By Kassim Afegbua

“Let those who have ears, hear;” so goes the common saw. Now landlords are fastidious about who their tenants are; and that is positive! Edo State Government has been in the news over the Governor’s stand on the ravaging activities of cult members, at intra and inter-cult levels, as well as kidnapping episodes. His stand is clear, and he is not deterred by polemics. This ugly situation obviously festered when the immediate past government jettisoned its job, to face securing the office of the Governor in the 2024 election. It may have been inadvertently or quite probably deliberately orchestrated by the opposition political party, to create a state of anomie, if they failed. Within a month of Governor Okpebholo’s government, over eight persons were gunned down by cultists, who were carrying out retaliatory exploits within the dominant cult groups: the Eiye, the Maphites, the Black-Axe, and the Buccaneers.

Those killings were seen as a gut punch to the Governor, thus he immediately delved incisively into the predicament. He realized that these miscreants had been so emboldened that they believed they were above the law. The situation was comparable to and redolent of the activities of the five notorious mafia families of New York. In the early days, the irate Governor merely warned those involved to sheath their swords; but on realizing that his warnings fell on deaf ears, and his authority was being challenged, even after he personally drove one of the suspected heads of a cult group, who had reportedly raised objections to the governor’s warnings, to the Benin City Police Station; where he graciously handed him over to the Police for prosecution. He then decided to raise his tactics several notches. That suspect is still behind bars and undergoing prosecution.

As expected, such evil run up; and this one did; so, in a bid to stem the recurrence of the menace, Governor Okpebholo decided to retool, rework and rejig the anti-cultism and the anti-kidnapping laws. He injected some new provisions into the laws, to mitigate the spread of the practice. Promptly, he signed it into law and raised the awareness of the essential provisions of the law amongst the public, for appropriate caution. The new law recommends death penalty for kidnappers who are found culpable of their acts after undergoing prosecution in the relevant courts of law. Some critics have raised dust over this provision, saying it is “draconian,” “heavy-handed,” and a “gunboat policy of sorts;” but the governor who has reckoned the looming domino effect of the nefarious activities of the kidnappers and cultists maintains that his stand is, zero tolerance. The history books carry the prescription for dealing with such mess- it always boils down to zero tolerance. The cultists activities he says, is an overarching predicament that could bring all the positive efforts of the government to nothing, if unchecked. He is poised for a stable and tranquil political environment that would stimulate enterprise and attract external investments, while protecting and growing internal ones. Once the new law became active, the governor released his caterpillars from park. “If you are a kidnapper, your building will be pushed down; If you are a landlord, and you harbour kidnapped victims in your house or allow the ill thereof, your house will be pushed down,” he says.

With quite a few examples to show that the governor means business, the citizens are now fastidious about who is who, and who does what and where. As I write, a roll back of this menace has already been recorded, even as the governor persists and intensifies effort to bring its toll to zero. He insists that the net effect of this menace will be negative, hence his stand. According to him, Edo must be governable and must be viable for good intentions and purposes. He is set to fulfill his mandate of ensuring that the security of lives and properties is guaranteed in Edo State. Having held several security meetings with all the existing security agencies in the state, to ensure that they feel his pulse on the matter, he has given them additional logistics support to execute the task of quashing cultism in the state. “I was not elected to create avenues for killings. Anybody who tests my resolve, will have himself to blame,” he says. The special anti-cultism strike force he set up is fast spreading its tentacles across the state. Within two weeks of its existence, the Arena Building, and three others that were hideouts for cultists masquerading as businessmen, were pushed down; and palpable calm returned to the area.

This ugly duo, cultism and kidnapping had been nearing epidemic levels, thanks to the immediate past government. The decision of Governor Okpebholo is not to apply kid gloves to this matter; let all take note, Edo state which was vaunted as the headquarters of cultism, is now making a U-turn. The distraction it continues to cause for the government has been judged to be too costly.

