Idiomatically Asking, Is What Goes Around Coming Around For Obaseki And Shuaibu As Edo 2024 Beckons? -By Isaac Asabor

If there is a prevailing rivalry between two political personalities in Edo State that can be said to have found expression in an African proverb that says, “Even if the teeth and the tongue live in the same house, eat and drink together, they still quarrel as the teeth will always bite the tongue when provoked”, it is unarguably the one between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Comrade Phillip Shuaibu. Without any iota of exaggeration, both leaders, who are invariably the first and second citizens of the state have before now been seen to be joining hands to fight their predecessor, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who at a point in his political career became the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and now the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District.

However, ostensibly as an act of God, the fight against Oshiomhole which many believe has been cementing their once rosy relationship seems to have crumbled as the battle that is now between them, over who succeeds the governor in 2024 has unarguably assumed a worrisome dimension, and it is no more discussed in a hush-hush tone as it is no more news.  To explain how serious the feud has become, Shuaibu has already headed to court to obtain an injunction against an alleged impeachment plot against him.

Thus, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the interim injunction issued as a result of the move made by the deputy governor, ordered Obaseki and others, to halt their alleged bid to impeach Shuaibu over alleged infractions.

Before reflecting on their longtime friendship occasioned by political circumstances, it is expedient to also look at how the two political personalities, both from Oshiomhole political dynasty, have fared in the rough-and-tumble world of politics without conscience, and their journey from rosy relationship to their now toxic relationship that has in the last few weeks been characterized by name callings and campaigns of calumny.

Anyone that is reading this piece might have wondered what this writer meant by “Oshiomhole political dynasty”. To buttress the assertion, which may sound offensive to some readers, it is expedient to say that since “A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics”, that it is figuratively expedient in this context to reiterate in this context that Oshiomhole indeed has a dynasty by virtue of ruling Edo State for the period of eight years, and under the period established a ruling political class, and against all odds became a political godfather of the state after he single-handedly installed the current governor, the erstwhile chair of his Economic Team, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, as his successor against all admonitions. He did not only inaugurate Obaseki, he also picked the Deputy Governor, Hon Philip Shuaibu, and Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Osarodion Ogie. Prior to the emergence of diverse political circumstances that led all of them at different times to betray him, they were his aficionados.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to ask, “Is the idiom that says ‘What goes around comes around’ finding expression in the political careers of both Obaseki and Shuaibu?” Put in a biblical perspective, it is also expedient to ask from the point of view of one of the most quoted Bible verses about when God fights someone’s battles as enshrined in Exodus 14:14 by asking, “Is the Lord fighting for Oshiomhole, as he has been still?”

At this juncture, not a few readers of this piece will be jolted with the foregoing quotes to ask, “How can what goes around comes around” merely for Obaseki and Shuaibu?”

For the sake of clarity, it is explanatory at this juncture to say that the online edition of Merriam-Webster dictionary describes what goes around comes around as “…to say that if someone treats other people badly he or she will eventually be treated badly by someone else”.

Given the foregoing description of the idiomatic expression that invariably inspired the coinage of the headline of this piece, it is germane to opine that both Obaseki and Shuaibu have in their different ways offended Oshiomhole, and that one would not be surprised if the expression would be seen to be finding expression in the political the duo. Without resort to calumniating anyone in this piece, it is germane to say that evidence abound on public space that both political personae have paid Oshiomhole in bad coins, despite how he helped them, politically in the past.

However, in this context, this writer will cite facts made in an article titled “Obaseki/Shaibu: Oshiomhole’s Gods Are Alive (1)” published in the online edition of Daily Independent of August 11, 2023 and written by Kassim Afegbua.

Expressing his view to buttress how Obaseki betrayed Oshiomhole, Afegbua wrote “When Godwin Obaseki was seeking governorship position, he was an unknown quantity, who warmed himself into Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s heart; he carried Oshiomhole’s handbag, ran errands for him, was always present for lunch, and pretended to be a great guy.

“Those of us who could see through his pretense were branded “disobedient;” we were said to be disobedient to Oshiomhole. I was never cowered, I told my boss that Obaseki was no good.

“His candidacy in 2016 was sour grapes for me. I was called all sorts of names, but I am happy that time has proven me right, and history has added a feather to my cap. Those who accused me of being “recalcitrant” when I declined to support Godwin Obaseki, were the earliest casualties of Obaseki’s torrid personality”.

Ostensibly to literarily add more fleshy facts to his write-up, he wrote, “From one devious plot to another, Obaseki and Shuaibu, two of a kind, combined their evil forces to undo Oshiomhole. Shuaibu, the Deputy Governor, whom Oshiomhole had recalled from the Federal House of Reps in 2016 to take the number two slot, suddenly became the agent provocateur to bring Comrade Oshiomhole down even if it meant using the bluntest scalpel.

“Once he set the stage for disagreement, and it set in, the field for combat was then open; he enlisted Shuaibu to collaborate with him.

“Shuaibu unleashed his gambits, sparing nothing in coalition with his new boss, taking Comrade Oshiomhole to the political Golgotha. He was an agent provocateur:

“They arm twisted some of Oshiomhole’s ward executives, cajoled them into traveling to Benin City, where they made them sign a letter of suspension of the then National Chairman, Comrade Oshiomhole.

Comrade Oshiomhole thought he was doing a good friend a great deal of good, and would thereby sustain his own political relevance and aura. He meant well, but the object of his good heartedness had his own different and distinct agenda; it was incongruous with his plan. Obaseki went for Oshiomhole’s jugular, and tried to strangulate him and skin him alive.

Unarguably pondering over how bad Oshiomhole was treated by his “Godsons”, Afegbua in the piece also wrote, “Comrade Oshiomhole thought he was doing a good friend a great deal of good, and would thereby sustain his own political relevance and aura. He meant well, but the object of his good heartedness had his own different and distinct agenda; it was incongruous with his plan. Obaseki went for Oshiomhole’s jugular, and tried to strangulate him and skin him alive”.

Be that as it may, not a few political observers have crossed their fingers to know if what goes around is coming around for Obaseki and Shuaibu as Edo 2024 beckons.