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."
Again, on May 20, 2006, no fewer than six groups had emerged with the sole intention of dragging Oshiomhole into the race for an elective executive position. Such groups included Oshiomhole Solidarity Movement (OSM), Oshiomhole Youth Alliance (OYA), Edo Consultative Association for Oshiomhole (ECAO), Peoples Congress for Oshiomhole (PCO) and New Nigerian Movement (NNM). While the NNM and PCO sought to drag Oshiomhole into the presidential race, others were persuading him to join the governorship race of Edo State.
But despite much pressure on Oshiomhole to run for an elective office at the executive level, the labour leader was for a long while indifferent. At the heat of the pressure on him, Oshiomhole said: "We are not desperate for office. If indeed we decide today, we want to do so. We are definitely not going to go about it as if it is a do or die affair. The office of governor entails great challenges and hence, should be viewed by aspirants with a sense of reason."
When eventually, Oshiomhole yielded to the calls and consequently entered into the gubernatorial race with the intention to run on the platform of the Labour Party on September 6, 2006, four sitting governors at the time, including Ahmed Markafi (Kaduna), BukaR Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), Bola Tinubu (Lagos) and Lucky Igbinedion (Edo) had thrown their weight behind him, saying his entrance into politics would give hope to the masses and encourage other well intentioned Nigerians to also come on board.
By and large, analysts at this moment of Nigeria's history have reasoned that beyond the euphoria of Oshiomhole's emergence, Nigerians should learn a lesson from his journey to limelight through commitment to nation building. It is their submission that his story so far should dissuade a number of Nigerians who take pleasure in employing a backdoor approach in their search for relevance. It is the perception of many that the words of William Shakespeare, the great literary phenomenon, that "the evil that men do, live after them," can as well be interpreted to mean that the "good that men do, bring them into limelight". This assertion seems to be better expressed by the Yoruba axiom, which by way of interpretation says, "a king that reigns and the town deteriorates, can't be forgotten" and vice versa. That seems to be the underlying factor that brought Oshiomhole into the position he occupies today.
It is against this background that the global labour movement, recently called on Oshiomhole not to forget the circumstances of his emergence and ensure that he does not fail the millions of people across the world, who look forward to a dynamic change in governance.
To this end, the International Trade Union Confederation, an amalgam of all workers in five continents on Tuesday, set agenda for the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and urged him to bring to bear the value of the trade union movement in his activities and policy pronouncements.
In a message sent to Oshiomhole, the confederation asked the governor to commence work immediately with necessary zeal and passion, arguing that after two years of unjustifiable frustration and delay in the dispensation of justice, Oshiomhole needed to move fast to fill the vacuum for the lost grounds.
Oshiomhole was a member of the executive committee of the organisation as well as the African workers' representative at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for two maximum terms.
According to the General Secretary of the organization, Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, there are three basic areas on which Oshiomhole must focus if he cares to meet the yearnings of the labour movement which he served.
"As you strive to meet your burden of having to cater directly for the well-being of your people, we look to your even-handedness in the allocation of resources to different ends and to the enactment of legislation and policies that bring clear benefits to your people," the confederation stated.
They reaffirmed their faith in the ability of Oshiomhole to bring to bear his experiences in the labour movement, remarking that the governor's years of dedicated service in the labour movement, have prepared him adequately for his new responsibilities. The organisation reminded the governor of his glorious contributions to the cause of the working people of Nigeria and Africa as a whole in the past and urged him to sustain it in the new position.
"May you bring the required commitment to your new tasks and may your capability and effectiveness bear testimony to the value of the trade union movement which brought you up," the confederation prayed. It is now up to Oshiomhole to justify the confidence people have in him or go the way of typical Nigerian politicians, by pursuing his personal aggrandizement against the wishes of the people. The ball, they say, is in his court.
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