Allow me share my story on this subject that intrigued me many years ago, to enrich this piece: during my undergraduate years, I decided to understudy the activities of cultism and its gamut, tracing its origin to the Nigerian universities and discovered the rationale for their existence. I negotiated attendance into about 14 cult admissions ceremonies, where new members were recruited in a most brutish way, ostensibly to test the resolve of those new members. I prepared questionnaires which I administered on members and other students, and my discoveries were as vacuous as the practice itself. Tracing its origin to the days of the Pyrate Confraternity in the University College, Ibadan, whose aim was to confront colonialism and its associated vices, this association suddenly began to bear fruits in the emergence of sister cult groups. Originating with a motive to fight colonialism in all its ramifications albeit, its modus operandi soon began to take a different path, once Nigeria gained independence and neo-colonialism set its feet forward. Till date, members of the Pyrate Confraternity will tell you pronto, that the group is not a secret cult, but their usual sessions are never conducted in the public. If the initial motive was to fight colonialism, today, it has undoubtedly become another kettle of fish in this era of neo-colonialism. Arguments can be advanced to rationalise and even extenuate all other variables by members of these groups, but the reality remains what it is- a secret cult.

The point I am making is that the original group has splintered into unpremeditated variants which are downright groups of killers, disguised as groups stamping their imprimatur on the society. Edo state, once an endemic flashpoint for this practice, is now making a U-turn; and Governor Okpebholo insists on “No to Cultism.” He wishes to dialyse the system for a better Edo State. He wants to see friendly solidarity that would promote peace and tranquility across the state, to simplify governance, for the overall good of the people. Those who are already talking about fighting him, may have to make a choice between iron fist and brotherliness.

While his caterpillars are at work in the cities and towns, the citizens who are often at the receiving end of these anti-social behaviours, need to reciprocate his gesture with cooperation and support in good faith. This government has picked up the gauntlet to fight on their behalf and will not relent. As Edo State Government’s initiatives continue to yield positive results, the people will be better for it. The government needs our cooperation, our support and our solidarity, to deliver on its mandate and focal responsibilities. Let us all rally round Governor Monday Okpebholo by shunning acts that were designed to drag us backward; shun cultism and kidnapping. Let us value the communality of our existence as brothers and sisters. A new Edo is possible. A new Edo is on the horizon. And we can only achieve the overall objectives if we are ready to support government to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

By Kassim Afegbua.

To say that he is garrulous may be an overreach, but he comes across as a man with no scruples; one whose intellectuality is drab, and understanding of issues, somewhat limited. He makes statements before weighing their implications. Since Peter Obi garnered this nascent Obidient movement for the 2023 election, he maintains a belief that he can conquer most voters, and ride like a rollercoaster to Aso Villa. His political strategies are as pedestrian as the thought process that bakes them. He’s been jumping from one party to another looking for political anchorage that would birth his ambition. He’s ready to dine with the devil to clear the coast for him. He’s learnt from his Catholicism, that he can find and pay a Judas Iscariot to betray others and enthrone him. He even seems ready to pay tithe to supernatural creatures to up his game and his ambition. When ambition, like Obi’s drives the adrenaline of a man, and not the man driving his ambition, he can settle for all kinds of macabre dance.

I read a piece in which Peter Obi made reference to the Edo election, using his peculiar sentiments in the 2023 election as the basis to score Edo election low. The candidate of the PDP cried wolf, got into the tribunal and ended up not substantiating his cry. He brought in witnesses like Obi boasted in 2023, got into the tribunal and could not advance anything concrete within the concentric framework of the issues being canvassed. He hoisted blue murder, but failed woefully to defend his claim of electoral heist. He mounted the soap box, promoted media trial to the tilt, but when it was time to present evidence to substantiate his claims, he was vapid. Politics is beyond mere noise making; it has to substantiated by ideology and people sentiment to be meaningful, and particularly so. For democracy to be effective; it must be reasonable, content-driven and rich in ideas to generate the right reception; most of all for a democracy, it must be appealing to most citizens, for success and optimum impact. Peter Obi has failed severally to advance real ideas that could counter what he condemns and is clearly not appealing to most citizens. I haven’t seen his self acclaimed cutting-edge knowledge in his analyses of critical sectors of the economy; his perspectives are shallow and banal. His statements and commentaries are the same as what an average Nigerian could make: no depth, no paradigm shifts.

