Omololu Ogunmade
20 November 2008
Lagos — Beyond the euphoria of the victory of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as Edo State Governor at the appellate court last week, there have been calls on Nigerians to reflect on the lessons of his emergence as against the glamour of the entire episode.
After the bang which accompanied the victory of Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the Appeal Court last week, the first Nigerian comrade governor has eventually settled down to the onerous task of steering the ship of the state. His emergence which was the fall out of 18 months of protracted legal battles, culminating in the ouster of the appellant, Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor, has altered the face of the hitherto cloudy Nigerian politics. Osunbor first fell victim of judicial hammer on March 20, this year, when the Justice Philip Umeadi-led Election Petitions Tribunal, upturned his purported declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the controversial April 14, 2007 governorship poll in Edo State.
Since the epochal event took place, encomiums, eulogies and all kinds of razzmatazz have continued to pour in for Oshiomhole, who became the second gubernatorial candidate to reclaim his victory after proven daylight electoral robbery in Nigeria's democratic history.
The first person to attain such feat was the first executive governor of the old Ondo State, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, the then gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), in the Second Republic. Ajasin, like Oshiomhole, was said to have lost to his arch rival at the election, Chief Akin Omoboriowo, the governorship candidate of the National Party of Nigeria. (NPN).But both the lower and upper tribunals nullified Omoboriowo's purported declaration by the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) and returned Ajasin as the duly elected governor from the August 1983 gubernatorial election.
Since then no other governorship candidate had attained that feat until last Tuesday, when history repeated itself. However, the major difference between the cases of Oshiomhole and Ajasin was that Omoboriowo, unlike Osunbor who held sway for 18 months, never smelt power before his purported declaration as governor-elect by FEDECO was eventually upturned by the courts.
The victory of Oshiomhole has resulted in deep celebrations across the country from both the opposition platforms as well as his own party, the Action Congress (AC). However, beyond the acclamation accompanying Oshiomhole's victory, pundits have urged Nigerians to learn from the factors that led to Oshiomhole's voyage into the governorship race, as against the mere glamour of his victory.
It is the submission of such individuals and groups that the celebration of Oshiomhole across the globe today was not a case of accident. According to them, Nigerians should not forget how Oshiomhole's humanitarian sense was discovered. They have been quick to reminisce his dogged fight against perceived oppression of the masses by the forces that maximized the opportunity of power at their disposal to complicate living for the downtrodden masses of Nigeria.
Oshiomhole became the object of Nigeria's interest when he vehemently resisted persistent attempts by the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to hike prices of petroleum products, in his days as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). It was the argument of Oshiomhole that since the economy was mainly driven by energy, continued increases in the prices of petroleum products would further impoverish the people and as well aggravate their living standard.
Oshiomhole's fame began to rise in 2000, when he confronted the seeming recalcitrant government of Obasanjo, after it jerked up the price of petrol from N20.00 to N30.00.
This development enraged Oshiomhole, who assembled his fellow labour leaders to mobilize Nigerians against the perceived ungodly acts. Fresh from the brutality of military rule, Nigerians who had long anticipated democracy, with the belief that it would offer them a huge relief, felt disappointed by incessant increases in the prices of petroleum products.
Hence, Oshiomhole in 2000, declared indefinite industrial action nationwide, with a resolve to carry on with the strike, unless Obasanjo reverted to the original N20.00, as the pump price.
After about a week of intensive battle between labour and Oshiomhole, the alleged obdurate government of Obasanjo surrendered and brought down the price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N22.00 from the earlier N30.00.
Since then, the masses of Nigeria who had long been short changed by former leaders of the congress, began to develop confidence in Oshiomhole. At first, the confidence in Oshiomhole was very lean, bearing in mind that former labour leaders like Pascal Bafyau, never fought their battle through, during the military era of Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha. Labour leaders, except few like the General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori often compromised their positions, taking gratification from the government of the day, to the detriment of the masses whose interest they were mandated to pursue.
Against this background, not many believed that Oshiomhole would not betray the people, by taking bribe and trading away the wishes of the oppressed people of Nigeria. But Oshiomhole, throughout his two terms as labour leader, stood firm and became a thorn in the flesh of the Obasanjo Presidency. But for the dogged fight of Oshiomhole, Obasanjo might have raised the price of PMS above N100.00 before descending from the seat of power. In the days of Oshiomhole as NLC leader, there were protracted battles between NLC and the Presidency.
While Obasanjo took pleasure in jerking up the prices of PMS at intervals, Oshiomhole usually deployed all the arsenals within his reach to resist these moves. In 2005, when Obasanjo raised the price of PMS from N50.00 to N65.00, Oshiomhole and his team opted to adopt another means of fighting the battle other than the routine industrial actions. Thus, he secured the support of activists across the country in the battle.
So, the activists collectively opted to commence mass action against the government of Obasanjo. From Lagos to Maiduguri and Edo to Enugu and across the six zones of the country, labour mobilized Nigerians on successful mass actions against the government of Obasanjo. But towards the end of the protest, tragedy hit the labour and civil society communities as one of their finest, Comrade Chima Ubani lost his life in a ghastly motor accident while flagging the banner of the war. Nevertheless, the exercise was successful as Obasanjo for the first time, pledged not to increase fuel prices throughout the year 2006. And for the first time in the history of Obasanjo's rule, year 2006 was the only year he never hiked petroleum prices.
Nevertheless, as the transition to another term drew near, Nigerians from the North and South began to beckon to Oshiomhole to participate in the governance process, saying they were convinced that he was one of the few Nigerians who could be trusted with their destiny. Thus there were relentless calls on Oshiomhole to bring his sense of service into the civil rule which had been allegedly hijacked by politicians whose drive was the proverbial national cake.
While many asked Oshiomhole to run for the Presidency, others mainly from his Edo home state urged him to come and save them from the decay that had eaten deep into the state. Human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) for instance, faulted calls on Oshiomhole to run for governorship, saying his status had exceeded that of a governor. He advised him to rather run for the Presidency.
But on September 23, 2005, members of labour movement, civil groups, market women, students and civil service assembled in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, to persuade Oshiomhole to take interest in governance. Oshiomhole was not present at the meeting because he had taken a 48-hour leave, as a mark of respect for the departed Ubani, who recently died in the struggle for the emancipation of the Nigerian masses.
By November 6, 2005, a group, Edo Political Action Committee (EPAC), had launched intensive pressure on Oshiomhole to run for the governorship of the state. The group, led by one Augustine Ojieabu, said:"We are constrained to join our voices of reason to call on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to stop further prevarications and heed the call to serve the good people of Edo State and give hope to the hopeless, come year 2007."
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