By Kassim Afebgua

I am still in the realm of the metaphysical, trying hard to rationalize a number of things that took place in the country in the last two weeks. I have seen strikes before in this country but not one that was peacefully conducted. I think the Arab Spring mentality has come home to us and gladly too because it will help mitigate the unmitigated powers of our leaders who feel they can sit in their cocoon to dish out choking air for us to swallow.

Nigerians for a long time were united in their position that the Jonathan-led administration got it wrong on the subsidy removal plot. There were too many voices crying for attention, each one spreading out through the media to make an impression about their knowledge of subsidy. I am told in very jocular manner that Mr. Subsidy is still gasping for breath after Nigerian masses pummeled him with terrific punches and bruises.

Trust Nigeria, the home to all manners of bizarre drama with their ridiculous characters traversing the political landscape to make a statement. Imagine the Asari-Dokubo drama on television, his frenzied showmanship like one being intoxicated with ancestral spiritual liquor, declaring to all that hell would be let loose if anything untoward happens to their Ijaw brother.

It is now a country of personalized leadership, not one elected by majority, but one that only Asari-Dokubo’s vote got into office. With the dynamics of democratic governance, how can a people of less than 400,000 votes lay legitimate claim of being the sole repository of a Jonathan-led administration?

My teeth clapped their hands in utter disbelief. Marry that immature idea with the claim by some self-serving government apologists that the President was grossly abused and insulted, all manners of undercutting language being hurled at him. His foot-soldiers, who are largely uncouth by their public outing so far, had the temerity to whip up petty sentiments for the simple reason that their job provider was being insulted.

The business of political engagement is a game of musical chairs. If President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan does not want insults, he has no business being in politics in the first place or asking anyone to vote for him in the last elections. Those who do not want abuses and insults live peacefully in the comfort of their homes.

SYCOPHANTS TAKE CHAMELEON FOR BREAKFAST.

Picture the image of the Minister for Information in your mind and tell me what you are likely to see; the image of an unserious public officer who is a product of contradiction. I am told that in 1988, as a student of University of Jos, records have it that he vehemently opposed subsidy removal of the IBB era, but today, as Information Minister, God don butter im bread, tory don change. He now speaks for the oppressors from both sides of his mouth.

Refresh your memories with the rented scanty crowds that were masquerading around the whole place, beating drums of support for the President’s action; you will immediately begin to weep for Nigeria. What level of crass hypocrisy are we advertising to the whole world? Are those people going to reap from the reduction of pump price? I doubt not.

A PROTEST WITHOUT OSHIOMHOLE….

Time changes, so also does power. Human beings also change.

The only thing that is constant in life is change itself. It now depends on what you are changing into; from bad to worse, or from bad to good. I am yet to reconcile whether it is possible to have a strike action in this country without Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole; that cerebral Labour Leader who gained public recognition by his labour exploits on behalf of the masses.

But as we speak, the man is now on the side of the oppressors by consequence of his new status, against the same masses that he had long fought for. Comrade Oshiomhole is not a man for all seasons, but he was a man for labour always, except that this time around, he has simply joined government apologists to sing a dirge against the masses.

By the unpredictability of the PDP political marauders who are bent on making sure that the Comrade is rooted out of office coupled with the in-fighting within the conclave of his Party the CAN over who should be his running mate,  Comrade Oshiomhole is prepared to eat the humble pie to get himself re-elected for a second term in office.

Conscious of the political exploits of Chief Anenih [fast waning], who is seeing this gubernatorial battle as a make or mar encounter between him and Comrade Oshiomhole, the Governor has smartly pitched his tent with President Jonathan to curry favour and get some lethal protection against the crushing machinery of the PDP. That in itself is a smart way to break the ranks of the PDP hierarchy in the State since the Comrade Governor is on the good books of the President.

Nigerian masses and labour watchers are aghast that Comrade Oshiomhole maintained an undignified silence throughout the duration of the strike and was only seen on television making comments about the false alarm generated by the strike in Benin City with respect to the averted religious crisis. While he was sweating profusely trying to convince the people that there was nothing near what was reported, you could see the pains of a man battling with the strings of his conscience.

