advocate the change of the government, which are dimensions of free speech and free press, and are collectively at the centre of the philosophy behind the ongoing political dispensation, are been abused by those that are affiliated to opposition parties in the state.
In fact, the essence of opposition in a democratic government is to patriotically criticise the policies, plans, bills and laws which, in accordance with them, are against the common people’s welfare. An ideal opposition should highlight the negative aspects of the policies, plans, bills and laws they set out to criticise against and point out the way forward. In the same vein, the opposition should clear out its stand on each and every issue concerned with the people. There is no denying the fact that the role of the opposition in a democratic government helps to smoothen the working of the parliament.
As to the leader of the opposition in the house of assembly, he plays a key role during working of the house. Moreover, he has a significant role to play as a member of selection committee for appointment of bureaucrats like Chief justice, Commissioners, Special Assistants as well as Directors of Ministries, Departments and Parastatals.
In other climes, the most important expectations from the leader of the opposition by the people is for him to patriotically and dispassionately analyse the distribution of the budget by Government and if any scam, or padding, is found, then it can be reveal to the people in a civil manner, and not in a mischievous manner. As recommended in political textbooks, the act of opposition ought not to be what is in this context called a “developmental fight” between two opposing political parties.
Against the backdrop of the kind of opposition that is being played in Edo, one can say in this context without equanimity that opposition in the state has failed. The reason for the foregoing affirmation cannot be farfetched as political opposition does not connote the destruction of the polity. Opposition should be objective and not subjective. The duty of both the ruling party and opposition is to channel their collective efforts towards building a better Edo.
Without doubt, when Edmund Burke, the eighteenth-century statesman, said, “Liberty without wisdom or responsibility is the greatest of all possible evils”, he may had prophetically referred to those who are today exercising the liberty that is inherent in the political concept of opposition without wisdom or responsibility.”
I must confess that I was inspired to express this view when a colleague in the office drew my attention to an online news story that has the title “Plot to discredit Governor Obaseki uncovered” that was credited to Vanguard Newspaper of August 9, 2017.
According to the news report, “There are plots to dent the image and character of Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, a group, Benin Integrity Forum has alerted. The group said it has uncovered a plot to blackmail the State Chief Executive and some of his aides through forged documents and computer manipulated photograph. In a statement signed by its State Chairman, Messr Ehima Omoregie said the plot is being sponsored by agents of destabilization whose identities and means of communication were already being trailed by security agents.”
The story continued: “ He said, “they met somewhere in Benin City, where the plot was hatched to among others blackmail some top government functionaries in order to soil the reputation of Governor Godwin Obaseki. “I want to draw the attention of Governor Godwin Obaseki and members of the public to a sinister plot by some disgruntled-turn-coat politicians in the state who are hell-bent in disparaging the person of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, as well as present the state government in bad light.”
It added that the “The plot, which hopes to score cheap political points at the expense of the state, should be seen as antics of failed politicians who are bent at discrediting the state government. “I have incidented this with the various security agencies but call on the unsuspecting Edo people to watch out for such malicious publications since these reactionary elements who have made blackmail their stock-in-trade, have in their febrile effort in the last 8months tried to distract Governor Gidwin Obaseki, essentially in social media, but to no avail. “We also call on these conclave of blackmailers shopping for fresh issues to discredit the laudable initiatives of the Governor to desist forthwith before we expose them publicly”.
My colleague who kept screaming in the newsroom, “What is it again about Obaseki?” in bewilderment was ostensibly overwhelmed by the mischievous scheme being plotted against the assiduous governor in the face of what the governor has been doing in Edo State. He once said Edolites should thank God that the opportunity to have Obaseki as the governor despite the undemocratic way and manner the position was scrambled for during the gubernatorial election that was held on 28 September 2016 to determine the Governorof Edo State. He added that if not for God’s intervention that Obaseki would have by now added to the list of “Leaders Edo Never Had.”
To me, “What is it about the governor when all what Edolites were told about the governor have all being found to be lies, particularly when seen from his sterling performance as governor in an unprecedented record time coupled with his ability to sustain and improve upon his achievements.
There is an African proverb that says “God created every child with the ability to cry but when a spoilt child cries he is bound to forget to stop crying and close his or her mouth”. This aphorism, no doubt, holds true in the case of those that have been opposing Obaseki since he assumed the position of a governor in the state. Recall there are equally opposing groups and parties in other states across the federation who, like the child that knows how to close his or mouth after crying, closed their mouths, and say well of the government in power whenever they noticed that the governor in power and his team are working.
In fact, Nigeria’s political history is not bereft of an instance where an opposing political party would laud a ruling party over its achievements. To me, why are those in the opposition in Edo state not replicating the same good example?
Reiteratively put, it is a paradox that while those in other states keep their mouths shut and applaud a performing governor, those in Edo State remained intransigent, so to say, to the detriment of Edolites.
Permit me to rephrase the conundrum my colleague by asking, “What is it the opposition want to tell us again about Obaseki that is not aimed at lying against him, or scandalizing him?”
How long would it take those that are unjustifiably and unrelentlessly attacking Obaseki to see what he is doing in the state, and embrace the truth?
How long would it take opposers of Obaseki to understand that history is already in the process of documenting him as an outstanding personality in politics in the state as a result of his unprecedented sterling performance at Osadebay Avenue?
Attackers of the governor may likely not understand that he is God-sent to the state just the same way a child may proverbially not understand that a moving elephant is not a moving bulldozer.
The question has kept on reverberating in this context, “What is it again about Obaseki?” No doubt, the foregoing question which is invariably the title of this piece need to be answered by those who erroneously think that Obaseki is not working.
As espoused by Khalil Gibran, Obaseki has learnt silence from talkative, toleration from those who are intolerant, and kindness from the unkind. Strangely enough, he seems to be grateful to them for imbuing him with enduring political virtues. To me, Obaseki’s attackers should eschew the activities that are no doubt capable of under-developing Edo. They should eshew primordial sentiments and join hands with the governor for the state to grow at a faster pace.
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Isaac Asabor, a Journalist, writes from Lagos
