By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
I always remember the words of the tortoise about what he will do when there is a stampede in the marketplace. They said that the proverbial tortoise had said that he would stamp to death a pregnant woman if there should be a stampede in the marketplace. People did not take him seriously because the leg of the tortoise was not even big enough to stamp to death a fellow tortoise, not to mention a pregnant woman.
Unfortunately, we were told that there was a stampede in the market the next day, and a pregnant woman died in the stampede, and Tortoise was arrested simply because of what he said earlier. Everyone in the village knew that the tortoise could not have caused the havoc given his size and the size of the dead woman. Words may be cheap, but the implication may be far-reaching. I have watched many people trying to defend the governor of Edo state on his threat to Mr. Peter Obi. The governor said that Mr. Peter Obi should not visit his state because there is a new sheriff in town.
The governor added that Mr. Obi needs permission to visit his state. Finally, he boasted that if Mr. Obi visited Edo State that his security would not be guaranteed. Except if the governor does not understand simple English, those words and statements are not ambiguous and do not need explanation and interpretation.
Those statements are self-explanatory. The governor tried to walk back the statement the following day because he was briefed on the implications, like the proverbial tortoise, but his praise singers, like Wike (Minister of the FCT), Senator Adams Oshiomhole, his information commissioner, and Edo State APC chairman Jarret Tenebe. The most difficult job in the political spectrum is the job of cleaning up a political mess dropped by a political suzerain. If the political vassals do a poor job of cleaning the mess, they could be fired.
When you choose to defend a foolish man, you cannot help but look foolish also. In that speech against Peter Obi, the governor could not pronounce 15 million naira. He kept saying one point five thousand, and in some instances, one point five hundred.
Was the governor reading a teleprompter, or was he being prompted by someone beside him, the way Adams was doing for him during the campaign? Mr. Obi has responded to him in a cool fashion, saying that he should not be distracted by the loose cannon. We all knew how Mr. Obi would like to slow the tempo so that he would not heat the polity. I do not agree a lot with Mr. Kenneth Okonkwo when it comes to political decisions and discussion, but I agreed with his allusion that if Peter Obi were a northerner, the Edo state governor would not say a thing like that.
The southeastern politicians have been on the receiving end for too long now in the Nigerian political equation. It was the southeastern governor who rescued the midwestern region from the shackles of the western region and gave power to Sir Dennis Osadebay. Today, the same people we helped to gain independence from the Western region have turned against us in the name of politics.
I do not know if the governor of Edo State was trying to show the president that he can bite too or be a good political ally. He went on a rampage to prove himself, and now he has stepped onto the political landmine. I can assure him that his praise singers will not suffer with him if he has to answer for those statements today or tomorrow. No one gets to the marketplace and observes that his father was impeded by the mob, and keeps his cool.
Our people said that you save your father from the mob before asking what the problem was, if need be. Mr. Peter Obi is one of the finest breeds of the Igbo sons and daughters. We cannot stand aloof and watch a political neophyte attack him for no just cause. Americans say, “That’s not gonna happen.” Mr. Governor (Monday Okpebholo), we have seen your WAEC results, which you took in 2008 at the age of 36 years. I should not explain the content because it is now in the public domain.
Many more things will come to light since you have decided to go to war unprovoked with a tribe that gave your people freedom; it will not be sweet. Mr. Obi may be cultured and tamed, but his kindred have enough warriors and emperors. In the coming days, Mr. Obi’s foot soldiers, known as the Obidient, have been on rampage and the effect has been on the mainstream media and social media.On the other hand, we should be looking at the bigger picture now. Any APC politician who wants to be relevant would resort to attacking Obi.
I have made the point in my previous writings that Mr. Obi should be prepared for this kind of attack because it is only the tree with good fruit that receives stones and sticks. The tree along the roadside receives the blades of the matchet (Osisi kwuchili uzo na analu ube mma-oge). Mr. Monday may be an outsider from another state, from another tribe, but we also have the insider jobbers (Igbo brothers and sisters). Some political wannabes have decided to go with the enemies of our people to castigate Mr. Obi and falsely accuse him.
I am not against the opposition machinery trying to sell Tinubu in the name of a campaign; what I am against is politics of bitterness where a brother would stand before his brothers and sisters and start lying against Mr. Obi in the name of politics. Mr. Obi was a governor for 8 years in Anambra State, and he kept his record in the public domain for everyone to see. If another political figure in Anambra or any southeastern state shows up to lie against those records in the name of a campaign, it shall not be well with that person. History is sacred, to distort history is sacrilege, and to engage in revisionism is anathema.
The person who killed his brother to gain the trust of an enemy has dealt himself a mortal blow because the enemy cannot trust you, since you can kill your brother because of money or position, it means you can kill the enemy too for a pittance and pence. As we respond to the cheap words of Governor Monday Okpebholo, may we also guard against our brothers and sisters who will use the same cheap words to score cheap political goals against Mr. Peter Obi.
