Dear Fathers -By Abdullahi O. Haruna

I bring you greetings from a domesticated and cultured kid. I have had this nagging questions that have been kicking relentlessly for ages. In my over three decades sojourn on earthly voyage, I have been stuck with same sets of names who have adored and still parading our corridors of power. Abeg, I dare to ask, where were you when they stole the podium of power to control power, influence and authority? I do not ask this to denigrate you but to understand the magic used by these people to hold on to power and remain relevant to this moment? Do they worship different God? Do they have three balls as against your two balls?

Let me start with Adams Oshimohole, the present chairman of the All Progressive Congress. He came into the limelight as far back as the 80s when he took up job as mere labourer in one of the textile industries in Kaduna. Instead of making do with his normal wages, he devised a means to be above the routine of monthly salary. He joined the labour union – a venture that sustained him through the hard times of Nigeria history. By the time democracy had birthed properly, it is Adams that became a strong non-state actor in Nigeria. As NLC president, he was not just powerful but influential. No decision was taken without the input of this man who started textile work with our fathers at the same time.

In between the years, he didn’t only push his way to power, influence and fame, he took time to educate himself the more. Only a visionless man stops learning. By the time his influence as laborman was waning, he switched swiftly to politics as he reawakens his grip on the corridor of power for another eight years as governor of Edo. Just when we thought, it was an end of a hustle, the man bounced higher again this time returning back to more power and influence as the chairman of the ruling party.

For over thirty years, this man has held on to power and remain very relevant in the parlour of power. How did he get thus far? It is through sheer hard work, belief in thyself and consistent pursuit of personal dream. It was Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart who said, ‘Your Chí rises up to you only if you are standing’. Nobody gets up there by mere wishful thinking, to get power, you must be deliberate about it. Only those who present themselves as serious gets invited to the corridor of power. If Oshomole had remained contended to the dictates of the existing order, he would have remained a mere spectator and analyst like our fathers today. He challenged himself, educated himself and dared the status quo .

What are we doing to disconnect ourselves from the lanes of our fathers who relied on destiny instead of challenging the social order? Join politics, volunteer in community works, create your wealth and ultimately detach yourself from the deadly sentiments of ethnicity, religion and politics, otherwise, years to come, we shall be here talking about the sustained grips of power by Oshomole and his ilks who dared to be different from our fathers.

Fatherly musing