Between The Spirit Of Forgiveness In Obaseki’s Speech And Supporters’ Intransigency -By Isaac Asabor

If there is a behavior which the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has exhibited since he was declared the winner of the election conducted in the state few days ago, specifically on September 19, 2020, it is unarguably the one he exhibited after being presented the certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today, September 22, 2020.

The governor who spoke at a press briefing after being presented the certificate of return extended a hand of fellowship to the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the former chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole. He said; “on a special note, I want to use this occasion to call on the former chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, that, the fight is over.” He beckoned on the former governor of the state to “come and join in building the house, where he was part of laying the foundation”. According to him; “We have no malice. The only thing we disagree on is on the approach in moving Edo forward.” The Edo governor also called on his strongest opponent in the election, Pastor Ize-Iyamu of the APC, saying; “we are one family in the pursuit to provide services and public vote for our citizens.” “I want to put it on record that the election of September 19, 2020 has been adjudged as one of the best conducted election in terms of it being free and fair. “Our citizens have decided that for now, they trust us more with the affair of leadership. It does not mean that they did not have a role to play. It does not mean that they are not part of a family.
“So I am using this opportunity to extend a hand of fellowship to my brother, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his other colleagues in the APC to join us and work with us so that we can move Edo State forward.”

At the moment, there is no denying the fact that the political mood in Edo State, particularly in Benin City might be said to be one of cautious optimism. At the end of the governor’s speech, it appears that the final obstacles to enduring peace in the State were being cleared away to engender a government that will see all Edolites as participants or players. Such a government, such utopian government, if realizable, will no doubt usher the State to a more stable pedestal on which its economic and social problems would be collectively tackled.

Regrettably, it is a paradox that political supporters are not in any way exhibiting the same spirit of forgiveness and political sportsmanship which our leaders are known for. Upon seeing the title of this piece while working on it in the office, a colleague jokingly said, “Don’t be surprised that Obaseki, Oshiomhhole and Ize-Iyamu might have been interacting on phone”. Ruminating over the forgoing joke, my colleague may not be far from the truth. The foregoing cannot be farfetched as political followers are increasingly finding it difficult to internalize politicians’ favorite saying that “in politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies”.

There is equally a saying that “If you cannot be a politician, marry one. Though they may break their promises, they still find it easy to forgive one another”.
With the governor’s speech is unarguably inherent with the hopes to shape the landscape of politics in the state, and psychology of politicians and supporters in the State, but not everyone would welcome the promising change as some of them are no doubt intransigent as evident in the provocative rate at which Obaseki’s supporters are taunting and shaming Ize-Iyamu’s supporters, particularly since he won the election on Saturday.

In fact, Social media platforms, particularly the Facebook, are ingrained in the daily lives of most political supporters, and their comments and posts, both before and after the just concluded election in the State tend to scuttle the peace which all right thinking Edolites expect to prevail in Obaseki’s second tenure. In as much as social media platforms provide much of the infrastructure of democratic debate expected in the State, it is reprehensible to see its merit been abused, worse still by supporters of a candidate that won an election.

To my view, such supporters need to be called to order. It’s difficult to sit back while some jerk attacks anyone online even when it is clear that the object of abuse is not the candidate that lost in the election. The worst is that one may not even know some of those social media commentators. Though such people may be soulless, they have a purpose: to provoke their target to anger. Upon success, they share their target’s comments with their friends, gloating over their success at provoking a supporter of the candidate that lost in an election.

Without any iota of exaggeration, it is unfortunate that most people are oblivious of the fact that political parties are essential institutions of democracy, and that competing in elections parties offer citizens a choice in governance, and while in opposition they can hold governments accountable. Against the foregoing backdrop, when citizens join political parties, volunteer their time, donate money and vote for their leaders, they are exercising their basic democratic rights. Participation of citizens in political parties offers unique benefits, including opportunities to influence policy choices, choose and engage political leaders, and run for office. It is not compulsory everyone belongs to the same party and support the same candidate. The foregoing view is unarguably the reason why the option of 14 candidates and parties were offered to Edolites by INEC at the election.

Without any iota of exaggeration, what Edo needs most urgently at the moment is to engender enduring peace in the State through what in this context can be called “the politics of forgiveness.” But you may ask: What does this phrase mean? How are politics and forgiveness related? And why is forgiveness so crucial?

Forgiveness is founded on love, and it is the most powerful weapon that anyone can possess. Mahatma Gandhi once affirmed, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Mark Twain described not only the power of forgiveness but also its beauty when he wrote, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

The story is told of a Sandinista minister of government in Nicaragua who, when visiting the prisons that housed those who had killed thousands of people, noticed a former guard who had tortured him.

When the man realized that the minister had recognized him, he asked, “What are you going to do to me? What is your revenge?” The minister replied, “I forgive you that is my revenge.” He too realized the power of forgiveness. That is how he took his revenge.

Bishop Desmond Tutu relates that Nelson Mandela before he was arrested in 1962 was a relatively young but very angry man. He had founded the ANC’s military wing. But when he was released in 1990, he surprised everyone because he was no longer talking about revenge but about reconciliation and forgiveness.

For Mandela there was no further need for revenge. As C.S. Lewis explains, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

Acts of forgiveness can and do occur in political contexts. Many questions relating to forgiveness are inevitably, although not exclusively, political: Who has the power to forgive? Who must ask for forgiveness? And who determines what is forgivable?

Forgiving is difficult, yet when people are forgiven, that is immensely liberating, not only for the one who is forgiven but also for the one who forgives. Lewis Smedes notes acutely, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Forgiveness is not just a personal or individual act that is limited to the private sphere. Increasingly today there is the realization that forgiveness is also necessary in the public sphere, thus also in the political realm.

Reiteratively put, the discourse about the politics of forgiveness is what all Edolites need to engage in instead of being obsessed with the election that has being concluded. To my view, forgiveness is crucial if the State is to make a progressive transition to the next political dispensation. Edo should be seen as the bigger picture instead of being embittered over what each and every one of us did to one another.

In this context, it expedient we ruminate over Mandela’s willingness to forgive, and which helped to avert a bloodbath as that country made the transition from the apartheid regime to black rule. Analyzed from the foregoing perspective, it expedient to applaud Obaseki’s speech, and in this context urge all Edolties to emulate him.