The interview by Mr Louis Odion, Edo State Commissioner for Information published in the Vanguard of Saturday July 12, 2014, was most bemusing to say the least. Thankfully, after nearly two years of inactivity, Odion, like a semi-extinct volcano, erupted spewing molten lies and illogic. Tasked to explain why his boss beat a humbling retreat by canceling the much-advertised competency test for teachers, Odion set off on a wild goose chase... bla bla bla! Pity! Delusional Odion conveniently forgot that it was the Edo State chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Dan Orbih who first opposed such test on the ground that several officials of Edo State government have Oluwole certificates. Chief Orbih had publicly challenged Odions boss Governor Adams Oshiomhole to present his certificates for scrutiny. We are still waiting. However, what appeared a confirmation of our stand that Oshiomholes purported certificates are not real didnt take long in coming. Few days after our public challenge, Oshiomholes party -Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN, now APC) -took up paid advertorials that certificates were not a necessity! If certificates are not necessary, why compel teachers to present theirs and subject them to a humiliating competency test? The gutter language deployed in the said interview was typical. As a street boy who rose from being a newspaper vendor to a newspaper Editor, Managing Director, and now Commissioner, we fully understand the challenges such rapid changes in status can pose, especially for a country boy who didnt expect this much from life. Like his master who dropped out of school, became a tailor, labour leader and now, governor, Odion didnt disappoint. Odion and his boss have confirmed the saying, you can take a man out of the bush, but you cant take the bush out of the man. Odion lied that the crisis rocking the state legislature was sparked by the suspension of four lawmakers bribed by PDP to dump APC. Nothing could be more ludicrous! In effect what Odion revealed was that all the PDP lawmakers who defected in the past to ACN (now APC)were paid to do so. Oshiomholes attack puppy attempted to confuse the issues. He knows how scared stiff they are that several other APC lawmakers would jump ship, no thanks to Oshiomholes high-handedness. Odion also knows that his boss has converted a part of his office in Government House Benin into an Assembly complex. Rather than address the issues, Odion elected to go after respected personalities like Chiefs Tony Anenih and Dan Osi Orbih. Chief Anenih is old enough to be Odions father or grandfather. Chief Tony Anenih we know. Orbih is scion of the Late MCK Orbih, First Republic legislator of note, we also know. We challenge Louis Odion to tell us who his father or grandfather is (or were) in Edo State and then Nigeria. Expectedly, a man who had to string several polytechnic diplomas just to see the four walls of a university, even on part-time basis, would be envious of another who had no cause to pass through that route to gain admission into the prestigious University of Benin. What is more, Orbih graduated in flying colours long before Odion began life as a newspaper vendor! To show the stuff Odion is made of, he forgot that the great Adamu Ciroma, who served as CBN Governor and later, Minister of Finance, like Orbih, was a graduate of History. As a very successful businessman, politician and political leader, one does not need a degree in Economics, or Finance, (degrees which Odion and his Obioma-boss clearly dont have) to know that the emergency renovation works on the Assembly complex were not captured in the budget. As the saying goes, a man cannot give what he doesnt have. Charity, they say, begins at home. It is tragic that the only selling point of a man employed to market an entire state government as commissioner of information and orientation, is wife battering. What kind of orientation can a man who cannot keep a family offer? Go-and-die orientation, of course! Like Odion reminded, the highly respected Chief Tony Anenih was Minister of Works, not Minister of Esanland. That he did not award contract for roads leading to his ancestral home shows that he is a Nationalist and a Statesman certainly not in the class of Oshiomhole who has tarred all the bush paths in Iyamoh. As a federal minister, Chief Tony Anenih believed that all Nigerians, irrespective of their tongue and creed, should have access to good roads. As a party that believes in the rule of law, we shall abide by the final decision by the relevant appellate courts as we take established judicial steps to seek justice. We appeal to our growing number of supporters to remain calm. The people of Ekiti have spoken. Very soon the people of Edo State will join the chorus. God bless Edo State. PDP....Power to the people! Chris O Nehikhare.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 12:49:07 +0000