Gibbers

Re: Amosun’s apotheosiss

The power of pen! Perhaps I should appropriate Wole Soyinka here: “When power is placed in the service of a vicious reaction, a language must be called into being which does its best to appropriate such obscenity of power and fling its excesses back in its face.”(The Man Died)

Lanre Adewole’s column in the 26 November, 2017 edition of the Sunday Tribune was mischief writ large. For goodness sake, has our value system degenerated to the level of violating the sanctity of homes either in politics or public affairs commentary without scruples? Clearly, Adewole, perhaps momentarily, was gripped with oral diarrhea. He was loose with words and wrote with reckless abandon. He stands accused of indiscretion, remiss and professional misconduct. His offering was clearly over the top and beyond the pale in our traditional society.

Why bring in the wife of the governor into a matter she’s not remotely connected with, not being an elected official and having never paraded herself as one?

Indeed, Dr (Mrs) Olufunso Amosun remains a model of exemplary conduct with regards to spouses of elected public officials. In the nearly six years of the government headed by Senator Ibikunle Amosun, she was only sighted twice or thrice at the Governor’s Office. She had in 2012, through her NGO Uplift programme led the 20 Best WAEC Students in the 20 Local Governments of the state to the United Kingdom for a two-week leadership training. While in the UK, she took the students to the Nigeria High Commission, where Ambassador Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, made the following indelible remarks:

“Let me state categorically that this is the first time ever that students are being brought to the United Kingdom on educational merits. We have had student excursions here and there. But this is the first time students who have performed excellently well in their West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) are being brought to the United Kingdom for the purpose of leadership training programme.”

It should interest readers that the 20 best students were all from public schools! At that reception at the Governor’s Office, Mrs Amosun made these remarks: “We had to write to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to obtain the authentic results of these children so that our initiative would not suffer any discredit.”

This is the character this emergency interventionist sought to besmirch. Dr (Mrs) Mrs Amosun is self-effacing and minds her own business. Those sinister-laden lines, subtly presented, drip with contempt and a case of libel could be established. It was completely gratuitous, if not the height of recklessness. But for mischief, there was no reason at all – absolutely no reason – to bring Mrs Amosun into this matter. Even politicians at the height of their bitterest quarrels respect their homes. Must anyone then become a meddlesome interloper even if such pen is inked by a political adversary?

We often tend to forget that the President, governors and other elected officials have rights to freedom of expression, freedom of thought and conscience and freedom of association, among others, as enshrined in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended). These are inalienable rights, hence cannot be abridged. The columnist has not pointed out the law which the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, violated in the exercise of his freedom of speech. As a journalist, the writer should be aware of the law of libel and decided cases on it.

It is time it’s stopped, the unsolicited attempt to drive a wedge between former governor of Lagos and respected APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun. It does not exist. Yes, except the spouses are robots, difference of opinions at one point or the other must occur, but such is settled within the confines of the home. Journalists, of course, snoop. But to elevate an inevitable different point of views in a home to a civil war is the equivalence of journalistic irresponsibility.

The columnist betrayed his conscience by claiming that Amosun won the governorship in 2011 “by default.” Well, facts are sacred. There were three leading candidates in 2011 and Amosun garnered more votes than the total votes of the two candidates combined. The Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] declared Senator Ibikunle Amosun of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) winner after polling 377,487 votes. Gen. Adetunji Olurin [Rtd] of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 188,698 votes while the Peoples Party of Nigeria [PPN] candidate, Mr Gboyega Isiaka, scored 137,051 votes to place third. And despite the machinations of the then PDP-controlled Federal Government against the states controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Amosun still won a clear-cut victory in 2015.

It goes without saying that Governor Amosun swore to an oath to protect the constitution and under no guise must he be seen to subvert same (for political expediency). Contrary to speculations, he has nothing personal against anyone who shows any interest in becoming the governor. Amosun has in recent months been bombarded with visits by concerned stakeholders in the state who feel insulted by a queer politics of attempting to straddle two states at the same time. But more importantly are the messages and representations from a broad spectrum of the majority of residents that put him in power. All the governor has done is to amplify the outrage of the people against the bare-faced insults and upending of a moral standard expected of a worthy representative, in the ultimate hope that reason will triumph over political cum moral brinkmanship.

It strikes one as thick, too thick, that a moralist will see nothing wrong in a politician being a representative of constituents in one state with a remuneration package to serve those constituents and that same representative is devoting all his resources (time, money and energy) to be the super representative not of the same constituents or bigger constituency in the same state but in another state!