IT was Professor Wole Soyinka who once suggested that Nigerian politicians seeking elective or appointive positions should first be subjected to psychiatric examination.

The Nobel Laureate was right, although the margin between normal and abnormal behaviour is very thin.

I get very disturbed each time I watch Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Governor of Edo State, on television, leading a protest and sweating profusely on the major streets of Benin City.  That should not be the normal role of a Governor elected by the people to provide services.

For a number of reasons, Oshiomhole’s departure from the normal should have been expected.  First, those familiar with this man’s background as a trade unionist know very well that his orientation has always been closer to touting than to normal agitation and negotiation for the welfare of workers.  Given this background, protests and demonstrations have remained his staple.  So one should not be surprised to see the Comrade on the streets doing what he is accustomed to? What it means, sadly, is that Oshiomhole has not been able to transform himself from the status of a trade union leader to that of a state governor.

A more fundamental reason for Comrade Oshiomhole’s inability to adjust to his new status is that he was really never elected by the people of Edo State.  He was thrust on them by the decision of the State Governorship Election Tribunal which annulled the election of Professor Oserheimen Osunbor on March 20, 2008 and confirmed by the Court of Appeal verdict of November 14, 2008.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong about participation in street protests, even by a state governor, insofar as such protests are peacefully conducted and motivated by noble goals.  What was not clear about the recent Oshiomhole-led series of street protests in Benin City, is the authority to which their demands were directed.  According to the Governor, one of the protests was against the rising insecurity in Edo State.  But, curiously, he is the Governor and Chief Security Officer of the State. Was Oshiomhole then protesting against his own failure in providing security in Edo State?

More appalling, Comrade Oshiomhole’s protests were violent rather than peaceful.  It is novel, if not abnormal, for a governor to lead a violent protest. The actions of a governor should lead to protection and peace, not insecurity and violence, safety of lives and not death and injuries.  It reminds us, again, of Prof. Soyinka’s suggestion and prompts the question: Is Edo State normal under Governor Oshiomhole?

These days, Comrade Oshiomhole spends more time on propaganda and abuse of members of the opposition party or the so-called godfathers than providing services for the people of Edo State.  More often than not, he loses control, decorum and every sense of proportion; speaks flippantly and without discretion, as if he is permanently inebriated or under the influence of whatever. Again, is this conduct of our Governor normal and would you recommend him to others as a role model?

Conduct that departs from the normal may be permissible under certain circumstance, especially when such conduct is harmless. So, Comrade Oshiomhole is free to shout and dance through the streets of Benin City on a daily basis and with as many hooligans as he wishes. He can shout his own self-praises and the achievements of his administration from the rooftops.  What he is not free to do is to malign other citizens of the State in the name of electioneering

In the past few weeks, Oshiomhole has been peddling falsehood and making accusations, some frivolous, other serious and libelous, against eminent politicians and elder statesmen in Edo State.  In every such case, Oshiomhole’s knack for fabrication is displayed at the highest order.  For instance, at a recent public function, Oshiomhole described his unusual behaviour as due to a kind of “rascality” which according to him, his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, accommodates.

Then Oshiomhole went into hallucination: “My fight against the godfather started from his decision to veto what an elected governor had promised to the people of the State … As governor, I was compelled to go to Abuja and was invited to a private living room of a man … and he had to interrogate me on why I wanted to build more schools … and he deleted the votes for mass transit, for education and other capital projects, including security votes …” (Vanguard, of Friday, May 18, 2012).

First, it is absurd to imagine that a governor would take the budget of his state for vetting by an individual outside the state. What circumstances would have created this unusual scenario? Secondly, it is obvious from the list of items vetoed by this “superman” of Oshiomhole’s imagination, that his mission was to continue his propaganda campaign and demonization of his political opponents.

The same mindless propaganda has been deployed in the insinuation of criminal involvement of certain elders of the PDP in the unfortunate accident near Auchi in which three journalists were killed on April 28, 2012, and in the murder of Oshiomhole’s Principal Private Security, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde on Friday, May 4, 2012.  Clearly, this has moved from the level of rascality to that of desperation, mischief, if not psychosis.

A social commentator suggested the other day that the persons accused of criminal involvement in the accident and assassination should seek redress in the court of law.  The question is: When a mad man is pursuing you, would your first reaction be to go and report to the police or to seek refuge anywhere safe?

Mr. MIKE EGUADASE, a public  affairs analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.