What type of man is Oshiomhole?

I must admit that when I first heard Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was appointed as the National Chairman of ruling party All Peoples Congress (APC), I responded with some doubt. My doubt stemmed from the fact that even though he has served as governor of Edo State for 8 years, he hasn’t ever been a politician. At […]

I must admit that when I first heard Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was appointed as the National Chairman of ruling party All Peoples Congress (APC), I responded with some doubt. My doubt stemmed from the fact that even though he has served as governor of Edo State for 8 years, he hasn’t ever been a politician. At least not to me. This is a man, after all, who led the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for many years without blemish, and with great positive effect. Translating that into politics, to me, seemed like something which would end up being unsavoury. But I was wrong.

Oshiomhole, the Labour leader, the politician, or the man, is not an anomaly. He is someone who began from somewhere, and slowly built up to who – or what – he is today. His governorship was a tour de force in servant leadership, and the love his citizens had for him only kept growing. From the empty-but-flashy celeb-style leadership of the past, to his more down-to-earth approach to governance, many Nigerians counted us ‘Edo-lites’ as truly lucky people. From his campaigns, to the tumultuous polls which led to the courts, the people of Edo laughed, cried, supported, and smiled with Oshiomhole throughout his tragedies and triumphs. And one day, it just crossed my mind, like a stray thought, that it is genuine love, stemming from his own love for his people.

Fast-forward to today, and the current drama which recently played out around him, and his response (or lack thereof), and it becomes even clearer: Oshiomhole, is simply, that most scarce of commodities in Nigeria: A principled man. The problem, as I saw it from reading newspapers and columns within, is obviously that elements from within the APC itself deluded themselves that Oshiomhole is a man to be trifled with. The issues were many, some being that some governors wanted to force-feed their ‘anointed’ candidates to the electorate. Then forces from outside the APC, too, sensing that their arch enemies had a solid leader who could bring about real change in the party, also went ga-ga in putting together elaborate hoaxes and epic fake news stageplays.

The problem with falsehood, especially when being tossed in the direction of someone who is well-known for his stance on a lot of things, is that it becomes glaring that it is falsehood. Desperate falsehood, even. A good chunk of Nigerians, young or old, know Comrade Adams Oshiomhole very well. They know the type of leader he is, they know what he stands for, and they know almost every facet of his transparent character. After all, this is what endeared him to them.

I was talking on the phone with my mother, who’s about 87-years-old, and I mentioned that Oshiomhole is being accused by his detractors of having run away from Nigeria to the US, to avoid signing documents for replacement of candidates. My mother laughed, and replied: “It’s like they don’t even know Adams; He doesn’t run away from fights: He starts them. And he finishes them well, because all his fights are good fights.” I pondered over this, and it made perfect sense in the simplest, clearest way one could ever imagine. But I guess only the wisdom of a loving mother could see things that way.

Recently, Oshiomhole’s enemies went as far as setting up stories that he collected bribe, in dollars, to field candidates. I laughed long and hard at that one, actually. How is that possible? If he was that inclined, then his tenures as governor would have been riddled with corruption cases, and he would currently be facing the EFCC, not heading the ruling party of the land. It is at times like this that I truly worry about principled people joining politics. I worry about their well-being, as they go through barrage after barrage of malicious negativity because of what they stand for. I mean, take a look at President Muhammadu Buhari, and how he’s attacked almost every minute, by almost anyone with a smartphone, an internet connection, and an axe to grind.

There are Nigerians, no matter how few, who cannot be swayed by power or tempted by corruption, and I’m happy to see that Oshiomhole is one of them. In closing, I would like to state, clearly, under no uncertain terms, that anytime I hear the APC chairman’s name, it reminds me how proud I am to be a Nigerian. Over the years, he has proven to be a principled man of his words, and a consistent character who embodies justice and the right thing. Now, whether some other Nigerians can say the same about the politicians they support remains to be seen. But then, they would probably lie through their teeth, like those they support hopelessly and blindly.

Abbas wrote in from GRA, Benin.