The Edo election he lamented, was Edo people’s own way of punishing former Governor Obaseki for his misdemeanor in public office, and his anti people policies. If allowed, Obaseki almost ground our sense of communalism to a halt through his divide and rule tactics. Being combative and cantankerous was certain; additionally, being divisive was his stock in trade. Peter Obi now comes near, to criticize the same wounded people for intentionally making their way out of their Egypt? He surely is redolent of a drunk! The Labour Party that has evinced their knack for brewing crisis; they could only manage to score a little above 22,000 votes in all in that election Obi is analyzing. He was even MIA when he was most needed to assist his party’s candidate to campaign. He was deaf and dumb before, during and after the election, especially after his party’s candidate, was thoroughly pummeled at, with choice words. Obi then resurfaced and wanted him to go to the tribunal, but reality dawned on Olu Akpata, not to waste precious resources further, in seeking to invalidate the outcome of the election. It was clear to him that he performed abysmally poor. He self respectingly stayed away from the exercise of tribunal; unlike Obi who continued to exploit his chances to self exhaustion and wanted to upturn President Tinubu’s victory, by clutching at every flotsam to stay afloat in his desperation to become President. His strategy was to make all the noise through media trial; but when it was time to provide evidence to substantiate his claims, Obi ended up fishing for elephants in his swimming pool. The Edo PDP man, Asue Ighodalo, must have taken lessons from him; pity!

EDO people wholeheartedly gave Senator Monday Okpebholo their mandate as a home boy, who shares in their pains, ambitions, and aspirations. Since he assumed the mantle of leadership in the state, he has been receiving nods, delivering the expected dividends in services, across every local government in the state. His intervention in the area of infrastructure has been remarkable. He started well and is still doing so well that the people sing his praise on end . Monday Okpebholo is not your everyday politician. He is not garrulous, and he sure is a projectile. He doesn’t mock his people with tongue-in-cheek speeches, he does what he promises to do and even goes further. Majority of Edo people have since moved on with their lives assured that they have elected a governor who understands their problems and is creating solutions to them. Obi’s elected lawmakers have defected to APC to join Governor Okpebholo in the art and act of leadership of the state. Peter Obi’s careless talk in condemning Edo election is allegorical of the drunk who condemns the well meaning, and is pardoned because all others know of his health, but he. A man who abandoned his party’s candidate before the election, amounts to an exploiter of the first order. Ask Peter Obi to advance cogent evidence to validate his assertions on Edo election, and his gaps will come rushing.
He’s a master in double speak: he churns out unempirical statements unashamedly. Peter Obi must be told in plain language that Edo people voted wholeheartedly, for the APC and not the PDP or the LP, and there is nothing he can do about that. The PDP rushed to court and were hurled out of court when they failed to present cogent evidence to support their claims.

The Labour Party is in tatters; even his acolyte, Obaze, has recently abandoned him. Peter Obi should make effort to put his house together if he is fastidious and has any scruples. The Labour Party, Peter Obi’s party, is divided into several factions, and he, a presidential candidate who desires to rule Nigeria has not been able to fix the party or resolve the protracted crises stationed in his home; instead, he goes about seeking coalition. Would that be seeking to bring nothing to something? Nigerians are not ready for Peter Obi, whose mediation skills are obviously worrisome. Give Nigeria to Peter Obi to preside on, and he will further disintegrate it, way beyond our current diversities. He should stay and steer away from Edo election, our people are happy with our choice and Governor.

By Habib Aruna

A more than casual observer of political events in the country in the past few weeks will readily note that our democracy is increasingly becoming unhealthy. The climate is not showing good tidings and it might well be a big sign of doom if something is not done to change direction.

Our politicians are at work again, not working for the interest of the people, who presumably voted them into power, but promoting their primordial and selfish interests as the race to the 2007 general elections begins. They did not even wait for the midterm before jumping ship to the ruling party, all in an attempt to secure their re-election. Even so, they are opportunistically, working against the party under whose umbrella they came to power. The rules of the game have become an anathema, which they now easily circumvent; romancing the ruling All Progressive Party (APC) has now become the fashion and an easy way to court favour of President Bola Tinubu; and promoting the second term of the president is no longer seen as an anti-party offence.

Perhaps since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, this is the first time that the opposition is evidently in disarray two years before the general election. In-fighting and over ambition of leading members have characterized the operations of most of these parties that if care is not taken they would find it difficult to present credible candidates who can win at the general elections.

The leading opposition party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been in crisis even before the 2023 presidential elections and this has persisted ever since. The former governor Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesson Wike, hasn’t forgiven his party for bypassing him to pick his then counterpart in Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa as Abubakar Atiku’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election. And without hiding it, he worked against his party by supporting the APC to win Rivers State, which eventually catapulted him to Tinubu’s cabinet.

