HERO AND VILAN: OSHIOMOLE AND THE WIDOW

The audience was there, the actor was set and the villain or boss as the case maybe was on her knees begging for mercy. Did I get the castings wrong because in this case it seems the vilan or boss is on his feet while the actor or actress as this case might be is literally on her knees begging for mercy.

 

According to reports Governor Oshiomole was on a routine of evacuating petty traders and street hawkers off the streets of Edo when a supposed widow whose goods were seized went on her knees begging the governor for mercy saying she was waiting for a cab and not selling on the streets and Governor Oshiomole was reported to have said ‘Go and Die’ referring to the widow. Now there has been an uproar about the governor’s comments and why should he has shown such cruelty towards the poor woman. I must say here that what the governor said was cruel and uncalled for no matter the situation the woman was and what position he held.

 

However, let us not nail Com. Oshiomole to the cross just yet. Even though he has portrayed such cruelty in his days as the Head of the NLC both to the advantage of the Labour Congress and also to their detriment. Each and every one of us has been in a situation as the Governor at one point or the other especially those of us that live in Lagos. Picture yourself sitting in a commercial bus and a woman comes to the window where you are seated and she starts begging you and the thought just crosses your mind ‘she has no defect why can’t she go find a job?’ or  even some grave thoughts and all. Like I said earlier the statements of the Governor is so cruel that I can’t even imagine what he was thinking as the Bible has said it already that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” therefore I assume there would have been worse words in his mind that he could have spoken.

 

I do not blame the woman I mean she saw the man as a savior and probably wanted to play on his sympathy but he was just having none of it. There are a couple of things the Governor should have done because he was the one with authority and everything he does would always be put into perspective. In this present age of YouTube and blogs it would be impossible for him to have gotten away with that, the man might have though he was still in the days of NTA where he could control what was being broadcasted in his state. So I'm going to write a few things I believed the governor should have done if I was one of his aides or his press secretary or chief of staff as the case may be.

 

One important thing the Governor should have done was keep silent and just walk away; that works most of the time because the crowd would be left with their assumptions and deductions and that alone would keep people divided on who to support and what to believe. With him speaking he has put everybody into a boat and even his supporters would not stick their necks for him less he tells them too to “go and die”

 

Another was mumble a few words to his aides making gesticulations and just go about his normal routine; with this move nobody would know what he said and the attention would shift from him to the aide he was talking to and that could give him a head start to his car or give him time to think on what to do for the woman.

 

 

 



 

 

The last option I would render is the one everybody would have wanted him to do which is tell the woman to get up and he would give her the goods back or better still give her a grant; politicians should know that every obstacle, every disgruntled voter or citizen is an opportunity to campaign for your career and your party. If it were to be in the USA the Republicans or Democrats would use that opportunity and feed on it till the voters are tired of it.

 

Now the PDP I don’t know if it is the old one or the new one now but the party has reportedly come to the woman’s aid and given her two hundred and fifty thousand naira. Even though Governor Oshiomole has come out to apologize it just doesn’t cut it, with election year just a year out I am very sure the memory would be kept in the minds of voters till the next election and the APC can thank the Governor for selling the state to the opposition. The damage has been done and with Olivia Pope not yet in Nigeria I’m yet to know what move the APC would use to distant them from this issue. Good luck to them and their mission of trying to save face before the election in the turn of the year.