Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his lame scud missiles

This was a first. The ‘greatest’ political leader in our history and the self-proclaimed leader of all democrats went to his backyard with rough vegetation behind him and with a glass of ‘pure water’ placed on his right hand side made what could be passed as a passionate appeal to the ‘great people of Edo State’ to reject Governor Godwin Obaseki because he was not a democrat, and did not according to him ‘fight Abacha’ in my own words.

Well, that speech lacked the power that it was meant to evoke. It landed plaid like Saddam Hussain’s famed Scud missiles that landed without exploding despite all the noise he had made about this being the Mother of all Battles.

This speech was even worse than the Scud Missiles because it didn’t even take off. It sounded lame, lukewarm and pitiable in its lackluster delivery. That the words came out in involuntary stutter may be because the speaker himself lacked the conviction and the believe in some of the words being said.

Anyways, it just threw up the desperation of the opposition and the hunger to ‘capture’ by all means the state.

I listened very carefully last Sunday to the debate between the incumbent Governor and his opponent, Pastor Ize-Iyamu. Somebody did not take his time to educate the ‘great’ Pastor that the debate was not a platform for amateurish activism but a forum where he was expected to lay out his own plans for the state.

But what we saw was a very angry person, spewing venom and almost abusive in his utterances.

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What we need to understand in this particular election, beyond the broadcast of an obviously highly revered party leader and the antics of a tired ex- party leader, with the cohorts of self-seeking journey-men like the wonderful Captain, is that this election is beginning to look like an attempt by the Edo People to really hold on to their destiny as a proud and free people.

This is a battle between establishment status quo and the progressive forces of self-determination. This force after Edo will cascade down towards all parts of the country.

The combatants know this. This is a ‘Rosa Parks-election’ where the Edo People, like that great woman, will refuse to leave their seats for the continued oppression and suppression of their will. This is why you see this very high level of desperation leading to throwing ‘their’ party leader who, from what we saw, should be on a well deserved rest to come out and make a last minute appeal.

In doing so, he relied on some questionable democratic credentials, with the hope that the Edo People will listen to his shaky voice and return power to a man that their own party leader had, just in the recent past, described in some of the most unflattering and colorful terms.

For me, this election should be about Obaseki because he has shown very uncommon resolve to stand by his mandate. Stand by the people and defy the very strong gale of forces that continue to subdue us.

It is a known fact that the man is facing very powerful forces, both from the highest levels and through the political and economic spectrum. He has to stand firm and build a strong system because this could just be the very beginning of the wave of change that we have been waiting for. And, guess what, all sides in this battle recognize this known fact.

So, the Edo people will need just more than this broadcast to sway them from validating their destiny.

Author: Joseph Edgar…

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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