To Tinubu, picking Wike and rewarding him with a robust portfolio was not only a payback time, it was also to make him a veritable foot soldier for the next election. Wike did not disappoint, he has indeed performed beyond expectations, making his state ungovernable and more vulnerable to be captured by the APC and also creating more crises within the PDP and making it more disunited and unable to pose a major challenge to the ruling party. It is also a thing of surprise that the PDP leadership has failed to wield the big stick on Wike, who has been behaving like a spoiled child to a very weak parent. I have been told that there is adequate provision in the PDP constitution to deal with recalcitrant members like the FCT minister. Why the party has failed to do what would have served as a deterrent and stabilize it to face future challenges still remains a puzzle to most observers.

More worrisome, disturbing and disconcerting was the Ibadan declaration of the PDP governors which literally shut the doors to collaboration or forming coalition with other political parties before the elections. The simple meaning of this is that the governors are not interested in posing a challenge to the emerging hegemony of the ruling APC. They were least concerned about the danger inherent in the inability of the opposition parties to come together under a strong umbrella to battle the APC. With this, one is forced to conclude that it’s either the PDP governors are working implicitly for Tinubu’s second term or in their bid to stop Atiku from again leading to the election, they are surreptitiously, handing Tinubu a second term on a platter of Gold.

And just a few days ago it was reported that two or three PDP governors are about to defect to the ruling party, reports that the affected governors have not come out to debunk. One of them, the governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy and cabinet members on Wednesday dumped the PDP for APC. In what is seen as a fatal blow, they were followed by the former governor and Atiku’s running mate, Okowa. This is coming on the heels of a statement credited to the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Omo Eno that Tinubu will complete his eight-year tenure. The governor, while speaking at a rally in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, said his choice is rooted in sincerity and will be explained in due time.

“Me, I don’t know how to speak from two sides of the mouth. The other day, I said I was going to support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, people said ‘why do I say so?’ In the night, they go there and go and tell the Baba ‘we will support you’, in the afternoon, they do another thing.

Speaking further, he said: “Me I’m supporting baba Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term. When the time comes, I will tell you the reason, the time has not come yet. But let me keep it first. There’s no point lying to yourself.

“I will tell you the reason when the time comes, and you will see with me why we should support him so that he can complete what he has started,” he said.

But it is not only the PDP that has consistently been bedeviled by crisis, the Labour Party too has had its fair share of internal squabbles. Since its surprise performance at the 2023 polls, where its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi defeated the APC in Lagos State and posed a strong challenge to the status quo, the party has not known peace and it has been from one leadership crisis to the other. At present, three members are laying claim to the chairmanship of the party, they include, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, Mr. Julius Abure and Mr. Lamidi Apapa. And there had been a series of court filings and judgments, one of which was given by the Supreme Court a few weeks ago that has attracted many interpretations by the warring factions.

Apart from the above big parties, the smaller parties in the country have not made any appreciable impact in the political terrain; they have become mere spare tyres of opportunistic politicians, who used them to get easy tickets to contest elections. But the bigger problem the country has faced for decades is lack of basic ideology, which is supposed to guide the operations of parties and by extension, politicians. Apart from the First and Second Republic, our politicians have largely been devoid of basic ideology.

It was this ideological underpinning that made the politics of that era to be more developmental and less corrupt. Politicians do not jump ship to another party with any slight excuse; they do not because of their political future or personal interest do things that are at variance with the interests of their constituencies; and politics was never a do or die thing. In truth, Nigerian politics changed dramatically during the Third Republic and it got worse in the current dispensation. Ideology has taken a back seat, paving way for politics of bread and butter; corruption has become a tangible thing, while people of principle shy away from contesting elections because they do not have what it takes to win elections.

Sadly however, things will only get worse with the nation’s gradual slide into a one party state. Before our very eyes the structures of the various parties are collapsing with governors in the opposition parties defecting to the ruling party to secure their second term ambition. The political space is being manipulated and institutions of government are being used to the undue advantage of the ruling APC. For sure, the immediate gains would be to the advantage of the ruling party and its leaders, but in the long run, it is democracy and the future of the country that will be adversely affected.

As it is and predictably too, more governors would in the next few days join those who are already in the train to defect to APC. But while we wait for the threat of some atavistic leaders in the North who have vowed to stop Tinubu’s second term ambition, as if they own the country, we would also be waiting to see how far Atiku and his co-travelers can go in their bid to form a winnable and formidable coalition against the ruling party. There is however a clear danger for the country and its democracy if this slide to a party state is not quickly checked!