Rather than being his avuncular self dishing out those anti-government verbiages to press home demands on behalf of the people, he was making reference to a different matter which although was fallout of the strike, but was not the subject matter of the day. When the representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress were taking their seats one after the other in the Villa, you could see Comrade Oshiomhole on the side of government delegation looking like an orphan in search of a comfortable shelter.

His usual tailor-made Khaki dress betrayed the ambience of the deliberation room once one recognizes the fact that he was on the side of government. It would be safe to conclude that the Comrade Governor was actually recruited by the PDP government to think for them on better ways to handle a determined labour strike action that exposed the incoherence and impolitic of a PDP-driven government.

What could be the motivation for Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to have acceded to the promptings of a PDP-led government to undo both his party and his humble self? Governor Fashola of Lagos, even though he would benefit from the proceeds of the subsidy removal, stood firmly on the side of the people. The protesters were protected and given guide to prevent them from unleashing violence throughout the protests. His counterpart in Osun State, Comrade Rauf Aregbesola did likewise and the Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi took the roll call also.

Even, Governor Mimiko who is proud to be the only Labour Governor, so to speak, humbled his protesting audience with his support. It was only Comrade Oshiomhole who took a different route; the route of Aso Presidential Villa. With Comrade Oshiomhole on the side of government, they introduced the dynamics of his negotiation tactics on the table; increase the pump price arbitrarily, when they protest, try and play the father-figure role and ask for a reduction, and then Nigerians will praise you. Those were the familiar sing-songs during the Obasanjo years when pump price increase took a dithering dimension. And they were all Oshiomhole’s tactics.

The Oshiomhole that I know would not be comfortable with his isolated role during the last strike. The Comrade simply shot himself into a cocoon that seemingly appeared too hot for him to bear. At the debate in Lagos before Government pulled the rugs off the feet of the masses, Comrade Oshiomhole had decreed that the country would crash if subsidy stays. From that moment, the government derived an uncommon courage to deal a hard blow on the masses. If government was aware that a N97 price would be appropriate, why did they allow the country to go through that hell of a strike that almost crippled the economy? Why on earth would government be playing with the lives of people when it has other openings to address the prevailing economic conditions of the people? With the revelations coming out from various government departments, it is becoming crystal clear that it is not so much for subsidy but corruption that has crippled that sector. The figures that are coming out from the NNPC and the entire sector are as inconsistent as they are crippling. Several statistics are overlapping one another thus exposing the rotten underbelly of that sector.

I am hesitant to continue calling Governor of Edo State a Comrade; whatever that means. I will generously advise that he drops that prefix and sticks to his baptismal name so that he doesn’t corrupt the collegiate body of authentic Comrades. A man must carry an identity that suits his ideological orientation through to the end. He must not pretend to be what he is not. People should derive the courage to ask President Goodluck Jonathan where he got the stupendous resources deployed into his campaign machinery before we begin to understand the differences between a budgeted sum for subsidy and the actual amount spent thereafter. We should also derive courage to ask “Neighbour 2 Neighbour Initiative”, where it is deriving the stupendous resources it is wasting on advertorials that convey no meaning to the populace. What we are saying is that the people want to see the dividends of democracy on ground and not dividends of advertorials that swell the pockets of a few against the collective. This descent to government by advertisement will further cripple the urgent need to cut down on wasteful expenditure and Nigerians might be forced once again to start paying for the dubious excesses of a few individuals.

Imagine what it would have looked like if Mr. Adams Oshiomhole stood before that motley crowd in Lagos, or Benin or Abuja to convey to them his impressions about the subsidy and why the poor cannot continue to subsidize government’s incompetence. Imagine how it would have been, if he was seen holding hands with his other Comrades bestriding the streets of Abuja, asking government to heed the call of the masses. Executive status of a Governor has taken away the Comrade in him. As I write this, I still believe in Mr. Adams Oshiomhole’s performance so far in Edo State. That is not in contention but his ideological framework as a Comrade is what is at issue here.