Angry governors and lawless widows
Where were we? Oh yes! Governor Oshiomhole of Edo State angrily told a woman who claimed to be a widow and who was selling a whole load of goods on a tarred road ‘you are a widow, go and die’, like the ‘Area Boy’ that he is. But I ask, is a man who struggles […]
Where were we? Oh yes! Governor Oshiomhole of Edo State angrily told a woman who claimed to be a widow and who was selling a whole load of goods on a tarred road ‘you are a widow, go and die’, like the ‘Area Boy’ that he is. But I ask, is a man who struggles daily to create order out of so much disorder, entitled to get angry even if he’s a governor? Is the madness in the land not enough to drive anyone up the wall? PDP is obviously trying to make political capital out of this. A Bini brother of mine said ‘Lucky Igbinedion was the worst governor in the history of governance’. Can anyone compare Oshiomhole and Lucky, whose father said ‘Una say Lucky fail for him first term… if pickin fail, no be repeat he go repeat?’, in campaigning for his son for second term… And the guy ‘won’. His EFCC case shows how he gets to work and each morning all they do is share the state money among family members. ‘Bright take N30 million, Eepa (Father), take N100 million…’ and the show went on…
I say, the difference between Nigeria and even all other African countries I’ve been – Egypt, Ghana., Benin Republic, Kenya, Uganda, not to talk of South Africa – is ORDER! They are poorer, but they are organized. They just may move ahead. Only LIBERIA is as disorderly as Nigeria, but Nigeria owns Liberia.
Criticise all you want… Oshiomhole can be emotional and overenthusiastic, but give me such a man any day! Better a governor who gets angry, and makes mistakes than those in the majority who hold their people in so much contempt, you don’t even see them on the road as they lounge in N255million worth of bullet proof SUVs! Our people should know, that FREEDOM also comes with RESPONSIBILITY. We cannot use our personal circumstances to inconvenience and take advantage of other people. Over and above what Oshiomhole said, that woman would have family members who have ignored her in her circumstance – if she is truly a widow. NO GOVERNOR OR PRESIDENT CAN SOLVE NIGERIA’S PROBLEMS. WE MUST ALL CHIP IN AND DO IT TOGETHER.
Also, history will forgive those who try and fail, than those who have their noses in the skies and do nothing because they are afraid of making mistakes or of what people will say. Psychologists say we all run mad 7 minutes a day. Oshiomhole had his own moment of madness with that woman. Or perhaps he runs mad more than 7 minutes unlike the rest of us.
But let Oshiomhole learn the lesson that there are enemies among his entourage, who wear permanent smiles but work for his enemies, and that information goes viral on the internet these days, whether you are a thorough villain or simply someone who is doing the right thing and so drawing the ire of confusionists in our society. Yet, Oshiomhole is being criticized as if one statement is the end of the world. How can we hope to judge all the hardwork of a man by one misstatement? No one has said it is ok to tell a widow to go and die. But there is a governance content to the event, apart from the emotional content. We should encourage our governors to come down and inspect and say exactly how they want their states to look. Anything that threatens to roll back that style of management should be fought, because that is all the hope we have. Here in Abuja, nobody bothers to come down and see what goes on. All the big men speed past the filth, the town is taken over by stupid graffiti. Everybody paints their phone numbers on the walls and bridges, soliciting business!
NEVER SHOULD THE LESSONS IN GOVERNANCE FROM THAT UNFORTUNATE EVENT BE LOST ON US ALL. If I was in Oshiomhole’s shoes I will get very very livid sometimes if people spoil my work or disobey my rules. I may not say ‘go and die’, but I certainly use a few ‘french’ words generously sometimes. That is the lingua of my generation and my exposure. Our president once said “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN” on a structured, sterilized, interview on live TV being broadcast across the world. What one says is a subject of ones exposure and background, especially when angry. Lesson to all – in this age of social media, it’s good to apply even more caution. However, applying caution doesn’t mean we should shut up and not say anything – for that means we are mere passengers in this world. We speak up, we make mistakes. But the more we speak, the better we get at it. I support Oshiomole’s efforts, and sympathize with him. I sympathize with the widow too, but I believe our people should not break laws whenever they think they can.
In general – the argument here is about the choices we make with our emotions and time. We can keep pitying the widow “eeyah… how can they tell a widow to go and die… eeyah… she’s a widow nah.. haba.. how can a governor hold her in disdain’’… great stuff! But will that improve the widow’s permanent situation? Will that stop us from being a nation that churns out widows by the hundreds daily? No chance! What will stop us churning out widows – through accidents – and we are one of the most accident-prone peoples in the world – through avoidable errors, through a total lack of imagination and vision, through the inability and refusal to see the end from the beginning and to know the implications of our actions and inactions, is governance. That is why I am more concerned about the total efforts of Oshiomhole and his type who are at least opening their eyes to the environment around them and trying to make a change. The governor also has a choice to be more careful with his language next time. Or to even sit in his office like Lucky, and not inspect anything!
In his book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, Walter Rodney defined ‘Economic Development” in a way that showed that Africans actually underdeveloped themselves! He defined development as the ability of a people to increasingly take control of and master their ENVIRONMENTS, by deploying science and technology, but first BY UNDERSTANDING THE LAWS OF SCIENCE, WHICH INFORMS THEIR ACTIONS AND INTERACTION WITH THAT ENVIRONMENT. Our people failed to understand the laws of science. Till date, they think they can defy the laws! Our people will build houses on flood plains, they will block drainages, administrators will chase them away – even for their own good – and we will begin to blame such administrators? I ask; what do we want? DO WE WANT TO KEEP PITYING THAT WIDOW OR DO WE WANT BETTER GOVERNANCE AND A BETTER SOCIETY? A commissioner who served in Lucky’s government told me they would have meetings and the PDP chairman would come and warn them “IF YOU ARE NOT LOYAL TO THE PARTY DONT EXPECT TO SHARE IN THE SPOILS OF WAR!” That government saw governance as SPOILS OF WAR! Sometimes I think we are not mentally ready for economic development. No problems. But let no one complain anyway, when they become victims of the lack of foresight and our inabilities to think outside the box.